Lillie Ammann's Blog, page 74

Devotion for the Twelfth Day of Christmas

Isaiah 66:18-23 (NASB)

18 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. 19 I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. 20 Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the Lord.

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth

Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord,

“So your offspring and your name will endure.

23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon

And from sabbath to sabbath,

All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord.

In Christ’s eternal Kingdom, all mankind will bow down before the Lord. There will be no more Jew and Gentile—all nations will come to the Lord. Until that day, we are to share the Gospel with everyone to ensure those we encounter in this life will be with us in the new heaven and the new earth.

Heavenly Father, thank You that all who love You will spend eternity with You. Help us to tell others about You so they, too, will come to Your holy mountain and bow down and worship You. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Devotion for the Eleventh Day of Christmas

Micah 4:1-5 (NASB)

1 And it will come about in the last days

That the mountain of the house of the Lord

Will be established as the chief of the mountains.

It will be raised above the hills,

And the peoples will stream to it.

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord

And to the house of the God of Jacob,

That He may teach us about His ways

And that we may walk in His paths.”

For from Zion will go forth the law,

Even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3 And He will judge between many peoples

And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.

Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares

And their spears into pruning hooks;

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

And never again will they train for war.

4 Each of them will sit under his vine

And under his fig tree,

With no one to make them afraid,

For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

5 Though all the peoples walk

Each in the name of his god,

As for us, we will walk

In the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

Someday, in God’s perfect timing, we will live in His everlasting Kingdom, where peace will prevail, and where everyone will walk with the Lord. We don’t know when that day is, but we know it will be glorious. Until that day comes, though, God wants those of us who love and believe Him to live in peace and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Lord God, we look forward to the day when Your Kingdom will rule over the entire Heaven and earth. In the meantime, help us to do what we can to bring peace to the troubled world we live in. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Devotion for the Second Sunday after Christmas

Isaiah 64:8 (NASB)

8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.

If we let Him, God will mold us as a potter molds clay. He will turn us from a lump of clay into a piece of His beautiful workmanship. Let us put ourselves into His hands, become the clay with Him as the potter.

Lord, we place ourselves in Your hands. Mold us into the beautiful images of You that You created us to be. We want You to shape us as You desire. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Devotion for the Ninth Day of Christmas

Hebrews 4:12-15 (NASB)

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We may be able to hide our sins from other people, but we cannot hide them from God. And we cannot deny them when His Word convicts us. Jesus knows our weaknesses—He faced the temptations we do, but, unlike us, Jesus did not give in to temptation. If we confess our sins and repent, we find grace and mercy at the throne of God because we are judged on the righteousness of Christ rather than on our own sinfulness.

Lord, we confess that we are weak and give in to temptation. We repent for everything we have done that we shouldn’t have done and everything we should have done that we didn’t do. We can’t be strong on our own, Lord. We need the righteousness of Jesus so we can stand before Your throne with confidence. He has washed away our sins, and we give our lives to Him. In His name we pray. Amen.

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Devotion for the Eighth Day of Christmas

Luke 2:21-24 (NASB)

21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

On the Eighth Day of Christmas we remember Jesus’ circumcision eight days after His birth. Jesus was King of kings and Lord of lords, very God of very God, yet His earthly family followed the rules of Judaism and had him circumcised and presented in the Temple as any other human child. If God Himself followed the Law, how much more should we do God’s will. He gives us grace when we need it, and we all need it, but we should make an effort to do His will, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, even Your blessed Son followed the dictates of the Law. Give us the will, the strength, and the courage to follow Your laws and live according to Your will. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Devotion for the Seventh Day of Christmas

Deuteronomy 10:12-17 (NASB)

12 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15 Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. 17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

God wants us to worship Him and serve Him with our hearts and souls—to put Him first in our lives. Yet how often do we spend time on work or pleasure instead of worship, put something or someone else in the top spot in our hearts rather than the Lord of lords and God of gods? As we transition to a new year, let us re-commit to put God above everything else in our lives.

Lord, You are the Lord of lords and God of gods, the Creator and Sustainer of everything. Keep us from putting anything else in Your place. Remind us that You want and deserve our total commitment. We worship and adore You, O Lord! In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Devotion for the Sixth Day of Christmas

Isaiah 59:1-3

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short

That it cannot save;

Nor is His ear so dull

That it cannot hear.

2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,

And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

3 For your hands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken falsehood,

Your tongue mutters wickedness.

Our sins separate us from God. Without a Savior, our relationship with God would be forever broken, because we are sinners by nature. We cannot save ourselves. But God loved us so much that He sent His beloved Son, Himself in earthly form, to cleanse us of our sins, to give us His righteousness, and to reconcile us to the Father.

Thank You, Lord, that through the birth and death of Jesus, we are reconciled to You. Our sin no longer separates us, but we are now forgiven and reconciled to You. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Devotion for the Fifth Day of Christmas

Isaiah 57:15 (NASB)

15 For thus says the high and exalted One

Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,

“I dwell on a high and holy place,

And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit

In order to revive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the contrite.

The high and exalted One—the God of the Universe—dwells in a high and lofty place, but He wants us there with Him if we are contrite and lowly of spirit. We live in an age when we are expected to tolerate not only people of all every belief and lifestyle, we are expected to tolerate those lifestyles even when we know they are abominations to God. Instead of being contrite for their evil ways, people are proud of their sinful lifestyles. Let us not be among those who are unrepentant. We are all sinners, but let us be contrite sinners, lowly in spirit, repentant, and humble. Then we will know that one day we will dwell with the Lord in that high and lofty place.

Heavenly Father, make us aware of the depths of our sinfulness and fill our hearts with repentance and contrition for everything we have ever done to grieve You. We look forward to the day we will dwell with You in Heaven. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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Devotion for the Fourth Day of Christmas

Matthew 2:16 (NASB)

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, we remember the Holy Innocents, the infants and children Herod killed to try to get rid of Jesus. These innocent babies were murdered in the rage of a jealous king. Their families were deprived of the blessings these children would have brought them. The whole community of Bethlehem wept at the loss of all their male children two years of age and younger. In the midst of the joy of Christmas, we remember that Jesus can save us from our sins and from eternal damnation, but He does not save us from the perils of living in a fallen world. Mass murder of children is happening in our world today—young children are being murdered for their faith by terrorists and unborn babies are being murdered for convenience by their own mothers. Yet in spite of these horrors, we know that God the Holy Spirit is always with us to comfort us and give us strength. Evil cannot triumph forever—Jesus will return to judge the world with truth.

Almighty God, touch the hearts of evil and misguided people to end the killing of innocent children. Give us the courage to stand for what is right and the faith to watch for the Second Coming of Jesus. In His holy name. Amen.

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Devotion for the First Sunday after Christmas

1 John 1:5-9 (NASB)

5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

On the Third Day of Christmas, we remember St. John, the “beloved disciple.” John wrote a Gospel, three epistles (1, 2, and 3 John), and the Book of Revelation. He is the one Jesus trusted to care for His mother after His death, and he was the only disciple to die of natural causes. John’s writing emphasized the divinity of Jesus, a fitting reminder during the Christmas season that Jesus was far more than an innocent baby whose birth we just celebrated. He is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings.

Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus was the Light of the World, the Savior of the Universe, the Word of God. We confess our sins and know that He is faithful and righteous to cleanse us and forgive our sins. In His holy name we pray. Amen.

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