Home Is Where My Heart Is

Daily Devotion 339

December 5

Honesty

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Matthew 7:2

Honesty is a fruit of a Spirit-filled life. Loving our neighbor as our self prohibits our being dishonest with him.

The story is told of a farmer who delivered a pound of butter to the baker each week. In turn, he would purchase a loaf of bread from the baker. The baker noticed that the pound of butter seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. One day he confronted the farmer about the apparent problem.

“Don’t you have scales to weigh your butter?” he asked.

“No,” the farmer replied.

“Well,” asked the baker, “how do you know you are giving me a pound of butter if you have no scales?”

The farmer answered, “I always use your loaf of bread, which is labeled one pound, as a balance.”

Verse 12 of our Scripture reading teaches us to do to others as we would have them do to us. Verses 18–20 remind us that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Our daily conduct should reflect an attitude of putting others first. Let us always be sure to be honest in all our dealings.

Melvin L. Yoder, Gambier, OH

The best way to teach the Word is to live it.

Bible Reading: Matthew 7

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

1 John 3

Daniel 3, 4

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA  22803

Phone:  877-488-0901

E-Mail:  [cs@vision-publishers.com]

Daily Devotion 338

December 4

The Sunset

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:21

Traveling home from the distant town of Jinotega late one afternoon, we were all tired. The road was bad, the vehicle was crowded, and it was one of those times when it would have felt really good to have been at home NOW instead of traveling another two or three hours. Jinotega is situated in a valley, among the beautiful rugged

mountains of Nicaragua. Naturally, the road is a genuine mountain road, winding through the hills and hollows. As we rounded a curve, to our right unfolded one of the most beautiful sunsets one could ever hope to see. Out across a valley, behind a distant mountain, the sun was setting in full grandeur, like a golden ball of fire. Being from the western plains, we viewed the awesome scene with something like a holy emotion.

We say the elderly are in the sunset of life, but in reality, none of us, whether middle aged or young, know just where our “sun” is positioned on the horizon. The apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:20 whether by life or death his desire was to magnify Christ.

There is a feeling akin to a holy awe that comes over us when we take a tiny infant into our arms for the first time. The miracle of life is awesome. Is it any less awesome to stand by the still form of a loved one who has won the battle and gone to meet his Maker and his Savior? There is rejoicing in heaven over one soul that is saved, but what must take place when one saved soul returns to the God who gave it, having magnified the name of Christ first by his life, and then again by death?

Ivan Petre, Masaya, Nicaragua

To die is but to live—for eternity.

Bible Reading: Philippians 1

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

1 John 2

Daniel 1, 2

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA  22803

Phone:  877-488-0901

E-Mail:  [cs@vision-publishers.com]

Needing prayers to " Be Still"......

" Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."      ~ Psalm 46:10 ~

                    ______________________________________

I awoke this beautiful morning with this passage of scripture on my heart.......

One of the most challenging things for me to do is to "be still".....it actually requires this mama of 10 to really have to "work at" being still......it takes a purposed effort for me to "be still and know that God is at work"..... you see I am a "doer" by nature and I love to do do do......that can be a good thing at times..... and not a good things at other times....

God is showing me that right now, for today I need to be "still".......

Would you please pray for me today my friends? I come to you for your prayers of faith that I will be "still and know that GOD , is in charge and that He WILL be exalted before those who do not know Him".......

This is something God has laid in my heart today.... to be still and oh if you only knew how hard that can be for me at times!

Thank you dear friends for taking a moment to pray for me today.

He is faithful,

~ gloria ~

Full Blown Apology is In Order

Deliverance or determination?

" We often pray to be delivered from afflictions and even trust God that we will be.  But we do not pray for Him to make us what we should be while in the midst of the afflictions. Nor do we pray that we would be able to live within them, for however long they may last, in the complete awareness that we are held and sheltered by the Lord and can therefore continue within them without suffering any harm.

The Savior endured an especially difficult test in the wilderness while in the presense of Satan for forty days and nights. His human nature weakened by the need for food and rest. The three Hebrew young men were kept for a time in the flames of  "the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual" ( Dan 3:19).  In spite of being forced to endure the tyrant's last method of torture, they remained calm and composed as they waited for their time of deliverance to come. And after surviving an entire night sitting among the lions, "when Daniel was lifted from the dent, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God."  ( Daniel 6:23).

They were able to endure the presense of their enemies because they dwelt in the presense of their God. "

~ L.B.Cowman ~

my IRL BFF is here at HSB!!!!!

Daily Devotion 337

December 3

Attentiveness

That ye be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets.

2 Peter 3:2

When Henry Nelson of Wilmington, Delaware, arrived home one evening, he discovered that his apartment complex was being fumigated with hydrogen-cyanide. He  removed the sign, tore down the barricade, and went in. Neighbors tried to warn him and called the authorities. But by the time help arrived, it was too late. Henry Nelson was dead.

Mount St. Helens in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state was dormant for several hundred years. However, a few years ago, authorities discovered that there was activity and reason to believe there might be a serious eruption. People were evacuated from the area. But Harry Truman, who had grown up on those beautiful slopes, refused to leave. When the eruption was over, Harry and his home were buried under tons of volcanic ash.

Both men disregarded both written and verbal warnings, and it cost them their lives. If they had learned to be attentive, they would not have died.

When we ignore the instructions of the written Word, we show the highest disregard for God. “My son, hear the instructions of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck” (Proverbs 1:8, 9).

Melvin L. Yoder, Gambier, OH

Give ear, and live!

Bible Reading: 2 Peter 3:1–14

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

1 John 1

Ezekiel 47, 48

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA  22803

Phone:  877-488-0901

E-Mail:  [cs@vision-publishers.com]

The longing of a sacred place called "HOME"

Advent - Day 3

December 3

Fall of Man:  Gen. 3:1-7 and 23-24

Symbols:  Tree, Serpent, apple with bite

Advent Reading Day 2

December 2

Adam and Eve:  Gen. 2:7-9,  18-24

Symbols: tree, man, or woman