Psalm 34:8-10 NASB  O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.

We don’t eat out very much anymore, but over the last month we’ve been to three different Mexican restaurants and my one year old son has developed a taste for the complimentary queso. And by taste, I mean he can’t get enough of it. By the end of the meal his face, bib, hands and arms up to his elbows are pretty much covered in the stuff.

When David says that we should “taste and see that the Lord is good,” this is the kind of tasting I imagine. Once we get a taste for the goodness of God, we will keep coming back to Him, because His goodness is the only thing that can satisfy us!

-Kevi

Our next daily devotional email will be Monday, January 4th, happy New Year!

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Psalm 132:1-6 NASB  Remember, O LORD, on David’s behalf, All his affliction; How he swore to the LORD And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, “Surely I will not enter my house, Nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

As you may have noticed, I write these devotionals at night; after I put my son to bed (it’s just too hard to focus, otherwise!) Well, last night I intended on writing a devotional but I fell asleep on the couch instead, and when I woke up I decided I was too groggy to write anything coherent, so I gave myself the night off and went to bed.

So today when I read Psalm 132 I immediately started to compare myself to David: he was willing to sacrifice sleep to fulfill the vow he made to God, why wasn’t I willing to do the same? Maybe I’m more like the disciples who couldn’t manage to stay up and pray with Jesus on the night of His betrayal (Matthew 26:40). But then the Holy Spirit reminded me of something I have heard Bro. Dennis say many times: The Holy Spirit will convict you of a specific sin; the devil will just try to make you feel bad about yourself!

Thank you Lord, for reminding me I don’t have to be perfect to be used by you! Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 NASB

-Kevi

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Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NASB “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

Every Christmas morning growing up, we had the tradition that my dad would read the Christmas story from Luke 2 before we could open our presents. Now, the actual reading of the Christmas story was fine, but the agony was that dad was never in a hurry to start (if you know my dad, you know he’s not the hurrying type). To get dad into the living room, into his recliner, wait for him to find his Bible, find the right passage and then beg him to actually start reading… well it felt like an eternity to three children staring at a pile of Christmas presents!

But what a gift he was really giving us! Now that I’m an adult I can appreciate my dad’s example of putting God’s Word first. Whether it was praying before dinner, studying his Sunday School lessons on Saturday afternoons, or driving us to church even when the weather was questionable; dad showed us how to put God first.

Thank you Dad and Merry Christmas!

-Kevi

Our next daily devotional email will be Monday, December 28th, have a Merry Christmas!

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Luke 18:10-14 NASB “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song. When I really listen to the words, I get chills. But I heard it sung on TV the other night, and the version was just okay. I suggested to my husband maybe it was because the singer wasn’t a believer, and maybe didn’t have the emotional connection with the lyrics that others did. Well he was quick to point out that I didn’t know if they were a believer or not!

Thinking about it later, the Holy Spirit reminded me that God is not available only to the “righteous” (that is, the self-righteous!). The thing that made that night Holy was Christ’s holiness, not mine! I am grateful for Christ’s forgiveness of my sins, and I pray I will be reminded of that truth this Christmas, and every time I hear O Holy Night.

-Kevi

O Holy Night

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

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Matthew 1:18-21; 24-25 NASB Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

If you are a Christian and familiar with the Christmas story, it is not hard to believe that Mary was “with child by the Holy Spirit.” But if you were Joseph and found out your fiancée was pregnant… well, you might not be so quick to believe such a story! God used dramatic means to reveal His plans to both Mary and Joseph, and they both had the faith to believe what the angels told them.

We may never have a visit from an angel to reveal God’s plans for us; but God has still used dramatic means to reveal His plans for all mankind. All of the events recorded in Scripture for us, the prophecies fulfilled, the miracles performed and the salvation freely offered to us spell out God’s plans in dramatic fashion. Will we have the faith to believe Him?

-Kevi

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Proverbs 3:13-15 NASB How blessed is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver And her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her.

I went to the store the other day and to my delight the “Cinnamon Churros” chips that I loved but only saw at the store once, were back! I wanted to buy a lot of them, in case they don’t come back, but I showed great restraint and only bought two bags. However, my cashier told me she had a lady come in earlier that day and buy two full boxes!

What makes something precious? Usually it is rare and hard to find. Precious metals and gemstones are expensive: not just because they are beautiful, but because they are rare! They are also hard to find, requiring extensive mining to locate new sources. Proverbs says the wisdom (that is, Godly wisdom) is far more precious than anything else! Well wisdom may be rare, but is it hard to find? James 1:5 says “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Maybe what is hard to find are people that are willing to ask God, and then listen for the answer!

-Kevi

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Psalm 119:11 NASB Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

I was feeling anxious and fearful the other day and what came to mind?  The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:4KJV

Thank you Lord for the treasure of Your Word buried in my heart and in my mind; and thank you for bringing it to mind when I needed it!

-Kevi

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Psalm 119:105 NASB Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

In the modern world, we take light for granted! If we stay up late or get up early, we can flip a switch and have all the light we need. Our smartphones have flashlight apps, so we can always have a light handy. When I’m driving at night, I don’t even need to turn on my headlights; the car senses the dark and does it for me!

But there are times, when the power is out, that we fumble in the dark, looking for batteries for a dead flashlight. Or we’re driving down a country road and the head lights aren’t enough, we have to turn on the brights.

At the time this Psalm was written, they didn’t take light for granted. They had to be prepared with a lamp to light their way, and oil to fuel the lamp. If we want God’s Word to light our way, we have to make the proper preparations. Reading His Word, meditating on it, studying it, memorizing it: so when we are in a dark place, we have the light we need to guide us through!

-Kevi

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Matthew 26:6-10 NASB  Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me.

Oh how I hate wasting things.  When I accidentally spill something, or have to throw out produce that spoiled, it hurts my practical little heart. But with a toddler in my home, waste is an everyday occurrence. There is always food that falls (or is thrown) on the floor, and he loves to pull wet wipes out of the container just for fun! Today, he got a hold of a bag of dental floss picks and poured out almost all of them on the bathroom floor. He had a lot of fun playing with them until I discovered him and threw them all away.

So I can see where the disciples were coming from when a very expensive bottle of perfume was just poured out at the table, what was the good in that? But when we do something for Jesus, it is never a waste! Have you ever felt like your acts of service were going unnoticed? Have you ever done something kind only to have it be unappreciated? Well when we do our good deeds for Jesus, they are never wasted. He knows our hearts, and he will use whatever we bring to His table.

-Kevi

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Psalm 108:11-13 NASB  Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us? And will You not go forth with our armies, O God? Oh give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain. Through God we will do valiantly, And it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.

It’s fun to watch my one year old try to figure things out. He is very curious and he learns a lot just examining things and trying to do things for himself. But when he can’t figure it out? Well he knows who to ask for help! When he’s trying to pick up and carry three things and his little hands can’t hold them all: he starts handing things to me!

The psalmist cried out to God for help, because he knew that God was the only one who could carry them to victory; he knew men’s efforts wouldn’t be enough. God wants us to grow and learn through spiritual disciplines (studying the Bible, prayer etc); but he also wants us to ask Him for help! Don’t try to carry all of your burdens, your hands weren’t meant to hold them all.

-Kevi

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