Devotionals from Dad

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Viktor fell into the drug dealing business in his twenties. He ran a major drug operation during the 1990s, which smuggled drugs into Central Asia where he lived. The job offered plenty of easy money, along with loads of adventure. And best of all, Viktor was good at it. So good, in fact, Viktor's operation expanded. But it only takes one bust to ruin everything. And that's exactly what happened to Viktor. In 1996, Viktor's success ended. Authorities caught him with nearly 9 pounds of heroin, which sent him straight to prison. To Viktor, it seemed like the end. But really, God was just getting started!

Viktor's long sentence behind bars dragged on. His mental state continued to deteriorate until he was suicidal. And that's when God got a hold of him! Viktor's cell mate received the New Testament Gospel of John from his mother as a gift. He offered to let Viktor read it, but he refused. But one sleepless night, Viktor decided to give it a try. At first, it made no sense, so he gave up. But more sleepless nights followed, so Viktor tried again. This time, as he read about eternal life, he felt God moving. Viktor was a changed man. And it showed when some fellow inmates offered him some smuggled drugs. The old Viktor would have jumped at this. But the new Viktor turned the drugs down. Being saved doesn’t mean an end to our troubles, however. Viktor got some bad news. Doctors diagnosed him with a terrible disease, and told him he had about a year and a half left to live. The news should have crushed him. But instead, he had a joy that confused his fellow inmates. Viktor, confident in his newfound relationship with Jesus, had no fear of death. He knew it led to Heaven. So, instead of despair, he found hope! 

2 Peter 3: 8-9 NIV But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

There’s just something about a story. We all love to hear tales of transformation. We are moved to tears by the testimonies of sinners transformed into saints. But what if your testimony is boring? Maybe it sounds like mine, a little something like this . . . I was raised in a Christian home by Christian parents and attended church on a regular basis. I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior as a young boy. I made some pretty bad choices as a teenager and young adult, but I stayed out of trouble for the most part and now I attend church on a regular basis along side my parents once again. Nothing to moving or spectacular about my story. It is really kinda vanilla. It doesn't shock or awe you in any way. It’s not the kind of testimony that people are line up around the block to hear, but I still need to tell it often! If your testimony feels underwhelming, you need to tell it, too! Here’s why.... If you were born into a Christian family, that’s because God is good!!! If you avoided the trappings of sin, that’s because God is good!!! If you heard the gospel at a young age and responded to it, that’s because God is good!!! If you grew up in a home where your needs were met, that’s because God is good!!! Being raised in a Christian family is a rare thing today. According to a 2021 survey done by Statista. 31% of Americans never attend church, 25% seldom attend, 11% attend about once a month and only 9% attend almost every week. So in my humble opinion that makes your vanilla testimony pretty darn spectacular! We all need Jesus. From the homeless crack addict living on the streets to the straight “A” student. Sure, our sins may look different, but we all have them!

Romans 3: 23-24 NIV for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 

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Do you ever feel like God doesn’t care? Someone says, “God is good.” And you respond, “All the time!” And yet part of your heart isn’t tracking. If God really cared, wouldn’t things be better? Sometimes we face some really tough stuff in this life: a loved one dies in a tragic car accident, you have a child that is born with a terrible birth defect, the company you work for eliminates your job and you are suddenly out of work, your marriage collapses after you have prayed and worked hard to save it. Each one of these things have happened to me personally, my nephew Clinton was killed in a car accident at 18 years old. My son Jerry Craig was born with a rare genetic disorder and died at 3 months old. The company I was working for sold out to another company and told me they had eliminated my job. My first wife left me even though I prayed and tried desperately to save our marriage. 

Is God good? Is He good when you still don’t have a job after a year of looking? Is He good when your spouse refuses marriage counseling and serves you with divorce papers? Is He good when your child dies! Is He good when the doctors say, “There’s nothing more we can do?” In your mind you believe God is good. All the time. But your feelings just can’t catch up. Your mind tries to say it’s true, and you try and speak positively about how God is always there for you. But when you’re alone and the problems mount up, if you’re really honest with yourself, you might think, how can a good God let all these terrible things happen to me! Whether you say it out loud or not, sometimes your head and your heart find it hard to believe that God is good! Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus must have felt this way when their brother died. According to John, Jesus receives a message that Lazarus is ill, and his two sisters needed his help. Jesus then delays his departure for two days. When He arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead and buried for four days. Before they enter the town, Martha, comes to meet Jesus and tells him: "if you had been here, my brother would not have died".

 John 11: 17-22 NIV On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

When Martha and Jesus get to Lazarus home, Jesus is met by Mary and the people who have come to console her. Upon seeing their grief and weeping, Jesus is deeply moved. Then, after asking where he was buried, the shortest verse in the entire Bible is found - Jesus wept! After that, Jesus asks for the stone of the grave to be removed, but Martha interjects that there will be a smell. To which Jesus responds, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Martha knew without a doubt that Jesus was the son of God and even in his presence she still had doubts!

Then Jesus looked up and said: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I say this out loud for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The ultimate purpose for Jesus’ delayed trip to Bethany was so He would be glorified. Even though Mary and Martha must have felt like God didn't care, because Jesus delayed coming when their brother was dying, He knew their heart and heard their pleas and he knows your heart and is with you even when you looks like He Just doesn't care! 

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Have you ever wondered what Jesus really looked like. I can't help myself, I have thought about this. Nearly every man made image you may see of Jesus Christ portrays him as a Caucasian man of medium height, with a full beard and brown eyes, at least this is the way Leonardo da Vinci painting portraying Jesus and his disciples sharing the Lords supper depicts Jesus. The painting was completed around 1498, almost 1500 years after Jesus ascended into heaven. So this makes the likely hood that Leonardo da Vinci had any first hand knowledge of Jesus appearance, pretty unlikely. There are a lot of other inaccuracies with the painting as well. For instance the height of the table, in Jesus days the table was short and people ate in a reclined position. Also the bread on the table is a large fluffy loaf that would have been baked with yeast, pass-over bread would have been unleavened and flat. Finally the plates and glasses are made of gold and silver. The dining ware at the last supper would have been made of wood or clay. All these thing lead me to believe that Mr. da Vinci didn't really know any better than I do what Jesus looked like.

In terms of physical appearance the average Judean man of Jesus time would have likely had brown or even black hair, olive skin, and brown eyes and was about 5 feet 5 inches in height. Historians have speculated about Jesus's appearance and physical attributes for a long time. This much we do know, Jesus was a carpenter. He did manual labor so it is likely he was lean in appearance and spent a lot time exposed to the sun and other elements. These things would have affected his appearance. We know Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry, but the Bible tells us virtually nothing about what he looked like, except that he didn’t stand out in any particular way. When Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the Crucifixion, Judas had to point Jesus out to the soldiers from among the disciples, presumably because they all appeared similar to one another. 

 Matthew 26: 47-50 NIV While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”

There is only one verse in all the bible that describes Jesus physical appearance and it is not very flattering. 

Isiah 53: 2 NIV He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 

The passage tells us that Jesus “had no stately form or majesty” and no “appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” In short, Jesus was not a handsome man! So why does the bible not describe Jesus physical appearance? It is because the purpose of the Gospels was to communicate the truth and his physical appearance isn't essential to that message. Can you imagine how problematic it would be to theology if they decided to focus on it? “Christians with black hair are closer to the ideal of JESUS Christ than blondes are! Personally, I'm glad they didn't focus on his physical appearance! I have always told my wife Joyce that I was perfect in appearance, just like Jesus, and because the bible doesn't describe Jesus appearance she has no way to prove me wrong!

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The Christian music group, Mercy Me, has a song titled “My younger me.” The lyrics of the song start by saying: “ Dear younger me. Where do I start. If I could tell you everything that I have learned so far, then you could be one step ahead of all the painful memories still running thru my head. I wonder how much different things would be? Dear younger me.” I heard this song recently on the radio and it got me to thinking, just what would I say if I my 50 plus year old self could talk to my 16 year old self. I might start by saying, although it is a lot of fun you don't have to drive your car like your trying to out run the devil. I might also say, no matter what your friends say you can have fun without drugs and alcohol. Finally I might say, even though you think your parents are dumber than a box of rocks they are really a lot smarter than you think. You may think your a genius right now but when you get older you are gonna realize your not nearly as smart as you think you are. Finally, I think tell my younger self that if you don't listen to anything else I have say, listen to this. Just be obedient! Honor and respect your parents, your teachers, law enforcement and any other adult in your life. 

Ephesians 6: 2-3 NIV Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. 

This is the first commandment in the bible that comes with a promise. This commandment promises that If you honor your parents, it will go well with you and you will live a long life. Well, crap! I may be in trouble. When I was a child one of my main motivations in life was to do the opposite of what my parents told me. This may explain why I was always in trouble and why I got so many spankings and other discipline. If honoring your parents comes with the promise of a longer life, the mischief I caused as a teenager may have taken years off of my life!

Notice that the commandment does not say, "Obey your father and your mother." This is because honoring not only includes obedience it goes beyond obedience. Honoring suggests adding to, glorifying, embellishing and holding in high esteem your parents. Obedience can be given in a resentful manner, but honoring requires admiration, respect and even reverence. Honoring is something that usually does not happen as a child. It usually isn't achieved until adulthood, when the child has his or her own experiences as a parent and finally recognizes and begins to appreciate his parent's loving labors. Parents your not off the hook either. If you want your children to honor you, then you must teach your children the commandments of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 6: 5-9 NIV Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. 

If children grow up not honoring God, the blame largely falls on the parents' shoulders. It cannot be accomplished by absent parents. If the parents do not know God, or if their knowledge of Him is shallow, and they are not attending church with their children, what will they pass on to their them? Both parents must be dedicated and deeply involved in honoring God in their own lives, if they want their children to honor God and them! So what would I tell my younger self? “Hey numb skull! Honor your parents and God and you will be rewarded with a longer life and less problems!”

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In our camper we have an over zealous smoke alarm. Any time I cook anything it starts blaring at us. In the tiny space of our camper the alarm is ear piercing! Even though I know the alarm is coming it still manages to catch me off guard and it just grates on my nerves. In order to shut it up I turn on the exhaust fan in the bathroom. I open windows and I wave a dish towel at it. Then because you get distracted by trying to shut off the alarms and you ignore what you have on the stove top and you really do burn you dinner. Usually before the camping trip is over we have taken the smoke alarm down and removed the batteries, just to shut it up. Isn't this similar to how we sometimes want to deal with the sin in our lives. Even though the Holy Spirit is making our sins blatantly apparent to us all we want to do is plug our ears and fan the smoke of our sins away so that we can pretend they don't exist. We just want to jerk down the annoying smoke alarm, remove the batteries and enjoy our sins and pretend as if they are okay.

Matthew 13:15 NIV For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. 

Identifying a man who works hard with his hands is always easy. Shaking the hand of a farmer, carpenter, or a mechanic will immediately give the sensation of a hard and callous hand. The roughness of the hands comes from repeated friction of implements and tools against the skin. A couple summers ago I helped my father pick up square bales, by the end of the day I had blisters on my hands. In most cases callouses are a good thing because they protect you from pain— they’re a tough outer layer that stops the harshness and coldness of the world from hitting your nerve endings. There is a process to becoming calloused. It actually starts with something hurting. Then little hurt, by little hurt, your body builds up protection against the thing that’s causing pain. When I worked daily with my hands they were more callus and frequently I would pass something at the dinner table to my wife not realizing how hot it was and she would drop it. My callous hands couldn't feel the heat, but her hands were much more sensitive.

Our hearts can become callus just like our hands. It happens little by little when we ignore the Holy Spirit, and commit those so called “little sins” into our lives. Why is it we measure our sins as little and big. What are some of those so-called little sins. Lying comes to the top for me. Embellishing the story I am telling because I want those hearing it to be impressed with me. Anger certainly must be at the top of the list as well. Those moments of road rage I have when the light in front of me is green and the idiot driving the car in front is not paying attention! But hey these are just little sins right. I haven't killed anyone, I haven't robbed any banks, I haven't cheated on my wife sexually, or have I? 

Matthew 5: 28 NIV But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If we continue to ignore our sins, our hearts will be come callous. Don't take the batteries out of your over zealous smoke alarm. It is much better to be aware of the danger, than to burn up in a fire. If you ignore the Holy Spirit for to long you become used to the negative effects of your sins and don’t even notice anymore! You become, “Callous!”

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What exactly is Love anyway? If you listen the lyrics of popular music and you define “Love” by what you hear in Pop and Rock songs you may be in trouble! For example there is a song that says, What the world needs now is love sweet love. The rock band Foreigner sings, I want know what love is. There is an older song that is kind weird that says. Yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love in my tummy. But what is this love, we sing about. It's in our tummy, we need it, but what is this love we are talking about. One song answers that question but saying Love is a many splendored thing. Another song says, love is the answer. Led Zeppelin reminded us that we need a whole lot of love. The 80's rock singer, Meatloaf sang, I would do anything for love. Whitney Houston sang a song, I will always love you. But then Phil Collins give us a warning singing, you cant hurry love. But another song gives us the answer by saying, that's the way love goes. Okay so let's review the lyrics about love and try to figure this all out. Love is many splendor-ed, it's in our tummy, we need a whole lot of it, but we can't hurry it, because that's the way it goes, and it is what the whole world needs. Well maybe the real answer is in this song title, I said I loved you but I lied. Maybe that is why the group the Black Eyed Peas sang, where is the love? Lady Gaga sang, stupid love, the Beatles sang all you need is love and then they broke up the band and sued each other. Another song warns to much love will kill you. Maybe that is why Dionne Warwick sang I will never love this way again. Finally Tina Turner sang, What's love got to do with it. Let's conclude this madness with the J Giels Band who sang, Love Stinks! So if you got you definition about what love is from music your in trouble and likely deeply confused! Let me tell you what the bible says about love. The bible says God is Love and he so loved you that he sent His Son to die on the cross for you.

John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

How many times does the Bible talk about love? According to the King James Version, the answer is 310 times. But then again, when the King James Bible was updated into the New King James Version, the number changed. Love is mentioned 361 times. The English Standard Version then came out claiming that love is mentioned 551 times! Jesus himself makes things pretty clear. When asked which commandment is greatest, he responds in Matthew 22:37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 1 Corinthians 13 may be the best place to go if you want to learn about love. 

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 NIV Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Think about that for a while! Love doesn't keep any records of wrongs. You know you all have a mental picture of that one person that has just really taken advantage of you. When they walk into the room you go to the other side and then you stare intently at them with all your might like your gonna burn a hole in the soul. The last part of verse from 1 Corinthians 13 may be the hardest part of the definition of love. Love always trusts, always hopes for and sees the best in everyone. The bible also says if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so big and strong I can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react! See

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Most of the fairy tales I heard as a child followed a similar pattern, there was a hero, a victim who needed saved from the villain and the happily ever after ending. The fairy tale of Snow White and the 7 dwarfs is a perfect example of this story. In the beginning Snow White and her 7 little friends lived and idealistic life without a care in the world. However her step mother, the queen, was jealous of her because she was the most beautiful lady in the land. In a fit of jealousy the queen devises her wicked plan and presents a poison apple to Snow White. After seeing how beautiful and delicious the apple looks she takes a bite and then suffers the consequences of the curse on the apple. She falls into a deep sleep until true loves kiss.

I must say I find it very intriguing the similarities between the story of Snow White and the truth found in Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and Eve are tempted and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Both stories have a villain, the evil queen and serpent. Both stories have a female victim, Snow White and the first woman Eve. Both stories also use a fruit that appears to be beautiful to the eyes and delicious in the moment. Finally after succumbing to the temptation both stories have an immediate consequences which will require true love to overcome. Snow White's true love must find her and kiss her to awaken her and God must send his only begotten son to die of the cross for our sins.

John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Just like in fairy tale of Snow White, those who do not know Jesus Christ as their savior live without a care in the world. In many cases they have job's, homes, cars and other earthly possessions. They have friends and families that love them and all seems well in the world, until the Holy Spirit opens their eyes and their minds, many times through a catastrophe in life. The catastrophe causes them to cry out to God in search of answers. In search of their “Happily Ever After!” Unfortunately this world has been corrupted by sin and for those of us who place our faith in Jesus Christ the only true healing will come when Jesus calls us to our heavenly home. No matter what may happen to you in this life, if you have placed your faith in Jesus you can have the peace in knowing that in the midst of the most catastrophic and turbulent times in life God is still in control!

Job 13 15-16 NIV Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance...

This faith-filled statement challenges us as believers to strive for a similar trust and faith in the God during the trials of life. Job made this statement when he was in a terrible pain and suffering. He had lost all of his children, his wealth, and his health. His friends were of no help. His wife offered no support and was in fact telling him to give up! It is possible that Job may have felt as if his life was over and the only thing left to do was die. But, as Job says, even if God did “slay” him, he would still trust in Him. Job realizes his pain was not permanent. With God, there is a way of escape! The suffering of this life is temporary and will end for those who trust in the Lord. After this life, there is eternal life with God in heaven. By God’s grace, faith is all that is required to be made right with God.

Ephesians 2:8 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

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Football fans are some of the loudest and proudest people on the planet! When they go to their favorite teams game they dress in the team colors, they paint their faces to match the team colors and logo, sometimes they wear elaborate costumes in support of their favorite teams. They scream as loud as they possibly can in support of their team. There is absolutely no doubt where their allegiance lies! Football fans will spend large sums of money to attend the game and on the tailgate parties before the game begins. They will devote many hours and sometimes even days traveling to distant games in support of their team. So why don't we, the people who profess to be Christians, have such a loud and proud faith in Jesus Christ? Some of us have such a secret faith, our friends may not even know we are Christians. On the other hand if your friends came to your home to watch a football game with you I bet there would be no doubt who your favorite team is!

Matthew 10: 32-33 NKJV Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. 

If my favorite football team makes it to the super bowl game. I will spend quite a bit of money at the grocery store so I can prepare all my favorite snacks to munch on while I watch the game. Without hesitation I will invite my friends and family over to watch the game with me. Then I will spend the next several hours shouting, jumping up and down and cheering during the game. Yet I can't sit through a 30 minute sermon without falling asleep! If I add up the amount of money I spend at the grocery store on food for the game, which total will be larger, my grocery bill or my tithe check to the church. If you add up the amount of time you spent getting ready for the super bowl game and watching the game will it be more or less time then the amount of time you spend reading your bible this week? If being Christians suddenly became illegal would there be enough evidence in your life of your faith in Jesus to find you guilty in a court of law. 

 Romans 10: 9-10 NKJV if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

These verses should not be understood to mean that we are saved by means of an audible profession of faith. Salvation is by grace, through the gift of faith in God, not by words we speak. At the time of the writing of the book of Romans, for a person to accept Christ and confess Him as Lord usually resulted in persecution, and many times even death. At that time, to embrace Christ and confess Him as Lord, knowing that persecution was sure to come, was an indication of true salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit. Outward professions of faith are rare when one’s life is at stake! I am thankful that I am not faced with such persecution and that I can worship freely anytime I want to without fear of being thrown in jail, beaten or even killed.

When was the last time that you stood up for your faith with the same level of enthusiasm that you show for your favorite football team! When was the last time you called your friends and family and invited them to come join you at church? When was the last time you spent your hard earned dollars in support of your faith and your local church as freely as you support your favorite sports team. Is your faith a secret faith or are you a loud and proud Christian!!!!

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Have you ever started a new year and wondered what the year would have in store for you? With all the uncertainties in the world today just about anything could happen. In a world filled with war and rumors of war, financial inflation, political turmoil, sickness and pandemic, your guess is as good as anyone's, what the new year may hold in store!

So many people think that if they work hard and store up enough possessions and money they will prepared for anything. This idea is not all bad. It is a good idea to have enough money in the bank to be prepared for those unexpected expenses. It is a good idea to have a few extra groceries in your cabinets in the event you get snowed in or you are to sick to go to the store. However, it doesn't matter how many possession you have, it is still no guarantee that you will be ready for every unexpected event. Life is full of tumultuous, violent or overwhelming trials. For example, my sister's son Clinton was 19 years old. He had just graduated from trade school and got his first job. He was a smart kid, that was in a relationship with a good young lady, it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing. Then one Sunday morning he fell asleep while driving his car and was fatally injured. No matter how hard my sister or her husband and worked and no matter how much money they had stored up in the bank, no possession would be able bring back Clinton's life.

The Israelites wandered in the dessert for 40 years. All this time they were in possession of the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the presence of God among the people. 

Joshua 3: 1-4 NIV Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. After three days the officers went throughout the camp, giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before...

The Israelites had been carrying that ark around in circles for 40 years and they had never entered the promised land. It wasn't the possession of the Ark that made the difference, it was the position of the Ark. The Israelites had been in possession of the Ark, but it had just been in their midst. They had just been carrying it around, but now the Ark is was out in front of them. Have you ever wondered why some Christians are victorious and some are not? Why do you suppose that is true? All Christians possess the same thing, Jesus. The difference is not what you possess, it is in its position. When you decide to make God you pilot and not your co-pilot, then God will lead you to a victorious life. All Christians possess the Lord Jesus Christ, but not every Christian let Him lead them into victory. If you will make your New Years Resolution, “I not going to take a step on my own, I am going to let God lead me in all that I do!” I promise that you have success in the new year!

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If you watch any news at all you can quickly become depressed. There is almost never any good news. Stories that make the headlines include mass shootings, children being abused, peoples homes burning and wars between nations where innocent civilians are shot and homes are destroyed. Even here in our small rural community, life can be hard! Most of us start out life with high hopes. Young couples get married and think all they need to survive is love, then life begins to get hard. Children are brought into the relationship and sometimes they get sick and the hospital bills pile up. At times your dream jobs don't work out and you become unemployed and despite what you thought when you and your spouse were newlyweds, love doesn't pay the bills, life is hard!

 Exodus 1:12-14 NIV But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. So the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. 

Do you think you have employment problems, you don't' like your boss, you are overworked and underpaid. Imagine if you were one of the Israelites working from early in the morning until late at night and they were slaves, owning nothing, barely surviving. As Christians the way we react to adversity may be the only bible many people ever read. The way you react depends on what you are filling your cup with. If you are filling your cup with the hate, violence and corruption you see in the news, when you face a difficulty your cup will be filled with the same and it will spill out of you all these terrible things. If your unsure what your filling your cup with take a quick inventory of your habits. What do you start your day with, the local news on TV or a Christian devotional or maybe a bible reading? What do you do the moment you get home from work? What is the first thing you pick up when you get home, your TV remote or your bible? How many hours do you spend each week in your church versus watching TV or movies at home? I will be the first to tell you that when I add up the time I spend in devotionals, studying my bible and worshiping God, versus the time I spend in front of my TV, my cup is frequently getting filled with things that don't bring much glory to God.

Psalm 23: 5-6 NIV You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

You can be confident that no matter how challenging, dark or difficult the situation you face, God will always be with you and will never forsake you. God also promises us that his provision and protection will watch over you as well. God prepares a table for his sheep. Even “in the presence of my enemies” lets us know that the table is not just for anyone, but specifically for those who are in relationship with Him. Even in the midst of trouble, dark times and yes even your enemies, God will give you a table of provision and protection. It doesn’t matter what is going on around you. Not only is God sending his presence, provision and protection, he is also providing you with power. Power to endure. Power to lead. Power to make wise decisions. God will fill your cup to over flowing! God has put his Holy Spirit in you so you can become what he wants you to be. God’s blessing on us is designed to spilled over so it can bless others. God’s blessings are not given to us so that you can hoard it and keep it to ourselves. He provides, He fills us and the overflow of his blessings are designed to be poured out to others. God fills your cup to overflow on those you are surrounded with everyday!!!

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