25: It seems that the disciples, though coming to Christ for help, did not even have the faith to believe that he knew what was going on. They had evidently not come to him the very second the storm began. The waters of the lake had been coming into the boat to the point that they could not afford to take on any more water (see Mark 4:37). It is at this point, when they realized that they had come to the end of their human ability to remedy the situation, that they came to Christ. And when they do, it is to ask for help from someone who they did not even think knew what was going on. Is this not how we are very often? We do everything we can to fix a problem, only to give up and finally pray. Do not pray first. Do not pray last. Pray that you can do anything at all. For, without his blessing and help, your efforts are truly futile.

Daily Bible Reading: Amos 1:1-5:27

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:24 “Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Daily Tidbit: Though many Christians have become increasingly concerned with the direction America is moving in politically, no Christian should panic. The winds of politics are indeed moving in a bad way. Heavy persecution could be in our future. However, Jesus has already assured us that the gates of hell itself cannot prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18). As long as Jesus tarries, the church is here to stay. Times may become difficult, but the cause of Christ is the cause of humanity. No terror is sufficient to stop the advance of the kingdom of the Son.
   Please remember, the early days of the church came under great persecution in Rome. The early days of the Baptist church in this country came before we broke with England. Early ministers of the gospel, such as Daniel Marshall in my own birth state of Georgia, suffered under governmental persecution. Yet, the spread of the gospel was not prevented. The gospel prevails because it spreads through transformed hearts, not weapons and fear. Even under the great persecutions of those who would call themselves religious, the gospel has moved forward.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for the gospel. It is so much easier to work for a cause that is non-violent, truly tolerant, and full of real love for people. Indeed, the gospel of Christ has only been so hated because it cannot be fought. It is not an ethnicity. It is not a religion. It is not a regime. It is not terrorism. It is not a sales pitch. It is not a military force. It is not a political campaign. It is not propaganda. It is harmless. The only reason people don’t like it is because they cannot stop it. They try to treat as anything they can other than what it is. Oh Father, may we help people to see that the gospel is a person. And that person is Your dear Son, Jesus Christ. May we show Christ to others in such a way that they will see him for what he is. Thank You for loving us so much. Thank you for sending Jesus, and giving him to us for our great needs. Jesus is the Savior. He is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Lord God Almighty, I am so glad that You are not what people think You are. You are so much better than we could ever imagine. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for three men who have been without a job for a long time. Pray for three women with Alzheimer’s disease.

Personal Journal Entry #12264

24: This sea is the sea of Galilee, which is more of a large lake, today generally referred to as Kinneret. The storm which arose was not your average thunderstorm. It was quite a storm with what was evidently some very strong winds. This is not a surprise. Even today, Kinneret is known for quickly developing, and quite tempestuous, storms. It is also known for its good stock of fish.
  The greater wonder of the situation is the attitude of the Savior. In spite of the fact that the waves were coming over the edge of the boat, he was asleep. Now, though the vessel is often called a ship, just as the lake is called a sea, it was most definitely a boat. Bodies of water that small almost never have very large vessels in them. It is not as if Jesus was below deck or something. Either he was extremely tired and very fast asleep, or he was testing his disciples to see what they would do. The latter seems the most likely answer.

Daily Bible Reading: Hosea 14:1-Joel 3:21

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:24 “Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Daily Tidbit: In 2012 we have been reminded again in America of the awful problem we have with violence. Several madmen have made their pathetic mark on history by illustrating their lack of conscience in shooting others around them. Many of us have looked to the government to solve this problem. Others of us have looked to more weapons in the hands of the right people. Whatever solution we might think is appropriate, the best solution is obviously not being considered seriously by our nation. We must pray. Not after people are shot. Before. Pray. Pray for our schoolchildren. Pray for our law enforcement. Pray for our society as a whole. Pray for the salvation of madmen before they perpetrate their crimes. Pray. Pray for change in people’s hearts by the power of Christ. The government can’t stop crazy people. Good guys can’t stop crazy people. Only Jesus can stop crazy people.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for this year. It is so good to know that we can trust You with every year of our lives. You are always in control and years come and go as no surprise to You. You know the end from the beginning. You know the plans You have made for our lives. You know how everything will play out. You have it all figured out. You know that Your mercy and grace will be more than enough for every problem that we might face. You know that Your will has determined the end of all things and how and when that will happen. You have the power to renew everything, to recreate a beautiful world of goodness. You are so amazing! Thank You Father for what You have been to us in 2012! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a man who just survived a major heart attack. Pray for several children that are sick. Pray for a young lady who just had a car accident. Pray for a young man in the middle of a custody battle. Pray for a man with fluid on his lungs. Pray for a man with shingles.

Personal Journal Entry #12263

23: Everywhere Jesus went, his disciples followed. This is what a disciple does, nothing less. Many today who call themselves his disciples fail to ask themselves if they are truly following him.

Daily Bible Reading: Hosea 8:1-13:16

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:24 “Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Daily Tidbit: There are about 39 hours left in 2012, how will you use them?

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love for us. You are incredible! We can never truly understand just how much You love us. Thank You for Your faithfulness and grace. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for people to honor the Lord in these last days of 2012.

Personal Journal Entry #12262

22: Though Jesus’ statement here may jolt many into a bad attitude towards him in this passage, his words were not that strange. The Jewish persons listening would at least understand that he is referring to those who are dead in their sins. Jesus is literally comparing physical and spiritual death. He says let those who are spiritually dead care for those who are physically dead. This does not exclude his followers from participating in any funeral whatsoever. What it does do is to make the call of Christ on one’s life more important than one’s own family, even if that means missing a funeral. The question is not whether a minister of the gospel may be involved in family affairs. The question is whether family affairs may be sufficient grounds to keep one from being a minister of the gospel. One dare not wait to serve on a foreign field, or move to a far away place, for Christ only because of fear for missing their parent’s funeral. If reasonable means may get them to their parent’s deathbed, then okay. But to wait close to home on the chance that someone might die someday is preposterous. You are just as liable to die waiting for them to depart as they are to die while you stay.

Daily Bible Reading: Hosea 2:1-7:16

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:23 “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”

Daily Tidbit: The ‘James’ ossuary, reported about ten years ago, is an example of the burial practices of the ancient Jews. Though the inscription on this box is, and likely always will be, disputed, the ossuary itself is a great example of what was at stake in Matthew 8:21-22. The eldest son in a Jewish family would remove the father’s body from the family sepulcher a year or two after the funeral. The body would be decomposed, so only bones would be left. The bones would then be placed in a box such as this ossuary. So, this disciple may have wanted to stay close to home so he could re-bury bones!

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, You are wonderfully kind to us! Blessing people with friends and family to encourage and help them is very kind of You. You know that we need each other and You. You bring us together at church, unified by You Spirit, in the name of Your Son. It is so nice to know others who love You and serve You. If I were to sit down and try to list all the ways that You bless my life, it would take way too long to do it! Oh Father, we do not deserve Your blessings, but we know that Your glory is great, and You will not share it with any other. You are not good because You give it great effort to be so. You are good by Your very nature. You are truly glorious! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a man having problems with his blood. Pray for a woman who just recovered from cancer. Pray for a man who is suffering from heart trouble.

Personal Journal Entry #12261

21: This disciple is asking something that we will not immediately understand. The disciple’s father was not, just then, dead. For one thing, if that were the case, he would likely have already left to bury him. Also, it can be seen by how the man made his request that the father was not yet dead. He does not say, ‘let me go bury my father’. Instead, he says, ‘let me first’, meaning, ‘before I follow you’. So, we see that this man is not simply asking permission to go bury a dead man.
   It was, in Jewish custom, a very honorable thing for the son, especially the eldest, to be involved in the father’s death. Indeed, many Jewish sons would not venture from home until after the death of their father. There was even a practice of a second burial, after the decay of the flesh, in which the son, a year after the first, would bury the father’s bones by interring them in a box and placing them in the family tomb. This disciple could even have had this second burial in mind.
   Either way, the key is that this man was not simply asking for a few days to go bury a dead man. he was asking for an uncertain period of time to wait for his aged or sickly father to die. Or, he was asking for time to go and perform the second burial. In each case, the need to care for the dead is not the main point. Delaying his following of Christ in order to honor his father by staying home until his death was what was in mind here.

Daily Bible Reading: Daniel 10:1-Hosea 1:11

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:23 “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”

Daily Tidbit: It is a good idea to look back ever once in a while to see where you have been spiritually. If you have personal notes, or studies you have done in the past, pull them out and look them over again. It can be a big encouragement.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for knowing what we need. It is amazing that someone so great, good, and perfect could be so intimately familiar with our weaknesses. It jut goes to show Your love for us. Every interaction with You reveals Your glory a little more. We come to realize that any perceived lack in You is not a lack in You at all, but a lack in our knowledge of You. When we look to You with a new set of problems, we find You have a new set of mercies waiting for us. How can we thank You enough for being so kind to us? Help us to live for You. In the name  of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for two couples who will be travelling in the next few days. Pray for a woman with severe health issues.

Personal Journal Entry #12260

19: In this part of the passage, Jesus speaks with a couple of his followers. One, who happened to be a scribe, offered to go with Christ anywhere, thus becoming one of the more dedicated members of the group. Jesus, however, had evidently not called this man to such, and he did call his other close disciples to this level of devotion.
20: Though we do not know the result of this exchange, Jesus wanted this potential servant of his to understand the true nature of the ministry.  Unlike what the scribe was used to, Jesus had no permanent dwelling or situation. He was not cared for and established, which would be expected by a scribe. It was an altogether different setup from what the scribe had experienced up to that point.
   Jesus’ use of this simple illustration involving birds and foxes, though quaint, gets right to the point. Jesus was less likely to find a place to rest than would these wild animals. Jesus calls himself the ‘Son of man’, which the Jews, especially a scribe, should immediately recognize as a reference to himself as the Messiah.

Daily Bible Reading: Daniel 7:1-9:27

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:23 “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”

Daily Tidbit: Dr. John Gill, a great scholar of the Word from days gone by, holds for us today an example of what not to do in the ministry. On the one hand, Gill’s understanding of the Scriptures is to be applauded and emulated. His commentary on the Bible has been helpful to me on many occasions. Yet, his ideas concerning election and the doctrinal confusions surrounding it kept him from being as influential for the gospel as he could have been. He could not, it seems, find it withing himself to call men to Christ. Though we may understand the source of his hold-up, we may not be held by it. Like Peter in Acts 3:19 we must call upon people to “Repent” and “be converted”.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, You are our Source of joy, peace, hope, love, mercy, and grace. These kindnesses are a great benefit and blessing to us. How can we ever thank You enough for just these, and yet You have even more. Your Truth, justice, holiness, patience, and faithfulness are also so wonderful. Oh Father, can we ever truly know just how good You are to us? As this day unfolds, we will see yet more examples of all of these things. We will, though the measure of them is constant, perceive a growth of all these blessings in connection with us. We understand You more every day, and yet wonder more each day how we will ever know all there is to know of You. An eternity in heaven is surely enough to know You completely, but as it stands, we feel sure that it will take all of eternity to begin to know You in all of Your glory. Give us, Father, in our lifetime enough a sense of You that we will never find time to think of anything else but Your great love and the attendant blessings of it. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a family having a custody battle. Pray for an elderly woman with health issues. Pray for two young girls who are sick. Pray for a woman having trouble with her knee.

Personal Journal Entry #12259

18: Jesus had many followers. Even today, many follow, or claim to follow, Christ. But now, as then, the true followers of Christ are few. this multitude dwindled as Jesus’ ministry progressed.

Daily Bible Reading: Daniel 5:1-6:28

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:21 “And of some have compassion, making a difference:”

Daily Tidbit: We have 365 days, or 8,760 hours, or 525,600 minutes, or 31,536,000 seconds in this new year. How will we use them?

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for 2012! Your provision and goodness to us this year has been wonderful. May Your people have a great year in 2013. We need to be more devoted to You every step of the way. Father, thank You for Your faithfulness. Help us to be faithful like You. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for many who are making plans for the new year.

Personal Journal Entry #12258

Luke 2:7: This child was the firstborn of Mary, not Joseph. His firstborn would come later. Jesus, being the son of the woman only, was the result of a great miracle of Almighty God. He was born sinless and perfect. Mary wrapped the child. This morning, thousands will unwrap presents of all shapes and sizes. One can receive all sorts of wonderful presents, but we dare not miss the most important present of all, the Christ-child.

Daily Bible Reading: Daniel 2:1-4:37

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:21 “And of some have compassion, making a difference:”

Daily Tidbit: Each day, over a billion e-mails are sent over the internet.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for Christmas. Without You, the most popular holiday of the year would not even exist. We often forget how much You do. You are the source of all the good there is. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for Christians to be a good witness to this world this Christmas.

Personal Journal Entry #12257

17: This quote is from Isaiah 53:4, which is one of the greatest chapter about Christ in all of prophecy. To think that the very Son of God Almighty has taken our sins upon himself is quite amazing. We would never think it if it had not been God who told us. Also, it is said here that he removes our diseases upon himself. Though we remain in this present sinful body, we have a promise of a future glorified body made on fashion of this one that will have no diseases. thus, this part of it has a literal fulfillment as well.

Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-Daniel 1:21

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:21 “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.“

Daily Tidbit: If the world has been in existence for 10,000 years (which is a long number, 5,000 to 6,000 is more likely) that is 3,650,000 days. If you were to make a 1″x1″x1″ cube for every day, you wouldn’t even be able to fill an average American home with the cubes. If you live to be 100 years old, and you made the same size cube for every day, you could not even build a pile the size of a small car.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, teach us to count our days. We can see Your greatness all around us. This Christmas I praise You for Your wondrous mercy. If I had lived a far better life than I have I would still be overawed by Your mercy and grace towards me. Oh Lord, may we live in the light of Your goodness, considering Your glory at all times. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a family who just lost a loved one. Pray for a man having trouble with his blood.

Personal Journal Entry #12256

16: The preponderance of demonic possession in Christ’s day is not to be a surprise. Many were given to the practice of magical arts, such was common in a culture so mixed up. The religious leaders seemed unable to offer anything authentic, and the influx of pagan idolatry was strong in areas controlled by Rome. Jesus delivered these possessed ones by a means different from all others. Indeed, his authority prompted the Jewish leaders to feel that he must be a servant of the devil. On the contrary, the demonic hoards were the more subject to his will and word than they could ever be to the devil. Verses like this one serve to highlight the extent of Jesus’ ministry. There was no sickness, no torment, no problem, that could not be easily handled by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 44:1-46:24

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:21 “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Daily Tidbit: Much ado has been made about nothing it seems in the case of the Mayan calendar. Scientists and thinkers have, though pointing it out, shown the December 21 date to be just what it was, another day. Religionists and spiritualists did what they do best and celebrated it, and the money they made off of it. The rest of us just went on with our lives. So is there any significance to this Mayan doomsday? Well, yes and no. As it has been pointed out, the day is just the end of an epoch of time for the Mayans, and the beginning of another. However, the true significance of the day is that it ends a certain period of time. This period was roughly five thousand years long. Thus the ancient Mayans believed that time began about five thousand years ago. Not surprisingly, the Hebrew calendar starts not but a few hundred years before that. Indeed, many calendars of ancient cultures put the date of creation somewhere in recent history. If we stop thinking that we know everything long enough to accept the wisdom of the ancients, we must come to the conclusion that God’s Word is not off in its report of the time of creation.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Though mankind hesitates to accept Truth not reported by our own senses, we could not have come this far without the influence of Your Words upon our society. May we have a renewed sense of Your awesome power and great glory this Christmas season. Father, You are able to make our lives whatever You want them to be. May we yield to Your plans this coming year, rather than chasing our own. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a man with terminal cancer.

Personal Journal Entry #12255