A Christian Devotional

[Shammu]

Prepare the way!

Isaiah 40:3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Many believers have a special place, a quiet place where they go to spend time with the Lord.  This is a very important thing.  But how many believers have actually 'prepared a way' for the Lord? As sacred as that special quiet place is to us, it is limited. It has definite boundaries. But a way never ends--it goes on and on.  The key of a life of blessing is not preparing God places to fill, but preparing a way for Him.  The Hebrew word for way is 'derech'.  Derech means a path, or a way of life.

If we want to be blessed, we need to prepare a derech in our lives.  We need to develop Godly ways, Godly habits, Godly consistency and practices.  We need to turn all our holy places into holy ways that carry on throughout our daily lives.  The blessings of God need to flow through us to others around us-- let's give Him a derech through which to do so.

[Shammu]

Can we be trusted?

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

"On Sunday, believers arrived at a house church in the Soviet Union in small groups throughout the day so not to arouse the suspicion of KGB informers. They began by singing a hymn quietly. Suddenly, in walked two soldiers with loaded weapons at the ready. One shouted, "If you wish to renounce your commitment to Jesus Christ, leave now!" Two or three quickly left, then another. After a few more seconds, two more. "This is your last chance. Either turn against your faith in Christ," he ordered, "or stay and suffer the consequences." Two more slipped out into the night. No one else moved. Parents with children trembling beside them looked down reassuringly, fully expecting to be gunned down or imprisoned. The other soldier closed the door, looked back at those who stood against the wall and said, "Keep your hands up--but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. We, too, are Christians. We were sent to another house church several weeks ago to arrest a group of believers." The other soldier interrupted, "But, instead, we were converted! We have learned by experience, however, that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted." (From "Living Above the Level of Mediocrity," by Chuck Swindoll).

Wow. Can you imagine being faced with a decision to run or die for our faith? We are living in a day where this could very well become reality! But how many of us would be willing to stand?

Let's start deepening our relationship with the Lord today so that our minds may be focused on heavenly things and not consumed with the weight of all the worldly ones. That it would be easy for us to make a stand for Him should that day ever come. There's so much work to be done!

[Shammu]

Just do it!

James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Winston Churchill exemplified integrity and respect in the face of opposition. During his last year in office, he attended an official ceremony. Several rows behind him two gentlemen began whispering. "That's Winston Churchill." "They say he is getting senile." "They say he should step aside and leave the running of the nation to more dynamic and capable men." When the ceremony was over, Churchill turned to the men and said, "Gentlemen, they also say he is deaf!"

Former U.S. Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said "The human race is divided into two classes -- those who go ahead and do something, and those who sit still and inquire, 'Why wasn't it done the other way?'"

How many times have we left a job, a project, a church, an important relationship because we just didn't find it good enough? Some of us make a lifestyle of it! But God wants us to be the kind of remarkable people who don't criticize, complain and go out looking for something better all the time. He wants us to be a people who determine to make a difference in the lives of the people and situations He allows us to face!

Your job is boring and you need a change? Ask the Lord how you might grow in your giftings there. Ask Him to help you come up with a creative solution and maybe even improve your workplace altogether! You want to leave your church because it doesn't have an exciting children's ministry? Perhaps the Lord is calling you to help start one up!

Let's be a doers! Let's be people of vision! There's much too much to be done for the Lord to be sitting around criticizing. Let's determine to stop being complainers and go forth and do great things for Him!

[Shammu]

Believe it or not!

Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

True story! In 1940, a large and wonderful Christian family, the Rudolph's, announced the birth of their 20th baby! Though the baby was not expected to live, having been born prematurely and with polio, she defied all odds. She did live, but by the time she was four she had suffered polio, pneumonia and scarlet fever. This little girl was badly crippled with hardly any use of her left leg. While her brothers and sisters enjoyed running and playing outside, she was left confined to braces.

"Will I ever be able to run and play like the other children?" she asked her parents. "Honey, you only have to believe," they responded. "If you believe, God will make it happen." And she did! Now and again, she would practice walking without her braces with the aid of her siblings. On her twelfth birthday, she surprised her parents and doctors by removing her braces and walking around the doctor's office unassisted. She never wore braces again.

Her next goal was to play basketball. The coach only agreed to let her play as a means of getting her older sister on the team. She was given an outdated uniform, but she was allowed to work out with the other players. One day she approached the coach and promised him if he would give her an extra ten minutes of coaching each day, she would give him a world class athlete. He laughed, but seeing she was serious, half-heartedly agreed. Before long her determination paid off. She became one of the team's best players.

Her team went to the state basketball championships. One of the referees noticed her exceptional ability. He asked if she had ever run track. She hadn't. He encouraged her to try it. So after the basketball season she went out for track. She began winning races and earned a berth in the state championships.

At the age of 16, she was one of the best young runners in the country. She went to the Olympics in Australia and won a bronze medal for anchoring the 400-meter relay team. Four years later in Rome she won the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and anchored the winning 400-meter relay team -- all in world-record times. She received the prestigious Sullivan Award as the most outstanding amateur athlete in America.

This is the amazing story of Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic gold medalist, who believed the promises of God.

We must never allow our circumstances to dictate what we can accomplish or who we can become! Let's believe the promises of God for our lives and be encouraged to move forward for him! All things are possible to them that believe!

[airIam2worship]

Amen Brother, that little girl chose to believe God and took Him at His Word.
I can do all things through Christ Jesus

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

[Shammu]

Amen Brother, that little girl chose to believe God and took Him at His Word.
I can do all things through Christ Jesus

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

AMEN

[Shammu]

Today is a day to rejoice!

Acts 2:1,4 And when the day of Pentecost (Shavuot) was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

In Israel today, the celebration of Shavuot is taking place. Most Christians would recognize this as the celebration of Pentecost in Acts 2. However, the very first Shavuot took place fifty days after the Israel crossed the Red Sea. It was on this day that the law was given on tablets of stone.

Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, Shavuot was celebrated again when the Holy Spirit was poured out and the law of God became written upon the hearts of men. Just as God had promised in Ezekiel and in Jeremiah -- the law of God shall be written upon your heart.

Shavuot is both a celebration of the God’s faithfulness in the early harvest and an anticipation of the abundance of the final harvest yet to come. Just as three thousand Jewish people came to faith in Messiah on this day a couple thousand years ago, the day will soon come when the fullness of the Gentiles will be completed and then “all of Israel shall be saved!”

Let’s celebrate how the Lord has provided for us today and be assured that this is only a glimpse of our awaited home in glory -- a home that the Lord has spent thousands of years preparing for us!

[Shammu]

Uh oh, what happened?

John 4:23-24 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

This month a visiting sweet friend of the ministry gave us a wonderful gift -- an iPod (a fancy mp3-player-type gadget) already filled with some of the latest American worship music, what a gift! The gift of constant worship music wherever we go!!

Well, we just love this thing, but especially Elianna. She loves to listen with her daddy, one earphone in my ear, one in hers, jumping and dancing around, singing along to the wonderful worship. This morning, Elianna reached up and grabbed the earphones off the table and put them on. But to her surprise, there was no music. She took the earphones out, inspected them, and put them back into her ears. Still nothing. Then Elianna looked up at me and said in her cute little two year old dialect, "uh oh, wha happen?"

Elianna didn't hear the music because the Ipod was charging in the other room and the headphones weren't attached.

This got me thinking. We can never just assume that we will hear the Lord if we're not plugged into Him and His ways. If we want to hear the music of God's way and God's will for our lives, we need to set apart time to get plugged in! Time to read the Word, worship, pray, meditate and listen too (not just talking, asking, pleading, like so many of us tend to do)!

Let's spend this weekend getting plugged in. We believers need to be plugged in to the Lord. There's so much work to be done!

[Shammu]

Are you in great need?

Psalms 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Our most fervent prayer for Elianna, our sweet two year old girl, is that Jesus would reveal Himself and His salvation to her in a way she can understand. Today, just before her nap, Elianna said to my wife, “I love Yeshua” ( that’s Jesus in Hebrew). Elianna repeated this two or three times, clear as day. Rivka was absolutely stunned. But why should she be? The Lord hears and answers prayer.

Among those in the court of Alexander the Great was a philosopher of outstanding ability but little money. He asked Alexander for financial help and was told to draw whatever he needed from the imperial treasury. But when the man requested an amount equal to $50,000, he was refused -- the treasurer needed to verify that such a large sum was authorized. When he asked Alexander, the ruler replied, "Pay the money at once. The philosopher has done me a singular honor. By the largeness of his request he shows that he has understood both my wealth and generosity."

In the same way we honor the Lord when we come to Him humbly and ask for great things.

Be encouraged and believe for great things! God has wonderful answers in store!

[Shammu]

Rise up!

Romans 4:20,21 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

A story is told of Napoleon Bonaparte. As he was busy conquering Europe in the 1800's during one of his military campaigns, Napoleon accidentally let the bridle of his horse slip while he was looking through some papers. The horse reared itself and the Emperor lost his balance. One corporal quickly leaped forward and caught the bridle just in the nick of time, bringing the horse under control and saving Napoleon from what might have been serious injury or even death. Napoleon saluted the corporal and said, "Thank you, Captain!" "Of what company, Sire?" asked the corporal. "Of my guards," replied Napoleon.

The young corporal took his musket and hurled it aside, and walked across the field toward the Emperor's staff, tearing off his corporal's stripes as he went. When he took his place among the officers, they asked him what he was doing. I am the captain of the Emperor's Guards, he replied. "By whose order?" they asked. "By the order of the Emperor himself" he replied.

A man of less faith might have been happy returning back to his ranks as a corporal and boasting for the rest of his life about how the Emperor once called him Captain. But no, He took the Emporer at his word. And He knew his potential.

In the same way, some of us have been happy just hearing about the promises of God without ever laying claim to them. Others of us have never realized the strengths with which God has gifted us. May it not be! We who know the Lord must become aware of our status as sons and daughters of the King! We must believe that God has promised great things to those who love and serve him and we must also recognize the potential God has placed upon us from the beginning of time! Let's start practicing some faith today! There's so much work to be done!

[Shammu]

Gotcha!

Numbers 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Now I'm not a big fan of drinking alcohol or drunkenness but this story was funny.

He snuck up the stairs as quietly as he could. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the couple of bumps and bruises he'd received in a fight earlier that night. He was a little drunk, but nobody had to know. He proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he'd pulled one over on his wife. When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood his wife. "You were drunk last night weren't you!" "What? What do you mean?" He replied. "How could you think such a thing?" "Well, if you weren't drunk, my dear," his wife pointed in the direction of the bathroom, "why are there bruises on your face and a bunch of band-aids on the bathroom mirror?"

Likewise, I think sometimes when we sin, we think we're pulling one over on the Lord. Not so. The Lord sees all and knows all. He knows our every move, even before we make it. And one day, we will have to stand before Him and be held accountable. I don't know about you, but I don't want Him to play back those sins, do you?

We may be fooling a lot of people but we'll never fool the Lord. Let's get right with Him today and strive to stay far away from that sin! There's so much work to be done!

[Shammu]

Feeling low?

Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

My wife was telling me about a conversation she had the other day, with an Israeli friend, a born evangelist and wonderful woman of God, who’s been experiencing some difficulties. A set of complicated circumstances have occurred in her life over the past year, and to make matters worse, people, sadly even fellow believers, have been judging her, saying that she must be doing something wrong or be in some kind of sin, to be in her situation. Furthermore she added that she didn’t feel she has a great testimony right now and as a result, hasn’t been able to share God’s love and truth much because of the way she feels people see her.

That makes me angry. Satan is so cruel! And I think most of the time we don’t even realize how he manipulates people and situations so that people are hurt and ultimately the Gospel cannot go forth.

What this lovely lady doesn’t realize is that she does have a great testimony. Quite frankly, she has the best testimony anyone could have! She is clinging to Jesus through this troubling time in her life – and that is a huge testimony! It’s easy to love and praise God when we’re comfortable and have everything we need but much, much harder to do it when things get tough.

Maybe you can relate to our troubled friend’s feelings today. Please be encouraged by this: It is only in the low places the Lord meets us with a special strength to overcome things we could never conquer ourselves. It is only in the low places that we can identify with His suffering. It is only in the low places that we can identify with others suffering. Don’t back away. Run to His embrace. Receive His love and mercy. And give it away to others in need. There's so much work to be done.

[Shammu]

Are you sitting?

Psalms 4:3-4 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

I think we mentioned in a devotion some time back that we have a routine in the evenings before putting our little Elianna to bed. We have praise and worship and a mini sermon, and a big swing from Daddy (kind of like a roller coaster ride but more exciting, lol). And then lastly, Daddy prays and Mommy prays and off to bed she goes.

Lately, while I pray over Elianna, for some reason she has made a habit of sitting at my feet until I'm done. I don’t know why but something about that struck me. It’s so sweet.

It just reminded me that there are times that we as God’s children should just be sitting at our Daddy’s feet and allowing him to minister to us.

When’s the last time you experienced just sitting at His feet? Let’s find some time to get quiet and sit at our Abba’s feet this weekend. He has so much to impart to us if we would just be still.

[Shammu]

What are you doing with your blessing?

Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

When we read this passage of Scripture, the first thing that probably comes to mind are all the promises that God gave to Abraham and the nation of Israel. But it occurred to me that there is a bigger lesson that we can learn here.

We tend to focus on the part of that scripture where God does the blessing -- but why did He bless Him? The answer lies in the passage! The Lord told Abraham: "I will bless you --- and you shall be a blessing." Abraham was blessed so that he could be a blessing!

The same is true today. The Lord has done so much for us! He has blessed us with so many things, the most important of which is His mercy in that He died for sinners like us! He has bestowed us with so much grace! He has allowed us to come into His Kingdom and be a part of the great things He’s doing! What we have received should not only be for our own enjoyment but for the salvation of a dying world around us!

God gives freely to us so that we may give freely to others! Let’s not be afraid to give out the blessings God has granted us! Share God’s goodness! To whom much is given, much is required!

[Shammu]

Brethren, cry aloud!

Romans 11:11-12 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

You may have heard that there was a serious train accident in central Israel yesterday. We were later shocked to learn that our dear friend Sima, an Israeli woman whom we've been praying for and ministering to for quite some time, was supposed to be on that very train but decided last minute not to travel.

With rockets daily being hailed down from Gaza and the constant threat of suicide bombings, this is yet another of Satan's many attempts to annihilate Israel and the Jewish people in any way he can. Satan is actively at work, trying to rob the world of it's blessing.

In the 1800's, one of the greatest preachers of all-time, C.S. Spurgeon wrote about the hidden blessing tied with the restoration of Israel and this is what he said: "I think we do not attach enough importance to the restoration of the Jews. But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this. The day shall yet come when the Jews, who were the first apostles to the Gentiles, the first missionaries to us who were afar off, shall be gathered in again. Until that shall be, the fullness of the church's glory can never come. Matchless benefits to the world are bound up with the restoration of Israel, their gathering shall be as life from the dead."

Please! Pray and cry aloud for Israel! That her eyes would be opened to see her Messiah and that God would continue to send laborers in to the harvest here! That he would sustain ministers in the Land with peace, strength and encouragement. Brothers and sisters, we need your prayers here desperately!! The sun is hot and tiring in this spiritual harvest, the water is scarce, the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few!