DEVOTION JOURNAL 2022 – DON MCDANIEL

DECEMBER 2022: 

12/1      Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     1                           

Biblical Wisdom: “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.”  Ephesians 6:18                                                                                                Psalm 14:1: “For the director of music. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”                                                                                                   COMMENTS: Being part of community with God and other Christians does involve faithfully praying for each other.  Most of the time when we pray during worship, focus is praying for those who are sick or in the hospital or family of those who died. What is described in this devotion is more than just praying for the sick in our families and community.  We are commanded to pray for each other but also to pray for our enemies. That includes those we don’t like and those who have mistreated us and even those that are a threat to our country and faith.  Not that we want them to prosper and succeed in their mischief but that God will melt their hearts to point they will submit to His grace and allow God to change them as well. Are we willing to risk those we harbor ill feelings toward being forgiven by the Christ who forgives us? At this point in time I can’t think of anyone I harbor ill feelings towards but know that hasn’t always been the case and know is because currently don’t have anyone who is being a jerk to me. Yet my reaction is still to snap at those who are not doing or saying what I think they should or seem to be “pushing my buttons” …  I had an example of that a few years ago when our local town water authority was pushing community pantry project to move our trailers permanently when we only were willing to move them until sewer line under them was fixed and then move it back. Our problem was that they waited until November to alert us and insisted it be done in 2 weeks. However, we ended up complying and moving them to a better location anyway. It would have been easier for us if had known and planned earlier for move, but result ended up being better for us and still complied with needs of town.  Understanding and working with others and praying for their salvation is what God wants us to do and does have better results – just hard to do at the time. Being Christlike is hard for me as with you but we need to stay at it with God’s help. I still miss the mark at times and ask God’s forgiveness, but is our journey of faith…

It is also important to look at situations from other’s perspective. We struggled doing so but in this situation when we started to see difficulties the water authority was dealing with and were convinced they were not trying to make life miserable for us, we were then able to think more clearly and come up with the most logical solution.  They had not failed to inform us of problem earlier deliberately but had been dealing with state enforcing sewer line repairs at risk of expensive fines being imposed on our town, so water authority was struggling to do fixes as quickly as possible. 

How often do we become angry at situations or people resulting in inability to respond logically or the way Christ wants us to?  Our example others see does have an impact, either good or bad.  When we fail, damage is done to us and to others.  BUT WHEN WE RESTRAIN OUR EMOTIONS AND WAIT AND FOLLOW HIS LEAD, THE LEAD THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDES US TO FOLLOW, THEN A GREATER RESPONSE AND SOLUTION IS DISCOVERED AND MATERIALIZES.  This experience continues to influence me and reminds me when face challenges and temptations.  This experience has helped me made wise choices since, and by writing this, I am resolved to follow its instruction going forward and hope it will encourage you to do so as well.

12/2      Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     1  Offering intercessory prayer means nothing other than Christians bringing one another into the presence of God, seeing each other under the cross of Jesus as poor human beings and sinners in need of grace. Then, everything about other people that repels me falls away. Then I see them in all their need, hardship, and distress. Their need and their sin become so heavy and oppressive to me that I feel as if they were my own, and I can do nothing else but bid: Lord, you yourself, you alone, deal with them according to your firmness and your goodness. Biblical Wisdom: Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. James 5:15-16 Questions to Ponder: How does seeing others under the cross of Jesus Christ cause all that “repels me” about them to fall away? In what way is everyone equal under the cross? How does looking at other people through the lens of God’s mercy change our feelings about them and about ourselves? Psalm Fragment: May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor. Psalm 72:2-4 Journal Reflections: Make a list of the people whom you would like to bring into the presence of God today. Write a line or two describing the nature of your relationship with each of these people. Intercessions: For each person listed in your journal today, pray: Lord, you yourself, you alone, deal with (name) according to your firmness and your goodness. Prayer for Today: Forgiving and transforming God, thank you that under the cross of Christ we all stand equally together under your love and mercy.              Matthew20:17-19: “Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”” COMMENTS: I know praying for others is something we all do.  However, what today’s devotion is referring to involved much more.  It involves praying repeatedly and consistently over longer periods of time but with an empathy the equates other’s sins to our own so they are on an equal plane with me. It is easy, and I’ve been guilty of judging my sins as less than sins of others even when praying for them.  However, scripture keeps telling us all our sins are equally sinful before God, which means forgiving my sins are just as significant as forgiving the sins of those society has judged severe enough to warrant time in prison. The more I live and realize how far above the way I think and live God is, I begin to realize how terrible my sins are in His eyes and how far below His example I am still living. That seems very sadistic but is really the beginning of going to the next level in Christian growth. It is driving me to seek a closer relationship with God and seek a deeper dependence and submission to His will. It also helps me both understand, relate to, and seek ways to helps others in their walk with Him. Living a Christlike life is impossible and the more I learn the details of how He lived, the more impossible it seems to me.  However, what I am learning is I can see positive change in my life as I spend more time with Him in prayer and study and devotion and reflection.  It is slowly becoming more natural for me to have Him near / sense His presence near as I interact with others.  Temptation to be impatient with others or speak without thought or really listening to them is slowly becoming less common and His influence in my responses is slowly becoming more common. As I read scripture and examples of Christians then or more contemporary Christians now, I can see clues they followed that same process and when see those like John Wesley I can see the level of service and maturity that path can lead to in their walk with Christ and the wisdom reflected in their lives. I want the same for myself and desire to reflect that wisdom to my family and community in my remaining years. In a world that doesn’t know Christ, I want to show others what I’m learning. A time is coming when that will bring persecution and I want to be ready.

12/3      Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     3 

Biblical Wisdom: “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.” 1 Samuel 12:23                                                                                                                                                                         Psalm Fragment: But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you. Psalm 5:11                                                                     Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”                                                                                                                                      COMMENTS: Prayer is a tremendous gift God gives us – to be able to talk to God any time and place without appointment. Before man conceived of cell phones, we had access to Him without fees or wires or devices. Yet every worthwhile gift comes with responsibilities to use it wisely. Today’s devotion helped me realize again that praying for others is expected by God as part of implementation of His Will in my life as well as theirs, a partnership God designed you and me to have with Him.  You and I may realize that God’s ways and Will is better than ours but I never cease to be amazed when catch a glimpse how God’s Will unfolds or ways He chooses to do His Will, so this realization should be no surprise. Staying focused on Christ, His example, and His direction thru the Holy Spirit is how you and I can sustain, let alone start this discipline of prayer. Joni Eareckson Tada and Ken Tata are currently guests on Haven Today and Focus on the Family morning radio programs. I am amazed how devoted Ken has been to Joni over 30+ yrs. of marriage. Caring for Joni’s body paralysis was, for him, a light burden as they both remained focused on Christ, as Hebrews 12:2 directs. Even with recent battle with cancer, they both have sustained a deep joy and faith unshaken with the wear of years and now battle with cancer.  It humbles me when compare their struggles with mine and how poorly I deal with mine.  Yet I know God’s grace is sufficient for any task or trial that comes my way as long as I focus on Him.  When I see how Joni and Ken have impacted millions thru their lives and ministry, I am motivated to earnestly strive to impact those I interact with and cross paths with during my days, especially my family, church, and community. My challenge, and am sure yours, is to be that example especially when don’t feel like it, but we both know that is true of anything worthwhile doing.                                                                                                                                                                         Praying is our obligation and privilege as well as a precious gift.  With privilege and blessing comes responsibility – responsibility to use that gift wisely and in the way intended to be used.  Gifts are not gifts if earned, but so often things we worked to acquire are appreciated more than gifts.  Yet, the gifts God gives us are those we could never have earned since the price they demanded was far above what we are able to pay.                                      The gift of salvation, opportunity to seek – receive forgiveness and opportunity to start over with a new life – new direction, the gift of the indwelling and abiding presence of the Holy Spirit to help us stay on that path, the fellowship with God and access to wisdom of God that Spirit provides, access to God any time by prayer, freedom and access to God who hears and responds to our prayers and requests and needs as He judges best for us and for those we pray for,  the Bible available to teach us and show us how to live as God intended, access to God who made us and everything as well as rules over all creation with perfect wisdom and love and power and knowledge.  The list is infinite but His interest and attention to us is undistracted.  Prayer is such a privilege but also such a powerful form of communication available to us anytime, anywhere.  We can talk to Him about anything, but we must not forget who we are talking to and remember to give Him the worship and reverence and love He deserves.  By doing so, we open ourselves for Him so we can trust see ourselves and those we pray for more as He does so we can more effective pray.  That is a lifetime process and task, but one worthy of striving and working towards because we grow more like Him in the process, preparing us for heaven’s home.  So, who and what are we going to pray for today?  Well, let’s start by giving God proper greeting and thanks first before starting with requests.  Afterall, JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THIS SEASON OF ADEVENT!!!    AMEN?  AME

12/4      Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     4 

Biblical Wisdom: For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Romans 12:4-5          Psalm Fragment: Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24                                                                                                         Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”

COMMENTS: Today’s devotion should cause all of us to reflect and evaluate our lives. To realize even sins we consider insignificant can negatively affect the vitality of our family and church family is sobering at least and calls me to a higher level of accountability.  This revelation also helps me to understand why our church and most churches are suffering from low attendance and weak finances as well as weak spiritual vitality. All this is a consequence of us not being accountable to each other in our Christian walk.  I think the first step is to make ourselves accountable to our wives and husbands, who do know us better than anyone else. Being accountable to God is first but to be accountable to another person really helps at many levels. 

Our home church is struggling with weak finances and Sunday attendance at 1/4 what it was 20 years ago, so this devotion applies to us, and I am reflecting to determine to what extent I am contributing to a weak church and spiritual maturity.  I will be praying about how to make myself more accountable to Arlene and for us to make ourselves accountable to our pastor and church family and confront them to make themselves accountable to each other and us as well as being accountable to God.

Are you pondering the same issues and questions?  You are probably no more comfortable pondering this devotion than I am, but let’s agree to pray for God’s direction and help.  After all, God wants us to experience life more abundantly so result is a more victorious and rich life for ourselves and the church we serve in, so is well worth the effort and any discomfort along the way. I hope you are finding this journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer as rich as I have.

Churches are 100% full of flawed humans, some sincere and committed to Christ and some only partially committed and some pretending to be committed.  So how can use and transform people like that, people like you and me if we’re honest?  Well, truth is we all fall infinitely short of Christ’s perfect example, but that doesn’t mean Christ can’t transform us to be significantly more like Him and significantly more Christ like than presently.  Even if He has made significant changes in us over the years, there is and will be significant work for Him still to do as long as we are living in these mortal bodies and experiencing satan’s deceptions and temptations.

Christ is faithful to forgive and His Holy Spirit is faithful to abide and work in us as we are willing to follow.  Submitting to His guiding Holy Spirit and being faithful to daily devotional and prayer time is key to growth, to becoming closer to Christ’s goal for us.  Unfortunately, that means facing some hardships and problems helpless of ability to resolve problem on our own nor by our own abilities.

Bottom line is we all are in desperate need to daily surrender and obey God’s guiding spirit.  This is a daily choice and daily battle to accomplish.   When we do, we will experience growth and closer relationship with God and open doors to blessings of eternal worth.  When we fail, we encounter consequences and unnecessary difficulties. Our churches and families and all in relationship with us suffer, including ourselves when we fail to obey God.  Moses, in his final message to Israel, urged them to remember and teach their children and grandchildren to learn and remember God’s commands and to be in fellowship with Him.  So do we.  History and our own experiences proof the truth of this council and importance too.

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Biblical Wisdom: Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29      Psalm: Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity…. Psalm 141:3-4      2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”                                                                                                                                                    COMMENTS: Guarding my tongue has been something God convicted me of many years ago but has been a battle no less easy today than 30 yrs. Ago, but those years of experience convince me that most of the time evil words of judgment I would have said were not accurate.  I did not understand the whole situation, and no good would have come from exposing my thoughts.  However, I have repeatedly learned to include God in choosing both responses and actions to take. The conclusions were then much better and I could look back and see God’s hand at work.  Such a faith builder for myself and for those I can impact as I become free in sharing those experiences and less free in sharing words of judgment based on partial information.  The more I put situations in God’s hands to manage and resolve, the more my faith is put into action and I can become an instrument of God’s Grace and Will instead of my own. Honestly, I am still a work in progress w.r.t. that goal. Will you reflect on similar experiences and see if you come to the same conclusion? After all, do we still think we can do better than God?  Who else are we then kidding except for ourselves?  I do not think that means just sitting back and letting people do evil things unchecked. Yet I think it does mean only acting after earnest prayer and confirmation God will bless our actions.  I do think that will likely mean reacting a bit later than would have liked.  Triangulation should be us praying to God and including another brother or two (Mtt.18:20) and not gossip and judging with two others. I meet with 12-20 other men every other Sun 7AM at Kings to do Promise Keepers devotion and pray, a very worthwhile encouraging time of fellowship. We’ve been meeting nearly 20 yrs.                                         An old Cherokee legend tells of a wise old Cherokee Indian tells his young grandson a story of two wolfs in a bitter fight.  One was evil.  This wolf is anger, envy, sorrow, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.  The other wolf is good.  This wolf is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.  He said this same battle goes on inside each of us.   The grandson then asked his grandfather which won the fight.  His grandfather said “the one that was fed.”                                                                                                                                                                    Battling evil thoughts and emotions including sinful anger and selfish desires at times are experienced by all of us.  But how we respond to those thoughts and emotions is how we fed or starve them.  Those we resist and focus on other things, including seeking the Holy Spirit’s help, grow weaker.  Resisting then becomes easier next time since the “good wolf” grows stronger as we feed him and the “evil wolf” grows weaker.                                      During the battle, we are at risk of responding with words or actions which will either strengthen or weaken one of these wolves.  Taking some time in silence and prayer to choose and feed the “good wolf” is vital if we ever hope to gain victory over our weaknesses and progress is quest of becoming more Christ-like and defeat satan.  How well are you doing in this battle?    We need to remind ourselves we are no match to satan’s deceptions and temptation, but satan is no match to the Holy Spirit.  So, with our eyes on and our hand in the Holy Spirit’s hand, we can not loose.   That is why the Holy Spirit came and what He offers and has available to each of us if we only ask. 

12/6      Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     6 

Biblical Wisdom: “So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother and sister, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24                                                                                                       Psalm Fragment: O guard my life, and deliver me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Psalm 25:20-21                                                                              1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”                                                                                                                                               COMMENTS: Today’s devotion isn’t anything new for any of us. We all know it is best to forgive and seek forgiveness, but what we really do is something else.  Our pride keeps us from admitting wrong and seeking forgiveness and, especially, if think we were in right or justified in our actions.  We expect the others to come to us first or to do what we aren’t willing to do first. Yet Bonhoeffer and scripture are telling us to take the initiative first.  From God’s perspective, we are all guilty so His goal is for both us and those who we’ve offended or those who offended us to forgive each other and be reconciled to Him together.  Let’s face it when we are in heaven we will get along so why not try to bring a bit of heaven here, right?  Well, what about those who don’t want to reconcile with us?  I believe scripture tells us to keep the offer open and make sure to stop doing offences to the other person, so choice remains in their side and not on ours.

What makes forgiveness possible is to keep realizing just how much we hurt God with our sins and how much our sins continue to hurt Him. I am convinced the closer we get to Him, the more we begin to realize how perfect and sinless He is and how imperfect and sinful we still are.  To compare ourselves to someone else does no good since are comparing to an imperfect example. What we should do is compare ourselves to what we were last year to see if are making progress but always judge ourselves against the standard Christ gives us from his life example and scripture.  Doing that seems defeatist since we will never reflect Christ’s example perfectly in this life, but the good news is God’s goal is an ongoing relationship with us where we permit Him to influence our thoughts and actions and words to steadily and over time transform to be more like Him.  What is the alternative?  Pain, sin with its consequences, regrets… and ultimately God’s judgment, so is really not a good option for us.

 “It is a difficult path Jesus imposes on his disciples, but it is a path full of grace.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  This path is difficult requiring 100% commitment and focus while encountering opposition at every corner.  A path with a destination we will not reach this side of heaven nor achieve the goal to be Christ-like we strive for.  But a path that enables us to be in closer relationship with Christ and taking advantages of the Holy Spirit’s help in battling satan’s attacks and overcoming all obstacles on that path.  But even though we will not become Christ-like this side of heaven, we will resemble Him more each day and resemble satan less each day.  

Besides, if we were to achieve the goal of being perfectly like Christ, our humanity might just convince us to think we don’t need Him anymore, which would cause us to become completely un-Christ-like and need to start the path all over again.  After all, satan was the greatest angel in heaven until he decided He no longer needed God, which opened the door for him to lose the desire to be like Him and to obey Him.  He actually tempted himself and has never recovered.  So maybe it is best our need for Him in the quest to become Christ-like remains a lifelong quest with progress only possible as we rely more and more on Him and less and less on ourselves.   

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Biblical Wisdom: My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Galatians 6:1                                                                                                           Psalm Fragment: Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us. Psalm 85:4 Galatians 2:20  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”                                                     COMMENTS: I believe this devotion is hitting home on a variety of fronts.  When we see those we care about and fellow believers revealing sins that are hindering their relationship with Christ as well as church body, we are compelled to approach them if evidence and consequence is significant enough but what if sins seem less harmful or sins that are so widespread in society and judged by society as acceptable?  I believe scripture tells us an urgent response is needed and required as well.  Mean or hateful behavior may drive a response quicker than gluttony when at times I can’t resist chocolate or ice cream until it is out of the house?  Society says living together without being married is normal and not sinful as long as faithful to person living with at the time, while God’s Word says adultery is living together not married or even thinking lustful thoughts. Yet I have also seen times when response was judgmental and harmful to all involved as well as to church. Discernment and wisdom in responses to any type of sinful behavior has to be influenced by God’s spirit, but isn’t an easy thing from my experience. I have been involved in a few such responses and most significant one involved a pastor who attempted to hit a church member out of anger from hard feelings when doing church remodeling together.  By using scripture as a guide and involving DS (denomination district superintendent) and requiring both to repent from their own behavior and ask forgiveness of each other, peace came but not before the pastor left. Unfortunately, I have seen the common result to be someone leaves before peace can be restored.  That is not real healing but the result, and the church and its members became weaker as a result.  I am even more resolved for my weaknesses to temper my responses while keeping scripture’s standard and direction in force as my and our guide to win battles.  Experience and prayer is only way I know to try to accomplish that goal going forward…                                                                                                                                                                                          We are now in Advent.  Last Sunday we lit the first candle on the advent wreath, the candle of hope.  We decorated our church sanctuary after worship service while sharing some experiences of past Christmas’s.  We are reminded of those gone due to death or sickness missing who were faithful and apart of annual decorating even last year.  We reflect on the church dinners, the Christmas caroling to shut-ins and local low-cost housing complex in years past while delivering cookie packages, visiting those we know in convalescent homes, …  We tend to think of those times as the “good old days” while remembering we also said the same think of earlier days while experiencing those times.                                                                                                                                                     If we are getting closer and closer to the end times prior to Christ’s return, as I believe we are, we are told to expect increase in persecution of Christians, a turning away from God’s moral standard – calling right wrong and wrong right.  The impact of these changes is concerning and is empowering those desiring to harm or kill or silence devout Christians.  Muslim extremists are among those.  So, what are we to do?  How do we stop that downward spiral our society is on?   Are we on a path of no return?  What will our children and grandchildren face, and how do we prepare them?   GOD IS STILL ON HIS THRONE AND IN COMPLETE CONTROL!!  His Holy Spirit is within us ready to guide and strengthen us, like He did Daniel.   We may have to go through them but we do not need to be destroyed by them.  This is a critical time to draw closer to Him, our only safe haven and shelter.

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Wisdom: “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16

 Psalm Fragment: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. Psalm 23:5-6     

Romans 5:10 “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

COMMENTS: Today’s devotion, I think, is preparing us for things to come.  Bonhoeffer did deliberately go from USA into Germany, an environment where Christians would become as much an enemy to Nazis as the Jews. He did so knowing he was likely going to his death.  He did so knowing he was going into an   evil dangerous environment.  But he did so in obedience to God’s call.  Dietrich would forfeit his own life and knew that odds were, he would when he returned to Germany. Yet he knew God wanted him to go back and minister and be God’s light to the people there during that dark time.    Being an enemy to those around you and still being bold with our faith is something I don’t fully understand or know how I would do.  Would I be bold as Paul to those who would kill or torture me or would I hide it, like Peter denying Jesus after Jesus was arrested?  Peter became very bold later after filled with Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us to be ready to give reason for hope we show daily but when look at how Christians in China live out their faith – there are times they are secret and times they share their faith.  Christians hid in catacombs in Rome during reign of Nero but millions lost their lives during that time.  Bonhoeffer was secret about his intents while in Germany but did not hide his faith either.    I have often said “Choose your battles” when it comes to daily issues that relate to issues needing corrected or decisions in error needing addressed. Choosing the time and way to attempt change should be chosen wisely so result has best chance of success and Christ can be honored with both the process and result.  I have attempted to do that but can’t honestly say in every instance I demonstrated courage or best timing.  At times I acted too soon but too often I delayed out of uncertainty or lack of confidence of correct action needed. In those instances, I have to admit I was tardy in prayer and devotion so was not prepared with God’s input, just my own faulty discernment and judgment.  How can we be ready for daily situation discernment or ultimately true persecution that is coming as last days approach? We have God’s promise we won’t face what we cannot bear, with His help.  However, that doesn’t mean we will be spared from persecution like so many before us and even today in many parts of the world. How do they prepare? They immersed themselves in prayer and scripture to find courage and direction. Memorizing scripture is essential. You and I also need to do so in the meantime….

Advent is a time celebrating coming of Christ’s birth.  It is also a time to prepare for His second coming, but also preparing for the work He still has for us to do. We are not promised a life free of persecution or pain or suffering or even poverty.  We are promised a life with His abiding presence helping and guiding and strengthening us as we walk through bright and dark times with Him. We are promised eternal life where all suffering and temptation is no more.  We are promised a new eternal   youthful body and heaven as a dwelling place with loved ones but most of all with Him.  Our future will include dying unless He returns first.  It will involve persecution as we approach the time of tribulation.  God prepared Peter and Paul and the disciples and the first century Christians.  He has prepared Christians from every generation since.  He wants to prepare us if we will simply obey and follow Him.  We have no idea what tomorrow holds or even today, so why wouldn’t we rely on Him, who not only knows but has control over the future? 

12/9      Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     9 

Biblical Wisdom: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Luke 6:27-28                                                                                                                                                          Psalm Fragment: Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me. Psalm 119:98 Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”  COMMENTS: Today’s devotion gives us a commandment not easy to do, loving our enemies and doing good to them. Bonhoeffer learned to do this even as he was executed a few days before Allies would have liberated him. I also think of Cory Ten Boom, who lost her family and suffered in a Nazi concentration camp. At an evangelistic service she was the guest speaker in later years, she gave an altar call and saw at the altar a man who was responsible for much of the pain in those camps and had to learn to forgive all over again. If we are hurt, we want offender to hurt and at least suffer pain comparable to ours. Yet to love and show kindness and witness their salvation is to want them to be spared that pain, as we want for those we do love in our family and community.  There is no denying that is what Christ did and wants us to do, but how do we do that?  Does that mean letting offenders off “scott-free” or does that mean to work towards a healing of both our relationship with them and healing issues that caused the offence. Facing consequences for sin but still implementing forgiveness and healing is likely unique for each situation but when I look at eternity, I get a glimpse of God’s perspective.  He wants all to be restored to an eternal relationship with Him, even if one of his followers needs to suffer for a brief time here on earth. That certainly means our responses should not be out of “getting even” or giving hurt for hurt. However, I think it means responding only when there is a motive to help the offender and not necessarily condoning the offence.  This causes me to work harder to withhold a response and reflect in prayer before responding when someone says or does something that hurts or offends me.  However, I have to admit when I compare offences I’ve experiences to Bonhoeffer’s or Cory Ten Boom’s, I become ashamed to be offended and realize going the “second mile” is a better response. Most offences have been out of thoughtlessness and not out of malicious intent anyway. I also remember Romans 8:28 that reminds us God uses all things good and bad to our good if we follow Him. We will be more prepared when offences come and even if our future holds real persecution. 

The truth is, the more like Christ we become, the more we realize just how perfect and Good He is.  That realization then causes us to realize how far short of His Goodness we are still living. That realization also forces us to admit that our sinfulness is still just as sinful as the sins of “our enemies”, which brings us back to Christ’s parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35.  When we understand and believe that, loving our “enemy” becomes possible and easier but still is not possible without His help.  Christ came and sacrificed to spare us the “PENALTY OF SIN” and provided His Holy Spirit to abide with and in us so to enable us to be spared from the “POWER OF SIN” until we will one day be spared of the “PRESENCE OF SIN” and the influence of satan when we enter Heaven and all God created there for us with all who are waiting of us there, including Him!!

12/10   Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     10 

Biblical Wisdom: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44            

Psalm Fragment: In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me? My vows to you I must perform, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:10-13                      

Romans 5:6-8 “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   COMMENTS: Can we truly love our enemies?  Well, we tend to love those we like while liking an enemy or those who mistreat us would likely be too much a stretch. If love is first an act of our will, we can first act as though we care about their wellbeing after first praying for them.  It is reasonable to ask God to hinder their hurtful actions and change their heart and/or make them aware of things they do that are hurtful.  If our motive is for healing in their hearts and a change to becoming Christ-like for them and us, that can be a good first step. To truly feel love for someone we don’t like may be awhile away or never, but I believe scripture and Bonhoeffer are telling us to let our will overpower our feelings. Unconditional love means willful loving even if other person never deserves our love.  That makes love impossible for us without Christ’s help.                                                                                                  However, it reminds us of God’s perspective – we always have been and are still undeserving of God’s love. God’s perspective is well being of both us and those we are commanded to love.  Yet the truth is both we and they have free will to accept or reject that love with resulting blessings or consequences.  Yet if we are longsuffering, as Christ is, then judgment must be left to Him and not to us. However, taking measures to limit hurt and pain to those affected by sinful behavior is not limited our love if that is our motive and not just making offender experience the pain he has inflicted.  How that sorts out should be a prayerful process in order for God’s will to be truly implemented. I believe our future will allow us to have plenty of opportunity to act out this commandment, which is what I want to prepare for in meantime.                                                                                       Before we received Christ’s forgiveness, we were allied with satan and Christ’s enemies.  Scripture tells us that (Romans 5:9-10) we were enemies of God when He died to redeem us from sin’s penalty.  We weren’t born then, but His mind was on us then too.  He died for His enemies who were alive then and for His enemies not born yet then.  So, who is our enemy?  Most of us in USA don’t have enemies who confront us as severe as to Christians overseas, but there are some very difficult to get along with.  But no matter what level of hostility our enemies confront us with, Christ is guiding us with His example and with His Word in relationship with then and with Him.   He doesn’t ask us to do what He hasn’t but doesn’t ask as much of us as He has already done, so we know He understands our concerns and struggles and resistance.  I see hatred that causes such unimaginable evil being done to Christians mostly in Muslim and Communist countries but also to some in US, I realize I too and my family may very well face such persecution soon than we realize.                                                                                     So how do we prepare and what can we do to protect our loved ones and, even more important, how do we remain faithful to Christ in the meantime and in the midst of such persecution?  The answer to these questions, I believe, lies in scripture and examples of those recorded in scripture who lived through such persecution.  I also believe developing a closer relationship with Christ, a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit, and hiding more scripture in our minds, and spending more time in prayer are a good start.  Being faithful in doing God’s bidding in meantime so we are habitually accustomed to obeying Him is also important.  Good habits make good behavior easier in difficult times.  Bad habits are harder to resist during difficult times.                                                                So, that is why I am motivated to continue and share and spread the message God is putting on my heart in writing this journal and sharing by email and blog and any way I can.  But it doesn’t stop there.  How I live and what I do is still a work in process and am sure it is for you too.  If my journal encourages you, I invite you to help me share it but also to council me in any way you would like for me to improve it going forward.  We both will be glad when we do…

12/11   Christian Community- What Does it look like?                     11 

Biblical Wisdom: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the son of Man is?” and they said, “some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets?” he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16                                                                                                    “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? Luke 6:46                                                                                                                                                                    “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10               1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”                                                                                         COMMENTS: We have finished the 40-day study with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He has reminded me just how priceless our relationship is with Christ, the Savior of the world and our Savior, and yet how much we need to strive to stay in relationship with Him.  Beginning that relationship is a matter of recognizing who Christ is and who we are and asking Him into our hearts and forgiveness of our sins.  To maintain that relationship does require work, praying and studying scripture and turning from our sinful nature and seeing His help to change. Also involves being a friend and witness to those around us.  You and I, hopefully, will never know the type of persecution and sacrifice Bonhoeffer experienced.  However, being prepared and faithful in meantime is all we are asked to do and if a time of real persecution comes, He will give you the strength and joy needed to endure.  We have countless examples to be confident in that starting with Steven in the New Testament but even in the old testament with Daniel especially.  This study has reminded me just how blessed I am and how much grace He has bestowed to me and my family. It drives me to be more grateful to Him and more willing to be the example to those around me and be bolder in my witness. Being bold does go against my nature and not sure how I would or should orchestrate that, but will be praying about that.  Somehow, I believe that will become clearer to me and pray it will for you as well.                                                                                                                                                            I am becoming increasingly troubled how quickly being a Christian is becoming unpopular and Christianity coming under attack.  Christians are being attacked by those who believe in other religions, showing intolerance while condemning those of the Christian faith as being intolerant.  The values and moral standard of conduct are the basis for others to persecute Christians who teach and practice that code of conduct.  The 10 commandments are no longer allowed in public buildings in free countries where 100 years ago they were displayed and used as a basis of law and a standard to judge right and wrong conduct and living.                               So, what will the future hold?  What will our children and grandchildren face?  Will they embrace and be faithful to the Christ we serve and follow or will they deny Him and follow the god of humanism or atheism or a god of other religions?  Will they follow their own sinful passions and wisdom or follow a standard that has proved true through the centuries?   By not reading and learning the teachings and stories recorded in our bible and in recorded history, those who deny themselves become open to repeating the folly recorded in those books and deprive them of the wisdom recorded in those books.  Who will teach our children and grandchildren if we don’t?  Who will remind us if we don’t discipline ourselves to read and remember?  Who will be our trustworthy guide if God is not?   What then will be our eternal destination if we don’t follow a tried and true path?   How will we know our destination will be a good one if we follow our own choices, not having experience of knowing the outcome of those choices?    Why would we think poor choices with poor outcomes would bring better outcomes by repeating those choices?  Where do we find strength to choose differently when we want to change our path?  Is anyone qualified to help us if we continue to deny Christ’s help?                                                                                                                                                                       Well, I may be preaching to the choir, but everyone reading this including me, still needs to do some more work in living out our faith in Christ.   We all need to do more work in teaching our children and grandchildren.  We all need to surrender some more dusty dirty corners of our lives and souls to Him.   The legacy we make and leave will be what we plan for.  I am taking that seriously and, at request of my daughter a few years ago, writing and keeping this journal is how she asked me to preserve that legacy for her and her family.   Have you asked your children how they view your legacy and what legacy they would like you to leave?  How well would that match with the legacy you want to leave?  Pretty heavy stuff to think about but as we approach another new year, a good time to contemplate and consider some path corrections, right?

12/12                           An Eternal Foundation                                          12

^“11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.¹² Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;¹³ Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.¹⁴ If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.¹⁵ If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.¹⁶ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?¹⁷ If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.¹⁸ Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.²⁰ And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.²¹ Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your’s;²² Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your’s;²³ And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”1 Corinthians 3:11-23                                                 COMMENTS: It is amazing the work and engineering that goes into a skyscraper. I marvel at the skill and courage workers show daily building these buildings.   However, the integrity and engineering that goes into the foundation of these buildings is critical.  Imagine consequences if short cuts were taken on the foundation – if one of these buildings were to fall.  Would be like 911 and yet not one of these buildings have fallen due to a weak foundation. Close and frequent inspection are made to make sure the foundation is sound.   The risk from not doing so is too great.  We hear all too often what eventually happens if corners are cut when a road is built or paved or a house built.  Things look fine at first and may last a few years but will not last as long as intended and will cost much more to repair than what was saved.  Unfortunately, all too often consequences are not faced by guilty but later by innocent people.   Today’s devotion draws a parallel with our Christian walk.  If we ask Christ to forgive us and be our Lord and Savior, He becomes the foundation of our lives.   Studying the Bible and praying serve to enable us to learn from the experiences of generations before us and begin relying on the God whose wisdom exceed all who ever lived and who has alive for an infinite time before created the universe including our earth.  To not establishing a relationship with the God who does love us and expecting to accomplish success without Him is like expecting to walk into cockpit of a fighter jet in the middle of a World War with no training or flying experience and successfully doing battle with a skilled enemy and win.  Yet we do battle with satan alone every day thinking we are educated and smart enough and mature enough to win our battles with him.   God never intended us to live our lives alone without Him and wants so much to be a part of our lives and help/guide us along lives challenges and choices as well as lives joys.  Even after living 66+ years, I’ve learned many lessons by trial and error and have concluded the difference between good and bad choices were dependent on God being involved in choice.  I still need to keep Him involved. Truth is, you and I are not capable of withstanding satan’s attacks on our own. We are not strong enough nor wise enough. We know his agenda and goals, but we also know Christ’s agenda and goals.  Christ’s are for our good and satan’s are for our death, but even more to stop Christ’s agenda.   THE GOOD NEWS IS CHRIST IS INFINATELY STRONGER THAN SATAN AND KNOWS WHAT SATAN IS GOING TO DO BEFORE SATAN.

LIKEWISE, SATAN CAN’T SEE THE FUTURE NOR KNOW CHRIST’S MIND.  Satan is a creation, not a creator!  Christmas is a good time to recommit our lives to Christ, the birthday present Christ is most passionate for and will treasure the greatest.  His most precious creation, you and me and all mankind.

12/13                           Explosive Combination                                            13

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.    Colossians 3:16

“¹⁵ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,¹⁶ Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.¹⁸ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;¹⁹ Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;²⁰ Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;²¹ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”  Ephesians 5:15-21

COMMENTS:  Today’s devotion refers the Holy Spirit, a subject little understood even by Christians but certainly by non-believers.  When we ask Christ to forgive us and come into our hearts, some feel clean and forgiven and healed.  Others feel happy and loved.  Others feel a new sense of direction and meaning and worth.  Others feel an obligation to serve the One who created and forgave them.  Others feel God with them and companionship and talk to Him like He was next to them.  The Holy Spirit does influence our thoughts and motive and guides us in right direction.  All this, for someone who never experienced it, sounds unsettling and may even equate to “being possessed”.  However, those of us who know Christ realize our wills and thoughts are still our own but Christ becomes a friend and help and guide who encourage us to do good instead of evil and councils us when we are open. He is a gentleman not forcing His Will on us.  Yet the Holy Spirit is the aspect of God thru which He speaks to our thoughts and emotions and gives us a sense He is near, in control, and can see a perspective that reveals how He works and protects and guides.  I hope this helps you in your struggles and doubts and confusion. We can’t see or hear Him physically but can hear him in our thoughts and hearts as pray and study His Word and obey what know He wants of us.  When we get to heaven, we will see Him and hear Him and fellowship with Him in ways not possible here. How He can speak to and know us so personally and completely at same time as everyone else is a mystery but scripture and experience of myself and countless others in all generations past and present confirm for us this is true.  He gives us the desire and strength and ability to do good we otherwise could not do in spite of our sinful nature we still battle with as well as human weaknesses and emotional fickleness.  Currently David Jeremiah (Turning Point) is doing a study of Daniel, revealing prophecies God revealed to Daniel and amazing faithfulness and good Daniel did and righteous life he sustained from boyhood until his death likely in his 90’s.  His life shows us how God can bless and help us sustain a righteous life too even if facing real danger.   Daniel faced the lions den but many have faced death with amazing confidence. 

Scripture tells us a time of great tribulation is coming far worse than anything experienced in past history.  Looking at that history, we discover how terrible it was but also how God faithfully brought the faithful through those times. There is no way to prepare except to be close to God and in obedience of His Will.  Learning scripture, spending time with Him in prayer and devotion and worship is essential.  Then following and obeying and letting His Holy Spirit in us and then seeking and following His council    is essential.  By doing so, we find joy and evidence of His presence every day and even joy in the midst of hardship because of the confidence and joy of abiding in His presence.  That is the mystery and the reality of being a Christ follower.   We need only read scripture to confirm that to be true.  We need only look at the lives of family and friends who are Christ followers to discover that truth is still true and available.  We need only submit our lives to Him to realize that true applies to us too.  Knowing what we should do is one thing, but doing it is where real change happens and where our redemption from tribulation unfolds.                                                      

12/14               FAMILY FUNCTIONS DURING HOLIDAYS                       14

“³⁸ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.⁴⁰ But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:⁴² But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”  Luke 10:38-42

COMMENTS:  I invite you to reflect on past holiday family gatherings for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  The excitement and conversation are memorable.  But how about old quarrels or problems that raise their ugly heads again.  Maybe issues that go back to our childhood and still hold strong emotions even though the reason has long since gone. How sad when family holds to those feelings instead of letting healing happen. How sad when those memories are ruined by such experiences.

Mary and Martha had a life changing opportunity to have Jesus in their home and spend time in fellowship one on one with Him.  Martha was sincere in her desire to serve Christ, as was Mary.   What should they have done?  I’m sure Jesus was tired and hungry but would have been happy enough to receive a piece of bread and a cup of water from Martha so she could sit with Him too. 

How many times do we make family gatherings much more work and stress than needed?  I am reminded about our son’s wedding.  He and Shaylyn had a simple wedding with a very simple reception with family and friends at a fraction of cost and work of most weddings.  But fellowship and memories were just as significant.  Sharing that special day with those they care about had priority over trying to impress or show off or ???

Christmas is quickly approaching with family and church dinners, office and work parties, special worship services, and putting up decorations and lights.   When we get too busy with doing at sacrifice of spending time with Him, especially when it is His birthday we are celebrating, are we in fact playing the same role Martha did?  Are we missing fellowship with Him?  Are we missing giving Him what He desires most for His birthday?

So, let’s do ourselves a favor.  Let’s give Christ a present worthy of Him.  Let’s make this Christmas a time of giving to Him first.  We might just fine He will bless and return something more precious to us in return – a stronger relationship with Him and with those dear to us. We might just create some memories this Christmas far more precious than any we hold dear from past Christmas’s.  Memories also more precious to others and also to Him too.  So, let’s make this Christmas simpler and more meaningful by giving less and sharing more.   Giving to others in need more and less gifts to family and friends and they to you.  Spend more time with Him and more with others in need.  AMEN?  AMEN!

  12/15                Trusting God, Knowing God                                            15
My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him.  Daniel 6:22

COMMENTS: Today’s devotion identifies Daniel and Job.   Job tells us the conversation between Job’s friends and himself.  They tried to convince Job God was punishing him for sins he committed but he kept telling them he was innocent and was still trusting and praising God without understanding reason for his trials that still kept coming without explanation.  He and we later learned reasons God allowed his trials but was not due to his sins.  Daniel faced persecution more than trials and remained faithful. The lion’s den is the test we remember and how God protected Daniel without giving him the confidence He would by protecting him from lions.  Yet Daniel still praised and trusted God without any other protection or plan other than trusting and praising God.  A Christian bishop from Africa was visiting churches in the United States. When commenting on the differences between the Church in America and the Church in Africa, he laughed and said, “In America, you have blessed insurance. In Africa, all we have is blessed assurance!”   That is an insightful but sad observation.  We are so blessed in America. We work hard to protect ourselves and forget to live trusting and exercising faith in Christ.  African Christians, and in many countries, face terrible persecution and poverty.  They have no other choice but to trust Christ because have no other good option.  But acting in faith in Christ makes their faith much stronger and their walk with Christ much more real than ours.  I have concluded prosperity tends to weaken our faith and leads us deeper into sin and away from Christ most of the time while trials and poverty tend to do the opposite.  Therefore, I have concluded God’s richest blessings are given in pain more than in pleasure and poverty more than in prosperity and more in tragedy than in blessings.  I believe that is why Christianity is growing faster in China and Africa and even in Islam countries than in US and other free countries that have called themselves Christian in past.   Yet, God works in both to fulfill His will and fellowship with His followers.  I think this should tell us when we face real hardships or tragedies, or even just have bad days, we need to knuckle down and pray with our focus being on praising and seeking a closer walk with Christ – relying on the Assurance or His faithfulness instead of only seeking His help.

God trusts us with prosperity and blessing so we can bless others enduring hardship.  God blesses those enduring hardship in order to remind us where our blessings come from to remind us to be good stewards of our blessings and not tempted by them.  AMEN?  AMEN!

We are deep into the Advent Season when it is much easier to reach out and bless others and everyone is in a giving and joyous spirit.  By putting and keeping our focus on Christ, we will be more able to hear His Holy Spirit nudging us to stop and encourage, to visit, and to give time and money or even some of our unneeded things to those needing us to bless them and who God wants us to be ministered to by them too.  God works best on a 2-way street enabling us to bless and to be blessed.  Why?  Because He loved both and wants us to learn to love Him more deeply and each other too…

12/16                                      Jesus spoke of Daniel                                   16
When you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Matthew 24:15-16

“²⁰ And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;²¹ Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.²² And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.²³ At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.²⁴ Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.²⁵ Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.²⁶ And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.²⁷ And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”  DANIEL 9:20-27

COMMENTS:  David Jeremiah has commented that there have been debates over the centuries if Daniel really lived and faced the lion’s den and was given the prophecies written in the book of Daniel.  However, David shared that Jesus gave authenticity to Daniel and the book that has his name.  We need to get to the point we accept scripture as the Word of God and let God speak to us thru it.  However, there are real doubts each of us have at various points in our lives. It may be if God exists?  Or why does God allow tragedies or disasters happen or innocent people suffer?  If the Bible is literally true and the prophets and Jesus are real…  If we are going to let teachers or friends or internet influence our thinking, we should give God a chance to show us His side by reading the Bible ourselves.  I truly believe if we do that, the evidence will persuade us the Bible is true and those who attack it are false.  Josh McDowell is one of those individuals who has put a lot of work and research into evidence from history to give validity to the Bible and prove God’s hand has been at work in every generation and country, especially our own.  All the founding fathers of US were either devout Christians or had deep respect for the Bible and Christian doctrine and values and governed that way and is reflected in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.   I loved math as a youth but was not fond of history mostly because in school we had to focus on memorizing dates and names, which I was not good at but I was able to manage doing with a lot of work.  However, I now find history to be much more fascinating especially when can see God’s hand at work and learn some of the facts lost from old history books to more modern books showing faith so many in past generations had and how it influenced their decisions and outcome.  It is also unsettling to see our country shifting away from God and trending down same destructive path as nations and generations of the past.  I pray my children and grandchildren and their generations will stay faithful or turn to God before they face God’s judgment and consequences of not being in an obedient relationship with Him.  I fear the prosperity and freedom I’ve enjoyed, due to faithfulness of past generations, will not be what future generations will know.                  

12/17                   Prepare to Say “No” But also to say “Yes”                    17

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8                                                                                             COMMENTS:  Daniel and his 3 friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), were young men enslaved in the country of an invading pagan country.  Conquering King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon had a reputation of brutality and death to those who opposed them, so danger of refusing was real.  So being thrown in to a furnace and lion’s den was used to bring fear and submission.  Difference was Nebuchadnezzar was now confronted with a God greater than he and with young men willing to follow the God greater than Nebuchadnezzar.  Impact of following God changed history and every generation since as well as these 4 young men’s future for the good.  Daniel’s influence lasted thru reign of 4 kings and impacted his generation for good and those in every generation since who study Daniel.  Their example impacted me as a young Christian many years ago as well as is still impacting me and pray it will impact my children and grandchildren and their generation as well.  Daniel is still telling us serving God may bring sacrifice but price of compromising and giving into temptation is far greater and too high.

A few years ago, two teens in Zimbabwe were rummaging through a town dump looking for anything they could eat or use to survive.  They discovered 50 eggs thrown out by local chicken producers. They took those eggs home and hatched them.  From those baby chicks they developed a business of more than 500 chickens which not only fed them and their families but provided money to pay for their school expenses.  God honored their wise choices and hard work.

We have such examples of such teens, who faced dangerous and difficult times but remained true to God and followed a plan they could not understand but trusted God’s wisdom and faithfulness, in scripture who God used to do great things too:  Joseph in Egypt, David in Bethlehem, Josiah as king in Israel, Daniel along with his 3 friends in Babylon, Jesus’ mother Mary, and Timothy in Macedonia are a few of those teenage examples recorded for us in scripture.  They all demonstrated wisdom and faith far beyond their years because they trusted and obeyed God sincerely where they were and God then added to their faith and wisdom sufficient measure to complete His plans through and with them.  He used the least gifted and noteworthy individuals to become great and most noteworthy.  HE STILL CHOOSED TO DO SO!   The difference between them and all their fellow teens was saying no to satan’s temptations and saying yes to God.  Not just once but every day and every situation.  Sure, they failed out of weakness at times, but did not venture far from that path of obedience and abiding fellowship with their God and our God.  Their example needs to be our example and instruction book to follow too.   IT WORKS AS WELL FOR YOUNG ADULTS AND FOR MIDDLE AGE ADULTS AND GREY-HAIRED SENIORS AS WELL AS IT DOES FOR TEENAGERS!!  “And a little child shall lead them” is a quote from Isaiah that applies here.

But let’s read Isaiah 11:1-10 and glean the prophecy of Christ’s coming that  will someday be fully fulfilled :   And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:² And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;³ And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:⁴ But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.⁵ And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.⁶ The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.⁷ And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.⁸ And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.⁹ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.¹⁰ And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

I know the underlined portion of this scripture doesn’t exactly apply to the thoughts of this devotion, but does reveals God’ heart and plan to make dangerous situations and dangerous animals and even dangerous people safe and to lead them, and us too, into living and following His perfect will using “little children”, the weak and vulnerable among us. Those who are the least likely and gifted but the most trusting in Him.  The ones most likely to obey Him.   We are told to come to Christ like little children (Matthew 18:3 and Matthew 19:14) … 

Matthew 18:3 “³ And said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 19:14 “¹⁴ But Jesus said, suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Saying NO to satan while saying YES to Christ is a lifelong challenge and struggle and choice.  We start that journey at the Cross where we invite Christ into our lives and receive His forgiveness first for our sins.  But then we must continue to say no to satan and yes to Him as we journey with Him and with His Holy Spirit guiding us from that day forward.  When we look away and wonder or fall from that path, He is there to pick us up and put us back on that path of obedience.  But when we walk that path with Him, amazing things happen.  Things we might not even notice at the time but a chain of events and opportunities that God will use to transform us and enable us to be a part of His transformation in the lives of others.  Things and events that will make an eternal difference.  Christmas is a great time to come to Him and open ourselves for Him to do some course corrections in our lives and in our souls. Doing some “knee time” with Him.  Giving Him the only birthday present He desires.  Giving Him ourselves.  AMEN?  AMEN! 

12/18                              Making Possible the Impossible                           18

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.“  Matthew 19:26

COMMENTS:   I am reminded of Daniel and incredible faith he and his 3 friends had while in bondage in Babylon.   Most memorable was the fiery furnace and lion’s den experiences but commitment to follow God was a daily choice and daily sacrifice for them and others who followed their example.  Daniel’s long life of consistent faithfulness makes him my hero and most important example, other than Christ Himself.   Corrie ten Boom, and her family, are a more contemporary example.  They too were the victims of a hostile and evil conquering dictator and they too suffered greatly for following God’s commands.  They too remained faithful.  I can’t help but believe those days of persecution will be repeated soon as we see a slippery fall from respect for God’s law and commands and a growing disgust for those who believe in Christ and follow His commands.  Tolerance is demanded of every other religion but intolerance is demanded towards Christianity.  Have you noticed that becoming more and more evident from society and from governing bodies each year? 

Today’s culture is redefining tolerance to be – believing everyone’s ideas and values and world view are equally true and valid and not just recognizing everyone has the right to have right to theirs.  That there is not right or wrong.  For Christians to identify sin as scripture identifies it and share the Gospel is becoming “intolerance” and judged by society as acts of terrorism, even within the US.  Daniel and Corrie ten Boom both know very well how their faith was tested and persecution came their way for living their faith.  Yet we have their lives to remind us that serving God and sharing His Love and Gospel of mercy and forgiveness is the only course that will endure and bring eternal life to themselves and those they influence.  Sin is the condition of every living human and sharing God’s desire for us to admitting our sins and asking forgiveness of Christ is not being judgmental or intolerant but offering hope and life to others.  That is the Gospel our parents and grandparents, our founding fathers, the founders of all the great universities and hospitals in our country, and so many of those who have positively impacting every generation since Christ’s birth have testified to.  Consequences of loosing that heritage and moral code and obedience that follows that Gospel have been repeated in every generation told in history, as well as scripture, so why would we think ours will be any different if continue the path of disobedience and intolerance toward God and His Word and Gospel?     Yet the benefits of repentance and following Christ are evident in every generation.  In today’s devotion Daniel had the privilege of insight into future thru the dreams of pagan kings, a future that is even today is not fully fulfilled yet but Christ confirm for us it will.  Daniel was faithful his entire life and died with the respect of his countrymen and even his enemies and the confidence of an eternity in heaven.   Corrie faced a time of terrible torture and suffering and the death of her entire family but lived to see millions saved under her ministry and the confidence of an eternity with Christ in heaven.  The influence that came out of her suffering and loss made her voice noticed by millions, including me and her reward great along with theirs.   “Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.”     Corrie ten Boom                                                 

12/19                        Train Today for Tomorrow                         19                   
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

RECOMMENDED READING:  DEUTERONOMY 6:4-9; 11:18-21

COMMENTS:   Today’s devotion reminds us how important it is to raise our children to know and love the Lord. Scripture of full of examples and blessings of doing so and consequences of not. Choice resides with us to raise our children and expose them to God’s teachings and saving Grace, but remains our children’s choice to obey or not.

 Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are 4 examples of young men with a faith strong enough to face death rather than abandon the faith and moral code they embraced as children.  The impact of their families and community guiding them into a knowledge and faith in God and prepared them for an invasion and enslavement from an evil and brutal pagan country.   Moses was raised by a rich and pagan family, the pharaoh’s daughter in Egypt, but God found a way of enabling his biological family to make contact with him and plant the seeds of faith in God.  God did reveal himself to Moses and result was Moses coming to a faith in God and following Him to lead his people back to their home land.   Our society is proving again that people can be deceived into thinking evil is good and good is evil if are not exposed to the standard of right and wrong (good and evil) that God has given us in the Bible.   It is unsettling how little children and teens know about God, Christ, and bible stories.  No wonder a belief in God and a sense of right and wrong is lost and violence in schools and communities are increasingly more common and severe.  We are told that those who do not study history are destined to repeat it.  History gives us countless examples that is true.  Israel repeated that cycle dozens of times in scripture.  Even churches have gone thru that cycle.  New denominations spring up when old ones forget to preach the Gospel and concede to greed or popular opinions.  Yet God’s standards and Gospel are unchanged.  I pray I will and my family will be faithful during any trials God will allow us to be exposed to and remain faithful, just like Daniel and his friends did. I also pray that Christ will be in close fellowship and expose them and I to His presence and scripture to sustain us during those times of trial.  I truly believe my generation will live to see the Tribulation Daniel prophesied, but can not see how my children’s generation will pass without a major revival in our country to postpone judgment once more for their generation.

God’s wonderful pledge and promise was given to Solomon and Israel when the Temple was first completed (II Chron 7:14) and has been His pledge to every generation since and remains His pledge today.  “ ¹⁴ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  History proves He has been faithful to this promise but only when people kept their part.

12/20                              First Expressions                                                              20                  As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Daniel 1:17

RECOMMENDED READING:  DANIEL 2:14-49

COMMENTS: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were all faithful but Daniel was the only one God gave the gift of receiving and interpreting dreams.  We are not told in Daniel how God used the three in Babylon but Daniel was used to council and influence multiple generations in Babylon among his people and Babylonian people.  I have to believe his influence, and influence of the other three impacted all the people Babylon conquered and the three also were placed in positions of great influence.  None would have chosen to become conquered subjects of a tyrant king and pagan nation but excelled in those positions and gained great respect by pagan and Jew alike.  The impact of their faith and lives and example are impacting all generations from then until even today, which means their reward is still growing.   It is also significant they prayed with Daniel before he received the king’s dream and interpretation and then took the time to praise Him before going to the king with the interpretation.  Since the king would not even tell the dream he wanted interpreted was even more a miracle because Daniel knew the dream.  If we read the passage noted in Daniel, we will notice the confidence Daniel had when asked for time to acquire the dream and interpretation.  Likewise, you will also notice that even though the king ordered all his wise men killed because they did not know his dream and interpretation, he was surprised there was one (Daniel) who had learned the dream and its interpretation.  There could be no doubt Daniel’s words were true and from God since the only explanation that Daniel knew the king’s dream was that God had revealed it to him.  The king was a very evil and godless man but he was wise enough to know his dream had a very important message and he had to find a way to know any interpretation given to him was accurate.  To expect the one with that interpretation to know the dream without being told was his way of knowing that.  He didn’t know God but sensed dream was coming from a divine source.  Daniel was there to not only tell the dream and interpretation but show the king and people who that Divine God was and way to know Him. Daniel is showing us as well if we take the time to listen. 

12/21                              A Fragile History                                                      21    
You saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron.    Daniel 2:41

COMMENTS:  Daniel is telling King Nebuchadnezzar he and all nations are exposed and fragile, only God is invincible.  The king was probably not ready to accept that message, but we are like that king in believing that we are invincible when things are going well.  However, as we get older we start to realize just how fragile and vulnerable we are and how quickly a secure future can be destroyed.  I’m reminded that God is invincible so we need to put our trust and future in His hands as the only way to have hope and confidence of the future.  If Daniel could face a den of hunger lions; and if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could face a furnace with flames so hot they killed the men who threw them in the furnace, then how much more can we trust the same God?  Somehow, someway, and in His time, we have the same promise that God will not forsake us either.  Yet Christ’s disciples at the time wouldn’t have judged Christ’s death as evidence of that, but only if God would have sent “ten thousand angels” to free Him and set Him as King.  So, we cannot expect that God will always save us the way we envision or want but He will do it in a way best for us and those who’s lives He wants to impact.  Knowing history is to know God and how He works.  I would encourage you to take some time to read Daniel and let it be absorbed into your mind and soul.  I have been doing that with the insights David Jeremiah has added and am finding a fresh realization of how much God loves you and me and wants us to know, love, and follow Him with all our hearts.  I am also even more convinced just how much we can trust God with not only our lives but the lives of our families.  Sometimes the concerns I have that my children and their families will be faithful in days ahead are overwhelming but am reminded by Daniel that I must put their lives in His hands and trust Him to keep them faithful.  That has become my prayer and hope for them.

  12/22                             Extremist?                                                               22       
He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.
Daniel 2:22   

COMMENTS:  Christianity is becoming less and less popular and a sense of morality based on the Bible’s teachings is becoming less popular.  You can judge how much worse it has become than 10 or even 5 years ago, and how much more this is true today.  How can this trend be changed and what are we to do in the meantime?   Our church is becoming weaker and weaker in numbers and finances but also in spirit.  The contrast with our church 100 yrs. ago, 50 years ago, or even 25 years ago.  Our worship attendance is about 1/3 attendance 15 years ago.  Many deaths since then, but also a greater sense of indifference towards being a part of a church family.  Yet I need to keep reminding myself that God is still in control and will prevail.   That said, being true to the relationship and walk I have with Christ and being true to what He has asked me to do is vital.  Praying, studying scripture, worshiping with church, serving in outreach programs, seeking opportunities to witness and encourage others, and encouraging same of others.   Also continuing to make a tithe the minimum I give to church and gift to other ministries above that.  However, I believe as trials increase, there will be sifting which may mean church may become weaker before it becomes stronger but ultimately, I have to believe that Christ’s church will grow and prevail even if my local church doesn’t.   As much as I love my own church and the building we meet it, I have to remind myself Christ’s Church is what I am really part of and have to be the most concerned with as well as strive to make my local church part of Christ’s Church.                                                                                                                              What do we say to someone who believes there are many paths to heaven?   Why do we believe our way is better and others are not valid?  Don’t they believe their faith is genuine too or more valid than ours?  So, are the humanists who say all roads of faith lead to heaven valid?  Who are we to say they are not?  Are we being intolerant to say any different?   That is what society is telling us.                                                                                   Well, let’s look at the fruits.  Granted there are those misguided who have done hurt in the name of Christianity, but just a little research will reveal they were not Christ followers.  The first century Christians gave their lives for the resurrected Christ.  If story was a lie, they would have been close enough to know that.   The courage and sacrifice they showed to tell others of Christ’s life and death and resurrection and redemption would have quickly died and not increased.  The transformed lives both then and through the centuries couldn’t have happened from a false gospel.  Even today greater good is done from Christ centered churches.  More hospitals and orphanages and other charities have come from them too than from any other organized religion.  More evidence to support bible stories and writings has been discovered than for any other ancient document.  Those most passionate about Islam are focused on destroying others.  Those most passionate about Christ sacrifice their lives loving and teaching and guiding others to Christ.  The most compelling evidence is the explosion of Christian converts in Islam dominated countries, many of which had a personal encounter with Christ.   Then consider the prophecies fulfilled from scripture and prophecies yet to be fulfilled but are shown near to being fulfilled from current world events.  Many like Lee Strobel and Josh McDowell and CS Lewis either started as atheists trying to disprove Christianity and ended up believing in Christ and writing compelling books to prove Christ; or started believing and were able to prove such to others by their writings.  Those who left Christianity to follow Islam have done so due to actions and character of those who pretended to know Christ and lived lives far from Christ’s example.  In contrast, those who leave Islam to follow Christ are compelled by the lives they see His followers live and the hope and joy they show instead of the anger and desperation those in Islam show.  Christ Himself tells us (John 14:6) HE is the only way to the Father and to heaven.  Yet what becomes most real to the born-again Christian is the real fellowship and guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit abiding in each believer willing to let Him (John 14:16-17). No, all roads do not lead to heaven any more than all roads lead to the same town or city. To deny that is not being tolerance or loving towards others but quite the opposite.  It is telling and teaching lies to prevent them from finding truth and redemption.

We are told in scripture, there will be a falling away and people will believe lies instead of truth.  People will call truth lies and lies truth without shame or remorse.  Today we are seeing that fulfillment more and more, including persecuting those who teach and preach Christ’s truth and gospel. (II Timothy 4:3-4)

Christmas is a time of celebration and family gatherings.  A time of giving presents and sharing and giving.  But is should also be a time of remembering and worshipping the Christ, who’s birthday we celebrate.   Jesus is THE REASON AND ONLY REASON FOR THIS SEASON!  Let’s do our part to put Christ back in Christmas and carry that resolve and commitment into 2018 as a New Year’s resolution and commitment so others will be introduced to the Christ we know and serve.  AMEN?  AMEN!

 12/23                             Swift News                                                               23   Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.  Psalm 72:11   

“Behold, the day of the LORD is coming…. The LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives…. And the LORD shall be King over all the earth” Zechariah 14:1,3,4,9.

The Book of Revelation speaks of a day when the kingdoms of this world will “become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever” Revelation 11:15.  

COMMENTS:  If we had to think about our heart beating or breathing, living would be impossible and we would not be capable of doing anything else, including sleeping.  Likewise, if I knew how many demons satan has devoted to tempting and deceiving me and those who know me.   If I knew all the plans satan has derived to persuade me to sin and turn from God, as well as my family and those who know me, I would be overwhelmed.  I ‘m sure you would be too. However, if we also knew how much God has limited satan and how many angels He has devoted to that task, we would be encouraged.  Yet I am glad that God, in His Wisdom, decided to withhold from me and you tomorrow’s challenges and dangers so we could stay focused on today’s.  Likewise, trusting God for tomorrow and getting help for today is all we can do.  Yet looking back and seeing how well that has worked all our lives up until now is encouraging.   To do otherwise will spoil good days and cause difficult days to be unnecessarily more difficult to deal well with.   The theme of Turning Point devotionals from Daniel are focusing on preparing the reader for periods of increasing persecution and hardships.  If you are finding that to be true, I encourage you to make sure your relationship with Christ is strong and you are being obedience to all He desires of you.  Someday when Christ returns you need to be ready or you will face a time far worse than anything you’ve experienced, even worse than during the days of Daniel.   I am praying for you and anyone who may read this in days ahead. We celebrate Christ’s birthday during Advent, but Christ is not a new born baby any more, nor a crucified savior dead in the tomb.  He is our resurrected Lord and Savior soon to return to bind satan, and set up His earthly kingdom.  He invites us to rule with Him in His new kingdom.  Heaven will bring us great joy with those we love but spending eternity with Christ and serving Him will be far beyond our expectations.  We must not wait until then to start.  We need to start now in small simple ways, especially since everyone is in a mood for giving and greeting during Christmas.   JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THIS SEASON.

This evening our community choir gave their second performance of the Christmas Cantata “Bethlehem Morning”.  Choir is made up of 40 members from 9 churches in area.  Arlene and I and our daughter were part of this choir. The fellowship during practice and singing together and sharing God’s Message in song is such a blessing for all.  We performed at the Clintonville Union Presbyterian church this evening. 

12/24                             The World’s Largest Rock                               24  
“You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.”  Daniel 2:34

COMMENTS: “Oh, Christ is our lamb, our daily manna, and our rock with the flowing stream — He is so good!” Witness Lee, Chinese Christian     I read a book “Heavenly Man” based on the life of a Christian in Communist China.  The persecution he and his family suffered for simply admitting he was a Christian and not denying the Christ He serves was significant.  He became a Christian at age 16 and has been responsible for many thousands being saved and for starting many underground churches in his country.   I have heard the population of China is now 20% Christian.  How is it that in a country where Christianity is outlawed to have faster growth in number of converts than free countries where Christ can freely be worshipped. This mystery is also true in Muslim countries like Pakistan where being a Christian results in rejection of family and beatings or death at the hand of Muslim family or neighbors or extremists. I think the answer lies in our own hearts.  The temptation, during prosperous times when things are going well, is to believe we can manage on our own and leave God out.  Priorities are based on our agenda and leaves little time for God.  Consequence of leaving God out seems minimal or manageable at the time.  However, during times of crisis we begin to realize we won’t make it without God’s help.  That is the daily experience of every Christian in China and yet, they have concluded to die with Christ or suffer in this life with Christ is better than living and dying without Him. Yet, if read “Heavenly Man”, you will discover Chinese Christians experience a joy and peace even in the midst of their circumstances that is greater than we know in the US.  They live in hiding and meet to worship in homes or secret places instead of beautiful comfortable churches. They suffer loss of employment and family and even imprisonment as a result of their faith.  They are at risk of their neighbors or friends turning them in.   Yet they are able to witness and win converts at a greater % than we do in the free world.  I think their experience should encourage us to be strong and know God is faithful to us and we need not fear the future or be timid in our witness.  I believe Christ will return before the Tribulation Period begins, a period where satan is allowed to persecute believers and have a brief time (7 years) in power trying to fulfil his agenda.  However, God will leave him on a short rope and there will be people converted during that time if they refuse to accept the “mark of the beast” that will be needed to buy or sell anything.  God’s judgment is promised for any who receive that mark. 

Today is Christmas Eve.  Tonight, we will be gathering in worship at Rankin Chapel, one of three country churches our pastor serves at. We will pray and sing Christmas hymns and light candles and hear the familiar Christmas story from Luke 2, as we have countless years before.  But let’s make this Christmas special.  Let’s sing a “happy birthday song” to our Savior by giving Him the one present HE desires above all else, the gift of our love, our obedience, or time, our lives.  Let’s love as He loves and listen to His Holy Spirit come to abide in and guide us.  By doing so we will be blessed as we bless Him and those He wants us to bless.  By doing so, we will discover what Christians in China and Pakistan and impoverished countries all over the world have discovered.  Living in close relationship with Christ brings joy and peace and love and purpose like nothing else. 

12/25                                                   Fresco Fiasco                                  25     He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
1 John 2:6  

COMMENTS: 

Elias Garcia Martinez, a hundred years ago, painted portrait of Christ on wall of a chapel in Borja, Spain.  The portrait was called “A Fresco of Christ”.  Over time the portrait deteriorated until an 81-year-old local artist was contracted to restore the painting.  Unfortunately, Cecilia Gimenez started with good intentions but ruined the painting trying to restore it.  The portrait of Christ looked more like a money in an oversized tunic instead of Christ wearing a crown of thorns.  Reflecting our master is not possible without Him shining in and trough us.  When we try to do it on our own, we end up ruining our witness and hindering His work, but when look at examples like Daniel or Mary, we discover how well God is praised and how impactful our lives can be when we let the Holy Spirit into our souls and follow His lead.                                                                                                                             “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be just like Jesus.”  Max Lucado                                               

We are living in a world that does not want to hear they are sinners and tends to judge us as hypocrites if we do and judge our less than perfect life.  That is why we should not convey the Gospel message without underscoring we are also sinners forgiven but still in need of God’s mercy since we are not Christ like yet.  Being honest with those we witness and share with is key to being a positive influence for Christ and not a hindrance.  Let’s face it, our lives are our biggest witness whether we say anything or not.  Scripture tells us to live our faith and be ready to share the reason for the hope shown by our actions.   God’s grace and mercy is ours when we fail but our blessing is rich when we do not fail.  I have done both and know the only way to succeed is to stay close to my Savior and don’t miss my devotion and prayer times.  Someone has said one time “If you were accused of being a Christian, is there enough evidence to convict you?”   I think the next question is, does your life encourage those who know you to want to be a Christian?  I am trusting I have and will continue to positively impact the lives of those who I cross paths with if I continue to be close to my Savior and be honest about my relationship with Him and about how faithful I am or not am to that relationship but how faithful He is to me!  Again, the discipline of doing this devotion journal is really helping me maintain the discipline of daily devotions and prayer.  Retirement has enabled me more time to devote to this endeavor.  While I was working this discipline was much more difficult to maintain and devoting the time consistently was always a goal but, honestly, there were days I’d miss opportunity and felt something was missing and felt I cheated God as well as myself.  There is always something to distract you and me and, really, the only way to maintain a time of devotion daily is to do it first in the morning or make sure I stop in the evening in time.  I also know that is not enough if don’t pause now and again during day to reflect and pray at least silently.  To do that brings back proper perspective and helps me notice ways God is guiding and helping each day.      

Today is Christmas.  This morning early, we will be at our daughter’s home having breakfast and watching them open presents.  A wonderful family tradition.  Then later in the day they will come for meal and open presents to and from us.  Our son and daughter-in-law are us and will be joining us as well.  Precious times together but also a precious time remembering and honoring the Christ we love and serve.  HE IS THE REAL REASON FOR THIS DAY AND SEASON.  WE MUS NOT FORGET OR DILUTE THA TMESSAGE.   

12/26                             Field Work: Isaac                                                      26      And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening.  Genesis 24:63                                           “I have calmed and quieted my soul” Psalm 131:2.                                                                                                   “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” Isaiah 30:15.                                                  “aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind our own business” 1 Thessalonians 4:11.                               “the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God”           1 Peter 3:4.

COMMENTS:  There was a summer week, a few years ago, when the electric was off several days.  Since then there has been times when the electric has been off a few hours.  It does cause adjustments and tend to wonder what we can do in meantime, especially at night.  No TV or radio and only candles or flashlights to do anything.  Today’s devotion reminds us the value of using those times in prayer and reflection.   I think it is good to remind ourselves all we would have to do is turn off the TV and a few lights any night to have that same opportunity.  I have to admit I can’t remember the last time I’ve done that but does encourage me to not just fill the evenings up with less important tasks or entertainment.  I’ll work on that and hope you will too.  Maybe we will both “redeem the time” God has so graciously given us.  I’ve heard it said, if we discount money and things, we are all equally rich – receiving 24 hours every morning and given an opportunity for a fresh start each morning.   A beautiful sunrise reminds us of that fresh start and a beautiful sunset reminds us that we can let go and recharge our battery for a new start the next day.  I do know if I keep Christ close during the day, I accomplish more and feel better at the end of the day.  Well, I come short of that more than I’m willing to admit and I need reminded at times especially when something difficult comes up or face someone who is making it challenging to do that.  Fortunately, that is more the exception than the rule but still sometimes find myself unprepared at times.  How about you?  Well, I guess we can take some comfort in knowing our struggles are very common with Christians and know God’s Grace is there for us when we fail. However, it just means I need to keep my guard up.  I hope this encourages you and alerts you to keep your guard up as well so neither of us runs the risk of losing our tempers and/or say something we’ll regret.   

Today is the second day of Christmas.  The popular song “12 Days of Christmas” was written during a time in England, when Christmas was outlawed and any mention of Christ or His message of redemption was worthy of imprisonment so this song was a coded message to share the Good News.  I think this week between Christmas and new year day is a wonderful time in the quiet of early morning or late night to stop and reflect on this and past Christmas celebrations and family gatherings, also remembering those who have passed.  But even more important, reflecting on Christ, who gave so much to be in fellowship with us and us with Him.   Reflecting on what it means for the Holy Spirit to dwell in and in fellowship with us constantly.  Such an amazing and precious gift.  God has become so accessible to us, making it easy to take Him for granted and become indifferent to His blessings and council.  But we need to also take time to reflect on what our lives would be without Him and eternal consequences we would face without Him.

So much to think about.  So much to praise and thank Him for.   So much to pray about.  We need to pray for and offer theirs and our needs and burdens to Him in prayer, but we need to give Him the praise and worship He desires for us and we desperately need to give Him too.  Worship and praise recharges our spiritual batteries and fills us with joy too. He deserves our worship and we desperately need to worship Him too.  We die a little and He is saddened when we let distractions and our weakness and winery body hinder and prevent us from our quiet time each day with Him.  Let’s change and begin again.  He is waiting patiently.

12/27                                         Nones                                                              27     The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.  Psalm 53:1 

COMMENTS: There are more people alive now than any other time in history.  I believe I’ve heard it said a few years ago there are more people alive now than have lived from time of Adam.  That means the opportunity for Christianity to grow is greater now than in past. Yet people with no religious affiliation, atheists and agnostics, make up the third largest “religious” group in the world.  2.2 Billion are identified as Christian, 1.6 billion Muslim, and 1 Billion as “none”.  But everyone does have a god they worship in one form or another whether they realize it or not.  When we reject God, we create one or allow material pursuits to become our focus and reason for living, motivating our thoughts and actions.

That appears to be true in every country but more obvious in countries where Christians are truly persecuted.  It is also true in the free world and even where Christianity is in a minority even if include just those who are affiliated with Christianity and don’t profess a faith in God.  It is illogical to believe that our world and all living creatures, including humans, could have evolved or just happened without a designer and creator.    Same goes for believing we were created without purpose or with a mission.   I think anyone should be willing to admit anything made without thought and a purpose in mind wouldn’t have much value.  Likewise, nothing can move or even change without an external force being applied.  Science, I think, shouts of a creator even more than the Bible tells of a creator.  However, not admitting the existence of God as our creator doesn’t mean HE doesn’t exist.  Let’s face it, we can’t will or ignore God out of existence. 

Scripture tells us that only a fool thinks there is not God (Psalm 14:1).  What does that say about those in our leadership and education system who believe that?  I pray God will help us keep our children and grandchildren and their generation from being deceived into thinking there is no God.  Evidence is showing that is happening in increasing numbers.  My generation started that ball rolling and my children’s generation is building off that deception. That ball seems to be too big to stop or even slow down, but we need to keep reminding ourselves our job is not to stop the ball but to be obedient to God.  God’s job is to stop the ball and He will in His time. 

However, history tells us His time is affected by how repentant we are. I Chronicles 7:14 give us the promise that if God’s people, Christians, repent and turn from their sins, He will forgive their sins and heal their land.  That is the formula for positive change and healing.  Sound so simple and is addressed not to the pagan community but to the believers who profess Christ.  That tells me not to be complacent or satisfied with where I am today in my Christian walk. 

“No one is holy like the LORD, for there is none besides You. Nor is there any rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). “If there were no God, there would be no atheists.” G. K. Chesterton  

12/28                              Will Power: I Will Have Mercy                       28      For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” Romans 9:15 

COMMENTS:  There has been a debate for centuries between Calvinists (those who teach predestination) and Wesleyans (Armenians who believe in free will).  FYI, Presbyterians are Calvinists and Methodist are Armenians.  How do we reconcile God’s ability to plan and see future events and recognize God’s influence and still recognize we each have ability to choose God’s path or a sinful path?  That is a mystery but history and scripture support both beliefs.  Ardent Calvanists say backsliding or turning away from Christ either is not permanent or their salvation was not genuine in the first place.  Baptists may hold to the “once saved, always saved” belief as well.  How, then do we reconcile all three approaches and understand what is true to scripture.  I have to admit I have not fully resolved the difference but do believe there is truth and validity to all three approaches   Where I am currently on debate is belief that God knows what has happened and what will happen both in entire world and with each living creature so He is not surprised by anything we say or do.  I believe His desire is for all to be saved and obedient to His will and does all His Will permits to give us every opportunity to do that.  However, I believe if we choose not to, it is not because He doesn’t will it but because we ignore His opportunities.  I also believe He is longsuffering so will not give up on us this side of the grave.  I believe that also means we have the capability to receive salvation and turn away from it.  When I was younger I feared if sinned after forgiven would we be judged if we died before had opportunity to repent again.  That believe cause me much anxiety because I was not able to live the “perfect live” I knew God wanted me to live. Well, I have since concluded that God is a relational God, which means we start our relationship with him with repentance and forgiveness but daily having a relationship that keeps us from deliberately turning away from God and eventually bringing us to walking away from our salvation.  I think the answer to the question- where in the path of disobedience could or would we lose our salvation resides only with God and is futile to debate.  So, our goal and focus should be to be in relationship with God and not try to test where the cliff is or how close to it we can to live. His desire and passion and Will is for everyone of us to know and enjoy His mercies and also fellowship with Him.  Even though He knows whether or not we will be faithful to Him, He still deals with us based on how we respond to Him in present.  He knows we don’t know the future, so will not hold us accountable for future actions we don’t know nor foresee.  He only holds us accountable for what we do know and understand, which is the unforgiven sins of the past and current ones still involved in.  By seeking His forgiveness for those sins and submitting our wills to Him, we receive His most precious Christmas Gift available to everyone of us.  We also open our hearts to invite His Holy Spirit into our lives to guide and council and strengthen and inspire us to follow and obey Him going forward.  That is the amazing good news of Christmas and Easter.  THE REASON FOR THIS SEASON IS JESUS.  THE REASON FOR OUR LIVES IS ALSO JESUS.  He made us for a wonderful purpose.

12/29                              “I Wanted More…”                                         29     Jeremiah 17:7-8  “⁷ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. ⁸ For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

COMMENTS: To complete my thoughts first w.r.t. yesterday’s devotion, I am not clear at what point turning away from God could mean forfeiting our salvation.  However, I do believe there is a point that after deliberate and repeated sinning when that would occur.  Scripture gives us clues of that.  I ended up coming to the conclusion I don’t want to live that close to the cliff to test that, so I want to make sure I am close enough to God that I know when I need to turn back.  Again, I concluded the answer to that question needs to rest solely with God and let him answer it for each of us.   However, God want us to get as close to Him as can and not see how far away from Him we can be without falling off the cliff, right?? 

Arlene and I have been married approaching 40 years.  If either of us would have decided to see how little time we could spend with each other and still be married, you and I both know we would not be married now.  Have there been times we’ve disappointed each other or spent less time with each other than should have or felt at times less married than other times?  Sure, but our commitment to each other and staying in relationship with each other (and especially related to our common relationship with Christ) enabled us each to both keep our marriage strong and recognize and avoid anything that would harm or weaken that marriage relationship.  We have discovered nothing, especially pride, is as important as our love for each other and the marriage covenant we made with each other.   I think the same is true with our salvation and relationship with Christ.  I’ll leave it to you to either come to the same conclusion for your situation and circumstances.   Anyway, we do well to take some time to discover and become aware of the dangerous and open manholes we can fall into and move away from them and towards the River of Life, towards CHRIST.  Jeremiah tells us a tree with its roots nourished by a large river will not wither when drought comes.  This gives us a clue how we are to live and even thrive when hard times come.  That is the difference the influence our lives can be and how attractive our faith can become to those who know us and interact with us regularly.  Satan will do anything he is allowed to do to either destroy or ruin our lives, our relationship with God, and our witness.  Consider how ministries and successful careers and lives have been destroyed by sin, especially the sin of adultery.  Just in recent weeks careers of a considerable number of successful newsmen and congressmen and other famous men have been destroyed by sins hidden for many years but recently brought to light.   Our sins will find us out but God’s forgiveness received by our repentance and God’s healing  brings restoration.  Let’s work on making that true of us too, even if it means giving up some of the luxuries or other indulgences we have grown so accustomed to that we think of as acceptable or even as necessities.  I don’t necessarily think we need to beat ourselves up but do think we need to clearly see where our true love and source of life is?

Well, today is the day after Christmas.  The gifts are opened and family meal and Christmas sweets are part of the leftovers we will graze on for some time.  The reality of cold winter weather and for some loneliness will begin to take hold again.  The reality of personal and family problems and evil that is rampant in ours or nearby communities or maybe even closer to home begin to press in on us again.  But the Christmas message and hope that only Christ can give is still strong and bright and clear.   Nothing has changed with Him and His gift to us is still available if we only accept and open it.  If we have, being the light so others will see that gift and accept and open it too will bring us no greater joy and will bring Christ the greatest joy too.  Let’s not be an any hurry to take down or turn off the Christmas lights.  Then let’s keep them on in our souls so we and others will draw our roots deeper and closer to the river of life which is Christ’s eternal life and His Holy Spirit’s abiding presence.

12/30                             A Living Book                                                   30
Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.   Psalm 119:18                             COMMENTS:   I can certainly testify the Bible is a living book for me.  There is value in old college text books.  I’ve on occasion referred back to them now and again over my working career but not as much at the end of my career as I did in the beginning.  Some rules and formulas haven’t changed over the years but tools and methods of doing engineering analysis have changed and some old methods giving in 40 yr old textbooks no longer applied as well.  I remember looking at a medical book from early 1800’s that gave details on how to do bloodletting.  Belief was then that some sicknesses could be corrected by letting out blood contaminated by the sickness.  Little was understood about the reasons for sickness or that most of the times people got better in spite of this practice instead of because of it.  People and doctors simply didn’t know better at that time.  Scripture is a lot different than old textbooks. The timeless creator gave us an instruction book intended to help us be in relationship with Him and help us understand Him better and instruct us as to how to give Him access to our hearts and thoughts to give us one-on-one help along life’s way.  This book ends the mystery of “Where do we go when we die?” and “Who is God and for what purpose did He create me?”  The Bible was not written by some men who “didn’t know better” but by the inspiration of a God who has not changed and who is in control just as much now as when He created the world, everything on and in and around it, as well as the whole universe. How much more current or true can we find than that?  Let’s face it, the latest and greatest books and textbooks released today will become outdated and be replaced by better technology as people gain a better understanding.  That will obsolete the old textbooks.  History has a way of showing us what happened and why.  Since God has had an influence in all generations, we can and should take advantage of the wisdom and life learned experiences that history can teach us.  I think current society is showing us we have gained much technologically but have lost much morally and relationally.  Scripture even shows us things that have yet to happen along with credibility verified based on past prophecies that came true.  Prophecy tells us in the latter days technology will soar while relationships with each other and with God will wither and die. How true is that today???  How much truer prophecy tells us that will be tomorrow…

I have been retired over 5 years and have sold or given away all my old college and engineering reference books.  They no long had use for me and were simply taking up space.  The little Rainbow Bible I got for Christmas when I was 9 years old, from my parents, is not the one I used mostly because it had pictures but lacked the reference materials and concordance I find valuable. But I also use online bible reference materials since they are easier to access and can be copied directly into this journal.  But they all contain the same scripture and truth from God.  They all are just as valuable and current today or even more so then then.  I accepted Christ as my savior at age 10 at a revival service in my church.  I can remember coming home from that service and reading psalms in my rainbow bible.  I can remember thinking this make a lot more sense to me now.  I had read it before but just couldn’t understand the truths and wisdom I read.  But once I knew Christ, it began to open and become understandable to me. 

I believe that is a common realization to every Christian and find new revelations every time I read scripture with an open heart and a mind clear of distractions or noise.

New Year’s Day will soon be here and a good time to covenant to spend more time in God’s Word. If you join me in this covenant, I am sure we will both discover God has so much more to show us from His Word.  AMEN!

12/31                              A Living Book                                                    31    Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.    Psalm 119:18                                   COMMENTS: We are living in a time when it is becoming more popular to see the Bible as an old book of make believe stories of those who believed in God because they didn’t know any better or hopes of being able to help themselves.  Today the humanistic belief is that education and modern technology will lift us into a better life and empower us to fulfil our dreams.  Yet war and suffering are getting worse as morality and devotion to obey bible teachings diminish.  History, both in recent generations as well as ancient history without God is being repeated.  Prophecy tells us in the last days men will turn from God and be deceived by their own lustful and selfish hearts.  I pray both myself and my family will not be deceived – scripture tells us that even the “elect” would be deceived if the Holy Spirit didn’t guide their hearts.                                                                                                                 Today will complete another calendar year.  2022 will be history and the new year we will all be entering is 2023.  Just writing that number seems to be a distant future, not our present.  You and I have no idea what 2023 will bring.  We look back over 2017, remembering experiences we didn’t have a clue would become reality this time last year.  Those who passed who died unexpectedly or material things gained or lost or hardships and sicknesses that came without warning or foreknowledge.                                                             BUT OUR GOD KNEW AND WAS PREPARED TO DEAL WITH THEM.   AS WE LOOK BACK, WE CAN SEE HOW HE PREPARED US AND GUIDED US THROUGH THOSE TIMES.   Such experiences equip us to enter 2023 with confidence and faith knowing He will guide and help and prepare us for 2023 as well.   We can now know Christ’s return was not in 2017 but certainly can be in 2023.  We also know we are one year closer to His return than we were a year ago.  Will 2018 be the year of His return?  Only He knows. But if we trust and obey Him, He will prepare us for His work in the meantime and for His return when He does come.                                                                                                                                              40 years ago, and 30 years ago, and 20 years ago, I was certain I would see His return before I died.  Now I am not so sure and may very well see death before His return.  But I do see an increasing turning from God and increasing hostility toward those who follow Christ.  Scripture tells us He will cut those days off with His return to prevent man from destroying himself.   I can now see the evidence becoming more obvious that is the path we are on and likelihood man will do so soon if He doesn’t intervene.                                                                    The very good news is that He is in complete control and when He says enough is enough, no one will be able to stop Him.  He is the side I want to be on and the side I so want my family and friends to be on.                                                                                                               I pray that is your resolve as well.  I know there will be times of weakness and discouragement and coming short of keeping that covenant for me and for you in 2023.  However, I also know Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness will continue to redeem us and restore us if we stay close to Him and faithful to Him in relationship.  He will pick us up and set us back on that path hand in Hand as He did in 2022.                                                                                           I hope this journal has been a blessing to you and will continue to be so.  I invite you to continue this journey with me and would like you thoughts and suggestions in ways I could make this writing more meaningful or topics you would like me to research and address as well.  This is a work of discovery for me as well.                                                                                     Anyway, you are welcome to visit and use and share from my blog or respond to me in links below:                                                                                                                                              Blog site:   https://donsdevotions.wordpress.com/                                                                             Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/Don1951                                                                      Email address:  dmcdaniel12@zoominternet.net