Beyond Ourselves
The Gift of A Comforter
One blanket. Two blankets. Three blankets. Four. Keith and I sat in front of the fire trying to get warm. The winter storm had brought a temperature of 3 degrees that felt like minus 11. If only we had power and water. We had neither.
The winter storm continued, and our driveway was too icy to get down. If you’ve lived in an area affected by winter storms, you know how devastating the cold can be, especially if you run out of wood, which happened to us. We couldn’t complain, though. We had a comforter. A comforter that we had once taken for granted, we now deeply appreciated.
So, too, our spiritual Comforter, who 2 Corinthians 1:3 describes as the God of All Comfort, is a blessing when we are experiencing life’s storms. Yes, when a person’s crisp tongue chills us to the core or the howling wind of despair blows through our heart, the God of all Comfort comforts us like none other. Why?
The Greek word for comfort means “to call to one’s side, speak to in the way of exhortation, console, teach.” God gives believers the gift of His presence through the Holy Spirit. Our Comforter is an abiding presence who will never wear out, never become threadbare, and never leave us. The more we blanket our lives with His teachings, the more we’ll know the warmth of His abiding presence. 1
Heavenly Father, You are the GOD of ALL COMFORT. Please comfort those who are suffering. Give them Your wisdom. Strengthen them as only You can.
1 Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, page 67. Copyright Howard Publishing 2006, Debbie Taylor Williams, Monroe, LA
When Fear Overtakes You
Have you seen the look in a child’s eyes when they were afraid because they couldn’t find their parent? Have you watched that child locate their parent and run to him? Have you heard a child cry for their parent? If so, consider Romans 8:15, which says believers have “received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba Father.’”
Abba Father can be translated from the Greek as “daddy.” So what does Romans 8:15 tell us? It tells us that our relationship with God is like that of a loving father with his child, tender and close. Our Heavenly Father chose to adopt us. Jesus chose to get into human skin so we can see and smell Him. We can watch and learn from Him. We can run to Him. We can feel His embrace.
Our Heavenly Father and Jesus deeply care for us. In a world that sometimes seems indifferent and uncaring, it’s reassuring to know that we have a Heavenly Father. Although we may be afraid at times due to the events in our life, nation, or world, we can look to our Father and be assured that He’s watching out for us and watching over us.
Heavenly Father, ABBA FATHER, thank You for adopting us as Your child. Help us walk confidently through our day assured that You are an ever-present help.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me beginning Wednesday, January 10th at 10 am for our weekly Bible Study of John Part 2 or on Thursday, January 11th at 6:30 pm. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
Good Year? Bad Year?
FRIENDS, IF YOU RECEIVE DUPLICATES OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, PLEASE ACCEPT MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES. WE ARE WORKING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE. HANG IN HERE WITH US & PRAY IT CAN BE QUICKLY RESOLVED. THANK YOU!
As you look at the past year, are your thoughts, “It’s been great!” Or are your thoughts more along the lines of, “It’s been a rough year”? Perhaps the “rough” is related to health issues, finances, work, marriage, children, parents, and friendships. It may be related to your frustration with yourself, that you continue to struggle with the same issues. Whatever the case, God wants us to be mindful of the fact that just as He was there for us in the past, He’ll be there for us in the new year. That’s something for which to be grateful!
Why not be intentional about developing a more grateful attitude in the new year? Why develop a more grateful attitude? Consider – who would you rather be around? A negative person or a grateful person; someone who takes advantage of your kindness or someone who expresses their appreciation? Psalm 63:4 says,
I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
Are you daily blessing the Lord by recalling what He does for you each day? I’m not referring to generalities such as, “Thank you, God, for this food and our home and family,” although we should express our appreciation to God for those things. Rather, I’m referring to blessing the Lord by gratefully celebrating how He has worked in your day and in the lives of those for whom you have prayed. I hope you have a copy of Prayers of My Heart journal so you can begin the new year daily lifting your hands in praise, lifting your pen to paper, and journaling God’s character traits and what He has done each day. It is not too late to order. Make this next year distinct by making it the year you daily bless God with your thanks.
Here’s a good place to start: Our Heavenly Father is
just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:26
We bless you, Lord, for being both just and for being our justifier. We are so grateful!
Thank You God for being Righteous in an Evil Day
Tragic. Frightening. Unreal. Evil. Infuriating. Senseless. What words well up in you when you think about blatant lawlessness that is occurring? We can evacuate cities when hurricanes are predicted, but we can’t predict when evil will raise its ugly head. People are asking, “What can we do?” No one knows. To what can we cling?
Our Heavenly Father promises to strengthen us and help us. How? God’s righteous powerful hand upholds us in the midst of evil, terror, and natural disasters. Turn to Him in this evil day. Pray for our nation and world. Be encouraged by the words of Isaiah 41:10.
“Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Heavenly Father, thank You that in this evil day, You are RIGHTEOUS.
“Upholder” is one of God’s 26 character traits that I delve into in my book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion. Get it for yourself or to give to a friend.
This is Excellent!
It’s easy to get down about things, right? Even if you’re an optimist, you can’t help but be sad when reports of a school shooting occur or a loved one is given a bad diagnosis. When your surroundings aren’t uplifting, it is time to do some lifting. What kind of lifting? Lifting up your voice in praise to our excellent Lord who has done excellent things.
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Psalm 150:1-2
Praise the LORD in song, for He has done excellent things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.
Isaiah 12:5
Perhaps there are not many days you would describe as excellent, but you can always describe your Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ as excellent. Will you? Today, take time to journal ways you know God to be excellent. Journal excellent things the Lord has done in your life.
LORD, You are excellent in greatness and You do excellent things. I love and adore You.
Are We Tolerating What Jesus is Against
Jesus is the Son of Man who knows what it is to live in human skin. However, what is inside of Him is different from us. His innermost being is holy glowing purity. Revelation 2:18-20a describes the ascended Christ as having “eyes like a flame of fire and feet like burnished bronze.” Revelation 1:16 describes His face as “the sun shining in its strength.”
Imagine that visual for a minute. Jesus’s face was like the sun shining in its strength. Following these magnificent otherworldly descriptions of Jesus, we’re told that Jesus, the Son of God, says this,
I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first,, but I have this against you that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.
Yes, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He is slow to anger, but we must never forget that He is also the Son of God reigning in glory. He sees our deeds and what we tolerate that is against Him. Is there anything we need to repent of before we ask Him for His continued blessings?
Lord Jesus, SON of GOD, forgive us for tolerating what You hate.
We Can’t Wait!
“He’s coming with a sleigh and reindeer.” That’s what some parents tell their children about Santa and kids get excited in anticipation of his arrival. But hey, believers! The real gift-giver from above is coming in the clouds and not with a sleigh and reindeer. Rather, Christ will come with the armies of heaven following Him. (Revelation 19:14) Rather than wearing a human-made Santa suit, Revelation 19:16 describes Christ’s robe and what is written on it:
on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’
Christ’s coming isn’t a fairy tale. It’s a fact. It’s incredible and beyond exciting. As Old Testament believers once looked forward to the day the Messiah would come, believers look forward to the day Jesus will return to earth in glory. How magnificent that will be!
Christ Jesus, LORD OF LORDS, we bow in worship and praise You, King of Kings.
I Get to Go Home
In the month of December, we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus. He is a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. Fast forward 33 years. Can you imagine His anticipation when, after pouring His teachings into people, and completing His mission to conquer death and sin, it was finally time for Him to get to go home – to return to His glory and heaven? He must have been giddy…about to explode in joyous anticipation. Hebrews 7:26 zeros in on the great divide between Jesus and us. “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens…” High. Priest. Holy. Innocent. Undefiled. Birthed into a mess of sinners. What must His child’s holy heart have felt? What teenage temptations did Satan pile on Him? What spiritual battles did He fight alone, with no one in whom He could confide? We will never know the extent Christ suffered for us even before His scourging death. Then, He awoke from the grave. Alive. But still here. Until finally, Acts 1:9. It was time to go home! Can you imagine what the disciples experienced when Jesus was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received Him out of their sight? I can’t imagine it. I’ve tried. Put yourself in the scene. There you are. Jesus is telling you that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be His witness. Mind-boggling. The Holy Spirit who was upon the “greats” like Moses and Elijah, is going to come upon you! Before you can get your mind around that, Jesus starts ascending, lifted up before your eyes. You’re in shock. His feet are literally off the ground. Your head is titled back. You look up and watch until you can no longer see Jesus who is gone…exalted above the heavens…home.
Heavenly Father, we can’t get our minds around Your majesty, throne, and what heaven is like. But, we’re so glad Jesus is with You, exalted above the heavens. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for all You have done for us – incredible!
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Take Courage
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the OVERCOMER. We praise You for the peace You give us that is out of this world.
When You’re Down and Out
When you think about Jesus, what do you envision? A body hanging on a cross? I hope not. Although we begin our relationship with Jesus by acknowledging His death on the cross on our behalf, there’s more to our relationship with Him. We also need to see Him resurrected, ascended, sitting at the right hand of the Father. And, by the way, we need to see Him anointed with the oil of gladness. “What?” you may ask. Hebrews 1:8-9 explains. “But of the SON He says, …Your God has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.’” What does it mean that Jesus is anointed with the oil of gladness? It means joy is poured out all over Him. He’s rendered the devil and death powerless. He’s freed we who were held captive in sin. (Hebrews 2:14-15) Jesus accomplished what He intended to do – save us. He is full of joy. If you’re ever dragging through your day, discouraged or down, look toward heaven and remember that Christ, who is anointed with the oil of gladness, has you safe and secure in His hand. You will one day share in the glad salvation He has prepared for you. In the meantime, ask Him to fill you with gladness. Share His gladness with others who are down and out.
Lord Jesus, anointed with the oil of gladness, pour your anointing in and through us so others see and believe in You.