HOW TO PRAY WHEN FACING DANGER -- Devotional for December 27, from "Good Seeds"

It was reported that a great multitude was coming against Israel from beyond the sea. King Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he turned his attention to seek the Lord with these words: “O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude which is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” (II Chronicles 20:2-3,12)

The best hymn on friendship is also the best hymn about prayer…
What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
In movies whenever trouble hits, the hero hits back – but if there’s anyone religious on the scene he starts mumbling the Lord’s Prayer. Here people are facing life threatening danger from evil enemies, natural disasters or unnatural aliens, and all this supposedly holy man can think of to pray is, “Give us this day our daily bread”! Well then, how should we pray when facing trouble? Try the prayer of Jehoshaphat: the prayer of humility and faith. Jesus pointed out the first ingredient of the prayer that gets answered, HUMILITY, in His observation of two men praying in the temple: the Pharisee rehearsed before the Lord all his own good points, as if to prove to God that his prayer deserved to be heard and answered, while the publican could do nothing but beat his breast in penitence and beg for mercy (Luke 18:9-14). Jehoshaphat prayed like the publican: “Lord, I’m scared to death! With my meager strength and resources I haven’t got a chance against this great enemy. But not only am I powerless, I’m also clueless. That’s right, I haven’t the faintest idea what to do.” But it wasn’t just the humility of Jehoshaphat that got God’s attention; it was also his FAITH. James wrote, “It is the prayer of faith that restores those who are ill” (5:15). Jesus concurred when He said, “It is not those who are healthy who call the physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12). Jehoshaphat did well to turn his attention to seek the Lord, but he didn’t stop with, “I don’t know what to do…” He continued with, “…but my eyes are on You.” Humility admits our weakness, but faith acknowledges God’s strength. A scrawny little kid can face the town bully simply by saying, “My big brother can beat you up!” Relationship is the key: you know your Big Brother by name, you know where to find Him, and you know He loves you and will come to your aid. That’s what we’re saying when we call out, “O my God, I need You. Will You please come to my defense? I’m totally inadequate, but You’re totally in control, and bigger than any problem I could ever face.”
Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge; take it to the Lord in prayer.

WHO CAN LIVE BEFORE HE IS BORN? -- Devotional for December 26, from "Good Seeds"

But as for you, Bethlehem Ephratha, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity past. (Micah 5:2)

In the mid nineteenth century a man named Joseph Smith came up with a new religion, which claimed to provide closure for some of the unfinished business of the Bible. For example, he taught that the ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas are the lost tribes of Israel (even though DNA tests prove they are Mongoloid, not Semitic). The church of Jesus Christ, in Smith’s opinion, had become weak and ineffective. But with the reestablishment of an Old Testament style priesthood and the provision of a new body of heaven-inspired doctrine it would be revitalized and renewed, attracting millions of enthusiastic saints of in the “Latter Days.” And because they are “good” people – patriotic, community minded, and strong proponents of higher education, family values and biblical morals and ethics, they are viewed by many as just another – if not new and improved – version of the Christian church. But being christian requires more than general goodness. One must believe the Bible concerning God, man, and the world. The person and work of Jesus Christ Himself is the primary issue. And here’s the rub: What the Bible says is unique to the Son of God the Mormons say is characteristic of all “sons of God.” They teach that married couples remain married throughout eternity, and continue having children. Each baby procreated in heaven is a spirit being in need of an earthly body and a family in which to be nurtured. According to this religion the nature of all men is what the Bible teaches is the nature of only one Man, whose “goings forth were from long ago, from the days of eternity past.” Since Christ is fully God He is eternal – there was never a time when He did not exist: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1). And so this One who existed before He was born (as Micah prophesied) was incarnated into the human family through the work of the Holy Spirit and the obedience of a humble virgin. On that day long ago, which we call Christmas today, God became man. This is the “old religion” of incarnation, leading to redemption – two miracles making peace between holy God and sinful man. How unfortunate that a “new religion” would take the one-of-a kind “God-becoming-man” and make it an everyday occurrence…and call it an improvement! More than unfortunate, it is tragic – and damning – to make every man a god, removing from him his need for the God-Man, the one Man who could bring him to God!

JESUS, NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES -- Devotional for Christmas Day, December 25, from "Good Seeds"

For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

In America we choose our children’s names primarily by the way they sound to us, but in other cultures names are assigned for what they mean. An old gospel song says, “Jesus: O how sweet the name!” There’s no denying the very sound of His name brings joy and comfort to hearts, but could this be because it is associated with the most wonderful personage of all human history? Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, both meaning “one who saves.” This name for our Savior is not the only one that is as beautiful in sound as it is in meaning. Take a look at the names given Him through the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before He was born into the human family: WONDERFUL – When we sing, “His name is wonderful,” we tend to think of this word as an adjective describing the name Jesus. But if the songwriter was contemplating Isaiah’s prophecy, then I suspect he was using the word as a noun, which we remember from our English grammar as meaning “the name of a person, place or thing.” Another noun-name for Jesus, then, is Wonderful. The next time you pray, try addressing Him this way and see how it opens your eyes to the spectrum of beauty and wonder that is our Savior. COUNSELOR – This would be a favorite name of Jesus used by anyone needing guidance on how to think or where to turn. Don’t let it bother you that this is part of the job description of the third person of the trinity. Jesus had walked and talked with His disciples for three years, but the time came for Him to leave them, and leave the continuation of His work in their hands, as He approached “the cross, the grave, and the skies.” In order not to leave them “as orphans” (John 14:18), He promised to give them “another Comforter,” the Paraclete (“called alongside to help” – verse 7). The Spirit of God possesses all the attributes of God, but no more so than the Son of God – so we can call Jesus THE MIGHTY GOD. The next name Isaiah gives Christ comes straight from the first member of the godhead – THE EVERLASTING FATHER. This cannot be explained any better than to say Jesus "always did the things that pleased His Father" (John 8:29). They are truly, “Like Father, like Son.” We long for peace, and work for it, even thinking we can achieve it by our own efforts. When will we learn that peace will never exist between men until first the PRINCE OF PEACE has landed in the hearts of men! Someday Jesus will establish an eternal reign of peace over the universe, but peace is available right now to all “with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14).

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS -- Devotional for December 24, from "Good Seeds"

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, Simeon by name, devout and righteous, who had been looking for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die before He had seen the Lord’s Christ. The Spirit led him to the temple on the very night when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out the custom of the law. He took Him into his arms and blessed God saying, “Now, let Thy bondservant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Thy salvation. (Luke 2:25-30)

“Christmas with a Capital C” is a new song by GO FISH, a group that targets children as their preferred audience. The group's name is appropriate for two reasons: 1) It’s a simple, non-threatening game, enjoyed by all ages; 2) The sign of the fish has been the symbol for the church of Jesus Christ since its inception. The song begins with an introduction something like this: “‘Happy Holidays!’ How do you feel when people say this to you at Christmas time? If it puts you out when this sacred Holy Day is reduced to a worldly holiday, let me suggest to you something you could say in response: ‘Happy Holidays’? Well, thank you – I am pretty HAPPY, but there’s only one HOLIDAY that makes me feel that way (and then they start to sing)…It’s called Christmas, what more can I say; It’s about the birth of Christ, and you can’t take that away. You can call it something else but that’s not what it will be: It’s called Christmas with a capital C. The very word Christmas means “celebrate Christ.” On the first Christmas Jesus was the only reason for the season. The first celebrants were the angels – oh, and Mary and Joseph, too. Who else even knew about the birth of the Messiah? The innkeeper knew a baby was about to be born, but the only witnesses of that birth were the parents – and the animals in the stable back behind that crowded inn. The angels announced the birth to shepherds out in the fields, who went immediately to see the Child. The Wise Men would not be arriving till many months later. So, who were the first Christmas celebrants? Parents, angels, shepherds. When was the first Christmas? The night of that miraculous birth, of course – but eight days later another possibly much deeper “Christ-mass” took place, this time in the temple. Today people like to say “Christmas is for kids,” or at least, “Christmas brings out the kid in everyone.” But it was no little children with “visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads” who rejoiced that day, but rather an old man, who was just hanging onto life until he saw “the Lord’s Christ.” And it’s still true today: Life, even the good life, spiced up with exciting holidays, will mean nothing to you, and do nothing for you, until the Christ of Christmas is born in you!

MANKIND, GOD-KIND, OR ANGEL-KIND? -- Devotional for December 23, from "Good Seeds"

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “Thou art my Son, today I have begotten Thee”? And when He brings the Firstborn into the world, He says, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” Of these angels He says, “I will make them winds, and My ministers a flame of fire,” but of the Son He says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” (Hebrews 1:5-8)

Shame on us to ever say we do not know who Jesus is, or worse, to say He is anything other than, or less than, what the Bible clearly says that He is. Even a cursory review of traditional carols will reflect biblical truth concerning the Christ of Christmas. Of course, we need to get past those that leave Jesus in the manger. As the tiny infant of Bethlehem He could hardly “bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,” or “prepare us for heaven to live with Thee there.” A baby cannot attend to anyone else’s needs when his own are in such demand. Yes, in spite of the good intentions of the Cradle Song, we’re sure the baby Jesus did His share of crying, and infant mischief, too, for the only Begotten from before the beginning had just taken on the mantle of human flesh. Neither the virgin’s son – the Babe of Bethlehem – nor the carpenter’s son – the Jesus of Galilee - could bring us to heaven. For that our Lord went to Jerusalem, never stopping until becoming the Christ of the Cross! Though His birth saw the “dawn of redeeming grace,” it wasn’t until His sacrificial death that God’s grace was made available to all who would come to Him by faith. But in order to understand the true identity of Jesus Christ, we must comprehend what the Bible teaches about intelligent life. There are three kinds: mankind, God-kind, and angel-kind. The distinction between these was clear until Jesus came, for He crosses over from God to man, taking on the nature of the latter without relinquishing the attributes of the former. Some want to take it a step further, classifying Jesus as an angel, but man’s attempts to embellish Christ’s glory only serves to diminish it. When Jesus took on human flesh He became, as a man, “a little lower than the angels” (Psalm 8:5). But He was simultaneously much higher than angels, too, for from the beginning He was the Firstborn (the preeminent One), who would “rule over all the works of His hands.” God will “put all things under His feet, and crown Him with all glory and majesty” (5-6). Jesus was like an angel in the sense of bringing a message from heaven to earth, but He was both God and man in being that message. Christ didn’t merely preach the word of God, as one more (shudder!) founder of a great world religion – Christ was the “WORD of the Father, now in flesh appearing.” Our only response can be…“O come let us adore Him!”

BEARING FRUIT IN OLD AGE -- Devotional for December 22, from "Good Seeds"

The righteous will flourish like the palm tree; they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon. They shall be full of sap and very green, and continue to yield fruit in old age. (Psalm 92:12,14)

In God’s world, all that is healthy grows. This is a rule of life. Furthermore, all that grows produces. Some plants produce fruit; others, flowers – but all healthy plants form and continue to rejuvenate their various parts, whether roots, stems, branches or leaves. Think of an old cherry tree. It may have long since grown to its full height and girth, but every year, according to its God-ordained cycle, and in response to the earth’s seasons and the husbandman’s care, it produces first robust leaves, then beautiful blossoms, and finally the plump and luscious fruit for which it is so loved. The words of a poem about a fruit tree that was quite mature but still healthy go something like this:

Although quite old it’s not quite finished,
Because its root is not diminished.
And just like me and just like you,
It keeps on doing what it was made to do.

And what is true for living things is also true for living beings. Though you and I may have long since reached our “full height and girth,” how do we know we’ve achieved our greatest potential? We must resist the temptation to excuse ourselves from activity or offer the excuse for lack of productivity by saying that we are now “over the hill.” It’s both a tragedy and a travesty to hear people say they’ve put in their years of service and it’s high time the younger set takes over, while they pull out and move away from harsh weather and serious responsibility. They want to retire and travel and live the good life while they still have the health and wealth to do so. “What’s so bad about that?” you ask. Just this: the amassed resources and highly developed skills of mature Christians could be dedicated to God’s kingdom like never before. In their later years they could bear fruit as beautiful and plentiful as any borne by their younger brother and sister fruit-bearers. Longfellow expressed his longing to keep growing and bearing fruit well into his sunset years with these stirring words:

What then, shall we sit idly down and say,
“The night has come, it is no longer day”?
The night has not yet come, we are not quite
Cut off from labor by the failing light.
Something remains for us to do or dare –
Even the oldest trees some fruit may bear.
For Age is opportunity no less
Than Youth itself, though in another dress.
And as the evening twilight fades away,
The night is filled with stars invisible by day.

Today’s culture has been poisoned by the cult of youth: the chic and the sleek; the svelte stars and buff athletes; the smart, successful, and very rich young executives. But God’s beautiful people are not ones to fawn over, but to follow, as they just keep on going, growing, and bearing fruit for Jesus, not caring how they look to anyone but their Heavenly Husbandman.

THE CROSS: WHERE LOVE AND HATE MEET -- Devotional for December 21, from "Good Seeds"

Thou hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness (Hebrews 1:9). But Christ died for sins, the Just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God (I Peter 3:18).

What does God hate more than anything in the universe? Sin. Why? Because sin is the one thing – the only thing – that separates Him from what He loves more than anything in the universe. And what is that? Sinners – well, mankind – but all men are sinners. We didn’t start out that way, of course. Speaking to Lucifer God said, “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:15). At the moment pride entered his heart the highest angel of God became the arch-enemy of God. He sought to be on an equal plane with the Almighty, and it was this self-same sin of envy that the devil tempted our first parents to commit: “You can be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Not only have we all inherited the physical characteristics of our human prototypes, we also have in our spiritual genetic code the same sinful nature Adam and Eve procured when they disobeyed God: an automatic leaning toward wrong thinking and doing. Oh, we know in order to survive in this life we must become civilized, so our parents and our culture teach us to be civil. But whenever our guard is down – our sin nature rears its ugly head: attitudes, thoughts, desires and actions quickly default to ugliness and ungodliness whenever our pride is threatened, our rights are violated, or we experience an onslaught of suffering. But God loves us still. Although we were made “a little lower than the angels,” we are the “apple of God’s eye.” When He sings, “These are a few of My favorite things,” all that comes to His mind are the people who populate this planet – and He knows each one by name! And just because our nature is now depraved, that does not make Him love us any less. How did Shakespeare put it? “Love is not love that changes when it changes finds.” If that is a description of human love, does it not epitomize divine love all the more? When the Bible says, “God is love,” love is a noun reflecting His motives. But when it says, “God so loved the world,” love is a verb describing His actions, for the verse goes on to say, “…that He gave His only begotten Son.” Christ loved us so much, even “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8), that He demonstrated it by going to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. The message is clear: God loves sinners with as much passion as He hates their sin. The cross is where that love and hate meet – and because it was “the Just for the unjust,” love wins! That’s why the cradle – He came to live among us – led to the cross – He came to die for us…which brings us back to God.