December 2020 Devotionals

 Wednesday Devotional - December 2, 2020

Prayers:

First, thank you once again for all the kind words that you have shared with our family during this loss of Tasha’s mother. We are thankful for having a loving church family!

Second, remember those who are sick within our community. This is a hard time of the year to be isolated from others, and so much more so since many of those who have been isolated have been so for most of this year. Please remember those people especially in your prayers.

Pray also for those who are working to help rid our world of Covid-19. Many of them are taxed beyond their endurance and strength. Pray that they will be able to find a cure for this soon. And pray that our world will learn from this experience and come to realize how much we need one another all the time. 

Devotional:

This week, we will be finishing up Charles Stanley’s series called “When Tragedy Strikes”. It is found on Bible.com in their plans section. Next week we will begin a series on the Christmas season that I hope you will enjoy.

Sometimes we wonder to ourselves after tragedy has struck: what good is in this? How can there possibly be anything that is good in this terrible thing? When we are felled with tragic events, often we’re so wounded that even the most ordinary tasks seem gargantuan in scope, and the thought that one day things will get back to a degree of normalcy seems completely insane. Those deep, emotional scars can blind us to the hope that there is a future of healing and peace for us. Remember that in Romans 8:28, God’s word reads “we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Even during the most terrible times, God is always there. 

God’s plan has always been for us to reconnect to Him. He created the world through his power and authority, created humans to enjoy his work. But sin led us adrift from that perfection, and led to tragedy being in the world. AS a result, we became more self-reliant and less aware of our need of God. When tragedy comes across our path, we don’t have the resources within us to bring peace to our troubled hearts. This opens the window in our soul for God to return to us - a window that our loving Father can access and use to make contact with us again. 

As we are in this first week of Advent, remember that no matter what tragedy is in our lives, God sent his son into the world to be the hope of all peoples. Jeremiah 17:7 says “blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord.” When we put our hope in the Lord, and when we put our hope in the sacrifice that God gave to us through his son, we are reconnected with him. I’ll leave you with this: Romans 12:12 says “be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” When we do these three things, healing from tragedy occurs for all of us, and God will reward those who are with him. 

Wednesday Devotional - December 9, 2020

Prayers:

Pray for those who are still sick within our community. We have a great deal who are not only dealing with the isolation and loneliness of quarantine (self or otherwise), but also there are headcolds, flu, and strep going around as it usually does this time of the year. Pray that we will all be protected from these illnesses.

Second, pray for our veterans who will be spending their time away from home. This has been a very stressful year for all, but our servicepeople have had an even stranger one. Many have not been able to spend significant time with their families because of overseas protocols that would require them to quarantine for an extended period if they did. Pray that they will be comforted in this time, and that their families and friends love them and are proud of them.

Finally, we want to thank God for those who are recovering from various surgeries and illnesses. Jesus was the one who would heal the sick and the lame, and we are reminded that through Him, we will all be completely whole again. Thank him for the knowledge and craft that doctors have to heal us. 

Devotional:

We finished our devotional series from Charles Stanley last week on grief and what happens when the unexpected happens. Over the next four weeks, we will be doing a Christmas devotional that is adapted from Lifeway Christian Resources that is available on Bible.com in their devotional section. I highly recommend Bible.com. They have many devotionals there for free that will enhance your walk with the Lord.

We finished last week with the thought that we have Hope through Jesus Christ. This is true! But we also can have Peace. Isaiah 26:1-6 is an interesting scripture to think about peace. It talks about a time coming when the people of Judah (meaning God’s people) will sing about how God has protected us. It talks about how he puts down his enemies, and that the poor and abused have trampled all over their city. That doesn’t exactly sound peaceful, does it?! But look in verses 3 and 4: “The Lord gives perfect peace to those whose faith is firm. So always trust the Lord because he is forever our mighty rock.” 

Jesus came to earth to give us peace, but only the kind of peace that comes from God the Father. Jesus transforms our lives and rules our hearts when we truly believe in Him. Jesus’ peace is the one that includes justice for all people. It makes things right, it sets captives free, and offers forgiveness of sins through punishment - the punishment that Jesus took freely for you - for our sins. 

When you look at a Nativity, Jesus looks serene and peaceful, and He is. But Jesus is also the righteous defender, our holy judge, and our sinless sacrifice. Even though none of us are perfect, we can take comfort knowing that the perfect peace comes from Jesus in our world. It is through the work of God for us. As we depend on Him, we find peace in our lives. 

Wednesday Devotional - 12/16/20

Prayers:

Please remember those who are sick within our community right now. Not only do we have many sick with Covid-19, but I know that we have seen a spike in colds, flu, and strep throat that are prevalent during this time of the year.

Also, be in prayer for our Community Christmas Program on December 23rd. Pray specifically that it will be successful in presenting the Gospel. Pray that it will touch the lives of those that are there that night to experience it. Pray that we will be prudent and safe in our gathering, and that God will keep us safe and will honor us by gathering in His name.

Finally, be prayerful for those that will be travelling in the upcoming weeks. I know that some of you will be visiting with family and friends as you can. We pray that God will have travelling mercies on you and your family. 

Devotional

 

Our devotional today comes from the Advent writing of Charles Spurgeon, the ‘Prince of Preachers’. It is copied verbatim from the devotional plan “Joy upon Joy with Charles Spurgeon” which can be found on Bible.com in their devotional plans section. I hope that you will find it as joyful as I have! 

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It is superstitious to worship angels; it is but proper to love them. Although it would be a high sin, and an act of misdemeanor against the Sovereign Court of Heaven, to pay the slightest adoration to the mightiest angel, yet it would be unkind and unseemly if we did not give to holy angels a place in our heart’s warmest love. In fact, he that contemplates the character of angels, and marks their many deeds of sympathy with men, and kindness towards them, cannot resist the impulse of his nature—the impulse of love toward them. 

 

One incident in angelic history, the angelic pronouncement to shepherds in their fields, is enough to weld our hearts to them forever. How free from envy the angels were! Christ did not come from heaven to save their peers when they fell. When Satan, the mighty angel, dragged with him a third part of the stars of heaven, Christ did not stoop from His throne to die for them; but He left them to be reserved in chains and darkness until the last great day. Yet angels did not envy men. Though they remembered that He took not up angels, yet they did not murmur when He took up the seed of Abraham; and though the blessed Master had never condescended to take the angel’s form, they did not think it beneath them to express their joy when they found Him arrayed in the body of an infant. How free, too, they were from pride! 

 

They were not ashamed to come and tell the news to humble shepherds. Methinks they had as much joy in pouring out their songs that night before the shepherds, who were watching with their flocks, as they would have had if they had been commanded by their Master to sing their hymn in the halls of Caesar. Mere men—men possessed with pride—think it a fine thing to preach before kings and princes, and think it great condescension now and then to have to minister to the humble crowd. Not so the angels. They stretched their willing wings and gladly sped from their bright seats above to tell the shepherds on the plain by night the marvelous story of an incarnate God.

Wednesday Devotional - 12/23/20

Prayers:

Please remember those who are sick within our community right now. Not only do we have many sick with Covid-19, but I know that we have seen a spike in colds, flu, and strep throat that are prevalent during this time of the year.

Pray for those around the world that are suffering in Jesus’ name right now. Our condemned brothers and sisters are seeking to follow the Lord. How blessed we are that perhaps the worst thing to happen to us when we proclaim the name of Jesus here is that someone might be offended! Pray especially for those who are in prison for preaching Jesus’ name, and that those regimes that oppress the Gospel will come to know the full power and love of Jesus Christ. 

Devotional

Thank you so much for all the people who helped to make our Community Christmas Program so special last Wednesday. It was such a wonderful evening, and we hope to do more programs like that in the near future. 

When I have been thinking about doing these devotionals, I have relied upon the Bible.com website and their devotionals. I still urge you to take time to peruse their collection of excellent authors and devotionals because they will help you grow in your spiritual life. It is important that we continue to grow our faith! Like a good garden, you want to enrich the soil in which you plant things. This is like our faith and learning about it. When we study the scriptures, we are preparing ourselves for the great things that God is doing in our lives. This week, though, I have prepared this devotional myself. I hope that it is meaningful to you, and that it blesses you through the Christmas and New Year season.

Two weeks ago, we were treated to the thought of Joy in the Advent Season through Spurgeon. This week, we look at what love truly is. If you look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, we see Paul writing about what true love really is. It says “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” And then look at verse 13 of the same chapter: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

When Tasha and I got married, we used these scriptures in our ceremony. It was not just a reminder to those who were in attendance what love was in the greater context of marriage, but it was a reminder to me specifically as to what kind of love was shown to me when Jesus died on the cross for my sins. The kind of love that Jesus shows to us on a daily basis is one of patience and kindness. We are, even after we are saved, still rebellious towards God. It is our nature, unfortunately. We are somewhat like little children, even those who are not young! We want our way, and we want it now, even if it’s not in God’s will for the moment. But that is the kind of love that is shown to us: that when we are impatient, when we want our own way, when we are envious, or when we are not kind, God still loved us enough to send his one and only son to be born into this terrible world. He was born not as a king, but as a child of a young woman and a carpenter.

Another verse that many of us know by heart is John 3:16. This is an old trope of evangelists, but do this at least once today. Instead of saying ‘the world’, substitute your own name there in the verse. “For God so loved me, he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God loves us so much that he gave to us his one and only son. Could we do that? I know that I couldn’t. I have trouble sacrificing money or possessions, much less my own flesh and blood! When we realize that God loves us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die a death that not only he did not deserve, but was horrific, we realize exactly how much our creator loves us. 

Finally, as we think of love, think about the ways that we can show love not only in this Christmas season, but during all times of the year. 1 John 4:19 says “We love because he first loved us.” I know that with the New Year coming we all have resolutions that we try to keep. I urge you to renew your faith in a way that shows love greatly. Love with a bigger heart than you expect to. Love with the kind of abandon that makes people wonder what has happened to you. This reminds me of the Christmas Carol with Ebenezer Scrooge (by the way, that name is an oxymoron. Remember that Ebenezer is from 1 Samuel 7, where the Israelites have defeated the Philistines, and Samuel raises a set of rocks to commemorate the victory. He says that “thus far the Lord has helped us”. Thus Ebenezer is a reminder of the Lord’s help, and how we should emulate that in helping others. Scrooge, however, means miser or spendthrift). Scrooge is living the life of a person without any hope, peace, joy, or love in his life. He is shaken to his core by the three spirits. If you read the original story, you will recognize that Scrooge’s transformation comes when he realizes that there is no love for him when he is gone. He turns from his wicked ways and as Dickens writes himself, “He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.” The change that comes to Ebenezer Scrooge is not one of fantastic wonder, but rather it is a metaphor for the coming of Christ into the life of a person so far gone that no one thought that he could be redeemed. When we go forward in our lives, have hope, have peace, have a joy that is unspeakable. But above all these, let love rule in your heart forever.