Assurance
Blessed relationship
Faith’s solid rock
Secure in Father’s love
Confidence
Confidence
Blessed actions
Grace at work
Goodness from Father’s love
Hope
Hope
Blessed Word
Wisdom dwells within
Framed by Father’s love
Assurance
Being obedient to the truth means that we don’t have to look at others through the distorted lens of our own biases. We can see them as God sees them and love them as He loves them.
From 1 Peter 1:22-23: “Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual affection, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.”
The love of God pays no attention to the distinctions made by natural individuality. If I love my Lord I have no business to be guided by natural temperament; I have to feed His sheep.
From John 21:17: “He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter felt hurt because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.'”
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) was a Scottish evangelist and Christian teacher. Following his death from an illness while in Egypt during World War I, his wife took on the task of transcribing the detailed notes she had written from his lectures and sermons. Gertrude Hobbs Chambers’ efforts resulted in the publication in 1924 of MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST. I frequently read from this devotional, and it has greatly deepened my faith and understanding of God’s Word.
From Genesis 1:1-5: “When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
Scripture’s Holy verses
Breathing with His sacred love
Even before Creation acts
Father’s grace looks down from above
Planet’s vast emptiness
Moving from darkness to light
Eternity wakens with love
Father’s mercy always in flight
Favored, luscious garden
Inviting twosome to walk
Sinfulness spreading life’s darkness
Yet, Father’s love becomes faith’s rock
Harsh wilderness called home
Searching for His promised land
Israel waiting in exile
Father’s love forges plan so grand
Divine patience shares gift
Choosing Bethlehem stable
Greatest love story now proclaimed
Father’s peace sets Heaven’s table
From 1 John 4:9-12: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.”
Today’s poem is a very special guest post and gift from Mrs. Buckeye. My talented wife, Colleen, adds her voice to this Advent season as we both await the birth of our Savior.
A special gift arrived for us!
It came so quietly . . .
. . . perhaps you did not know.
There was no fancy wrapping,
not even a pretty bow,
no ornate frills or glitter,
no festive party mood . . .
. . . Just a tiny, baby boy
born in a stable crude.
He was our Savior King.
He came to earth to bring
God’s gift of love.
God’s greatest gift was giv’n to us.
It was His only Son . . .
. . . perhaps you did not know.
He left a throne in heaven
to come to our world below.
His birth was without grandeur;
a star His only crown;
Just a precious little babe;
our God, to earth came down.
He is our Savior King
To Him all Praises sing
God’s gift, great love.
So, turn your eyes from glittering scenes
with Santa’s presents bright . . .
. . . perhaps you need to know.
Just turn from worldly glitter,
and gaze on that glorious night.
Look there upon the baby
in God’s own Holy light.
Now, look past the party crowds
past shopping to be done.
Look past all worldly things.
Look at the baby king,
God’s Gift has come!
From 2 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
From Ephesians 1:4-5: “Just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love. He destined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will.”
Father’s divine design
Anchored in His love
Through our Lord Jesus Christ
Grace shines from above
Father showing mercy
Love’s eternal gift
Patient kindness sending
Life-changing airlift
Father guiding all things
Built around His love
Sending His only Son
Hope reigns from above
Father always believes
Love’s goodness in man
Rejoicing in His truth
Redemption’s firm plan
Father’s forgiving act
Filled with lasting love
His wisdom and insight
Praise His glory above
From 1 Corinthians 13:4-6: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.”
Because God love us, we can trust how He wants to shape our lives.
From Isaiah 45:9: “Woe to those who strive with their Maker, earthen vessels with the potter! Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, ‘What are you making’? or ‘Your work has no handles’?”
I love you, Lord, not doubtingly, but with absolute certainty. Your Word beat upon my heart until I fell in love with you, and now the universe and everything in it tells me to love you.
From Ephesians 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love.”
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “Only a believer of God can experience full satisfaction and a yearning love for Him.”
Wilderness in one’s heart
Seeking mankind’s rewards
Shivering emptiness
Chasing promised awards
Dry, desolate landscape
Running this futile race
Clinging to sinful ways
Chasing hollow, false grace
Life comes to its crossroads
Starving for daily bread
Craving living water
Searching highway ahead
God intercedes with love
Filling body and soul
Sharing mercy and grace
Believing, life made whole
From Psalm 63:5: “My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips.”
From Psalm 97:10-11: “You who love the Lord, hate evil; He guards the lives of His faithful; He rescues them from the hand of the wicked. Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.”
Surrounding darkness
Evil’s world abounds
Life’s hesitation
Sinful, barking sounds
Playing with evil
Like kitchen’s hot stove
Waiting to burn us
Consuming faith’s grove
Hearing Father’s Word
Explicit warning
Hate evil, love God
Righteous good morning
Evil’s deception
Ignore its calling
Turning from darkness
Sinful flesh falling
Life’s new page opens
His goodness unfolds
Sprinting to daylight
Safe in God’s stronghold
From the words of American pastor and Christian teacher, Charles Stanley: “When we learn to hate evil, we learn to love what God loves.”
Big Sky Buckeye 