Click Here to Download or View a Printable Version of this week's devotion.
LIVING HOPE FAMILY & PERSONAL DEVOTIONS
LIVING HOPE FAMILY & PERSONAL DEVOTIONS
~ Use the parts that are appropriate to your/your family’s situation.
~ Spend some time weekly to reflect on the previous week’s theme and try to implement suggestions from the sermon for real-life application. Use the sermon & class notes for individual study found online: livinghopebranch.org
Date: Sunday, March 22nd, 2026
Theme: Thoughts Centered on Him
Scripture: Alma 17:69 Yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest, let it be in the Lord; yea, let thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord for ever; counsel the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good.
Song ideas: “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus ” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”
Discussion: You can still find them today, but in the late 1990’s and early 2000's, there was a craze of wearing cloth bracelets with the letters WWJD woven into them. WWJD stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” The thought was that if you were wearing those letters on your wrist, you would be more likely to stop and think before you spoke or acted and that then your actions would be closer to Jesus’ thoughts and actions.
Yes this was a fad, and not everyone who participated really cared what Jesus would do, or even tried to actually do what the bracelets were intended to get them to do. But the thought was not a bad one. You see, as humans, our nature is to do, and say, and think in any way we want to. And quite often, this is not the same way that Jesus wants us to think or say or act. Scripture even says that the natural man is an enemy to God and has been since Adam and Eve. (Mosiah 1:119)
When we turn our thoughts toward Jesus, with His help, we do a much better job of acting the way He would. If we’re thinking about Him, there is less room in our brains for us to think about or say or do the things that are not pleasing to Him. And when we’re thinking about Jesus, it is easier for us to hear Him tell us the things He wants us to do. So while you might not be wearing a bracelet that says so, think about doing what Jesus would do every day.
Discussion Questions: How have you kept Jesus in the center of your life today? This week? This month? Have you noticed any difference in your life when you have? Discuss the concept of “garbage in / garbage out.” What is one thing I can do this week to make what comes “in” more clean, so that I can be more like Jesus?
Activity : Stick a pin or thumb tack through a piece of paper. Place a rubber band (or a string) on the pin and place a pen/pencil/crayon at the other end of the rubber band. Draw circles. Notice how when you draw a circle, the rubber band or string is connected to the center. The pin/thumb tack is like Jesus. The string/rubber band is our thoughts. The writing utensil is us. And the circle is what the world sees.
Application: Read Philippians 4:8-9 - Keeping our thoughts centered on Him involves making conscious choices… think on theses thing”
Directed Prayer time related to the theme: Lord help me to put you in the center of my thoughts, so that I may do the things you would have me do.
Leave a Reply