GOD ENCOUNTERS
2008-12-15

I have the night off tonight, in preparation for the funeral tomorrow. Unfortunately, winter has decided to hit Texas today. It was below 30 this morning (all you people up north shut up...that's COLD for us!) with a wind chill of about 15. We have a chance of freezing drizzle and sleet tonight and tomorrow morning. I can hardly wait to stand outside at the cemetery tomorrow. But it's what we have to do, so we will be there.

Stephanie just told me it's currently 27 outside, feels like 14. Yay?



I just remembered something! I did an entry yesterday morning, and I think the D-land server went down or something. I saved it to Word and forgot to come back and post it. I'll be right back!

Ok. I'm back. Thanks for waiting. Yesterday's entry is now up.



Now for the Presidential Prayer Team site prayer for President Elect Obama and his various appointees.

For God�s guidance and blessing for President Elect Obama�s selection for Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano
Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.
�Proverbs 20:28

O loving and faithful God, Your power and grace hold all things together, keeping us secure and safe no matter what is happening in the world around us. I praise You for being the ultimate and only true source of security and hope. I praise You for the many ways You offer Yourself as our refuge. Thank You for this truth, O Lord most high!

Today I bring to You the need for Your grace, wisdom and help for President Elect Obama�s choice for Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. I pray that You will strengthen and guide her as she prepares to lead this important department of our government. Bless her with Your favor, that her skills and abilities may be enhanced by You as she plans and prepares. I pray this in Jesus� holy name, amen.



Psalm for today: Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Verse 1



Day 287 in The Message//Remix:Solo

It's the seventh day again, where I review the last six days of devotions.

DAY 281--GENEROUS OFFERINGS--2 Corinthians 9:8-15

This passage is all about sharing the generosity of God with others. We have been blessed tremendously by God, and we have a responsibility to not hoard those blessings. We are to be known as people who give. And we are to give cheerfully! God loves a cheerful giver! Let us be generous with God's generosity!

DAY 282--GOD'S HIDDEN SERVANTS--2 Corinthians 11:21,23-30

This day was about what kind of teachers we tend to gravitate towards. I believe we receive greater benefit from those who are quieter and humbler as opposed to those who are flashy. The only reason Paul goes on the rant he does in this passage is to combat the comparison that he is receiving to the more flashy speakers of the day. It's not the delivery...it's the material being delivered. By all reports, the most powerful sermon ever delivered in days past (Sinners in the hands of an angry God) was read in pretty much a monotone with the notes about three inches from Jonathan Edwards's face because he was so blind. Yet people were wailing in agony by the time it was over, from conviction.

DAY 283--RELATIONSHIPS ARE MESSY--2 Corinthians 12:16-21

Isn't that the truth? Especially when you get a bunch of people together, say, in a "church" setting. Paul was concerned about "quarrels, jealousy, flaring tempers, taking sides, angry words, vicious rumors, swelled heads, and general bedlam." These are things that we all have to deal with in our modern setting, as well. We must employ the grace that God has lavished on us to deal with people every day.

DAY 284--IN NEED OF CORRECTION--Galatians 1:6-12

This passage dealt with the preaching of false gospels. Paul was adament. Anyone who preaches a false gospel should be cursed. We need to keep that attitude today. There are a lot of false gospels running rampant today, and many being preached by "Christian" ministers. We must be on our guard. Search the Scriptures to see if what these "preachers" are saying lines up with what God says.

DAY 285--NO LONGER TRYING TO BE GOOD--Galatians 2:16,19-21

We don't have to try to be good to impress God. In fact, we can't, anyway. Oh, we can be relatively "good," but we can't impress God with it. We need to lay aside our egos, stop worrying about trying to appear righteous before other people, and stop trying to impress God. We need to fully rely on the presence of Christ, the hope of glory, residing in us. That way, the life we live is not ours, but Christ living in us.

DAY 286--GROWTH: A RESULT OF HOW HARD YOU TRY?--Galatians 3:2-6

This is kind of similar to the previous day's entry. But here, the Galatians have reverted back to trying to earn their salvation through good works. Perish the thought!! Or, as Paul frequently said, "God forbid!" Our salvation is purely by the grace of God. It is by grace that we have been saved, through faith! Not by works, lest any man should boast! Let us never forget that.



Well, there it is. There were some good Scriptures and principles in that week. Hopefully, I can remember them into next week.

Be back tomorrow morning.

Grace and peace, friends. Please continue to pray for us as we endure the weather for tomorrow's funeral. God bless!



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