Zion National Park
“Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, that it would be paid back to him? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
(Romans 11:33-36)
Hi Men:
I pray Christ was exulted at your table yesterday and you had a Blessed Thanksgiving.
Just thinking: The God that created the cosmos or carved out those amazing mountains above, not only gave us those jaw-dropping verses, but also said,
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3:21:23)
Try to spend some time this weekend reflecting on these verses and with the devotionals below.. Think about these (3) thoughts from the Romans verse above………. For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are “all” things ….. So tell me, what are we missing? If you believe the Bible is God’s perfect word, then why are you so preoccupied with current events? God is either:
(#1) 100% in control of everything – not one uncontrollable electron in the Universe or (#2) God is not in control and sitting on the edge of the Universe biting His fingernails. What is your choice……. #1 or #2?
ZION BOOT CAMP
Due to my wife and I being with our son and family in Northern Nevada for Thanksgiving, some of the regular items will be forthcoming.
[By the way, this is one of the sunrise photos I took yesterday]
With the Zion conference starting one week from today, I would ask you all to pray. Yesterday morning (Thanksgiving Day) I received an email from one of our brothers who will be speaking at Zion that read:
Men,
I am soliciting your prayers as I prepare for Zion retreat.
I am experiencing a more than normal level of demonic distractions.
I can concur with that comment, for this year especially, many of us have really had a battle going. Most of you know our theme verse this year is from Eph 6:12. As a reminder, here are verses 10-13:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
No matter what’s going on in our country or around the world, be reminded that our battle is not temporal, but spiritual. And those battles are won on our knees!!
Thank you for your valuable prayers…….
Surrendered to our Lord Jesus Christ,
Dan
(Galatians 2:20)
Again, I wanted to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. I pray yesterday you all had a delightful day with family and friends. It was fitting to back up a month and place this appropriate devotional. Take some time to reflect on it.
“All you have, you have received as a gift from God.”
Gratitude – Blue Book Day 292
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
PDF – Send to some friends
GRATITUDE (2 Min Read)
Men, this devotional by our brother Bill McCurine is so good. It will challenge you to think deeply. Bill, as many of you know, will be speaking at Zion. The topic of his talk will be:
How I Learned to Love One of the Scariest Verses in the Bible:
Exposition of Matthew 7:21-23
READ PART I of Gratitude
What a great short film – 13 minutes. It has so many biblical messages and is a great one to show your kids and grandkids. You will like it. Watch it to the end!!
Watch It On YouTube (13 minutes)
This is a must see 9 minute video by Living Waters (Ray Comfort)
Ray talks to an Atheist and toward the end of the video a man asked Charlie Kirk, “I have 30 seconds to live, I’m dying from a gunshot wound. What would you tell me?”
Learn More about the book Ray mentions, “God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life,” (scroll down to the book)
ON REFUSING TO PANIC
Men:
Everywhere we turn, the world is convulsing. Nigeria is soaked in blood, our own government is rotting with corruption, and people are being silenced—or killed—simply for disagreeing. Wars, lies, violence, and chaos dominate every headline. It’s no wonder men today feel the ground shaking beneath their feet.
This article by Blake Long is a must read (2 min read):
Wars. Societal tension. Cultural chaos. Assassinations. Online vitriol and slander. The list goes on. If we allowed ourselves to dwell on the current societal environment of the day, we’d go insane. Actually, we’d panic. We’d bury our heads in the sand, scream, and go numb. Because we look around at what is happening and, well, it can be maddening. We, as Christians, are being slandered, ridiculed, and even murdered (not just talking about Charlie Kirk . . . have you seen the news in Nigeria?). If we take our eyes off of Jesus, we will succumb to the chaos around us and go into straight panic mode.
We can’t do that. We must refuse to do that.
“Faith is the refusal to panic,” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said. “It is quiet confidence in God, even when everything around us seems to be giving way.” Apart from our redemption in Christ and his promise to restore all things, we would panic. But our faith in Christ—his sovereignty, his love, his kindness, his mercy, his eventual stomping down of his enemies!—allows us to refuse panic, to stiff-arm insanity, to stop the chaos from entering our minds.
We have every reason to hope for a perfect future (in Christ) even as the world goes haywire. We have every reason to believe that things will be made right by God even as things seem to be spiraling out of control. We have every reason to trust in the Lord because he’s the Creator and Sustainer of all things and his plan will be accomplished.
The faith we exercise in the Lord—a faith that is a gift from him—helps us walk through life’s valleys. B.B. Warfield wrote,
“A firm faith in the universal providence of God is the solution of all earthly troubles.”
The answer is not our faith, of course. That’s simply the instrument we use to look to Jesus. The answer resides in God’s providence and sovereignty; it resides in his mercy and goodness and longsuffering; it resides in his eventual justice. We don’t have to fear, to worry, to panic. And part of how we do this, in our faith, is by ensuring we don’t look to our will, but God’s.
If we were concerned about everything going our way, it would indeed lead to panicking. We’d take our eyes off Christ, our faith would falter, and we’d be trapped by the panic around us. But we must not do that. With a faith-filled heart in the sovereignty of Christ, we can look to him as we go through life knowing he has everything in control, and that even though the world is looking scary, he has the entire universe in his hands—including us as his children. Everything’s going to be okay.
Look up, friend, with eyes of faith, and rest in Christ.
Link to article “On Refusing To Panic”
☘ NO LONGER AN IRISHMAN ☘
Today so many Christians cling fiercely to their ethnicity as if it were their true identity—but the moment we came to Christ, all of that died. Irish, Italian, African-American, Latino, Asian—those labels may describe where we came from, but they no longer define who we are. We are new creations, crucified with Christ, and our lives now belong to Him. Our identity isn’t in the blood of our ancestors, but in the blood of our Savior. And when Christ becomes our identity, we are finally free—free from old divisions, free from man-made labels, and free to love one another as one people in Him.
My wife sent me this devotional. It nails it !!
NOTE: I once talked with a Christian friend of mine who is African-American and carried a big chip on his shoulder because he felt life had dealt him a bad hand. I reminded him that when we come to Christ, our identity is no longer rooted in our ethnicity or past — our identity is in Him. Over time that truth changed him, and today he’s a new man. As Scripture says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Sounds of Thanksgiving with Joni Eareckson Tada
Men:
Share this message with your wives. Very uplifting……
The Sounds of Thanksgiving (YouTube 25 Minutes)
