Our Mission to Missions

Brethren, pray for us.  1^st Thessalonians 5:25 (New American Standard Bible)

Children of military parents are constantly having their roots pulled up and moved to wherever the government wants their mom or dad to serve.  The kids have to leave friends, school and hometown to be put in a new place where they will need to adapt to new people and ways of doing things. And there is an even greater hardship if they have to deal with a foreign language and culture if their parents are stationed overseas.

When Christians leave for the mission field there is culture shock they endure in their new “home” wherever that may be.  In a different culture there may be the sense of offense if something breaks and they ask that the situation be remedied immediately as we have come to expect in our own culture.  That can be very frustrating if it’s the middle of winter and your heater breaks and within the local culture there is the feeling the landlord doesn’t need to move quickly. Repairs or replacement could take weeks. There can be an additionally worry if the missionaries have children.

While financial support is indeed important to missions the greatest thing they need is our constant support through prayer.  Satan’s own mission is to destroy the works of God and he has an arsenal of means to do it. Prayer is a Christian’s power and praying for our missionaries helps them stand firm and finish the task God has given them.  

Dropping a check in the offering marked ‘missions’ is a good thing and praying daily for our missionaries is even better.  Satan believes he has no boundaries to attack until he comes up against the bulwark of the power of Christ.  And the most effective means to make the best use of that bulwark is prayer. There is no other force on earth that can do the same.  When it comes to our missionaries ‘pray without ceasing’ intensifies that need in a very real way.  When we do He will be faithful and we can praise Him for all His glorious works.  When it comes to our missionaries let us truly pray for them without ceasing.  It’s our greatest mission to missions.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

A Good Case of Heart Burn

And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scripture.  Luke 24:27 (New American Standard Bible)

In the afternoon of His resurrection, Jesus Christ joined two disciples who were walking to the town of Emmaus.  The two men were discussing the events of the last few days concerning the death of their Master.  As Jesus began walking with them He asked what they were discussing.  Luke says their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.  As they relayed the happenings of the past week the two men spoke in terms of disbelief of the words of the people who had that very morning witnessed the empty tomb in which Jesus had been laid.  He gently chided them for their unbelief and began to explain all the things Moses and the prophets had written about Him of how it was necessary for Christ to suffer these things and enter into His glory.  The two listened with rapt attention.  The men begged Him to stay the night with them and when He reclined at the supper table and broke and blessed the bread they recognized Him and He disappeared from their midst.

We can’t even begin to understand their surprise and shock.  They looked at one another and said “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32).

The existence of Jesus as the Messiah can be absolutely proven through the writings of Scripture.   Those 66 books were written by 40 men over a period of 1600 years from all walks of life, shepherds, farmers, tent-makers, physicians, fishermen, priests, philosophers and kings all keeping the same message and theme of the Messiah consistent.  The New Testament merely confirms the Old.  But don’t take my word for it, search it out for yourself.  It’s an amazing study with evidence that cannot be denied.  These words still can cause us great amazement and thrill.   It’s still the best case of heart burn anyone can have.

Ken

Open-ended Prayer

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  1^st Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NASB)

I was mulling over the many prayers I have prayed since adolescence and to my surprise found God had answered every one of them.  Some were simple prayers for faith, strength and guidance and some of them were for things for which I could not even imagine a viable answer.  These requests and petitions for what seemed impossible needs became outright miracles in later years. 

Some of the things I prayed for felt, at the time, like God really didn’t care; such as prayers for family members to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.  But looking back I see that God immediately went to work on their behalf yet would never violate their free will.  The final choice was theirs and I can only trust that my prayers on their behalf helped them toward the grace of Christ so that when they passed on they had changed their minds and embraced Him. 

We may be surprised to find that when we count our blessings God has answered our prayers.  I believe He answers more than we suppose.  Open-ended prayer strengthens our trust knowing God begins to work for us in ways we could never imagine.  When we can put those prayers together we see what He has done for us and hope in what He is yet to do.  This is the beauty of open-ended prayer.  This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Criminal Intent

And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”  And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise.”  Luke 23:42, 43 (NASB)

Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead is the heart of Christianity. Without the resurrection Christianity would truly be a dead religion.  The gift of eternal life through Christ was never more poignantly demonstrated than on the cross as Jesus forgave the sins of a criminal being crucified next to Him. The man put his total faith in Jesus as his Messiah. It was an instantaneous conversion through belief and not anything the thief did. If he did anything it was to lead the life of an offender that put him on that cross next to Jesus.  He and the other thief being executed on the other side of Jesus deserved what they were getting while Jesus was about to die completely innocent. 

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is our assurance that, through Him, we have more to expect from this life than just a hole in the ground when we die.  Jesus was first in this new life and through His resurrection led the way back from the power of death to incorruptible eternal life becoming the First Born among many brethren (Romans 8:29).  As was the case of the thief there is nothing we need do but ask and believe in the Lamb of God.

The thief’s intent that day was to come before His God forgiven and worthy.  He was about to find that because Christ lived he would live too. Whether dying, as the thief, or living only for ourselves, when we believe in God’s sacrificial Lamb we take hold of His promise; a promise that one day we will find ourselves worthy to stand with Christ in the Paradise of God.  Because He lives all who trust in Him shall live too.

Happy Resurrection Day,                                                                                   

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Those Bad Boys of Canaan

For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.  2^nd Corinthians 1:20 (New American Standard Bible)

This week I have again read the story of Joseph in Genesis (chapters 37-50). It is my favorite biblical account; a story of pardon and redemption as Joseph forgives his brothers for their hatred and their betrayal of selling him into slavery.

In all my studies of this story I have always focused on the goodness of Joseph and not the unrighteousness of his brothers. There were eleven of them, ten of them being half brothers of dubious intent.  As sons of Jacob all but one, Benjamin, were older than Joseph and these ten all held seething resentment against Joseph because he was the favored son of his father's old age.  The brothers were in constant rebellion against God and their father Jacob in other ways also. Levi and Simeon were the leaders of a murder raid upon their neighbors (34;25)  Reuben, Jacob’s eldest, had physical relations with his step mother (Genesis 35:22),  and all were guilty of hating their brother and selling him to Ishmaelite slave traders (37:28). 

 The thing that struck me this time was how God continued to honor His covenant with Abraham while the children of the promise were caught up in continual wickedness. These brothers were all part of that promise even to God allowing one of them, Judah, to be an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:3).  The pledge of God is sure and He will never go back on His word.  What will He do for you?  He has promised all His riches to you through His Son (Ephesians 3:8). If God were willing to keep His promises to a group of unruly men like Jacob’s sons how much more will He honor His promises to you as a believer through the grace of Christ?  Will He go back on those promises?  His promises to you are yes and even Amen, rock solid and faithful.  Concerning those bad boys of Canaan He had ten good reasons to go back on His promise but He faithfully kept it. In the many promises He has made through Christ you are the one good reason He will continue to do so.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Crafty Actors

Then Jesus spoke to the multitude and to His disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them. Matthew 23 1-3 (New American Standard Bible)

As Christians most of us have heard “Oh, I don’t go to church.  Christians are all a bunch of hypocrites.”  I have to agree there are many hypocritical people in the church.  Where else would you find them?  The word hypocrite is a word that comes from the ancient Greek stage that is defined as ‘an actor under an assumed character-a stage player.’  It is true there have been people within the church who have injured its good name by their hypocritical actions and I have no defense for it.  In fact, I am ashamed of the many actions people have taken in the name of Christ that have hurt others and were totally opposed to His heart and teaching.

Jesus hates hypocrisy. He was constantly reproaching the scribes and Pharisees for it.  Unfortunately our sin nature still persists and is revealed through some Christians as the opposite of Christ presenting arrogance, judgment and mistrust of God’s goodness.  Jesus is in no way like that and never has been!    

In the church and on the stage of life there will always be crafty actors who say ‘Do as I say and not as I do.’ As His followers Jesus tells us to let our lives radiate with brilliancy before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).  We do that by loving God with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength (Luke 10:27).  The Church isn’t broken but it is imperfect.  Even so it will never lose its power (Matthew 16:18).  Speaking of hypocrisy in the church the Christian leader, Michael Green, has to say of it; “You cannot get away from it.  From now on your lot is cast with the Christian church.  Where it is corrupt, purge it.  Where it is slack, enliven it.  Where it is right, follow it.”* 

*Michael Green, Avoiding Jesus: answers for skeptics, cynics and the curious, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2004-2005, 185

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

The Honor of it

How precious is Thy loving kindness, O God!  Psalms 36:7 (New American Standard Bible)

Have you ever tried to make someone love you?  It’s impossible. They would either loathe the attempt to overcome their will or might fake it to avoid unpleasant consequences.  “I’ll make you love me” is coercion.  Love comes out of respect and reaches its zenith when it is given willingly. 

There would be no glory for God to program unwitting persons to worship Him when they did not have the choice to say no. It would just be performance.  The act of choice is one of love’s defining features.  

We would not know of the fullness of God’s awesome love either had He no reason to demonstrate it.  That demonstration to us through the cross was undeniably an overwhelming display of loving kindness that defies logic or invention.  He is worthy of our praise and it is all the more breathtaking when we return it from our hearts.  That’s the honor of it.  We love Him because He first loved us (1^st John 4:19).

Ken       

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com©

Monkey Business

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you not as the world gives, do I give you.  Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.  John 14:27 (New American Standard Bible)

Have you ever heard of a monkey trap? It’s a cage or bottle containing food with a hole large enough to allow the monkey to fit his hand into but not large enough to allow him to withdraw his fist while holding the food.  When the person who set the trap approaches, the monkey screams and tries to get away but will not let go of the food and remains trapped.  

A monkey trap can be anything that snares us through fear and mistrust, hindering the experience of blessing God has for us.  This is why Jesus said He offers abundant life.  Fear is one of the thieves that steal our peace and freedom in Christ. Jesus says He will carry the burden of any load or loss and what He gives us to carry will be light indeed (Matthew 11:28-30). 

God bids us to come to Him and place all our burdens on His Son, Christ Jesus, and instead of being troubled and fearful to be calm and at peace.  Turning loose of what is in the monkey trap liberates us. That is why we gain more when we turn loose of less.  Fear not, for He is with you.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

This is Truth

Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify of the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”  John 18:37 (New International Version)

Imagine the scene; a young rabbi in Israel is detained by local authorities and subjected to an illegal trial.  Roman law in Israel prohibits the Jews from executing anyone without Roman permission so the Jewish leaders push this young man onto the provincial governor, Pontius Pilate, hoping he will send him to the cross.

But Pilate is disturbed by the whole scenario.  As he interrogates Rabbi Jesus he hears Him speaking boldly of what is true.  The Procurator’s response is skepticism.  We can imagine the look of resignation as he sighs and asks Jesus “What is truth?”  He was at the crossroads of a historic decision, one that would shake the world for years to come.  He decides to wash his hands of the situation and send the rabbi to the cross.  Pilate would be able to go about his business and the Roman Peace would be secure within his province.  Perhaps he even went to his grave without having realized the Glory and Truth that had stood before him in that hour.

In America we hear so much of Christ’s truth that in retrospect it can seem humdrum.  But when we stop to consider the truth of what is in Jesus and who He is, a light of understanding begins to dawn.  A stirring of heart and mind begins to seek Him with abandon.  We see what Truth really is and that this same Truth who once stood humbled before a Roman ruler is at this moment exalted above all things (Philippians 2:9).  Yes, everyone on the side of truth will listen to Jesus. In doing so all who do can be empowered this day to live an abundant life in that truth.

Lord, help me be not only a beholder or hearer of Your words but strengthen me to be a doer of Your truth.  Amen.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com©

A God-Forsaken Place

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (New American Standard Bible)

What was it that set the death of Jesus of Nazareth apart from others who had been executed throughout history?  Was it the physical pain and suffering He bore?  No, His physical sufferings do not bring us to the heart of the cross.  Many before Him had died excruciatingly painful deaths and some even more agonizing.  Was it his mental suffering?  Roman soldiers cast lots for His clothes at the foot of the cross (John 19:24), He was abandoned by His followers (Matthew 26:56), and mocked by the priests and soldiers (Matthew 27:42, 43, Luke 23:36).  Even his mental state, as anguished as it was, cannot approach the heart and mystery of the cross.

The heart of the matter resides in Him being forsaken of God at that moment and what that meant.  Jesus fulfilled Psalm 22:1 when He cried out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”  He felt cut off because He was cut off.  The perfect man became a curse.  At that moment God laid all the sins of the generations onto His perfect sacrifice, Christ the Lamb of God.  The One who had always known fellowship with His Father cried out when His Father had to look the other way.  Somehow at that moment God put the curse of our sin on Christ as He hung on the cross making Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God (2^nd Corinthians 5:21).  We were cursed because of our sin and, in modern day vernacular, Jesus took the bullet.

He knew it would end this way when He set his face toward Jerusalem.  He could have easily gone the other way.  It was in this God-forsaken place that the greatest good for humanity was finished (John 19:30).  We cannot discount the physical pain and suffering our Lord endured in those final hours.  They were indeed horrendous.  But in those hours Christ broke the power of sin and opened up a highway directly into God’s presence by becoming our curse.  The heart of the cross is in what God laid upon His Son.  One would think it would be done in better circumstances yet Christ accomplished our redemption not in the Temple or any synagogue but by being hung on a cross in a God-forsaken place.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com©

It Doesn't Take an Einstein

And he said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”  Luke 10:18 (New American Standard Bible)

Albert Einstein is credited with defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time.  So it would seem with Satan.  He never stops assailing the works of God even though he was created and appointed as one of the mighty guardian cherubim in the inner circle of God’s presence, blameless and perfect in wisdom and beauty (Ezekiel 28:15) and ought to know better.  Every move he makes against God is wisely and perfectly countered bringing good from evil.  He brought Job from ashes to twofold riches and honor (Job 42:10).  When Satan thought he’d ended God’s plan for human redemption by killing Christ on the cross God raised His only begotten Son from the dead (Matt. 28:6, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6, John 20:14).  When Satan thought he’d scattered the early church from Jerusalem God used it to move those believers into areas of outreach to Jews within the region (Acts 11:19).  When he moved to destroy European Jewry during World War II God raised up the state of Israel.  From the beginning God has been called Eloheim, the Almighty One. 

The power of Christ is the only power within the universe with authority enough to beat Satan at his own game.  In every effort Satan has employed against God and His Christ he has fallen like lightning before God’s holiness and matchless perfection.  He will never triumph and in the end will be cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of this world’s governments (Revelation 20:10).  Satan is doing the same thing over and over in his attempt to defeat God expecting a different outcome each time.  Now that’s insane and it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure that one out.

Glory to God forevermore.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

The Ultimate Seal

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance to the view of redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.  Ephesians 1:13, 14 (New American Standard Bible)

I spent nearly ten years working in the air freight and trucking (dry goods) industries.  

One thing that was necessary when any container or trailer was shipped was not only to be locked but sealed with a numbered security strip. That seal showed the shipment was a deposit of guarantee by our company until the freight was received by the customer.

When we hear and believe we are at that instant ‘sealed’ with the Holy Spirit of promise.  Sealing represents security, authentication, approval and identification of ownership.  The seal is done in Christ and the Holy Spirit is the instrument of the seal.  It is a deposit guaranteeing our own inheritance in God through His Son.  But it is more than a pledge as a pledge can be altered or even ignored; the seal of the Spirit is a guarantee of more to come.  In essence the deposit of the Holy Spirit is a little bit of heaven with a guarantee of much more that He will give to us in the eons to come.

Because of this, believers acquire every spiritual blessing including election, predestination, adoption, grace, forgiveness, wisdom, understanding, knowledge of the mystery of His will, and inheritance.  We remain God’s possession and delight to the praise of His glory. Being sealed by the Holy Spirit is a secure and precious privilege.  It is not done by human means but by Christ Jesus as His Ultimate Seal of love and power.  In its security and approval we are now and will remain God’s shining glory for eternity.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Our Mission to Missions

Brethren, pray for us.  1^st Thessalonians 5:25 (New American Standard Bible)

 Children of military parents are constantly having their roots pulled up and moved to wherever the government wants their mom or dad to serve.  The kids have to leave friends, school and hometown to be put in a new place where they will need to adapt to new people and ways of doing things. And there is an even greater hardship if they have to deal with a foreign language and culture if their parents are stationed overseas.

When Christians leave for the mission field there is culture shock they endure in their new “home” wherever that may be.  In a different culture there may be the sense of offense if something breaks and they ask that the situation be remedied immediately as we have come to expect in our own culture.  That can be very frustrating if it’s the middle of winter and your heater breaks and within the local culture there is the feeling the landlord doesn’t need to move quickly. Repairs or replacement could take weeks. There can be additional worry if the missionaries have children.

While financial support is indeed important to missions the greatest thing they need is our constant support through prayer.  Satan’s own mission is to destroy the works of God and he has an arsenal of means to do it. Prayer is a Christian’s power and praying for our missionaries helps them stand firm and finish the task God has given them. Dropping a check in the offering marked ‘missions’ is a good thing and praying daily for our missionaries is even better.  Satan believes he has no boundaries to attack until he comes up against the bulwark of the power of Christ.  And the most effective means to make the best use of that bulwark is prayer. There is no other force on earth that can do the same.  When it comes to our missionaries ‘pray without ceasing’ intensifies that need in a very real way.  When we do He will be faithful and we can praise Him for all His glorious works.  When it comes to our missionaries let us truly pray for them without ceasing.  It’s our greatest mission to missions.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

The Saga of Captain Flash

For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.  Romans 7:15 (New American Standard Bible)

When my grandson was three he discovered large marker pens and delighted in writing wherever he could find a flat surface.  He was repeatedly cautioned about it and for a while there were no more incidents-until the day I sat down to eat lunch.  In that short period he found a black marker and decided to write on my new tan suede sofa, the hallway walls, the hallway tile floor, doors and facings.  Fortunately there was a cleaning product that took the marks off of everything, even the suede sofa.  Now it looks good as new and I have nicknamed my grandson Captain Flash for he is truly faster than a speeding bullet.

Paul speaks of the part of our Christian experience in not practicing what we want to do but instead doing the very thing we know is wrong.  For some reason our sin nature remained strong and intact even though we accepted Jesus Christ into our lives.  When Paul said we are ‘dead to sin’ he means that we died with Christ to our former ways of sinful living.  Our sin natures will be completely done away with when we stand before Him either through death or rapture.  But in this life we still wrestle with the temptation to do wrong.  It is one of the hardest things about our life in Christ.

Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection did away with the power of sin to again enslave us against our will.  Before we trusted in Christ we didn’t have the ability to resist temptation but now through the power of the Holy Spirit we indeed have a choice.  It is still a fight, for practicing sin is easy and there are still times when we will do what we hate.  We can go to Him for help and relief for He removed our chains of slavery to sin.  When there are occasions that we step out of His will thanks to Him we can let those chains lie at our feet and continue to trust in His magnificent grace.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Living Beyond Our Means

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 2^nd Peter 1:2, 3 (New American Standard Bible)

Did you ever hear the saying that someone is “keeping up with the Joneses”?  They buy things on credit or strap themselves of cash simply to carry on a life style they really can’t afford.  Over time it can only bring poverty and misery.

Surprisingly Jesus wants us to live beyond our means, not physically speaking but from a spiritual standpoint.  Our own resources are severely limited. We can only show a ‘form’ of godliness by practicing religious traditions without the power of supply.  The richness of our spiritual lives only comes from the riches of His glory and will do so for all eternity (Ephesians 2:7).

We’ll never be strapped of true knowledge, wisdom and power when the Lord is our banker.  Heaven demands no loan applications.  Our contract with the Son of God is a verbal agreement.  After that He is ready through his divine nature to meet all our needs through His glorious resources.  Being in Christ means never needing to keep up with the Joneses for His riches are always at our disposal.  It is living beyond our means while living within His.  It is His grace and peace multiplied to us.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Giving Sight to Blind Rage

January 9, 2012

In May of 1943 while on a search and rescue mission over the Pacific Ocean Lieutenant Louis Zamprini’s bomber crashed due to mechanical failure.  Only Louie and two men survived and took to two life rafts.  After floating on the sea for 33 days one of the men succumbed to starvation. Louie and his raft mate, pilot Allen “Phil” Philips, were finally picked up by the Japanese Navy on their 46^th day at sea and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Japan.  At the camp they endured cruel treatment at the hands of their Japanese captors, the worse one being a vicious sergeant named Mutushiro Watanabe whom the Americans referred to as the “Bird.”  Watanabe took an immediate dislike to Zamparini and continually singled him out for his ruthless and brutal treatment at one time beating him senseless with a belt buckle.  Zamparini survived the prison experience but when he returned home he was nearly out of his mind with rage at the treatment he’d received from the Bird so much so that his nightly dreams were nightmares of torture and mistreatment at his hands.  He eventually turned to alcohol and by 1949 had become convinced that the only way to gain peace was to return to Japan and find and murder the former guard.

That year, Billy Graham began his evangelical campaign in Los Angeles.  Louis’s wife, Cynthia, was invited by some friends to a meeting one night and found Christ as her Savior.  Her efforts to get Louie to go were fruitless.  He wanted nothing to do with religion.  After Cynthia and his friends pressed him he said he’d go, with the motive to get them to leave him alone.  The first night he became furious at the message and left in a rage.  Cynthia encouraged him to try one more time.  He went reluctantly but at the end of the sermon something changed in his heart and he surrendered his life to Christ.  He said at that point all the hatred, rage and bitterness left him and he was filled with a contentment and peace he’d never experienced.  He had become a new creation in Christ.  All his nightmares concerning the Bird stopped that night and when he thought of his former tormentor it was without the explosive fury that had consumed him before.

Louie returned to Japan in 1950 as a Christian speaker at Sugamo Prison and spoke to a group of Japanese war criminals, among them various ones who had abused him during his time as a POW.  He looked for the Bird but he was not there.* At the end of his talk Louie asked for the men who had guarded him to come to the front.    As the men moved down the aisle Louie met them half way and embraced them.  They were stunned that one who had been so wrongly treated could treat an enemy like this but through it they experienced the true and lasting forgiveness of God.  Louie returned home and began various Christian outreaches, one being a camp for troubled boys in the San Bernardino Mountains above Los Angeles.   He never returned to Japan but could now think of his former tormentor as a man in need of Christ. As of this writing Louie is still living at the age of 94 years and is still involved in telling others how Christ changed his life.  One cannot adequately explain how something like this could be yet the proof is in the years of this man’s life after 1949.  All we can say of this great miracle is God gave sight to a man’s blind rage.

*Watanabe later received amnesty for his war crimes and became a very wealthy business man. Louie wrote him a letter telling him he had forgiven him and asked him to become a Christian.  Mutushiro Watanabe died in April of 2003 and it is unknown whether he found faith in Christ or not.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Happy All Year

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And he said, “Write for these things are faithful and true.”  Revelation 21:4 (New American Standard Bible)

Did you ever make a New Year’s resolution?  I believe we all have.  About the only one I’ve kept consistently is my resolve to eat dark chocolate.  The coming of a new year gives us a chance to change patterns in our lives that are detrimental and to ‘resolve’ to act in ways that guide us in a healthy direction.  It is a chance at new beginnings.

Jesus gave us a chance at new beginnings when He gave His life on the cross of Calvary and it isn’t only for salvation.  There are some who live in emotional and spiritual agony that God will never forgive them for what they’ve done.  Pardon is why God sent His Son as the blameless Lamb of God.  Only God can and is willing to lift those burdens from our shoulders and to be the power to make any resolution to change successful.

Regardless of anything you’ve done in the past year that caused you grief God has opened the door of His grace through which forgiveness can be gained.  Past transgressions are not remembered.  He no longer brings to mind what you have confessed to Him and He doesn’t hold it against you because He sees you through the blood of His Son.  That is enough.  We can resolve to make amends and begin anew in Him every day.  His grace and compassion are incomparable.  Mankind gives the chance to make resolutions every January 1st. God wishes us Happy All Year and bids us resolve to lay our burdens at His feet all 365 days of the year.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com