Welcome!
About Me…
My name is Amanda, and I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve spent decades honing my craft as a professional musician. And I’ve also spent about the same time walking with the Lord as a believer in Jesus Christ. For years, I saw these two activities as each existing inside their own spheres and not overlapping. However, God has spent years patiently showing me this separation is not His plan. ….. Continue reading
Do you Doubt?
Doubt is a funny thing. We hardly ever do it as children, but as we age, we begin to doubt everything. Will I make enough money? Will I be able to live in peace? Does he really love me?
No Greater Love
From Romeo and Juliet to Kate and William, our imaginations are fascinated by epic love stories. As a society, we are enamored by these deep connections and the imagined fairy tale life we believe they lead. What is it about these great loves that we are so obsessed...
Another Leader Falls:
It's becoming commonplace to open the news or a social media feed and witness yet another pastor or Christian leader who has fallen. It took my breath away to read about the recent allegations against Austin Stone Worship Pastor, Aaron Ivey. The shock and...
As professors and friends in college began to pull at threads of my faith, I began to hide my doubts. I continued acting the “Christian way” so that I wouldn’t lose my identity, but it was quickly becoming cracked in the foundations. Those doubts lasted for years, proving to be the biggest stumbling block to growing my relationship with the Lord. I had to open up. I had to bring to him my problems with the Bible, my doubt in his goodness, and the most significant doubt of all, “God, is all of this even true?”
Excerpt from “Do you Doubt?”, read the entire post at Amandadevlin.com
Happy Monday friends. Spent my morning studying Elijah (in preparation for Bible study tonight) sending emails and doing other fun stuff (like laundry….)
I was hoping to make a reel but I’m struggling for courage, so how ‘bout a selfie. I’ve been busy writing and sharing on my blog so if you haven’t been there in a while. Check it out!
Also, is it going to rain again??? What is going on Southern California???
I grew up in a small town—very small—with a population of a little over 500. Even in this small town, there was a retired gentleman who, each spring, would completely blow my mind.
What typically looked like a regular house any other day of the year turned into the most beautiful English garden you’ve ever seen each spring. It contained precisely one type of flower; roses.
He was obsessed with roses. There were rows and rows of big, beautiful rose bushes. My favorite part was the very center of the garden, where there was a big white gazebo. I don’t know how he did it, but he somehow got a rose vine to climb up and cover the gazebo. Sitting in there when that bush was blooming was like heaven.
And when I say obsessed, I mean it. Every bush had a different name. I know this because he had a gold plaque installed at the bottom of each bush so you would know its name. He would walk around with a handheld watering can, and as he cared for each rose bush, he would talk to them by name. The love and attention he gave to those bushes throughout the year was evident each year as the beautiful blooms burst forth in the springtime.
Remembering that care and detail reminds me so much of our heavenly Father.
In the book of John, while Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, he compares himself to a shepherd and his followers as his sheep. Jesus says, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him (Jesus), and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.” John 10:3 NIV
Jesus knows us; he knows our name. He’s calling us to follow him.
Will you?
From Romeo and Juliet to Kate and William, our imaginations are fascinated by epic love stories. As a society, we are enamored by these deep connections and the imagined fairy tale life we believe they lead. What is it about these great loves that we are so obsessed with? I admit they hold my attention, and I’m not sure why!
At the heart of any great love story is a point of self-denial or self-sacrifice. A great love must be ‘tested’ or ‘proven’ to be deemed worthy. How many young princes are sent on an epic quest to prove their love for their lady! Didn’t we all cringe when William Thatcher continued to lose in the joust in order to prove his love in A Knight’s Tale?
No one knows love like Jesus.
Nothing can even come close. One of the main reasons Jesus knows love so well is because He made such a great sacrifice. A few days before the cross, Jesus sat down with his disciples and gave them one last lesson. His most important lessons.
Read more by heading to amandadevlin.com!
Following Jesus gives you a friendship like no other. Read my recent post through the link in the bio to learn more!
I’ve spent a lot of time putting words together on this little machine in the past few weeks.
I’d be lying if I said it was easy.
The last month especially has been a struggle. I don’t doubt what God has asked me to do, but I vastly underestimated exactly how difficult this would be.
But God is gracious…
He has continually sent me fresh wind for my sails. A friend’s words of encouragement, a positive comment from a blog post, even this sweet little note from my daughter; they are all reminders that my God is with me through every struggle and will never leave me.
I’m so excited to share with you all the words God has asked me to write down. If you’d like to stay informed and be in the know, make sure you are signed up for my newsletter!
You can sign up at Amandadevlin.com
This one was tough, how do you adequately describe the majesty of God on the cello? This is all so small in comparison to His majesty!
The best I could do was to think about an enormous mountain. Standing at the bottom of it, and looking up admiring the grand scale of it. If you have the chance, maybe step outside and look around when you listen to this one.
God`s majesty is really difficult to comprehend....
This verse is from Psalm 8:1
#cello #worshipmusic #christiancreative #music #focusonJesus #worship
14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you without a family redeemer today. May his name become well known in Israel. 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. Indeed, your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
Ruth 4:14-15
8 So the redeemer removed his sandal and said to Boaz, “Buy back the property yourself.”
9 Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech, Chilion, and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to perpetuate the deceased man’s name on his property, so that his name will not disappear among his relatives or from the gate of his hometown. You are witnesses today.”
Ruth 4:8-10 (CSB)
I love the idea of the Lord surrounding me, being my shield, lifting up my head. There are so many times when nothing else can lift you up except Him, and verses like this remind me of how I am surrounded by Him.
We can cry out loud (or musically) to Him and He hears us.
Selah can be translated to "lift up, exalt", but it can also be a musical term throughout the Psalms that means to show accentuation, pause or interruption.
I like to think about it like the traditional fermata in music. Meaning "to hold". Selah, for me, means to hold that thought, meditate on it.
This verse is from Psalm 3:3-4
#cello #worshipmusic #christiancreative #music #focusonJesus #worship
It’s becoming commonplace to open the news or a social media feed and witness yet another pastor or Christian leader who has fallen. It took my breath away to read about the recent allegations against Austin Stone Worship Pastor, Aaron Ivey. The shock and embarrassment for the Christian community are always hard for me to stomach, and the increasing number of these cases does not make it any easier. Although I’m glad to see these leaders be held publicly responsible, it also raises so much grief for me, as I’m sure it does for many other Christians. I’m only one person, but after the repeated news stories, I feel compelled to share my thoughts. Read the full article through the link in my bio.
16 She went to her mother-in-law, Naomi, who asked her, “What happened, my daughter?”
Then Ruth told her everything the man had done for her. 17 She said, “He gave me these six measures of barley, because he said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest unless he resolves this today.”
Ruth 3:16-18 (CSB)
Have you ever considered your value? It`s a deep struggle for many of us. Jesus says the Father knows the number of hairs on our heads. We are of deep value to Him. Read more through the link in my bio.
After picking the kids up from school, two days in a row we saw a rainbow in the exact same spot. Today I just had to pull over and take a picture. Rainbows are amazing. We’ve experienced a lot of unexpected detours over the last few days, but I’m thankful to know that my God is consistent. Rainbows are a reminder to me that He always keeps His promises.
19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”
Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”
20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the Lord bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”
21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’”
22 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” 23 Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Ruth 2:19-23 (CSB)
Throughout the Psalms, it is mentioned six different times to make a `new` song unto the Lord. I`m so thankful for the gift of creativity from God. As I meditated on this verse, this was my translation onto my instrument. I`m so thankful God invites us to share a very small portion of His infinite creativity!
"Sing to the Lord a new song, Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!" Psalm 96:1 (CSB)
#cello #worshipmusic #christiancreative #music #focusonJesus #worship
I don’t know how I’ve never noticed this. Ruth probably knew Rahab! Rahab and Ruth have so many similarities. They’re both foreigners grafted into God’s family, and they both showed faith in a God who wasn’t from their own background…..and they are both noted in the genealogy of Christ. 🥲 I never get tired of reading my Bible….
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
10 She fell facedown, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
Ruth 2:8-12 (CSB)
Who do you believe God is? How have you fashioned Him in your imagination? Is he a big guy with a long white beard scowling down at all of us? You may see Him as just a big ball of light with little clarity. Perhaps you believe that all the universe is God, and God is the universe. If you believe a God exists, how would you describe Him?
To read the entire blog post, follow the link in the bio!
I read a quote today from Eleanor Roosevelt that said “everyday, do something courageous.” Well, here goes trying to be courageous! I’m really not a fan of filming myself playing the cello, but I’m trying to break out of that shell today.
Stay tuned for a special project I’m working on. I’m selecting some verses from the Psalms and I’ll be “musically” interpreting them on the cello. I absolutely love worshipping with my cello and my hope is to share more of that, more frequently, with my friends near and far.
This is something I’ve always wanted to try and I thought this might be a good place to test it out. If it blesses anyone, I’ll keep it going. If it’s utter nonsense, well then I’ll just check that “courage” box and keep moving. 😉✅
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