Be Ye Separate

That ye be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets.

When Henry Nelson of Wilmington, Delaware, arrived home one evening, he discovered that his apartment complex was being fumigated with hydrogen-cyanide. He removed the sign, tore down the barricade, and went in. Neighbors tried to warn him and called the authorities. But by the time help arrived, it was too late. Henry Nelson was dead.

Mount St. Helens in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state was dormant for several hundred years. However, a few years ago, authorities discovered that there was activity and reason to believe there might be a serious eruption. People were evacuated from the area. But Harry Truman, who had grown up on those beautiful slopes, refused to leave. When the eruption was over, Harry and his home were buried under tons of volcanic ash.

Both men disregarded both written and verbal warnings, and it cost them their lives. If they had learned to be attentive, they would not have died.

When we ignore the instructions of the written Word, we show the highest disregard for God. “My son, hear the instructions of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck” (Proverbs 1:8, 9).

Daily Devotion 336

Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.

To commit myself to someone brings accountability and responsibility. It means to bind oneself: I am obligated to; I have pledged. Are we willing to commit our lives, ways, plans, and future to God? How about a commitment to the brotherhood? Is it possible that Satan has succeeded in blinding our minds to the blessing commitment can bring to our lives? Perhaps the most important commitment is being totally honest with God and man. If we have not learned that, we will find it very difficult to be committed in other areas as well. An older man once said that because of his upbringing he could say, “I would rather die than lie.”

The story of a Spanish explorer, Cortez, who landed at Vera Cruz in 1519, can teach us a lesson about commitment. He began his conquest of Mexico with a small force of 700 men. Upon landing, he set fire to his fleet of eleven ships. His men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sink to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. There was now only one direction to move—forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever might come their way.

We too must purposely destroy all avenues of retreat as Christ’s disciples. We must resolve that whatever price is required to be His follower, we will pay it.

Daily Devotion 335

December 1

Influence

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Matthew 5:14

The Bible contains many figures of influence. Leaven is one, picturing the gradual fermenting of influence into a whole mass, for good (Matthw 13:33) or for evil (Luke 12:1). A canker is used in 2 Timothy 2:17, a sore in the flesh which is fatal unless stopped. Tares are another influence, choking the good wheat (Matthew 13:24–30). In John 12, when Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with spikenard, the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. It did not just stay on Jesus’ feet.

In our Scripture reading, Jesus uses two figures, salt and light, to teach us that our lives spread influence. They speak either of godliness, influencing for truth and righteousness, or that of darkness, and that which will be cast out and destroyed. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

When there is light, one can see. Light is life! Without it we perish. Christians are to let their light shine so others can see God. Paul told the Corinthians, “Ye are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2).

My life, whether godly or otherwise, speaks. It does not stay only with me, but it also influences others. Christians are the salt of the earth. The power of influence is mighty!

Edward Hochstetler, Hicksville, OH

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:1–16

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

2 Peter 2

Ezekiel 43, 44

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA 22803

Phone: 877-488-0901

E-Mail: [cs@vision-publishers.com]

It All Begins with a Pumpkin:P

I actually posted this last year on October 25, 2007 but I've had several folks ask if I would repost this so I am moving it here since it's the season for it:) I pray you enjoy!

Our Mary-Ann made the most tastey and pretty pie and I wanted to share it with you:)

Cut one pie pumkin in half, remove seeds, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour (350F).

When pumpkin is ready, pull out and scoop out the meat. Mash it up really well. Measure out 1 1/2 cups pumpkin mash and add 1 C. Sugar, 1/2 tsp Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cloves and dash of vanilla, 1 2/3 cup sweet condensed milk and 2 eggs. Mix until smooth.

Pour into unbaked 9" pie crust and place on cookie sheet to guard against spilling while baking.

While pie is baking you can make some decoration to spruce it up if you like. Here she made some stars.

The seeds never go to waste. Take the seeds gathered from the inside of the pumpkin and place in collander and rinse thoroughly.

Prepare the cookie sheet with a little foil over the top and sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt to prevent seeds from sticking.

Place seeds across the pan and place in hot oven (400F). Watch them carefully so they don't burn. The hot oven bakes the outsides to nice and golden brown and crunchy while the meat of the seeds stays nice and soft.

A Day for Christmas

The Gospel stories of Jesus' birth do not reveal to us the year or the date of His nativity. Biblical scholars have long agreed, however, that there is enough factual evidence to place Jesus' birthday in the year 6B.C. We are told that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, and it is known that Herod's reign ended with his death in 4B.C. Just before he died, Herod ordered all male children under the age of two to be executed. His order, issued out of fear, was meant to rid the world of the boy being hailed as the new King of the Jews. Jesus, if He were born in 6B.C., would have been approaching the age of two when Herod's violent decree was issued.

For more than three centuries, as Christianity spread slowly throughout the world, Christians remembered and celebrated the birth of Christ on different days and in different fashions; it was not until the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity that December 25 became the official Christmas Day. Constantine had taken root in Roman culture in the third century A.D. On December 25th, Mithraists celebrated the festival of Dies Invicti Solis, or the Day of the Invincible Sun, in honor of Mithra, who was said to have been born on this date. When Constantine declared himself a believer in Jesus Christ, he left Mithra behind, but he decreed the official Roman day of celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ to be December 25, the same day as the celebration of Mithra. This was also the season of the Roman holiday of Saturnalia and the Kalends of January, two highly spirited celebrations marked by great feasting and revelry. In those days, Christianity grew in a world full of mythology, superstition, and competing gods; and Constantine understood that the best means of winning converts was not by forbidding the old celebrations, but by turning the old traditions to the new Christian purpose.

One element almost all pre-Christian cultures and religions shared was the winter solstice celebration--rituals and festivals meant to help the people through the darkest, shortest days of the year and hasten the return of spring. Christmas Day became the new center of the winter solstice, and Jesus Christ the new light in the darkest time of the year. In 350 A.D., Pope Julius I decreed December 25 as the official Christian celebration day for the birth of Jesus. Two centuries later, Roman Emperor Justinian gave further permanence to the date by declaring it a civil holiday on which all work must cease. Jesus Christ may not have been born on December 25, but more than fifteen hundred years have proven that there is no more wonderful time to celebrate His arrival.

Be Ye Separate

Daily Devotion 337

Daily Devotion 336

Daily Devotion 335

It All Begins with a Pumpkin:P

A Day for Christmas

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