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December 3, 2003 - December 24, 2003

Daily Devotionals

Wednesday 3 December 2003

John 12:16

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

(The words and actions of Jesus took on new meaning and made more sense in retrospect. I need to pause and look back on how God has led me in the past – it will help me to be encouraged to live a life of faith today.)

Thursday 4 December 2003

John 12: 25

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

(Only when I bury my personal aims and ambitions can I be of use to God. Only by spending life do I retain it. Only by service comes greatness.)

Friday 5 December 2003

John 12:27

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

(Jesus said ‘no’ to his desires in order to obey his Father and bring glory to Him. God does not send us out on a road without directions and without guidance – He does not leave us to do it in our own strength. If we listen He will speak and we will go on with His strength surging through us.)

Monday 8 December 2003

John 12:36

“Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.”

(I am to be one of Christ’s light bearers – letting His light shine through my life. If I walk with Christ I am delivered from the shadows – delivered from fear and doubt and I will have a joy nothing can take from me. Have I trusted Jesus with my life - is He my Master, Guide, and Saviour ?)

Tuesday 9 December 2003

John 12:43

For they loved the praise from men more than praise from God

(It is true wisdom and prudence to prefer the good opinion of God to the good opinion of men – it is always better to be right for eternity than to be right for a time.)

Wednesday 10 December 2003

John 12:46

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Thursday 11 December 2003

John 13:1

Having loved his own who were in the world he love them to the end.

( God knows me completely – past and future, yet He still loves me. Jesus met the greatest injury and supreme disloyalty with the greatest humility and supreme love.)

Friday 12 December 2003

John 13:14

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

(I must be willing to serve others in any way that will glorify God. To be a leader one must be a servant. I must serve God, serve others around me and all people to whom I take the message of Salvation.)

Monday 15 December 2003

Psalms 34:10

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

Thursday 18 December 2003

Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Friday 19 December 2003

Psalm 37:7

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him ; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Monday 22 December 2003

Psalm 37:23

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.

Tuesday 23 December 2003

John 13:34

A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

(To love as Jesus loved is hard – to absorb hurts from others without complaining or fighting back. But if I do that others will know that I am empowered by a supernatural source.

Jesus loved:

1.    selflessly – He never thought of what was in it for Him
2.    sacrificially – there was no limit to what His love would give or where it would go.
3.    understandingly – Jesus knew His disciples completely – and still loved them.
4.    forgivingly – love that does not know how to forgive will shrivel and die therefore all enduring love must be built on forgiveness.)

Wednesday 24 December 2003

John 14:1

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

(In Jesus we see a picture of God – in the face of that amazing love we can accept what we cannot understand and in the storms of life, retain a faith that is serene.)

Please note: Be Still will resume 27 January 2004.

May you find some times of quiet in the weeks ahead.