Baby It’s Cold Outside

By Cindy Martin –

“Baby, it’s cold outside” – the words to the oft sung Christmas tune are an apt description of much of North America this winter. Record setting low temperatures and unprecedented snowfalls combined with freezing rain and frigid wind chills have produced intense memories that are not likely to be soon forgotten. More so than any other year, my family and I have repeatedly thanked God for a warm home, cozy blankets and a faithful snow plow operator that keeps the drifting snow at bay along our driveway.

More than once, I have sat in the humid cocoon of steamy water my soaker tub offers and listened to the wind howl as snow blew in sheets up against the window. As the wind’s force became increasingly fierce, I would find myself reclining deeper into the nurturing comfort provided by the steaming bubbles of balmy bliss. Only inches away from me – just on the other side of the wall – winter’s fury was wreaking havoc on the landscape, but encased in the warm embrace of the water, I felt safe and secure. And surprisingly, somehow my soul felt nourished by the care my body was receiving. While I wasn’t oblivious to my vulnerabilities, they seemed to melt away in the sultry heat of the room.

Albeit flawed, I wonder if that’s the North American version of what the psalmist had in mind when he wrote “He will shelter you with His wings” (Psalm 91:4 NLT).

Disappointment, disillusionment and distraction are wreaking havoc on our souls. God’s truth has been abandoned for “whatever works for you”. People don’t keep their promises, relationships fall apart, physical bodies fall apart, people we love die, people we love hurt us deeply while they’re still living. Political and economic upheaval is no longer breaking news – it’s a common occurrence, affecting the full gamut of society from powerless to powerful. In the midst of the storm… in the midst of your storm, hear the words of the psalmist:

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty…
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety… He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid… Do not dread… The LORD says… ‘I will protect those who trust in My name. When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble’”(Psalm 91:1-15 NLT).

Soak in these truths… let them cascade over your spirit and nourish your soul.

Prayer: “Lord Jesus; thank You for the truth of Your Word. May it penetrate the storms of our lives and anchor our souls.”

On the Team

By Cheri Cowell –

Try as hard as I might, I simply have two left feet when it comes to anything sports- related. I can’t even throw a frisbee without looking like a platypus. It is pitiful. So you can imagine how I dreaded the elementary school practice of choosing among classmates for a team. When gathered for this hated drill, I’d stand behind the tallest person I could find so when I was chosen last it would look like it was because I wasn’t seen and not because I wasn’t wanted. But I knew. I was only chosen because someone had to take me. It was embarrassing. It hurt.

Millions of little boys and girls, now adults, still carry this childhood wound. They need to know, as I learned, that there is Someone who chose them. He actually chose them before the beginning of the world. As I walked about the mall the other day this verse ran through my mind and I began to look at each person who I encountered as someone who was chosen by God. I wondered what a difference it would make in each life if they knew this truth. The more I pondered this the more my heart began to ache for a chance to share this truth with just one of them. My prayer became a plea for the opportunity to tell someone they were chosen for the team.

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—” (Ephesians 1:4-5 NIV).

PRAYER: Dear God, help me see each person I meet today as someone chosen for Your team. Open a door for me to share that truth with just one person who needs to know they are on The Team.

Go Fish

By Cheri Cowell –

Did you play Go Fish as a child? My sister and I loved to play Old Maid and Go Fish when at my grandparents’. I loved to send my sister “fishing.” Now, we weren’t too good at real fishing. Daddy had two girly girls and fishing was just too dirty for us. I remember watching Daddy clean the fish he caught and when I saw how he used pliers to get the hook from the poor fish’s mouth—that was the end of my fishing. Now if he’d found what Peter found when Jesus told him to Go Fish, I’d have instantly become a tomboy.

What did Peter find?

The drachma was a tax levied on Jews for the upkeep of the Jerusalem Temple. Head, or poll, taxes normally listed specific exceptions. For example, conquerors subjected conquered peoples, not their own subjects, to taxation. Likewise, priests were exempt from the two-drachma tax cited here. Most significantly, dependents of a king were naturally exempt from his taxes. Jesus was making a point to Peter, a point he would not understand till after Jesus’ death—the King of the Temple in whose name these taxes are being collected is God, the Father. Furthermore, and a point for you and me, Jesus supplied the tax in the mouth of the fish just as He will supply the needs of today’s church through us.

“After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, ‘Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?’ ‘Yes, he does,’ he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. ‘What do you think, Simon?’ he asked. ‘From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?’ ‘From others,’ Peter answered. ‘Then the children are exempt,’ Jesus said to him. ‘But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours’” (Matthew 17:24-27 NIV).

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord for the provisions You supply. Help me to Go Fish with a heart of faith when the offering plate passes this Sunday.

Seeking Godly Wisdom

By Judy Davis –

When I complete a devotional, article or book, the first thing I do is take a look at it. Not just a quick look, but one that is long, concentrated and thorough. First, I look at the words as a whole and then I turn my attention to the details. Although I realize I am the author who created it, I need to look through the eyes of the reader. In other words, before I sign my name, I must be sure I am satisfied with it. If not, I need to make changes.

I’m in the final stages of completing my new book Happy New You Reading the Bible Through, a daily devotional. The idea to write this book came one morning as I was seeking Godly wisdom. May it encourage and inspire readers to read the Bible through each year and become all God desires for their lives. I did not take this lightly before writing as I have read the Bible through each year for over 20 years. My life has never been the same. I recently received the cover from the publisher to look at and make revisions if needed. I’ll be checking each page for any error before the book is published.

I do the same thing with my life. I go over what I’ve done, how I responded, and what I did that was creative as well as the things I didn’t handle as well as I should. The most important thing is to put God first each day; reflecting on changes we can make that will please Him. Pray and wait on His direction and He will lead us in the way we should go.

With the New Year here, it’s time to pause and take a long look at life. What did we accomplish last year? What will we accomplish this year?

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then–have it your way.’” C. S. Lewis

PRAYER: Precious Lord, as we come into your presence may we turn our hearts towards you. Keep us by your power and guide us into 2014 full of your light, your love, and your spirit.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NIV).

Dazzled

By Elaine James –

Take a moment and remember a time when you were outside in the pitch black of the night and saw the amazing sky in all of its vastness. Did you lie down and look up and really take in the vastness of the sky? You couldn’t help but say “God you did all this.”

A friend asked a friend to lie down on the ground in Wyoming so they could stargaze. One spoke up with amazement in his voice and asked, “Why did God create so many stars and make the universe so vast?!”

The other replied, “Because God wants to dazzle you.”

Long ago, God, who is the intelligent designer, created the heavens and the earth. He is an amazing artist who has a ginormous love for us. He created the world with such intricacy. Awesome! I am challenged to be still and know that God is God. I use the word challenged because there is such urgency in my mind to be task-orientated that I struggle with time management. I can only imagine that you might struggle with this as well.

In this New Year I want to start out remembering the times where I was overcome viewing His starry sky. After all I just heard the Christmas story and was dazzled by the star that rose after Jesus was born (Matthew 2).

Imagine if everyone decided to start out their New Year with the starry Christmas night still in their heart and images of their last starry gaze in that special place. Slowly take a deep breath in and let it out with a prayer “God, take hold of my hand, here we go into the New Year, I don’t want to do this year without you.”

“And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:14-18 NIV).

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