Devotional Guide
For the week of November 9, 2003
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Turning back is a good direction change
To Read: Joel 1-3
To Know:
"As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet, 'Behold, I send my messenger before
thy face, who shall prepare thy way; the voice of one crying in the
wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight -" (Mk.
1:2,3)
The twenty-four hour news operations came into being with Cable TV. These
news programs rely on bad news to hold viewer interest. One day a fire in a
Los Angeles cookie factory became the news of the day and, hour after hour,
was reported nationwide. At noon the reporter on the scene announced that
there was good news and bad news. The bad news was the fact that the cookie
factory had burned to the ground. The good news was that the fire was out.
It was a Pyrrhic victory. The flames were doused, but only after the damage
was done.
To Do:
The church of Jesus Christ exists to report good news to the world. The news
is both good and bad. Until a sinner believes the bad news, the good news
has no real appeal. It is important that Mark and John begin their gospels
with the ministry of John the Baptist. John called the people of God to
repentance. The nation that God had created to know him and to show him to
the world had itself turned away from the Lord. The betrayal happened in the
wilderness after Moses had led them through the Red Sea. It was no accident
that John the Baptist went to a wilderness place when he summoned Israel to
repent and return to the Lord. When we are convicted of disobedience, the
way becomes open for us to turn back to the Lord. This turning back we call
biblical repentance.
To Ask:
Father, restore me to your favor
11133$-11133
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