Voicemail in Heaven

By Peter Lundell –

What if God ran heaven like a business and installed voicemail? It might sound something like this:

Thank you for calling heaven. Please select one of the following options:
Press 1 for thanksgiving.
Press 2 for complaints.
Press 3 for requests.
Press 4 for all other inquiries.
[Press any number]

I’m sorry; all of our angels are busy helping other saints right now. However, your prayer is important to us, and we will answer it in the order in which it was received. Please hold for the next available angel.

If you would like to speak to the Father, press 1. For the Son, press 2. For the Spirit, press 3. If you would like to hear a Psalm while you are holding, press 4. To find a loved one residing in heaven, press 5, then enter his or her Social Security number followed by the pound sign. If you get a negative response, please hang up and try area code 666.

To make a reservation for heaven, please enter J-O-H-N-3-1-6. For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, life on other planets, and where Noah’s Ark is, please wait until you arrive.

If you are unable to reach one of our angels, please hang up and try again tomorrow.

This office will be closed for the weekend to observe the Sabbath. Please pray again on Monday after 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. If you need emergency assistance, please contact your local pastor.

Can you imagine this? No one would pray. Thank God—yes, I mean thank Him—that He gives us direct access. All the time. Remember that God hears genuine prayer, even when He’s quiet.

PRAYER: Father, thank You, thank You, that I have direct access to You. I’ve so often taken it for granted, but it is a supreme privilege to connect with You directly when I pray.

“I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:1–2 NIV).

Today’s devotion is by Peter Lundell, author of the award-winning book Prayer Power. A rising new voice on connecting with God, Lundell is a pastor, Bible college teacher, and conference speaker. Visit him at www.PeterLundell.com for his inspirational “Connections” and free downloads of articles, parables, short stories, and book chapters.

Let’s Eat In!

By Robin J. Steinweg –

As a bride, my entire culinary repertoire was a trio: Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, pancakes, and “Let’s eat out.” The latter sang the lead.

I had once been proud of not being domestic. But as a Christian, I developed a desire to honor God by providing good meals for my family. I could write an anti-cookbook about failed attempts. Did I mention we were all in the lower 5^th percentile on the doctor’s weight charts?

I attended a marriage seminar about speaking in faith. The principle taught that our words have the power of life and death (Pr. 18:21). And since we have a God who created everything with His Word alone, we can affect change with our words too.

I made a list to practice reading aloud: “I am a good cook.” I snorted. “I plan creative meals.” Right. “Baking is a passion of mine.” I looked in the mirror. “You are a miserable fraud, and these are bald-faced lies!”

For lack of a better idea, I kept up the farce. In weeks I quit laughing. In months, I’d had a few small successes and sported a more positive attitude. My repertoire expanded. A new friend came alongside, taught me professional cooking techniques and gave me new recipes. I think she prayed, too. In a few years, I could truthfully look in the mirror and say, “You are a good cook. You can plan creative meals. Cooking is at times a passion of yours.”

There is a difference between speaking in faith and speaking lies. Lies deceive, steal and harm. Speaking in faith flies in the face of Satan’s lies, and brings life and abundance.

Let’s eat in!

AUTHOR QUOTE: In what other areas might this principle work? Psalm 37:4 says if I delight in the Lord, He’ll give me the desires of my heart. Once I desire what He wants me to desire, I should speak in faith. As I cooperate with Him, He’ll make it happen.

“I am the Lord…who carries out the words of His servants and fulfills the predictions of His messengers…” (Isaiah 44: 24b, 26a NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

Revolutions of Resolutions

By Robin J. Steinweg –

January First circles around like a shark figure on a planet-sized carousel. The brass ring eludes me. Twenty-seven New Year’s Day journal entries reveal my redundant resolution: this is the year I conquer my arch-enemy, Paper Clutter. Twenty-seven years I have reached for but missed this particular brass ring.

You might call me an expert on organizing. After all, experts say it takes 10,000 hours of studying/working at something to become an expert (and they should know). This translates to about three hours a day for ten years. I have more than paid my dues. I’ve read a score of articles and dozens of books on the subject—some of them three and four times. Nearly twenty of these hibernate on my shelves. I even took notes. They are clearly labeled and stored in folders among random Tower-of-Pisa stacks. I could quote statistics and name the most effective methods, if I could find them.

Getting organized is not only my lifelong quest. It appears on most of the lists of Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions. One source had the nerve to say it “can be a very reasonable goal,” but gave no advice for reaching the goal. It was obviously written by someone who doesn’t suffer from C.H.A.O.S. (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome).

My journal entries often include practical Bible verses to encourage me that this is a godly pursuit. God is not the author of confusion, but of order; I can do this through Christ, who strengthens me; I should forget what is behind and press on to what is ahead, to win the prize. With scripture to back me up, and the strong resolve of so many years, what is keeping that brass ring out of reach? Pogo’s words pop up: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

If I hear and don’t act, James says it’s as though I glanced in a mirror and then walked off, forgetting what I look like. What a concept. Do what it says. Maybe I should get off the carousel and make a decision about one cluttering piece of paper at a time. And remember that with God, fresh starts and new hearts never have to wait until January First.  Maybe that brass ring is within reach after all.

QUOTE: “Resolve to renew all your old resolves and add a few that are new. Resolve to keep them as long as you can. What more can a poor man do?” (Early 1900’s postcard)

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22 and 23a NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

No Room in the Inn

By Kathy Carlton Willis –

The innkeeper’s phrase “no room” took on an extra meaning one Christmas when we lived in a tiny 4-room rental. Since humor helps with coping, I focused on the benefits of “no room.”

Top 10 Ways To Know You Live In A Small House

10) A bottle of Windex will last five years.

9) You can hear the radio from every room, loud and clear.

8) The entire home is carpeted from just two carpet remnants.

7) There are more belongings in storage than inside the house.

6) The most spacious room to set up the ironing board is in the bathroom.

5) You can answer the phone by the second ring from anywhere in the house.

4) The saying about not having “a pot to pee in” is only one pot away from being a true statement!

3) You have to step outside to have enough room to change your mind.

2) You can vacuum the entire house from one electrical outlet.

1) The refrigerator light illuminates the entire house!

Even though we felt like we had no room, our home would have had more than enough space to meet the needs of Mary and Joseph that fateful Christmas. I can’t even imagine how uncaring the innkeeper must have been to not try harder to find better accommodations for a woman “great with child.” But rather than turning them away, the innkeeper gave them his leftover space. I wonder how often we are guilty of only giving Christ the leftovers of our lives? The time left after everything else. The money left after our bill-paying and spending sprees.

I heard of a children’s Christmas play that didn’t go quite as written. When the little boy playing the innkeeper saw Mary and Joseph standing pitifully at his door, he paused before saying, “there is no room in the inn.” Just when the director was about to give him his lines, you could hear the little innkeeper plainly say, “You can come stay at my house.” While this drastically changed the ending of the play, the message rang out loud and clear. We can learn a lot from this child!

AUTHOR QUOTE: Where will Jesus be this Christmas? Will He be relegated to a lowly manger, or placed in our most prized spot? No room? Make room!

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7 NKJV).

Today’s devotional is by Kathy Carlton Willis, Christ-servant, wife to Russ, editor, publicist, certified CLASSeminars speaker and faculty member. Kathy Carlton Willis Communications encompasses her many passions. Kathy’s tagline captures her essence—Light & Lively: His Reflection/Her Laughter. Schedule Kathy for a speaking event or contact her firm for promotional assistance. KCWC gets jazzed shining the light on God’s writers and speakers.

A Piñata Kind of Christmas

By Hally Franz –

We were celebrating in the home that my 91-year-old grandmother affectionately refers to as “The Big House.” The year was 1978, and, by today’s standards, there was nothing big about it.

I’d begun Spanish that year and wanted to share my new-found cultural savvy, so my sister and I made a piñata for our Christmas Day celebration. Our piñata was fashioned into human form, but his angular build was more like that of a robot. His torso was constructed of a boot box, his head a smaller boxy version and his appendages wrapping paper rolls. Simply decorated, what “Roboto” lacked in flash and style, he made up for in strength and endurance.

The youngest-to-oldest gifting procedure typically started right after dinner, but this year Roboto would precede the usual festivities. Once our clan of 16 was strategically positioned and, consequently, pinned in, around the perimeter of the family room (no bathroom breaks allowed), we were ready for Roboto.

My cousins, sister and I took turns batting our Latino guest, now suspended mid-air by a rod.   After Roboto took several blows unscathed, we put more muscle into it. As we whacked Roboto, he whirled across the room, lunging at Great Aunts Iva and Ruby. They yelped out, took cover and dropped down at the ends of the sofa.

Roboto’s flat, and evidently, well toned, midsection was struck repeatedly. He remained silent, and we determined to break him and get the bounty of treats. Violent shouts and unabashed laughter filled the room; it was getting ugly. My uncle managed to extract himself from the circle, returning moments later with shotgun in hand, prepared to do the unthinkable! Thankfully, Roboto soon broke without gunfire. A modest candy sampling landed on the floor, certainly not a haul worthy of this effort.

The holidays can be like our piñata experience. Life gets so busy we feel we’re being batted from one event to the next, head spinning with no time to reflect on the real gift of Christmas. For some, experiencing grief or difficult circumstances, this time of year can be like a punch in the gut. And, for others, the holiday hype just doesn’t live up to the reality when the season is over.

Our holiday challenge… Strive for calm rather than chaos, remember the eternal gift of Christ Jesus, keep others in our prayers and expect that earthly celebrations may never measure up.

PRAYER: Almighty God, guide me through the Christmas season so that I navigate the busyness of the holidays, remembering You and others in my heart and activities.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14 KJV).

Today’s devotion is by Hally Franz. Hally is a former teacher and high school guidance counselor, turned homemaker. She enjoys volunteering at her children’s school, teaching Bible classes at her church, leading projects in 4-H, writing, reading, scrapbooking and rousing (though, sometimes, not pretty) zumba classes.

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