Devotions

BY MITCH ALBOM FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
November 15, 2008

Every day I have less
In my bank account.

Every day I grow scared
As my losses mount.

Every day there is less
To the house that I own
And the equity in it
Like the wind, has blown.

Every day I see less
On my bottom line.

Every day something worsens
That used to be fine.

Every day in my family
There's worry and stress.

Where we once dreamed of more
We now do with less.

Every day I hear stories
Of a company's worth
Sinking to levels
From before my birth.

And places I shopped
Are now closing their doors.

Big firms I grew up with
Are big firms no more.

Every day I have less
Of a once strong sensation
That the leaders we choose
Are good for our nation.

Every day I think less
Of a boss I respected
Who parachutes out
With his own butt protected.

Every day I see less
Of the country I knew
Of the dreams we encouraged
Under red, white and blue.

Instead I see signs
Of foreclosure and sale
And people afraid
Of what comes in the mail.

I see layoffs and cutbacks
No help for the needy

As billions are given
To the powered and greedy.

And this news, it is endless
It burrows so deep.
It shadows my waking
It's haunting my sleep.

Yet every day I have less
I cannot ignore it.
Something grows clearer
That wasn't before it.

If I still have a job
I am luckier than some.

If I still have my house
It is better than none.

If I still have my wits
There are mouths I can feed.

If I still have my family
What more do I need?

If I still have my health
I am mercifully blessed.

If I think I have little
Someone has less.

Every day I discover
More mercy in me.

Every day I find out
Who my true friends will be.

Every day that I stumble
Or say, "I can't do it!"

Is a day I discover
With God's grace, I get through it.

So I learn a new lesson
If I keep a new score

That every day I have less
May be a day I have more.

The cross is laid on every Christian. It begins with the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich

All the miseries and evils which men suffer from - vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.

Webster, Noah

Man, made in the image of God, has a purpose - to be in relationship to God, who is there. Man forgets his purpose and thus he forgets who he is and what life means.

Schaeffer, Francis

The great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, God's love for us does not.

Lewis, C. S.

Measure not God's love and favor by your own feelings. The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest. The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds which hinder the manifestation of the light thereof.

Sibbes, Richard

The poor broken-hearted sinner, going into his bedroom, bends his knee, but can only utter his mournful cry in the language of sighs and tears. Look! that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has been caught by God, and put into a vase made especially for tears, to be perpetually preserved.

Spurgeon, C. H.

Once upon a time there was a bunch
of tiny frogs.... who arranged a
running competition.
The goal was to reach the top of a
very high tower.

A big crowd had gathered around
the tower to see the race and cheer
on the contestants....
The race began....

Honestly:
No one in the crowd really believed
that the tiny frogs would reach the
top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:

"Oh, WAY too difficult!!"
"They will NEVER make it to the top."or:
"Not a chance that they will succeed.
The tower is too high!"
The tiny frogs began collapsing.
One by one....

Except for those, who in a fresh
tempo were climbing higher and
higher...

The crowd continued to yell, "It is
too difficult!!! No one will make it!"

More tiny frogs got tired and gave
up....

But ONE continued higher and higher
and higher....

This one wouldn't give up!

At the end everyone else had given
up climbing the tower. Except for
the one tiny frog who, after a big
effort, was the only one who
reached the top!

THEN all of the other tiny frogs
naturally wanted to know how this
one frog managed to do it?
A contestant asked the tiny frog
how he had found the strength to
succeed and reach the goal?

It turned out.... That the winner was DEAF!!!!

The wisdom of this story is:
Never listen to other people's
tendencies to be negative or pessimistic....
because they take your most wonderful dreams
and wishes away from you
-- the ones you have in your
heart!

Always think of the power words
have. (There's life and death in
the power of the tongue - Proverbs
18:21.)

Because everything you hear and
read will affect your actions!

Therefore: ALWAYS be.... POSITIVE!

And above all:
Be DEAF when people tell YOU
that you cannot fulfill your dreams!

Reprove compassionately. Soft words and hard arguments do well together. Passion will heat the sinner's blood, but compassion will heal his conscience.

Swinnock, George

There is sin in the camp. There is treason today!

Is it in me? Is it in me?

There is cause in our ranks for defeat and delay;

Is it, O Lord, in me?

Something of selfishness, garments or gold,

Something of hindrance in young or in old,

Something why God doth His blessing withhold;

Is it, O Lord, in me?

Is it in me? Is it in me?

Is it, O Lord, in me?

God never intended His Church to be a refrigerator in which to
preserve perishable piety. He intended it to be an incubator in
which to hatch our converts.

-- F. Lincicome

There are many who, like me, worked and prayed for Obama's defeat. On the other hand, I've got evangelical friends who worked and prayed for his victory. And now with the election behind us, where do we go from here?

I think we need to begin by applauding the magnitude of what Obama has accomplished. He is the first African American to be elected to the highest office in the land. And he ran a brilliant campaign.

And yet for me his election stings. I suspect it will for awhile.

So where do I go from here? When the president isn't a man of my choosing, I'm forced to remember that in Daniel 2:21 we're told it is God who, "removes kings, and establishes kings." While over 100 million Americans voted, and in doing so expressed their will, ultimately God chose who would serve as the President of our country. He has a purpose for the election of Obama. And off course, nobody knows what that purpose might be. We may never know. But we can know that Paul commanded us to submit to governing authorities (Romans 13:1). He also told us to pray for kings and those in authority so, "we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness" (1 Timothy 2:1).

I remember the occasion when David and three thousand of his troops were running from King Saul. Under the cover of darkness, David and Abishai, one of his mighty men, stealthily entered the king's camp. Surrounded by his sleeping men, the king slept as soundly as a baby.

Abishai saw the moment as a divine appointment. "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands," he said (1 Samuel 26:8). He pleaded with David to let him kill the king with a single thrust of is spear. "I won't strike him twice," he said.

Overhead the stars blinked, in the distance a wolf howled. Much closer angels leaned forward and watched as David contemplated Abishai's request. I wonder what ran through David's mind in the moment between hearing and answering. Perhaps he thought of Saul's ruthless and immoral wrongs committed against him.

Whether or not David entertained such thoughts we'll never know. What we do know is that the leader of the mighty men told Abishai, "Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?" (1 Samuel 26:9). Brothers, we have a responsibility to do all we can to assure the success of our new president elect. We must pray for him and for his success. If we disagree with him and his policies, thank God, we live in a country where our disagreement can be expressed. And we must do so.

While I will no doubt continue to feel deep concern about the direction of our country, I have no doubt about who holds our country in his hands.

Locking arms,

- Bill

God does not want partnership with us, but ownership of us.

A sinning man will stop praying, and a praying man will stop sinning.

Almighty God, the Refuge of all that are distressed, grant unto us that, in all trouble of this our mortal life, we may flee to the knowledge of Thy lovingkindness and tender mercy; that so, sheltering ourselves therein, the storms of life may pass over us, and not shake the peace of God that is within us. Whatsoever this life may bring us, grant that it may never take from us the full faith that Thou art our Father. Grant us Thy light, that we may have life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

--- George Dawson

How shall I depend on Him for raising my body from the dust; and saving my soul at last; if I distrust Him for a crust of bread, towards my preservation.

Hall, Joseph

By Tim Manzer

I was hunting up in Michigan’s U.P. around Rice Lake with some other orange-clad hunters. We were in a very remote hunting camp in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. Each deer-hunter was assigned a hunting blind by our fearless commander of our little Yooper hunting encampment. My personal hunting appointment was at the back of a little meadow which over looked a huge Yooper bog.

The excitement of hunting camp had kept me awake all night. I arose with great enthusiasm and ate a huge hunting camp breakfast. I think it was bacon, Mountain Dew, eggs over easy, old deer jerky and powdered donuts. Then I sat still for hours on a chilly morning and saw lots of happy chickadees. All cozy in my hunting outfit, I fell asleep.

I must have looked like something that had kicked the bucket in the northern forest. I was awakened by two very wild dogs. They were deciding which part to eat of my breathing cadaver. When I slowly moved, the feral beasts began to growl, snarl and show me two sets of giant canine teeth with white slobber in the corners of their mouths.

I thought a very dumb notion, “I’m dead, and these dogs are going to eat me!” They continued to circle me and snarl at my frightened bones. Then I remembered I have a shotgun. I picked up my old 16-gage shotgun and shot one of the dogs in its canine cranium. The malicious brute dropped dead and the other frightened bully escaped into the woods.

Not very long after my successful wild dog hunt, some of the other hunters showed up to help me track my deer. They asked, “What did you get?” They expected me to say, “A spike horn buck,” but I said to their amazement, “A Dog!” Well, they were very proud of me. I was the mighty killer of pets “Gone Bad”.

Sometimes in life, we must kill what endangers us. That is very true when it comes to our soul, we must kill the sin that destroys our walk with God. Colossians 3:5 & 6 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” When ever that sin comes into your life put it to death. A violent, swift, unmerciful death is best!

I watched the movie, Fireproof with my wife. I loved so many things about the movie! In the movie Lt. Caleb Holt struggled with pornography and porno was one of many things that were bringing brokenness to his wife. In a fantastic scene the firefighter destroyed his computer with a baseball bat. My soul cheered for joy. What a great demonstration of the Biblical principle of destruction of evil in our lives.

What is bringing death to your marriage? Is that marriage-killing dog called debt? Or is it porno? Or maybe it is the refusal to forgive; impatience; anger; bitterness; rage and abuse. Be ready to kill those wild marriage killer dogs. Do whatever it takes! Get whatever help you need to kill those dogs!

Matthew 5: 27-30, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

“Will you give your hours to fantasizing about and dwelling on and longing for the vile things that nailed the Lover of your soul to the cursed tree?”-Kris Lundgaard The Enemy Within

“We are ever prone to regard sin lightly, to gloss over its hideousness, to make excuses for it. But the more we study and ponder God’s abhorrence of sin and His frightful vengeance upon it, the more likely are we to realize its heinousness.”--A.W. Pink in The Attributes of God

“O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that, so desiring, we may seek, and seeking find Thee; and so finding Thee may love Thee; and in loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast redeemed us.” ----St. Ansel

Don't Lose Heart

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. - John 17:3

Ever since the Lord called me into ministry I've had a passion to serve Him. It's been the biggest thing for me. I remember when I was 19 years old and all I wanted to do was to serve God and make a difference in this world and spend myself lifting high the name of Christ. When I was in college training for ministry I met some pastors in their 40s and 50s, and I thought to myself, "They are so lame. They're not fired up about ministry at all. They should be passionate about Christ but instead they're just indifferent. They've lost the spark somewhere." Eventually I got to know some of these men well enough to ask them about it. They were like, "You'll see. You'll learn. You get a few laps on your car, and you'll understand." And you know what? They were right.

Loving Christ passionately and living for Him with your whole heart for a lifetime is not easy. But I know how to do it. Any time you feel the least bit discouraged and tempted to go AWOL, here's the secret: Get your eyes back on Christ. He is everything He has always been and more. Rejoice in Him. Revel in Him. Delight in Him. When we lose this piece, we lose heart. When we're not reveling in Christ and not drawing our hearts near to Jesus, we lose our focus. He's so wonderful. Don't you love Him?

All our endeavors, whatever they may be, are in vain unless Jesus is the center. And that includes more than knowing His name; it's knowing His mercy, His grace, and His power. It's more than hearing His Word; it's experiencing Him as your peace and your strength; it's experiencing Him as your great physician and your shepherd; it's knowing Him as your Savior and your God. When we've lost our heart for the Christian life, it's because we have ceased to revel in Jesus, whom to know is life eternal; we've ceased to glory in who He is and delight in His majesty and power. Without that, this whole deal gets stale really fast.

What I am spending my life for is challenging fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ to love Him more every time we get together and spend ourselves more completely for Him. He is worthy of all and more of what we could give Him. God forgive us for our halfhearted ways, and cause us to know afresh the glory and the joy and the peace that is found when we revel in Jesus Christ our Lord.