Lillie Ammann's Blog, page 34

Devotion for Tuesday in the Third Week in Advent

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent
from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin
betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And
the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said,
“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was
greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this
might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will
give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I
am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. ~ Luke 1:26-38

Every time I read this passage or think about the story, I marvel at Mary. She was a teenager betrothed but not married. When the angel told her she was going to have a baby, she simply accepted it. She asked how it would happen, but she didn’t hesitate. She must have known that she and Joseph would be the subject of gossip in the community—and she ran the risk of being stoned. Joseph knew the baby wasn’t his, so he could have rejected her. An unmarried mother in that time and place would have no way to support a child. Yet Mary said, “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Lord God, what an amazing act of faith on the part of Mary! She didn’t question, doubt, or complain—she simply accepted God’s will. Please give me that kind of faith. Let me always respond to Your will that I am Your servant; let Your will be done. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Devotion for Monday in the Third Week in Advent

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. ~ John 8:12-20

Imagine walking with Jesus during His earthly lifetime. Would we have recognized Him as the Light of the World? Would we have accepted Him as the Son of God? Would we believe His testimony and the testimony of the Father? Or would we be like the Pharisees, who didn’t believe Him because He didn’t fit their ideas of what the Savior should be. They were so self-righteous that they condemned the Lord as a liar and a fake. I would like to think that I would have recognized Jesus in His earthly form, but since I wasn’t on earth then, I’m so thankful that we have the testimony of the Holy Scripture. I believe.

Thank You, Lord God, for giving us Your Holy Word to bear witness to Jesus as the Savior of the World. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Image: © Depositphotos.com/eric1513

Devotion for the Third Sunday in Advent

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
    the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
it shall blossom abundantly
    and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
    the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,
    and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
   “Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
    will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
    He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
    and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
    and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
    and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
    the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
And a highway shall be there,
    and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
    It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
    even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
    nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
    but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain gladness and joy,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. ~ Isaiah 35:1-10

In this life, we have tribulation—Jesus told us that would be the case, and just about everyone can attest to it in their own life. But the day will come when we will have everlasting joy with no more sorrow. Jesus will come again with vengeance to judge the world, and He will bring his recompense with Him. Those who love and accept Him as their Lord and Savior will spend eternity in joy with the Lord; those who rejected Jesus will go to everlasting punishment. That should motivate us to do all we can to lead those we love to Christ. If we want to spend forever with them, they must believe. If they don’t know Jesus, we must tell them.

Lord God, You are a just and righteous God, and You will reward those who love You and punish those who reject You. Show me who needs to know You, give me the words to say, and touch their hearts. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Devotion for Saturday in the Second Week in Advent

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” ~ Revelation 21:1-8

After Jesus comes again—and the events prescribed for the end times take place, God will give us a new heaven and a new earth. His people will be with Him in eternal joy, but those who did not accept Jesus will be consigned to eternal punishment. Some people say God is loving and would never let any of His creation burn in the lake of fire, but that’s not what His Word tells us. Yes, He is loving. Yes, He desires that all come to salvation. Yes, He wants all of us with Him in eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. And yes, He gives us chance after chance after chance. But one day all the second chances will end. We will have made our choice for the final time. God is loving, but He is also just and righteous. He gives us every opportunity to come to salvation, but if we choose evil instead of God, we have consigned ourselves to the lake of fire.

Thank You, Lord, that You give us chance after chance after chance. However, we know that one day we will have made our eternal choice. It will be too late to turn to Jesus. I choose Him today, Lord. I want to be with You and Jesus in the new heaven and the new earth. I choose salvation and eternal joy. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Image: © Depositphotos.com/natalia88

Devotion for Friday in the Second Week in Advent

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” ~ John 3:16-21

John 3:16 is probably the best-known Bible verse. Most Christians can recite it from memory, even if they haven’t learned any other Scripture. It’s extremely important because it demonstrates the magnitude of God’s love and the amazing gift He gave us in Jesus. But the rest of this passage is also critically important. It reminds us that while anyone who believes in Jesus will not be condemned, anyone who does not believe is condemned already. The wicked love the darkness of sin and evil rather than the light of Jesus’ love because they don’t want their evil exposed. They want to stay hidden in the dark, but they do so at the cost of their eternal life.

Lord God, shine the Light of Jesus on me and show the righteousness that I have because of Jesus. Thank You for love, salvation, and eternal life! In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Devotion for Thursday in the Second Week in Advent

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. ~ Isaiah 11:1-9

Jesus will bring peace—the wolf will live with the lamb and leopard will lie down with the young goat. But Jesus is also righteous—He will “strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.” Often, we remember that Jesus is love, but we may forget that He is also righteous and faithful. He decides disputes and punishes the wicked. And what keeps us from being among the wicked? Loving Jesus and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior.

Lord, I am a sinner and worthy of being killed by the breath of Jesus’s lips with all the wicked. Yet You have counted me as righteous because of my faith. Thank You! Instead of the eternal judgment that I deserve, I can look forward to eternity with You because of Your mercy and grace. Give me a grateful heart and lead me in Your ways. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Image: © Depositphotos.com/ginosphotos1

Devotion for Wednesday in the Second Week in Advent

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. ~ John 1:9-13

Jesus is the Light of the World. He shines so brightly that it’s hard to understand how everyone doesn’t see and recognize the Light. But so many don’t. They either close their eyes and stay in the dark or they decide the light is something other than what it is—the Son of God and our salvation. If we receive Him, however, if we believe in Him and follow His Light, we are His brothers, children of God. May we keep our eyes open to see and our hearts open to receive the Light of the World!

Father God, You sent Jesus as the Light of the World to lead us to You. And when we follow Him, loving Him and You with our whole hearts, minds, and souls, You adopt us as Your precious children. Open my eyes to see and my heart to receive Jesus, the Light of the World. In His name I pray. Amen.

Devotion for Tuesday in the Second Week in Advent

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.~ Galatians 4:4-7

We are children of God and co-heirs with Christ. We can call on God as “Daddy.” Sometimes we forget how amazing that is. Do we take for granted that we are heirs of the Kingdom of the Son, sons and daughters of the Creator and Ruler of the Universe? Do we forget that God is our Father and Jesus is our Brother and our Savior? Advent is a good time to remind ourselves of the incredible love that the Lord has for us and the amazing relationship we can have with Him.

Lord God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—thank You for the great love You have for me. Open my eyes and heart and mind to how amazing it is that I can call the Father Daddy, that Jesus died for my salvation, and that the Holy Spirit lives within me. Give me the wisdom and courage to tell others that they, too, can have a personal relationship with the Savior of the World;they, too, can be co-heirs with Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Image: ©Depositphotos.com/footoo

Devotion for Monday in the Second Week in Advent

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
Do they not go astray who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness. ~ Proverbs 14:21-22

We cannot depend on our own actions to get to Heaven—our righteousness comes from our faith in Jesus. However, if we love Him and trust Him, we will behave more generously and lovingly. Our love for Jesus will be reflected in our love for others, and our love for others will be reflected in the way we treat them.

Lord God, I love Jesus and that results in my loving others. Help me to be generous and caring—to notice the needs of those around me and to do something to fill those needs. Mold me into a person who reflects the love of Jesus in the way I treat others. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Image: ©Depositphotos.com/VadimVasenin

Devotion for the Second Sunday in Advent

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David,the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus ! ~Revelation 22:12-20

All are invited to join Jesus in His Kingdom when He comes again, but only those who wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb can accept the invitation. All it takes is to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior to have His righteousness imputed to us. We can never merit eternal life with Jesus in our own righteousness—our very best is filthy rags compared to God’s holiness. But He will see us as pure and clean if we lean on Jesus.

Almighty God, I can never get to Heaven by my own actions. Even when I’m doing the best I can, I fall far short of Your standards. Thank You that you see me as pure and holy because Jesus is pure and holy, and I am His. In His name I pray. Amen.