Renew: December 31, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 31, 2014.

RENEW

DEFINITION:

To restore or replenish, to revive, to reestablish, to make new spiritually.

SCRIPTURE:

Let the people renew their strength. Isaiah 41:1

And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Isaiah 40:31

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Today is the last day of what has been a very difficult year. It has been a year of persecution for many Christians around the world. It has been a year where America has fallen further away from God. It has been a year of civil wars, earthquakes, fires, tornadoes and hurricanes.

Today is a day that all of us need to take a few moments and reflect on this past year. What have we done to honor the Lord? How committed have we been in serving Jesus? What kind of family relationship have we had? These are all questions that one needs to ask especially as we leave an old year and enter a new one.

All things on earth need to be renewed. We all know that God created all things but no created thing continues by itself. God provided ways for the things He created to be renewed. For example, consider trees. They must have the water of the rain that falls and must be fed with the nourishment from the soil that God provides for them.

Years ago we were in the country of Lebanon. We had read so many times in the Bible and in other books about the Cedars of Lebanon. We went to the part of Lebanon where many of these beautiful Cedars of Lebanon trees grow. God planted (created) these trees but they only live because God provided for them an environment that met their daily needs for renewal and growth that they could draw from the earth.

Just as these beautiful trees need daily renewal our spiritual life can only be sustained by receiving a daily renewal from God. Just as it is necessary for us to replace the waste and liquid from our bodies with frequent food and water daily, we must replace the waste we lose from our soul by feeding daily on reading God’s Word.

God’s Word provides nourishment to our soul. Studying and meditating on God’s Word changes our thinking and redirects our minds and puts us in a spiritual environment that allows the Holy Spirit to do His work of renewal in our lives.

Just think how depressed mentally and how weak physically we would be if we missed many meals. Even so we will get more depressed spiritually when we miss reading and studying God’s Word, but many believers do not understand this. Without constant spiritual renewal in our lives we become spiritually weak and we will not be ready for the constant evil assaults on our lives or the turmoil we have from within. If we do not renew our strength in the Lord daily, we will grow weaker spiritually and evil will gain a stronghold in our life and soon it will have mastery over all we do and say.

We need to not only read the Bible daily but we need to pray daily asking God to renew the spirit within us as the Psalmist said in Psalm 51:10. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

The apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 4:16 that “even though our outward man is perishing, yet our inward man is being renewed every day.” Paul could write this because physically he was failing in jail but spiritually, because of his commitment to the Lord, he was growing in his faith.

Yes, every day we get older and the aches and pains get stronger and our burdens get heavier, but when we are in a right relationship with God, He will renew us inwardly with spiritual strength through His Holy Spirit who works within us.

We urge you to remember the words of Isaiah (40:31) in your daily life. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” As we enter a new year, we have the opportunity to put our failures behind us and set a new course by putting our hope in the Lord and renewing our commitment to serve Him. God is faithful in His promises. He will renew our strength.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:4.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

PRAYER:

Help me to renew my trust in You as I begin this New Year. May I grasp anew the growth I will experience when I take the time to read Your Word and then allow myself to wait upon You so that I may have renewed strength to face every issue that comes my way. May I also learn anew today to commit all that I do today, and every day, to You.

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Rejection: December 30, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 30, 2014.

REJECTION

DEFINITION:

To cast out; to discard as unsatisfactory or useless; something or someone not wanted; to refuse to accept or admit; to refuse to have or recognize.

SCRIPTURE:

He came unto His own and His own did not receive Him. John 1:11

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 22:1 and Mark 15:34.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

It is one thing to be rejected by friends and associates, but quite different to be rejected by family. But the fact is that any type of rejection hurts no matter where it comes from.

By the definition above, rejection is being cast out or discarded as unsatisfactory and not wanted. When one is rejected they are cast out and unwanted because someone feels they are unsatisfactory. Who they are and what they are has been found inferior and that is why rejection is so hurtful.

Some rejection is brought on by one’s own actions, but often it is because of prejudice or jealousy or a difference in belief. When a family rejects one of their own it is usually based on a major conflict between standards of right and wrong.

Rejection usually results in separation and abandonment. Children who are abandoned are often innocent victims but they feel the pain of rejection for a lifetime.

While Jesus lived here on this earth He experienced rejection along with the suffering of the world. Jesus truly knew the meaning of rejection. First, even his own people, the scripture says, rejected Him. Secondly, it was the rejection and abandonment of His Father that He knew He must experience when He took our sins upon Himself that brought Him to His knees in the garden of Gethsemane beseeching His Father to take that cup from Him.

We cannot begin to imagine the agony of the physical pain that Jesus endured as He hung on the cross. There is no more painful death than death by crucifixion. As horrible as the pain was, it was the rejection and abandonment of His Father that caused Jesus to cry out in agony, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” It is because Jesus went through that suffering of rejection by His Father that we do not have to endure the rejection of our heavenly Father for our sins.

“Why does nobody care?” was the question that rings so clear in my mind from a young girl living in a home our organization sponsored for children with cancer in Honduras. Our interpreter told us what the girl was saying but we really did not need an interpreter because it shown so clearly on her face.

There was no cancer medicine in the whole country to help children with cancer. This young girl and her mother, sitting by her side, felt so rejected, desperate and so alone. Did anyone care? We tried to assure them that help was on the way but we knew that it would not arrive on time to save her life?

Our organization did respond and soon there was medicine and even state of the art equipment to help assist children put their cancer into remission. Unfortunately the equipment and medicine did not arrive in time to save this young girl’s life, but thousands of children since have been helped because this one girl moved us to action. Her feeling of rejection was used by God to enable many other children in her country get the help they need.

All of us have days and times that we feel rejected and that no one cares. It may be because of a spouse, a parent, a child or a friend. When these moments of rejection come our way we must look to the Lord for special strength that only He can give. When we are feeling down cast, the only way to look is up. God understands how you feel because He knew rejection.

We must learn to be positive in those moments of feeling unwanted. You must remember that at the lowest times of your life when you feel rejection that God loves you. When we come to Him with repentant hearts and in faith, believing in Him, He will never reject us.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:4.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

PRAYER:

Thank You Lord, for the blessed assurance I have that You will never reject me because You have promised to never leave or forsake those who love and obey You. Thank You for suffering rejection on the cross to save me from my sins.

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Gratitude: December 29, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 29, 2014.

GRATITUDE

DEFINITION:

The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful; appreciation for something received.

SCRIPTURE:

Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1: 21.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Showing gratitude has become a lost art for many people here in America. Many people do not understand what the word gratitude really means. We meet people who do not seem to be grateful for much in their lives.

What causes this lack of gratitude? Possibly we are spoiled and expect much more than we have, or possibly, it is because of the so called “ME” generation that we live in. We have taken our prosperity for granted. We really do not know how blessed we are nor do we acknowledge the one who is the giver of all that we are blessed with. We think we are entitled to it.

When someone does something kind for you, do you say thank you and by saying thank you show gratitude? It is very rare for us to hear someone say thank you after being helped in some manner.

The lack of gratitude is just part of man’s failure that affects our society. In Romans 1:22, Paul gets right to the root of the problem. The first point Paul makes is that it is not sufficient to just be aware that God exists. We must know God. To know God means to have an intimate relationship with Him that God has made possible by His gift of salvation.

When we know God, Paul tells us that, we are to glorify Him as God. This means that we are to acknowledge His sovereignty, His holiness, and His perfection and give Him the glory in all things. God is good and every good thing that we enjoy in life comes from God. We are not just to acknowledge this fact but we are to give God thanks for it (show Him gratitude). When we do not our thinking becomes “futile and our foolish hearts become darkened.”

We in America have had so much given to us by God but we neglect to show Him the gratitude that He deserves. Often those who are less fortunate in life are the ones who show the most gratitude.

When we were in Manila Philippines we visited a large garbage dump. We went there because we were told that more than 100,000 people lived on top of the garbage. These dear people search through garbage scraps, dumped by the garbage trucks, for food and anything that can be salvaged and they sell what they find and use the money just for items of survival. They live in shacks that look like they will collapse with any wind.

We mentioned the following story in a prior devotional but we want to repeat it now because it really expresses gratitude. We were walking on this dump being led by a missionary that we worked with. We came upon this lean-to shack with an open front and saw a little 10 year old girl sitting by a box, the only thing in the room, and on that box was a Sunday school daily vacation bible school picture booklet.

We were introduced to the little girl and soon we asked about the book. Her eyes lit up and she said that someone a year before had given her that book and she read through the pictures every day. She said that she had never had a gift before and this was the best thing she ever had. Her gratitude moved us to tears.

We recognized the Sunday school book as one of the books we had sent several years prior in a large 40 foot sea container to the missionary who was leading us on this tour to the dump. He did not even know that this young girl had this book. She was still showing her gratitude for what God had given her.

Another example was when we visited one of the churches in Kenya that we sponsored the pastor. When the offering was taken, we saw the offering box being passed around and it was filling up with fruit, vegetables and even a chicken. These people were showing their gratitude to God for all they had by giving a portion of what little they did have back to Him.

Do you express your gratitude to God for all that He has given you? Do you express gratitude to your spouse, your children, your parents, your family or your friends for who they are? And do not forget when we express our gratitude to God we are acknowledging that He is the one who gives us all that we have and that He is the Lord of all. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17).

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:4.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

PRAYER:

Lord, I acknowledge that You are the giver of every good thing that I have. Thank You for Your mercy and grace in saving me from my sins and giving me the greatest gift of all, eternal life. Thank You for all Your many blessings that You have given me and continue to give me every day.

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Gladness: December 26, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 26, 2014.

GLADNESS

DEFINITION:

The feeling of joy or pleasure.

SCRIPTURE:

Serve the Lord with gladness. Psalm 100:2.

You have put gladness in my heart. Psalm 4:7.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Those who do not know what it is to have their sins forgiven and be a child of God think that those who do know Jesus could not possibly be happy. They feel being a Christian is a sad life. They feel serving the Lord comes at a high cost. They do not want to give up their worldly sinful pleasures. Many go to church because they feel it is an obligation.

This type of person comes to God, seemingly worshipping Him but their words and deeds do not show a love for their Lord. They are not serving Him with true gladness and worship.

These types of people will continually show sadness on their face because they are carrying the heavy burden of reluctant obedience. God puts joy and gladness in the hearts of those who love Him. Those who love Him serve Him with gladness. The angels serve Him with joy not with groans. A murmur or a sigh would be mutiny in the ranks of the angels. The Lord looks at the heart and He can see that obedience that is forced and not voluntary is really disobedience.

Our service to God coupled with gladness and cheerfulness is true heart service and is what God wants from us. Cheerfulness and gladness is the support God gives us through the work of His Holy Spirit in us that comes as a result of our faith in the Lord. Knowing Jesus as our Savior brings peace with God and fellowship with Him. In the joy of the Lord we have real gladness.

The joy of the Lord in our lives acts as a remover of difficulties. It is like what oil is to the wheels of a railroad car. Without oil the axle gets hot and accidents occur. We need the gladness and cheerfulness of the Lord in our lives. These act to oil our wheels. The man who is cheerful in his service to God shows the people of the world, non-believers, that it is a delight and joy to serve the Lord our God.

Gladness in serving the Lord is what the people of Judah experienced when Hezekiah became King and reopened the temple in Jerusalem for worship. His father Ahaz had shut the temple doors and led the people of Judah into idol worship. In the first month of his reign King Hezekiah opened and repaired the temple doors and brought back the priests to consecrate and purify the temple. When the temple was ready the people came and the “whole assembly bowed in worship. They sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshipped.” II Chronicles 29: 28-30.

We encourage you to worship and serve the Lord with gladness. When you attend church and see someone who seems sad and is missing the gladness of worshipping the Lord, take a moment to pray for them and ask God to give that person a heart of joy and gladness. When you pray for someone, God may give you opportunity to say a word of encouragement to them.

You will often find out as you talk to people the heavy burdens they are carrying. When you show you care, you will experience gladness in serving the Lord.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Luke 2:11.

For today in the city of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

PRAYER:

Fill my heart today with gladness that You alone can give. May others see me as one who serves Jesus with gladness.

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Christmas Day: December 25, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY DECEMBER 25, 2014.

CHRISTMAS DAY

DEFINITION:

The celebration of the birth of Jesus.

SCRIPTURE:

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

There were some unusual events that happened in the world when Jesus was born. These events had a dramatic effect on history.

Way back in the book of Genesis Jacob gave us a prophecy of the birth of Jesus. In Genesis 49:10 Jacob said, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (the Messiah) come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”

When Jesus was born this prophecy was being fulfilled. The scepter of rule had departed from Judea and they were now under the rule of Rome with Caesar Augustus reigning as emperor. Cyrenius was governor of Syria and Judea was part of the province of Syria. Herod was now King of Judea, a title granted by Rome. Herod was not part of the Davidic family line. So you see that a foreign, alien power, now ruled over Judea, however God’s scepter of rule had not left Judah. God was still in control of His chosen people and will always be in control of what happens to Judah (Israel).

With the birth of Jesus, the prophecy of The Messiah coming was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the Messiah (Shiloh) and His coming into the world not only fulfilled prophecy but was surrounded by the most unusual events.

One of these unusual events was the unexpected taxation. It had been prophesied that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem and this scripture had to be fulfilled. Joseph and Mary lived in Galilee and as the scripture says, “Mary was now great with child.” The taxation happened just at the right time and in the right way. Every one needed to return to the city of his family ancestry to register and pay his taxes. God was controlling these events so that all things worked so that He might fulfill His promise to send the Savior into the world and fulfill the prophecies in the Old Testament.

Joseph and Mary were both descendants of David so the taxation forced Joseph to take Mary and to go to Bethlehem. The city of Bethlehem was prophesied to be the city of the Messiah’s birth. The taxation led to the fulfillment of Scripture. Without the taxation decree Joseph and Mary would certainly have not had any reason to make such a long difficult journey of more than 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, especially with a baby on the verge of being born.

The Scribes understood where Jesus the Messiah was to be born (Matthew 2:5-6). The common people understood where Jesus was to be born (John 7:42).

Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem because it was prophesied that the Messiah was to be the Son of David. David had been born in Bethlehem therefore it was necessary for Jesus the Son of David to be born there. The “Son of David” was the most common Messianic title used to refer to Jesus in His day. And finally the scripture prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). “But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be a ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

How can we not only be amazed but also have our hearts blessed when we consider how God miraculously worked out His plan of Salvation for us? Caesar Augustus could never have imagined that he played a role in fulfilling prophecy concerning Christ our Messiah.

No power on earth can prevent God from doing what He has promised. Jesus promised He would come as our Messiah and He came. He promised He is coming again and no power on earth will stop that from happening at His chosen time. When He comes again, He will come as King and all authority will be His.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Luke 2:11.

For today in the city of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

PRAYER:

Help me today to realize the significance of how God prepared the world for the birth of Jesus. Thank You that I serve a miracle working God. May this Christmas season be a time of rejoicing and celebration of God’s great gift of salvation that I have in Jesus Christ in my life as well as in the lives of my family. Thank You for the miraculous way You work.

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Christmas Eve: December 24, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 24, 2014.

CHRISTMAS EVE

We encourage you today to start preparing for tomorrow. It is our prayer for you that CHRISTMAS 2014 will be one of the most Christ honoring and special days of your life.

Tonight we will be celebrating Christmas Eve with our family. We will take the time to read Luke 2:1-14 which is the Christmas story as recorded by Luke. We urge you to join us and take the time to read to your family the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-14. For your convenience we are sharing it with you here.

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her first-born, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE TO MEN ON WHOM HIS FAVOR RESTS.”

The story goes on with the shepherds going to find Mary, Joseph and the baby. (Luke 2: 15-20) After you have read this account to your family this Christmas then take time to pray together, thanking God for sending His Son to pay the penalty for your sins.

Each Christmas eve our grandchildren put on a Christmas play depicting that day when Jesus was born in a manger. This always is one of the highlights for all of us who are there.

Make today and tomorrow a real celebration as you celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Have a blessed Christmas and remember that JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Your friends;
Ken and Dottie

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Blameless: December 23, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY DECEMBER 23, 2014.

BLAMELESS

DEFINITION:

Innocent; without fault; not guilty.

SCRIPTURE:

He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous. Psalm 15:2.

Who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 1:8

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

The Bible is very clear when it tells us that we are all sinners. The psalmist tells us in Psalm 18:30 “As for God, His way is blameless.” Yes, we are all born sinners, Christ paid the penalty for our sins, and we need to repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Savior and then as we grow in Christ by reading His Word and communicating to Him through prayer we begin to work on being blameless.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:4, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

One of the most difficult things that a person, including one who believes in Jesus, has to learn is to live a blameless life. Our parents taught us, not only by their words but probably more so by their actions, to live a blameless life. We realize that only our Lord is blameless but the scripture is very clear that God expects us to work constantly on living a blameless life.

The Psalmist exhorts us to walk blameless and do what is righteous. So when one talks about being blameless, what they are really saying is that one who lives a righteous life will honor God in all they say and do.

As parents, we knew it was our God-given responsibility to teach our children what it meant to live a blameless life. We taught them to obey God’s Word, to always tell the truth, to be kind to people, to be consistent in their walk and talk and at all times be helpful to someone in need. When a person lives this way they will be respected as they work toward living a blameless life.

What do we need to do to be blameless before our Lord in the evil world we live in today? David specifically wrote in Psalms 15:2 that we must do what is righteous. It is a daily challenge for us to live a Christ-like life and do what is right in each and every situation.

Moses was talking to the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:9-13) telling them when they entered the Promise Land, which the Lord has given them, they were not to live lives like their neighbors. The neighbors were pagans and idol worshippers and the Israelites would face many temptations to join in their evil ways. The evil ways of the pagan Canaanites were based on the occult. Satan is the origin and the promoter of the occult. Moses told the children of Israel that they must not get involved with these evil practices because they were detestable to the Lord. God would hold them accountable for their actions. Moses continually instructed the children of Israel to be blameless before the Lord their God, but they were hard headed and would not listen. They intermarried with the Canaanites in disobedience to God and took up their evil practices of idol worship and it led to their destruction.

Today we as Christians also live in a wicked godless society. Parents must be aware that occult practices are very prevalent in our world today. Parents must be alert to what is and who is influencing their children. The occult is intriguing but it is also very dangerous. Remember Satan is behind the occult and it will lead to destruction.

God did not want the children of Israel to follow the evil ways of their world and God does not want us to follow the evil ways of our world. God expects us to be blameless before the Lord also. We all need to take a look back on our last 48 hours. Have we lived a life that could be considered blameless by God? Where have we missed it or broken down. Was it an action, a word or a deed?

The apostle Paul was praying for the people in the church at Thessalonica (I Thessalonians 3:13) when he prayed, “So that He (Jesus) may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” Yes, God wants us to be blameless when He returns to this earth. He made it possible for us to be blameless through His death on the cross to cleanse us from all our sins.

Peter tells us in II Peter 3:14, referring to the coming again of Christ, that we should be steadfast and strong in our commitment and beliefs. And we are to “look forward and be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”

Before getting involved with something questionable we should consider how we would feel if we were to come face to face with Jesus at that moment. Would He find you in peace because you were blameless and without spot.

This is our prayer for you today that you will be strong in the Lord, steadfast in what you believe and be blameless, waiting for the soon coming of Jesus. And let us assure you, He is coming soon!

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Luke 2:11.

For today in the city of David there has been born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

PRAYER:

Help me and my family today to be like Job of old when you said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on this earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil.” Keep Your guiding hand on me as I work toward this goal in my life today.

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Christmas Card: December 22, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 22, 2014.

A CHRISTMAS CARD FOR YOU

FROM
KEN AND DOTTIE PHILLIPS

What a thrill it is for us to come to you each day with TODAY'S WORD. Today we want to remind you that this is Christmas week and in just four days we will be celebrating Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We are told much about the birth of Jesus in Luke 2.

JESUS was born in a manger, because there was no room in the Inn.

JESUS was born in Bethlehem because He was of the house and lineage of David as prophesied in the Old Testament.

The angel spoke first to the shepherds who were tending their sheep in the fields about the birth of JESUS.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying:

“GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE GOODWILL TOWARD MEN.”

Our family (Six children and spouses and 20 grandchildren and spouses) want you to remember that:

JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON

Many will celebrate the birthday of Jesus by singing carols about Him and giving gifts in remembrance of Him, but never reflect on His life and the sacrifice He made for each one of us. As you read this well-known poem by James Allan Francis may your heart be blessed as you reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made for you.

ONE SOLITARY LIFE!

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty when public opinion turned against him
He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never traveled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life

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ONE FINAL SUGGESTION.

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Commitment: December 19, 2014

TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 19, 2014.

COMMITMENT

DEFINITION:

The act of consigning, pledging or engaging oneself; a promise; obligation.

SCRIPTURE:

Commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only. I Samuel 7:3.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3.

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin.”
 John 8:34.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

These three scripture verses give us three ways to look at the word commitment. First, we are to commit OURSELVES to the Lord. Secondly, we are to commit ALL THAT WE DO to the Lord daily. Thirdly, there is a reminder to us that when we commit sin we become a SLAVE TO SIN.

There are numerous times every day when a commitment to or for something is necessary. The most important commitment that one can make in a lifetime is a firm commitment to God. This is the first step in living a life that is pleasing to God. Making a commitment to God is more than going to church, reading the Bible or even praying. A commitment to God is having a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is what makes Christianity meaningful, unique and different than all other religions. As we develop a closer relationship with God, He will be able to work in and through us because we will want to study His Word and pray and then we can experience God's blessings.

Other commitments that are important to make in life is a commitment to your spouse, your family, your neighbors, your church, your school and your job. These commitments are vital for one to live a rewarding and fulfilled life.

A commitment means more than a promise. A commitment requires action.

Jesus told His disciples in Luke 14 what He meant by true commitment and it would come at a cost. He told them that nothing, even their love for their father or mother could take precedence over loyalty to Him. In order to follow Jesus as one of His disciples it was necessary for them to commit to put Jesus first in their lives above everything else.  To be a faithful and true follower of Jesus today demands this same commitment.

The nation of Israel was the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, "to make him into a great nation." (Genesis 12:2) When God promised Moses that He would deliver the Israelites from slavery under Pharaoh, He reminded Moses that the Israelites were His "own people" (Genesis 6:7) and that He was their God. God's desire was that the Israelites commit themselves to loving and serving Him and keeping His commandments and then He would bring them safely to the "Promised Land." The Old Testament covers the history of Israel and vividly portrays how the times of commitment to God brought God's blessing of protection and victory and how disobedience brought suffering and defeat.

God is faithful and wants to bless us abundantly but we cannot expect Him to bless us when we are not committed to Him. The world offers many distractions that interfere with our commitment to the Lord. It takes conscious effort on our part to be faithful to keep our commitment to the Lord. The Lord deserves our full commitment, not a half-hearted one.

II Chronicles 16:9 tells us, "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." The Lord knows all about each one of us. We cannot hide anything from God anymore than Adam and Eve could hide their sin from God in the Garden of Eden. As the eyes of the Lord search the world today will He find you committed to Him and serving Him faithfully?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Luke 2:14.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, I want to follow You and serve You. Enable me to stay strong in my faith. Shield me from Satan’s temptations so that I will not be drawn away from my commitment to love You and serve You and put You first in my life.

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