Daily devotion

A Journey That Never Ends

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” Deuteronomy 34:4 ESV

If we look at the life of Moses we would see that he spent his entire life first preparing for and then finally fulfilling his calling to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He spent forty years as a shepherd until God appeared at the burning bush and then another forty leading the Israelites through the desert. But when it came time for Moses to get to the river and cross over, God told him that he would not be able to do so. As I come to the end of this year I think I know how Moses might have felt.  God has been at work throughout the past year; both in victories and defeats and has guided our family even when we have been unaware of His presence.  But as we approach the end of this twelve month journey I wonder what lies ahead.

God didn’t allow Moses to go with Joshua when the Israelites crossed the Jordan. Instead He called Moses to look from the top of a mountain to see the land that he had waited for eighty years to enter. It seemed like a bum deal to me.  But God never forgot His promise and one day when Jesus climbed a high mountain in Israel, the scripture says that Moses appeared to him with Elijah. It took more than a thousand years but Moses did get to enter God’s Promised Land. In the same way with us as we finish our own journey the eternity that holds our promised land will only be beginning.

2020 Devotional

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As I buckle up in the passenger seat of any airplane my mind is flooded with questions like: “Who is the pilot?” and “I wonder if this plane is in good repair?” Then as the jet engines start to whine the flight attendant stands up and explains what to do in emergencies. This never gives me comfort since the last thing I want to think about at take-off is the possibility of crashing! Before I know it we begin to hurtle down the runway and then up into the sky above the airport. Part of my worry is because I cannot see where we are going. Secondly, there is someone at the controls whom I have never even met. Last and maybe most troubling is the fact that I have no idea what holds the plane up in the air! Yet despite my fears, I not only accept the risk of air travel, I actually pay good money for my ticket!

That humorous look at my personal outlook on flying may be how some of you feel as you face the unknown journey into a New Year.  For that reason I have called this year’s devotional, “Flying Through 2020 With Jesus” We can buckle up for this flight with confidence because by faith we know who our pilot is even though we cannot see Him. But God also wants to be so much more than just our pilot. He wants to give us wings of faith and then teach us to fly, so that we can follow Him safely all the way home!

You could either follow the link provided below or search in your Kindle Store for Flying Through 2020 With Jesus. It is available in both softcover or E-Book format. Whatever decide; may God bless you as you prepare for His flight plan for the New Year!

Flying Through 2020 With Jesus

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Seeing 2020

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While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.      2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV

One day Jesus sat down for dinner with a wealthy Pharisee named Simon. During their meal the pleasantness of the scene was harshly interrupted by a weeping woman. She burst into the room and began kissing the feet of Jesus and wiping them clean with her hair. Simon was shocked! It was well known in his community what flagrant sins this woman had committed. How dare she enter his house, and furthermore how could Jesus (If He really were a prophet) allow himself to be touched by someone like her?

Yet Jesus saw the circumstances quite differently than Simon. Jesus didn’t look at the fine tableware or the expensive furnishings. Jesus hadn’t at all been impressed by the beautiful columns or the hand carved door at the entry of Simon’s home. Instead Jesus saw the coldness of Simon’s heart. He had noticed that Simon had not given him the customary kiss on the cheek, or offered water for his feet to be washed. Jesus saw quite clearly the depth of repentance and gratitude of this woman and treasured her acts of love and friendship.

God does not see things as we see them and as we enter this New Year my prayer is for God to give us His 2020 heavenly vision. I ask that we can see the value that Jesus sees in others and how worthless so many things are to which we so tightly cling. The challenges that we meet this year we be better met when we can see and treasure the invisible things of God’s eternal worth.

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