Past Devotions

2019 began at 12:01 AM. The clock has reset. We are back to Day 1. Week 52 has given way to Week 1. The old year has gone, the new one has begun.

This is the time of year when people look back on the old and decide what they want to do differently in the new. It’s the time of year when we think about change. Lots of new diets and exercise programs are begun in the new year. Municipalities and many businesses take a holiday today. People watch football or go to movies or visit with friends and family. Or they might do what I do on New Year’s Day, take down the Christmas decorations while watching football!

And yet for some this day is like any other. First responders show up for their shifts, as do nurses and other medical personnel in hospitals and facilities. Stores are open and hoping that the Christmas buying spree will continue for a few more days.

Things are new and yet things are still the same.  I’m not much into the celebration of New Year’s Eve or Day. Oh, I’ll probably try to return to eating right (which always recedes a bit during the holidays) and I’ll get back to walking more, but celebrate? No, not much.

I celebrate in August. Yep, August. In August 1973, I had a new beginning—an eternal one. That’s when in a small non-denominational prayer meeting, I gave my life to the LORD Christ Jesus. I haven’t always walked worthy of that, but I’ve never looked back nor regretted my decision to submit to Him. August, that’s when I’ll celebrate the anniversary of my New Eternity!

2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

I wrote this last year, but I read it again and thought I’d re-post it for today.

I am thinking about the wonder of Christ’s birth.  Merriam-Webster defines wonder as the quality of exciting amazed admiration. We’ve heard the Christmas story so many times, perhaps we’ve lost a bit of that exciting amazed admiration.

God orchestrated through a heathen kingdom (Rome) the arrival of Joseph and Mary to the insignificant village of Bethlehem where 700 years earlier Micah had prophesied the Messiah would be born (Micah 5:2)

It would have been a miserable journey, 80 miles, with Mary full term. It ended up in a place that was more than likely filthy and smelly. Inns in those days were mainly just a series of partially enclosed stalls that opened into a shared area where the animals were kept.  When Luke said there was no room for them in the inn, he meant there was no room for them in those stalls.  They probably ended up in the yard where travelers secured their animals.

Mary had traveled all this way, far from her family, far from the female support system she would have had at home. She was likely around 14 years old. She was alone, except for Joseph. She had no back massages, no birthing coach, no classes, no meds, no clean sheets, no soft music playing, no attendants – just Joseph.  His hands would have been calloused and rough from his work. He was good at working wood, probably not so good at birthing babies.

And into this miserable, wretched, dishonorable scene, the Son of God was born. “She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  [Luke 2:7]

If that doesn’t take our breath away in exciting amazed admiration, I’m not sure anything will. The King became a pauper. God became a babe, completely dependent upon a young teenager for sustenance and a rough carpenter for protection. Wonder of wonders! 

This is from “Monday Matters and Ron Nelson.” I love this story and wanted to share it with you with his permission.

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy!”

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside the package!”

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: “Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full.”

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love.  The real reason for this season is because God sent His Son, Jesus, as a gift of love for each and every one of us.  If you have not received this gift yet, why not do it this Christmas.  He wants you to have His gift of love.

Author Unknown

Sync. That word is a shortened version of the word synchronized. I’m becoming more and more familiar with it. For the last several years, every morning I sync my Garmin Vivofit with my computer. What was recorded on my Vivofit (which I wear on my wrist) is now uploaded to my computer. There I can see how much many steps or miles I walked, calories I burned, etc. And once it is uploaded to my computer, I can then compare it with other days to see if I am progressing or not.

With the arrival of my new car, Black Bart, into my life, I also have become more aware of “Sync.” That is a program that is part of Bart’s accessories that syncs with my phone and other things. I can call people by just telling “Sync” to dial …. It also informs me that a text message has come in and will even read it to me!

So, sync is a good word. Have you thought about applying sync to your walk with the Savior? Are you in sync with Him? Are you syncing with Him daily? It has sure given me pause!

It’s made me wonder if I sync more with my Vivofit/computer and Black Bart’s “Sync” program than I do with Jesus. We are almost to the end of 2018, Christmas is a day away. This may be a good time, before the new year begins, to make sure I’m “syncing” daily, perhaps even moment-by-moment with my LORD.

1 Thessalonians 2:12:  “…walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”  [NKJV]

Father, I love you. I want to spend my life in sync with You and Your will. I need Your Spirit! Amen.

“Wonderful Counsellor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.”

 Jesus came, and He preached peace. He preached peace, Paul says in Ephesians 2, to those who were near (the Jews) and to those who were far away (the Gentiles). He removed the divisions between people.

He brought peace between God and man by removing the barrier caused by sin. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  [Rom 5:1-2]

And when He left to return to the Father, He left His peace with us. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” [John 14:27]

The world’s peace is temporary, dependent upon the desires and demands of man. It is often an enforced, false peace. It can disappear as fast as it came. How many peace treaties have we seen in the Middle East alone in the last 50 years? While greatly celebrated, they have mostly been broken and are no longer in effect.

The peace of the Lord, however, is so different. It is inside the heart of man. It flows toward God, toward each other and permeates our own hearts, minds, and emotions.  While the world is yearning for peace, we abide in it. He is the Prince, the Son of Peace, and He abides in us.

His name will be called, “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

“Wonderful Counsellor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father.”

This One to come, our Messiah, our Christ, is the One who ushers in Eternal Life. He is “everlasting.”

“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” [Col 1:16-17]

He is everlasting and the source, purpose and sustainer of all things. And He is Father. A father not only sparks life, a father protects.

I remember once when Bob and I took our kids to Southern California on a fun vacation at all the theme parks and fun places we could fit in our schedule.  While there we went to visit a friend in San Diego. Our friend wanted to take us to the border and into Tijuana. It seemed like a good idea at first. But some things came up and delayed our friend so that by the time we got to the border, parked, and walked across, it was getting dark and late. On the other side we went about two blocks and Bob said, enough. He thought it was too dark, and too dangerous a location and insisted our friend turn around and go back.

A father protects.  Our Everlasting Father is revealed to us in Jesus, His Son. He is our provider of eternal life, and He is our protector.

“Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father.”

Have you noticed the movies and video games that are out now? Notice a theme that runs through almost all of them?  It may be defined by one word – POWER.

Our culture is hungry for someone that has power, real power…the kind of power that makes things right. We don’t have it in our politics. We don’t have it in our educational systems. And sadly, we often don’t have it in our churches. So, what does that leave? Hollywood steps in and provides imaginary, powerful, mighty superheroes on the screen, on television and in video games.

When Isaiah foretold of the character and nature of the Messiah to come, his second title was “Mighty God.” “His name will be called, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God….”

 This one to come will be “mighty.” The shortened version of the word is “gibbor (ghib-bore) and it means powerful. It describes a warrior, champion, or chief who is mighty, strong and valiant.

Not only will He be “mighty,” He will be “God.” The Hebrew word is “El” and it is used only of Jehovah God. The One to come is God Himself, Mighty, Strong, and Valiant.  God is not some impersonal force, He is not distant or uninterested in us. As John says, “The Word was God …. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  [John 1:1, 14]

 Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. The Word, God Himself, came to us in flesh and blood and dwelt with us. He is Mighty God. There is no power like His power. Hollywood can have their make-believe superheroes, I’ll take the real, eternal power – our Mighty God!

“Wonderful counselor, Mighty God.”

I have been thinking a lot about the name given to the Son, the Child, foretold by Isaiah 9:6. “His name shall be called,” the prophet said. Isaiah was giving us not just a name as we think of a name but giving us the character and nature of this One given by God. “His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.”

The Child, the Son given, was fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth, born to Mary by the miraculous power of God, and entrusted into the care of a simple carpenter. This “Wonderful Counselor” came and imparted the deep things of God to us. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “My purpose is that [you] may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that [you] may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that [you] may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” 

When Paul said that all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge were hidden, he didn’t mean that they remain hidden. He meant that those deep things of God which were a mystery down through the ages are now revealed to us in the nature and character of our Savior and Lord, Jesus the Christ.

Christ Jesus now counsels us about what life is all about, He tells us about true love, love from God, love for God, and love for each other.  It is in this “Wonderful Counselor” that we find the answers to all life’s questions.

What joy it is, not just at this time of year, but throughout all of life, to know that if we but turn to God and listen, He will reveal to us love and life. The problem is not with God’s revelation (He’s done His part), the problem is with us when we fail to ask or fail to heed and obey.

He is Christ Jesus, our “Wonderful Counselor!”