Devotions By Jan

Monthly Archives: December 2014


by Leave a comment

Happiest Place on Earth

Scripture for Today: Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.”

It is quite a claim Disneyland makes; to be the happiest place on earth.  Being from Southern California, I have had ample opportunity to check out this claim.  In general, my experiences have been positive despite crowds, rainy days or high prices.  There is something sweet and magical about the park.  One can temporarily escape the harsh realities of life and enjoy a different make-believe world.  But I am not sure it is my happiest place.

Our verse for today describes a different place; God’s presence.  There one can be filled with joy and experience eternal pleasures!  Unlike Disneyland, it is not a make-believe place, but a reality.  In His presence I can truly take a break from all that is harsh and ugly in life.  The pleasures I find in sweet communion with my Creator are not temporary fixes but eternal and a foretaste of what is to come.

The best thing about this place of joy is that it is not limited to one locale.  It is perhaps easier to focus on His presence with other believers on a Sunday morning, but in fact there are no parameters to His presence.  I can be in this “happy place” no matter where I am and regardless of my circumstances.  His joy is a deep-seated calm and confidence of His control despite what is happening around me.  Remaining and abiding in His presence means I can feel complete joy (John 15:11) as opposed to any other kind!

Thank you Lord, for the joy of Your sweet presence.  Help me to stay there all day long!


by Leave a comment

Losing the Thread

eGZ4MGVoMTI=_o_cross-stitch---threading-the-needle-the-half-cross-Scripture for Today: Acts 10:43 “All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness through His name.” 

There is nothing more annoying than to be in the middle of a sewing project and to lose the thread.  Everything stops while I struggle to wet the end of that thread and reinsert it into that impossibly small needle opening.  I can lose my motivation to continue when this happens.

The same thing can happen when I lose the thread of a story.  I lose my motivation to keep reading.  When what I am reading seems random and disjointed, I put down the book in frustration.  The phrase, “losing the thread,” was coined in the mid 1900’s.  The thread represents an idea that connects various parts of a narrative together.

God’s Word has a very important thread.  Our verse for today is part of a discourse by the apostle, Peter.  He saw very clearly that the thread is Jesus Christ.  From the very beginning in Genesis 3:15 the coming of Christ was foretold.  Not only was His coming redemption repeated by the prophets, but even the sacrificial system was an image of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.

I love seeing Jesus in the Messianic Psalms.  I get excited to see so many details of Christ’s earthly life prophesied and then fulfilled!  Jesus Himself is the thread that runs through the centuries during which the Bible was written.  In the Old Testament everything points forward to Him.  In the New Testament everything points back to His redeeming work.

There is no other subject more worthy!  That is because it is in Him that I find forgiveness of sin.  That crushing weight of guilt and regret can lift off my shoulders.

Lord, may Your forgiveness be the thread in my life as well.