Devotion for Wednesday 12/02/2020 6 Minutes

Devotion for Wednesday 12/02/2020 6 Minutes

Good evening everyone watching by video this evening,,, it's time for our weekly devotion.

I'm praying that all of you are having a wonderful week and enjoying this cooler weather,,, or I guess I should say colder weather since it's cold enough to make me need a long sleeve if I'm going to be outside for very long.

Our devotion this evening will come from my reading yesterday,,, December 1 devotion,,, in the book titled "David Jeremiah Morning and Evening Devotions"

Our scripture will be Ezekiel 22:30 and I'll be reading from my Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Ezekiel 22:30 (HCSB)

30 I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this evening.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this evening,,, with all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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I was 57 years old before I ever had enough courage to say that I would stand in the gap for God.

And even then,,, I wouldn't call it courage because,,, like Barak in Judges chapter 4 wouldn't go into battle unless Deborah went with Him,,, I wouldn't go unless I heard from God that He would go with me!

And God has been so faithful,,, these last two and a half years.

As most of you know,,, I've spent most of my life running from God and what He wanted me to do.

Running because I didn't think that I had everything that was needed to do the job that He wanted me to do.

Not realizing,,, that He,,, was all that I needed,,, to do what He wanted me to do!

This devotion explains it very well and gives some other biblical examples as well.

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David Jeremiah begins his devotion with a story about Frances Havergal.

He says that when Frances Havergal,,, author of the hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be,”,,, was a teenager,,, her parents moved to Dusseldorf, Germany, where she was placed in a German school.

She was the only Christian among 110 students.

The others made fun of her,,, teased her,,, even persecuted her.

Her response?

“It was very bracing,” she wrote. “I felt I must try to walk worthy of my calling, for Christ’s sake. It was a sort of nailing my colors to the mast.”

David Jeremiah say that "You might be the only Christian in your school, on your ball team, at your office, or in your family".

What an opportunity!

Christians are the “salt of the earth.”

It doesn’t take a lot of salt to season the whole pot.

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Then David Jeremiah goes on to say that the presence of even one believer can hinder sin,,, delay judgment,,, prompt conviction,,, and extend the kingdom of God.

Paul and his two companions were apparently the only believers on the storm-tossed ship in Acts 27.

But their presence saved all 276 people on board.

The odds against Elijah on Mount Carmel were 450 to one,,, -- but -- one plus God is a majority.

That's what we forget so many times as we go through this life,,, when God wants us to do something,,, we will have everything that we need,,, because,,, God "is",,, all that we need!

No matter what He asks us to do,,, God will be there to help us through it,,, and use us to help others.

David Jeremiah closed out his devotion by saying "the feeblest light is best seen in the thickest darkness".

And,,, "Like Frances Havergal,,, don’t be afraid to nail your colors to the mast".

Jeremiah, David . David Jeremiah Morning and Evening Devotions (pp. 692-693). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.