December 21, 2022 — Devotions to Prepare Us For Christ’s Coming

“…here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels! All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go.” (Ephesians 3:8-12)

 “Sleep not when others speak, sit not when others stand, speak not when you should hold your peace, walk not on when others stop.” (George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation; number 6; p. 10, Applewood books”)

How do WE keep our hopes up when all seems to be falling apart around us? How do WE continue to trust that G-d will, one day come back to make all things right in a world where so much seems to be wrong? How do we help others when they seem to be suffering? Well, we keep our trust and hope firmly on G-d’s promises because the scriptures tell us that G-d will one day make things right.

I included in my devotion one of George Washington’s rules of civility. It reminds me that we have always looked for ways to be civil to one another. As such we need to be more involved in the life of civil leadership and government—and in the life of the church. We also need to be mindful of how we treat one another. The more we make the voices of concerned Christians known, the more we can have influence in the decisions that are being made—both in our churches, and in our society and in our community. Together we can make known what G-d has in mind for all of creation—the redemption of all.

Let us pray: Dear G-d, help me to be mindful always while still having the courage to speak what needs to be spoken to those who need to hear it in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Pastor Dave