II Peter 3:1-18  “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a]11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”                                                                                                                                                          COMMENTS : God’s timing is perfect.  That perfection can be seen in perspective of the history of the past.  We can then see on a broader perspective with realization of consequences of evil behavior and choices and benefits of righteous behavior and choices.  Our Bible gives us such a perspective along with wisdom and council and revelation God shares of Himself and those who followed Him.  Yet perspective and patience are neither as clear and easy to sustain when in the midst of crisis or difficulty and when God seems so distance because of distractions of sin or circumstances.  It is so easy to let those distraction keep us from spending precious needed time with our Lord.  Distractions that demand our time but distractions that are best addressed while in deep fellowship with our Lord.  We seldom can do more than one thing at a time well, but we actually can do day’s obligations and tasks so much better if done while in prayer and communion with our Lord.  Yes we need to take focused time without cares of the day to spend in prayer and in devotion and praise to Christ.   But once we have done so, we also need to extend and continue in that fellowship while at work or play or visited with and interacting with others.  Can’t you conduct meetings with interaction from many at the same time?  Then why can’t we let the Holy Spirit guide us throughout our day? It is easier to be passionately in prayer when see no solution and no other place to seek help.  But God doesn’t want us to wait til we are desperate or out of options before we approach Him.  He wants us to, and is so much better too, if we come to Him at the beginning of each day and come to Him before making choices, even small choices during each day.  Well, memory and history and council of older wiser Christians should all help guide and encourage us to do this.  With discipline and help of Him and by making ourselves accountable to others, it become possible and doable to beginning doing this successfully.  I am still working on this and have a long ways to go before can say I am doing this.  But difficulty and past failures are no reason to give up.  No, past failures just means we are still trying to do it ourselves and are not close enough to Christ to allow the Holy Spirit to take control where we are still failing.   Not a pass-fail journey but a growth journey.  A journey of transformation.

Hebrews 12:1-11  “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”                                                                 COMMENTS : We have lots of wonderful stories of those before us.  Stories of how God revealed Himself and transformed lives and then used those lives to transform many others.  They are available to us in our bibles.  They encourage and empower us to also do as they did.   But even more, the Holy Spirit worked in us to make those stories come alive in us too.  But there are countless stories through the centuries since Scripture was written that are equally impactful in revealing that same God transforming lives and bringing revival and healing to people all over the world.   Stories of missionaries from the US going to far countries bringing the Good News of Christ’s redemption to hungry people.   One such stories is of Adoniram Judson. He was the first protestant missionary to go from North America in early 1800’s to Burma.  He endured prison, sickness, and grief of death of family members, including his wife, in Burma.  He encountered much resistance to the Gospel there.  After 37 years of perseverence, fruit of that work was 63 churches, 163 missionaries and 7000 converts.  He once said “In spit of sorrow, loss, and pain, our course by onward still;  we sow on Burma’s barren plain, we reap on Zion’s hill”  Such stories are being lost since they are not retold or studied.  I have to admit I was not aware of this  story before discovering it in a devotion. I am sharing my blog devotions with many in various countries through facebook connections.   Some of those are in Burma, so God is giving me opportunity to share His message to some decendents of those Adoniram Judson led to Christ nearly 200 years ago.  But such came at great sacrifice from Adoniram and his family.   I have to admit, other than time, the work God is calling me to in writing and sharing a devotional journal is taking time but at little physical sacrifice.  Yet I continue to learn of great sacrifice being made by faithful followers especially in empoverished countries all over the world – sacrificing freedom and job in order to share God’s message to lost people.  The message and cost has not changed.  Neither has satan’s resolve to hinder that work.  But the work is prevailing and satan can’t stop it.  Our prayers and support are needed to help expedite the work to lost people in our generation on our watch…

Robert Frost published his first poem in 1915 called “The Pasture”.   That poem apparently impacted and expressed such an important truth that he would use it often in giving public speeches.  This poem shared the importance of inviting another when taking a journey so both would share and bond together during journey.  “I’m going out to clean the pasture spring. You come too!” is a quote from that poem.    

Here is a personal journey I would like to share of my wife, Arlene, and I as we clean out a storage area over our kitchen not easily accessible but necessary to do now so can access and repair a wire to the ceiling lights in our kitchen.  Stored in that storage area we discovered many boxes of books and old treasures left and forgotten by our parents and great grandparents, who owned our home before us.  We had lots of our own old and forgotten stuff in there too.  For the last 2 days we have been removing all the stored items and disposing of most of little value now.  Chipmunks have damaged many items, including some very old books.  Fortunately, most of the most valuable ones are intact. Books my father’s father’s father (my great-grandfather) owned and used.  I know devout Christians is my heritage back at least that far, so Christian books of great depth and insight are of no surprise to me, but will be a great treasure for me to now dive into.  Some surprises are also being discovered, like ledgers of my grandparents and parents and great grandparents keeping track of canning quarts of strawberries and various other berries they canned and then sold to neighbors for additional income.  That was an important way of earning money for family needs in late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  What is also interesting was discovering a letter written by the president of Cooper Bessemer to their employees a few days after Pearl Harbor was attacked December 7, 1941.  You see, my dad became a machinist at Cooper in early 1941 and worked there til he retired in 1979.  That letter shows such a call to service and patriotism I would not have expected to be expressed by president of a company.  Another surprise is a ledger in my dad’s handwriting including expenses and profits and payroll of several of the local businesses and even a portion of Cooper during those war years.  My dad working at Cooper as a machinist since Cooper made diesel engines for warships during that time.  I really don’t know because he didn’t speak of it, but am wondering if he helped out in those tasks during those years needing filled from number of men and women going off to war.  I know my dad and mother were godly people and of integrity, but they were also responsible too, so those qualities would be of value.  Well, I wish I would havae discovered these while my parents were still alive, so I would be able to ask them more about these ledgers and those years.   I will have to wait for heaven before I can do so, but am sure we will have a lot more important things to discuss and share long before subjects like this will come up.  

We have the privilege of living in the same home my mother’s grandparents owned.  You see, my mother lived with and took care of her grandmother in her elderly years and inherited her home.  My parents married in 1936 and took care of her til she passed in 1939.  They inherited her home and lived there until 1983.  In 1967 my dad bought a property next door, which was the Clintonville school from 1855-1914.  It was converted to a 2 apartment duplex but by 1967 is was in dire need of repair and maintenance.  My dad and I, as a young teen, spend long hours fixing it up and became a rental property for my parents.  My dad and I spend many long hours together working and fellowshipping, which was such a blessing for us both.  When Arlene and I married in 1978, we decided to fix up the downstairs apartment again to my parents specification with agreement we would buy their home and the apartment would become their retirement home since climbing stairs had already started to become difficult for my mother particularly.  We finally bought their home in 1983.  Timing was ideal because by then we had 2 children and the apartment was a bit small to raise 2 children.  My parents lived next door to us til my father died in 2002 and my mother in 2007.  By living next door, we were able to stay in close contact and care for them and our children were able to have close and lasting memories of their grandparents, which they treasure more today than then.  You see, I have pictures of my mother playing as a child in the same lawn with her grandmother working in the background.  That picture was likely taken in 1919.  In the background I can see the apartment next door and our home as well.  Such rich history and memories are treasures not available to most but are priceless to me.  Having my great grandparents and parent’s Bibles and bible study books with these pictures and memories reinforces the rich legacy and motivation to continue that legacy.  I am also made aware of how God used and continues to use and build off that rich legacy to reach more for Christ.

So why am I sharing this? Along life’s journey, God desires for us to take that journey bringing others along as both helpmates but even more important to share and build relationships with each other along as well as with Christ.  Life’s journey was never intended to be taken alone but certainly not without Christ.  My legacy is one with Christ hand in hand with my greatgrandparents and grandparents and parents and with us but continues also with our children and grandchildren.  Yes the legacy we are also praying our children and grandchildren will continue.  They will certainly have knowledge of Christ’s faithfulness thru the years to encourage them to follow and our home as a visual reminder and other old treasures as well.  We don’t know who we will pass our home and apartment on to, but they will become evident when time is right, I am sure.  Christ will express His desire and will when time is right.   We are starting to pray more about that now.          

Job 2:1-10 “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.² And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.³ And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.⁴ And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.⁵ But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.⁶ And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.⁷ So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of

his foot unto his crown.⁸ And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.⁹ Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.¹⁰ But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lip.”                                                                                           REVELATION 12:10  “10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.“                                                                                                                                                     COMMENTS: The source of persecution and suffering for faithful Christians over the centuries has not been due to God’s neglect but due to satan’s sinister involvement.  Why does God permit satan to do his evil mischief?  Why does He let satan go as far as He does?  Well, Job gives us a unique insight into this question.  Job was faithful like none other of his day, but still encountered not only great blessing but great suffering and loss out of no fault of his own.  No, we are given insight into involvement of satan and purpose of God.  God was molding Job into an even more faithful and influential servant and was using satan’s mischief (why by the way God did limit and control) to help and guide Job into a deeper walk with Him, but also to use in order to help encourage and guide generations of believers from that ancient time til now.  Job’s story is recorded in scripture to help us as well.  How did Job remain faithful.  Because God was so close to Him, that Job could not only trust Him but gain straight for each day by a continuing relationship with God.  Even loosing his children and suffering pain physically did not deter him for keeping his hand in His.  Still, that experience was extremely difficult for Job, even while suffering ridicule and judgment from his friends.  Finally, God said “ENOUGH” and restored Job’s health and wealth and family but also pronounced judgment and shame on Job’s friends for misjudging him.  He told them to ask Job to pray that God would forgive their sin against Job.  We are promised God will come to judge satan, saying “ENOUGH”, and take his faithful followers to be with Him and reward He is preparing but also away from satan’s evil mischief.                                                                                                                                                        Satan’s time is coming to a close and our time of redemption from this world corrupted by satan is quickly approaching.   We have so much to look forward to.  Job knew that and so should we.  “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,So bravely run the race till we see Christ. ”.  The words of a familiar hymn written by Esther Kerr Rusthoi in early 1940’s, when WWII was threatening world peace and freedom.  She wrote this when  times were dark and fearful and evil appeared to be unstoppable.  But faithfulness of Christians and diligent unfailing sacrifice and determination of millions of young men and women resulted in a much different and brighter outcome than satan was determined to accomplish.  It was worth their sacrifice, but even their sacrifice pales with Christ’s sacrifice.  I would have been born into a much darker world if they would have weaken and failed.  We all would be hopelessly lost if Christ had not come to redeem and provide a means of forgiveness and redemption.  Yet, you and I must repent and accept that redemption in order to enjoy benefits it provides.  How sad when we let pride and satan’s deceptions distract and keep us from receiving that redemption.  How sad when satan deceives others to do terrible things, ignoring  history’s lessons and God’s instruction and Word, causing suffering for themselves and many others affected by their choices and mischief.  But God will soon say enough.  He just need to be faithful a little while longer. IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL…                                                                                                                                                       THE JIM ELLIOT STORY IS SUCH A STORY AND EXAMPLE OF A LIFE FAITHFUL TO CHRIST WITH TRIALS AND SACRIFICE THAT FINISHED WELL AND MADE AN ETERNAL WONDERFUL DIFFERENCE.  I INVITE YOU TO VISIT MY BLOG “https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/” AND READ THE POST PRIOR TO THIS ONE THAT SHARES THE JIM ELLIOT STORY AND HIS FAMILY LEGACY.

Hebrews 13:5  “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”                                  PSALM 27:7-14 “7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”                                                                                                              COMMENTS: God’s promise to not leave or forsake us is repeated many times in scripture, so God wants us to know without doubt that He is and will always be faithful to us. “He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). “I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). “Blessed be the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living” (Ruth 2:20). “The LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake” (1 Samuel 12:22). “He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD” (1 Chronicles 28:20). “God did not forsake us in our bondage” (Ezra 9:9). “You did not forsake them in the wilderness” (Nehemiah 9:19). “When my father and mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me” (Psalm 27:10). “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken” (Psalm 37:25). “We are…persecuted but not forsaken” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Only Christ cried “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

2 Peter 3:8–9 reads:‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’” Joni Earickson gives an interesting perspective on this verse. She reflects that God uses each day of obedience and worship and praise to bring about 1000 years of blessing. What we do for Him, noticed or not, has an eternal impact on us as well as others. God uses us to impact the lives of others and to bring praise to Himself if we follow His guiding hand. The words of scripture that follow are even more impactful. He keeps His promises and works consistently but patiently because He does not want anyone to perish, not you nor me or even those who we don’t care very much for either. He loves us all and is working. He is working so those we care deeply about come to His Saving Grace but also so those we don’t care for come to His Saving Grace too. Just as Elizabeth Elliot went back to minister to the Auca natives in a remote area of Equador, the very natives who killed her husband at the young age of 28. Her sacrifice open the door for God to do the miracle of changing the lives of those natives and brought her rich blessing along the way. She lost her husband for a timea but gained eternity. Was it worth it. She would so, OH YES YES YES!!!

You may not be living in your greatgrandparents home nor have a stack of their books to look at and read and learn from.  You may not even know much about them.  But you have the Bible to read the family and legacy you, as well as I, have been adopted into because we all, when we accept Christ, have been adopted into God’s family.  I am convinced, when we get to heaven, we will discover how many of those early first century Christians impacted future generations who then impacted future generations on through the centuries until we accepted Christ. But wait, how about the impact of all those old testament saints and how they impacted us with their legacy too…  God’s plan and the journey He guides us on is a journey that doesn’t start when we are born nor stops when we die.  The impact of those before us continues to impact us and we continue to impact those after us long after we pass. That is God’s Will and God’s Way and God’s Plan.  And on top of all that, a wonderfully good and certain plan because God has already been in the future and continues to be in our past working the plan from start to finish.  And since He is God, He does so with perfect wisdom and perfect love!                                                                                                  THE PERFECT PLAN OF A PERFECT GOD!!                                                                                           A PLAN FOR A CREATION HE PERFECTLY LOVES!!