Dec devotions

[Colleen Davis]

12/1/06 Becoming More Like Jesus

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

The stronger I grow in faith, the closer I draw to Jesus, the more I learn to love and trust Him alone, the more disgusted, discouraged, depressed, and defeated I become over sin and failure in my life! I am sick of sin! My sin!

But there is hope for me! God’s Word promises “that he who began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” what I will be like “has not yet been made known. But [I] know that when he appears, [I] shall be like him, for [I] shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). Praise God!

One day I will no loner struggle with sin,
I will no longer stumble and fall.
I will no longer falter and fail.
I will no longer be tried and tempted.
One day I will be like Jesus!

From “The Vision of His Glory” by “Anne Graham Lotz”

[Colleen Davis]

12/2/06 Receiving His Resources

“Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.” John 6:3

As Jesus and His disciples rested together on the mountainside, we have the beautiful picture of the Good Shepherd, making His sheep lie down in green pastures, leading them beside the still waters, that He might restore them on the inside. Jesus knew the demands that would be made on the disciples and Himself that very day, and He knew in order to meet those demands, they had to have some time along together.

Again and again I have been amazed to discover that the verse of Scripture or insight that God seems to give me in my early morning quiet time with Him is the very same verse or insight I am called on to give to someone else during the day. Jesus offer us ample resources, but we have to receive them from Him in order to impart them to others.

From “Just Give Me Jesus” by Anne Graham Lotz

[Colleen Davis]

Start Trusting

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” John 14:1

“Do not let your hearts be troubled” is a command you and I are to obey! Deliberately calming ourselves is a choice we are to make in the face of
shocking setbacks,
catastrophic circumstances,
abrupt accidents,
irritating interruptions.
devastating dissension,
agonizing addiction,
frequent failures,
all of which cause us to be terrified of the consequences or repercussions. In the midst o the swirling, cloying fog of fear, Jesus commands, “Stop it!”

How in the world is it possible to obey a command that involves so much of our emotional feelings? Our obedience begins with a choice to stop being afraid, followed by a decision to start trusting God.

From “My Heart’s Cry” by Anne Graham Lotz

[Colleen Davis]

12/4/06 God’s Good Timing

“God will always give what is right to his people who cry to him night and day, and he will not be slow to deliver them. Luke 18:7

Why does God wait until the money is gone? Why does He wait until the sickness has lingered? Why does He choose to wait until the other side of the grave to answer the prayers for healing?

I don’t know. I only know His timing is always right. I can only say He will do what is best. . .

Though you hear nothing, He is speaking. Though you see nothing, He is acting. With God there are no accidents. Every incident is intended to bring us closer to Him.

by Max Lucado from “A Gentle Thunder”

[Colleen Davis]

12/5/06 Hills of the Lord

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh My help. My help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth “Psalm 121:1,2

Yes! always raise your eyes, from earth’s sordid and mean and false, to the Hills of the Lord. From poverty, lift your eyes to the Help of the Lord.

In moments of weakness, life your eyes to the Hills of the Lord.

Train your sight by constantly getting this long view. Train it to see more and more, further and further, until distant peaks seem familiar.

The Hills of the Lord, the Hills, whence comes your help. A parched earth looks to the Hills for its rivers, its streams, its life. So look you to the Hills. From those Hills comes Help. Help from the Lord..who made Heaven and earth.

So, for all your spiritual needs, look to the Lord, who made Heaven, and for all your temporal needs look to Me, owner of all this, the Lord who made the earth.

from “God Calling” edited by A. J. Russell

[Colleen Davis]

12/6/06 Just In Time

“May the God you serve all the time save you!” Daniel 6:16

Look at Jonah in the fish belly—surrounded by gastric juices and sucked-in seaweed…..He prays….Before he can say amend, the belly convulses, the fish belches, and Jonah lands face first on the beach.

Look at Daniel in the lions’ den’ his prospects aren’t much better than Jonah’s. Jonah had been swallowed, and Daniel is about to be…..

Or look at Joseph in the pit, a chalky hole in a hot desert. The lid has been pulled over the top and the wool has been pulled over his eyes….Like Jonah and Daniel, Joseph is trapped. He is out of options. There is no exit. There is no hope….Though the road to the palace takes a detour through a prison, it eventually ends up at the throne…

Such are the stories in the Bible. One near-death experience after another. Just when the neck is on the chopping block, just when the noose is around the neck. Calvary comes.

from “He Still Moves Stones” by Max Lucado

[Colleen Davis]

12/7/06 Your Arm of Love

You are to help save others.

Never let one day pass when you have not reached out an arm of Love to someone outside your home--a note, a letter, a visit, a phone call, help in some way.

Be full of Joy. Joy saves, Joy cures. Joy in Me. In every ray of sunlight, every smile, every act of kindness, or love, every trifling service--joy.

Each day do something to lift another soul out of the sea of sin, or disease or doubt into which man has fallen.

I still walk to-day by the lakeside and call My Disciples to follow Me and to become fishers of men.

The helping hand is needed that raises the helpless to courage, to struggle, to faith, to health.

Love and laughter are the beckoners to faith and courage and success.

Trust on, love on, joy on.

Refuse to be downcast. Refuse to be checked in your upward climb.

Love and laugh, I am with you. I bear your burdens. Cast your burden upon Me and I will sustain thee.

And then in very lightheartedness you turn and help another with the burden that is pressing too heavily upon him or her.

How many burdens can you lighten this year? How many hearts can you cheer? How many souls can you help?

And in giving you gain: "Good measure, pressed down and running over." I your Lord have said it.

From “God Calling” edited by A. J. Russell

[Colleen Davis]

12/8/06 Fellowship In The Gospel

”Fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 3:2

After sanctification it is difficult to state what your aim in life
is, because God has taken you up into His purpose by the Holy Ghost;
He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used
His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things
for yourself - God has called me for this and that; you are putting a
barrier to God's use of you. As long as you have a personal interest
in your own character, or any set ambition, you cannot get through
into identification with God's interests. You can only get there by
losing for ever any idea of yourself and by letting God take you
right out into His purpose for the world, and because your goings are
of the Lord, you can never understand your ways.

I have to learn that the aim in life is God's, not mine. God is using
me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that
I trust Him, and never say - Lord, this gives me such heart-ache. To
talk in that way makes me a clog. When I stop telling God what I
want, He can catch me up for what He wants without let or hindrance.
He can crumple me up or exalt me, He can do any thing He chooses. He
simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and in His goodness.
Self pity is of the devil, if I go off on that line I cannot be used
by God for His purpose in the world. I have "a world within the
world" in which I live, and God will never be able to get me outside
it because I am afraid of being frost-bitten.

From “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers

[Colleen Davis]

12/9/06 The Master Plan

“It was the Lord’s will to crush him.” Isaiah 53:10

The cross was no accident. Jesus’ death was not the result of a panicking, cosmological engineer. The cross wasn’t a tragic surprise. Calvary was not a knee-jerk response to a world plummeting towards destruction. It wasn’t a patch-job or a stop-gap measure. The death of the Son of God was anything but an unexpected peril.

No, it was part of a plan. It was calculated choice. “It was the Lord’s will to crush him.” The cross was drawn into the original blueprint. It was written into the script. The moment the forbidden fruit touched the lips of Eve, the shadow of a cross appeared on the horizon. And between that moment and the moment the man with the mallet place the spike against the wrist of God, a master was fulfilled.

From “God Came Near” by Max Lucado

[Colleen Davis]

12/10/06 Uniquely You

“He gave…to teach according to his ability.” Matthew 25:15

DaVinci painted one Mona Lisa. Beethoven composed one Fifth Symphony. And God made one version of you. He custom designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment. Mine like a gold digger the unique-to-you nuggets from your life…

When God gives you an assignment, he also gives the skill. Study your skills, then, to reveal your assignment.

Look at you. Your uncanny ease with numbers. Your quenchless curiosity about chemistry. Others stare at blueprints and yawn; you read them and drool. “I was made to do this.” You say.

Our Maker gives assignments to people, “to each according to each one’s unique ability.” A he calls, he equips. Look back over your life. What have you consistently done well? What have you loved to do? Stand at the intersection of your affections and successes and find your uniqueness.

From “Cure for the Common Life” by Max Lucado

[Colleen Davis]

12/11/06 Help From the Holy Spirit

“The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.” Romans 8:26

The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness. What a sentence worth of a highlighter. Who does not need this reminder? Weak bodies. Weak wills. Weakened resolves. We’ve known them all. The word weakness can refer to physical infirmities, as with the invalid who had been unable to walk for thirty-eight years (John 5:5), or spiritual impotence, as with the spiritually “helpless” of Romans 5:6.

Whether we are feeble of soul or body or both, how good to know it’s not up to us. The Spirit himself is pleading for us.

From “Come Thirsty” by Max Lucado

[Colleen Davis]

12/12/06 Dealing with Annoying People

“’Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement.’” John 7:24

You forget perhaps the indirect good one may gain by living with uncongenial, tempting persons…such people do good by the very self-denial and self-control their mere presence demands.

“But suppose one cannot exercise self-control and is always flying out and flaring up?”

“I should say that a Christian who was always doing that…was is pressing need of just the trial God sent.”

“It is very mortifying and painful to find how weak one is.”

That is true. But our mortifications are some of God’s best physicians and do much toward healing our pride and self-conceit.”

“We look at our fellow men too much from the standpoint of our own prejudices. They may be wrong, they may have their faults and foibles, they may call out all the meanest and most hateful in us. But when they excite our bad passions by their own, they may be as ashamed and sorry as we are irritated. And I think some of the best prayers prevail with God and bring down blessings into the homes in which they swell, often possess unlovely traits that furnish them with their best discipline. The very fact that they are ashamed of themselves drives them to God; they feel safe in His presence.”

from “Stepping Heavenward” by Elizabeth Prentiss

[Colleen Davis]

12/13/06 Quiet Lives

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord.” Matthew 25:21

These words are whispered in the ears of many whom the world would pass by unrecognizing. Not to the great, and the world-famed are these words said so often, but to the quiet followers who serve Me unobtrusively, yet faithfully, who bear their cross bravely, with a smiling face to the world. Thank Me for the quiet lives.

These words speak not only of the passing into that fuller Spirit Life. Duty faithfully done for Me does mean entrance into a Life of Joy...My Joy, the Joy of your Lord. The world may never see it, the humble, patient, quiet service, but I see it, and My reward is not earth’s fame, earth’s wealth, earth’s pleasures, but the Joy Divine.

Whether here, or there, in the earth-world, or in the spirit-world, this is My reward. Joy. The Joy that carries an exquisite thrill in the midst of pain and poverty and suffering. That Joy of which I said no man could take it from you. Earth has no pleasure, no reward, that can give man that Joy. It is known only to My lovers and My friends.

This Joy may come, not as the reward of activity in My service. It may be the reward of Patient suffering, bravely borne.

Suffering, borne with Me, must in time bring Joy, as does all real contact with Me. So live with Me in that Kingdom of Joy, My Kingdom, the Gateway into which may be service, it may be suffering.

from “God Calling” edited by A. J. Russell

[Colleen Davis]

12/14/06 Coping with Stress

“Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.” Psalm 37:7

An office can be a noisy place. The shrill ringing of the telephone, the beeping of the fax machine, the dinging of the computer’s e-mail program, the shrieking of the paper shredder, and the demanding voice of one’s boss all contribute to on-the-job tension. Some days the administrative assistant, be it secretary, receptionist, loan processor, title researcher, or clerk, become the recipient of criticism and complaints from customers and supervisors alike. These days, one needs a break.

A few moments with God are a wonderful stress reliever. Whether one takes a walk, hides in the lunchroom, or rests one’s head on a cluttered desk a quick quiet prayer puts everything back into perspective. The knowledge that God is always there soothes like a deep refreshing breath. A hundred years from now, it won’t matter how many folders were filed today. But God will still be there.

The stress of modern-day life is no match for quiet faith.

By Robin Bayne from “A Cup of Comfort”

[Colleen Davis]

12/15/06 Wake Up Call

“So stay awake and be prepared, because you do not know the day or hour of my return.” Matthew 25:13

“Rise and shine, it’s 6:00 A.M. He is risen! Maybe you should get up, too!” That’s what I hear when I wake up in the morning. My alarm is set to the Christian radio station, and the announcer gives me the same wake-up call every day.

Jesus gave us a wake-up call, too. Many of us travel through life sleepy-eyed and tired, with our eyes half closed and our attention halfhearted. Jesus told us to “stay awake and be prepared”.

Are you awake? Do you rise and shine each and every day? Are you giving the world the attention it deserves and making a difference in the lives of others? If you’re not, maybe it’s time for you to wake up. The buzzer is going off! Get up and get going. Remember, He arose to give you the power to arise to all occasions.

Be fully aware through the life Jesus give you.

By Michele Starkey from “A Cup of Comfort”

[Colleen Davis]

12/16/06 Delight in the Lord

Delight in the Lord

“Delight thyself also in the Lord.” Psalm 37:4

For some years I have made it a practice to delight myself in the Lord. How do we delight ourselves in Him? The Hebrew word used in this text for “delight” is ‘anag, which means “soft and pliable”. One way to freely translate this passage is: “Relax and really enjoy the Lord!”

Consider this good advice by looking at its context and comparing it to the meaning of ‘anag. “Trust in the Lord, and do good,” the psalmist says. “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pas… Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him” Psalm 37:3-7.

A person who lives that way is soft and pliable before the Lord, Delighting him/herself in the Lord give him/her the love and faith to live that way.

If we delight ourselves in the Lord, the promise is: “He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (v.4). I can happily testify that the Lord has done that for me. Our main desire when we delight ourselves in the Lord is to know, please, and serve Him. He has helped me to do that; He has certainly opened many exciting doors for me to serve Him. In addition, He has blessed me temporally in many ways and has answered many prayers. I say this humbly, as a testimony, because the more He does for and through me, the more I bow before Him in humble awe.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and see what effect it has in your life.

from “Joy in the Morning” by Muriel Larson

[Colleen Davis]

12/17/06 Serving Others

“He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” John 13:5

If we were royal heirs to an earthly monarch, we might have grand, attention-getting duties such as leading military campaigns or reigning over lavish ceremonial affairs. Instead, we are heirs to a servant King, whom we honor by serving others in humility and in love. Our duty here may be something simple…and even more important:
> To speak a healing word to a broken heart.
> To extend a hand to one who has fallen.
> To give a smile to those whose laughter has been lost.
> To encourage the dreamer who has given up.
> To ease the burden of one bent low beneath a thankless task.
> To reassure the doubter and reinforce the believer.
> To light the candle of God’s Word in the midst of another’s darkest night.

From “Daily Splashes of Joy” by Barbara Johnson

[Colleen Davis]

12/18/06 Laughter

“He will … fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” Job 8:21

It’s the way we live our lives—our attitudes and out actions—that determines what stage of life we’re
in. You may have a husband in the throes of a midlife crises, parents who are struggling to remember what decade they are in, and adult children who are giving you fits, but if you can keep breathing and laughing, you’ll survive (at least until it’s your turn to move into the Home for the Bewildered and try to remember what decade it is!).

Anyone can laugh—whether you’re mobile or bedridden, active or lame, whether you’re equipped with single or double eyes, arms, ears, legs, and kidneys! No physical limitation can prevent you from laughing. Even if some problem has robbed you of your voice, you can still laugh with your eyes. And if for some reason your eyes can’t sparkle anymore you can still smile in your heart.

Remember: The more you complain, the longer God lets you live. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

From “Daily Splashes of Joy” by Barbara Johnson

[Colleen Davis]

12/19/06

“The teachings of the Lord are perfect; they give new strength. The rules of the Lord can be trusted; they make plain people wise.” Psalm 19:7

We live in an imperfect world with people who are full of quirks and in homes that have imperfections. I have a friend who saved and scrimped to buy some expensive wallpaper for her son’s bedroom. It finally arrived after being special-ordered, and she brought it home and put it away, planning to hang it as soon as she found the time.

Her husband discovered the wallpaper one day while she was out shopping and decided to surprise her by hanging it himself. So he worked all day, papering the entire bedroom with the lovely new paper. He made only one mistake: He hung all the paper UPSIDE DOWN. It was supposed to show colorful balloons with strings hanging down. Instead all the strings climbed up the wall like slithering snakes.

When my friend returned, she was shocked, but there was nothing to be done. Learning to live with upside-down situations isn’t easy, but it is part of live.

From “Daily Splashes of Joy” by Barbara Johnson

[Colleen Davis]

12/20/06

“God is love. Those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” 1 John 4:16

Our heavenly crowns may be glorious ornaments we’ll wear while singing praises to our King when we get to heaven, but here on earth, Christ’s crown of servanthood should come with a chin strap, because we have a lot of work to do!

A woman sent me an essay recently that describes the “doodles” that appear on her friend’s prayer journal. One of the drawings is a crown, drawn there to remind her, as she prays for her children. That “what they are today is not what they will be tomorrow.” The same is true for all of us. And it just may be that WE are the instruments He’s using to love or encourage someone else.

From “Daily Splashes of Joy” by Barbara Johnson

[Colleen Davis]

12/21/06

“I will see the rainbow in the cloud and remember my eternal promise to every living being on earth.” Genesis 9:16-17

Life storms buffet us, ripping us apart our plans and flooding us with multiplied problems. But grace is God’s promise that we will not be destroyed, just as a rainbow was His promise that He would never again send a flood to devastate the earth.

Phyllis Eger tells a lovely story about how a phone call interrupted her dinner preparations as a neighbor told her to hurry outside to see the most beautiful rainbow in the eastern sky. She turned off her stove and dashed outside, and there it was—a spectacular double arc of lovely colors. She quickly called her other who lived across town and her other, in turn, called a neighbor. Other families saw them looking up at the sky and came out to see what was going on. Soon more than a dozen people were appreciating that beautiful rainbow—all because one lady made a phone call.

From “Daily Splashes of Joy” by Barbara Johnson

[Colleen Davis]

12/22/06

“Blessed are those who don’t doubt me.” Matthew 11:6

Hope is the essential ingredient to make it through life. It is the anchor of the soul. When you quit depending on your own strength to solve your problems, that’s when you can start to have REAL hope in what God can do!

Think of your life with all the mistakes, sins, and woes of the past like the tangles in a ball of yarn, knotted up with “why’s?” and endless loops of frustration

Especially during the holidays, it may become such a mess that you could never begin to straighten it out. God alone ca untangle the threads of our lives. What a comfort it is to drop the tangles of life into God’s hands and then leave them there. That’s what hope is all about.

From “Daily Splashes of Joy” by Barbara Johnson

[Colleen Davis]

12/23/06

“Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” Psalm 55:5-6

During the hectic holiday season, it’s sometimes encouraging must to be told we’re not going crazy when we feel ourselves slipping over the brink into La-La Land. That’s what a hospice nurse did when she reminded me a grieving woman that the stress of simply trying to survive her loss might cause her to do “crazy things”. The nurse told the woman she should expect crazy things to happen. “You’re going to do some things that aren’t like you at all,” she said.

Then she reminded the woman, “That’s okay. After all, you’re NOT yourself right now. You’re hurting and you’re lost. So don’t be too hard on yourself when you lose the house keys or pay the phone bill twice or put salt in your tea or forget where you parked your car. Be patient with yourself. Gradually, your upside-down world will right itself, and you’ll find you life returning to almost normal.”

Every cloud has a silver lining. And sometimes it’s a bolt of lightning.

From “Daily Splashes of Joy” by Barbara Johnson