God's Whispers

God's Whispers "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2 All during my early married life, my wife set the example for me and my family, as to what a Christian should be like, and I let her lead our family, and be the Christian influence. I went through the motions and went to church, but did not feel the need to do anything else. However, for years before I accepted Christ; I felt "Him" tugging at my heart; I heard the whisper of "His" voice .. but I chose to ignore "Him." But then when I finally decided to accept Christ as my savior my world changed. I recall reading a story about a twelve-year-old boy who accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord during a weekend revival meeting. The next week, his school friends questioned him about the experience. "Did you hear God talk?" one asked. "No," the boy said. "Did you have a vision?" another asked ."No," the boy replied. "Well, how did you know it was God?" a third friend asked. The boy thought for a moment and then said, "It's like when you catch a fish. You can't see the fish or hear the fish; you just feel him tugging on your line. I felt God tugging on my heart." This is much like the experience I had. I then quickly learned that just going to Church wasn't enough for me, and that I needed to spend time with God each day, reading my Bible and spending time in prayer. Your world will change when you accept Jesus as your savior. It is our faith that compels us to believe, even when we cannot explain to others why or how. By our faith we know in Whom we trust which is sufficient, as when we accept Jesus as our Savior, that is all that matters. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six December 7

Gone Fishing

Gone Fishing "Then He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men'" Matthew 4:19, As I was growing up, I loved to go fishing, and me and my grandfather would spend most of the summer days fishing in the Cumberland River, in my beautiful state of Kentucky. We were always successful in catching fish, as my grandfather was an expert fisherman, and always knew where to go, and what kind of bait to use to catch fish. Many of the Disciples of Jesus were also fishermen, and made their living by fishing, as they knew what they were doing also and probably were experts at it. But, there was one day that would change their lives forever! That was the day that Jesus came passing by. These men had already met Jesus (John 1:40-42), but now they received an invitation that was really too great to turn down. They left their occupations to follow Him. Yes, there would be difficult times, but the learning experience and the life-changing experiences they would encounter would be well worth it. They became some of the greatest "fishers of men" this world and the Kingdom of God has ever seen. They gave up what they enjoyed doing to follow Jesus, as He offered them much more than they had, He offered them salvation. In today's society what would happen if someone suddenly came by and asked you to give up your occupation and follow them? I am confident that most would not take heed and would stay where they were. I became one of those "fishers of men" many years ago, when Jesus called me also, and I love casting my "line" in the waters now and see the bountiful harvest of souls for the Lord. Believe me, it has been well worth it. Jesus is also calling you today and will also make you "fishers of men." Let Him give you this same salvation. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six December 6

Delight In The Lord

Delight In The Lord "The Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall." Psalm 37:23 God tells us in the scripture above that he wants to direct and establish your steps. If He is allowed to do this you will be in the right place at the right time. Without the Word of God you’ll be sliding all over the place, going in different directions, and never getting anywhere. If you want to let God lead and guide you, you need to follow God’s plan for your life. You must live in the Word, read and study your Bible and obey it. This means that whatever you find in it, as you gain God's wisdom, you are to act upon and do what it tells you to do. You are to stand strong and not waver. When you stand strong, when you are willing to fight the good fight of faith, you are giving God something to work with. He is ordering your steps. He’s making a way when there seems to be no way. He’s clearing a path for you, and He is delighting in you. That means He is pleased with your attitude of courage. He is pleased that you are taking a stand for what is right. He is pleased that you are putting Him in first place and relying completely on Him. Remember, God loves your passion for Him. He loves it when you come boldly to His throne of grace. He loves it when you spend time reading your Bible each day, praying and thanking Him for all the blessings He is sending you, and letting Him be part of your daily life. He is honored when you stand and fight the good fight of faith. If you are facing difficulty today and don't know where to turn, ask God to help you, and know that God wants to lift you up and give you His strength. Receive it by faith today. Dig your heels in knowing that He is ordering your steps; and when God is leading you, He’s always leading you in the path of victory! Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six December 5

The Miracles Of God

The Miracles Of God "And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat." Exodus 16:15 I am sure when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, several million people were wondering, "How am I going to be fed? How am I going to survive in this wilderness?" Imagine the logistical nightmare. An incalculable quantity of food and water were needed to survive in the desert. Where would it come from? Yet, in this seemingly impossible situation, God provided! But we know what happened as time passed…the people got used to this miraculous provision, began to take it for granted, and even be bored with it, and, of course…the wonder of God's supernatural provision evaporated. Another miracle had also taken place during this wilderness journey, as God has parted the Red Sea and allowed the Israelites to escape from the Egyptian army, but again the belief and doubt began to creep in, and this miracle was soon forgotten. Each and every day is a miracle from God. Each day of our lives we walk through a world filled with the wonders and glory of the Lord. But we, too, can become dull and lose the wonder of all that He has done and provided for us, even our very salvation. We need to awaken to the daily miracles of life, and to the never ending opportunities the Lord is opening, to pour His love into us, and through us. As we do, may we always be saying to ourselves, "Wow - what amazing love is this, that's been freely given to me!" Look around you today, and you too can experience the wonders of what God has done, everything you see before you is a miracle that God has created just for you. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six December 4

Follow God's Call

Follow God's Call “Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do.” Deuteronomy 29:9 I have always thought about the story I heard Billy Graham tell on one of his Television broadcasts many years ago. The story is about a very successful businessman who was called by the Lord to sell his business, and go to a remote island in the South Pacific and become a missionary, and use his money to help the poor in this remote and backward island. He followed his calling, and sold his business and everything he owned, and moved to this remote place of the world. After several years of ministering and preaching to the people in this remote part of the world, his money was gone and he had no choice but to return home. He had no money and no material wealth of any kind left, and lived in poverty for the remainder of his life, and could not understand why the Lord had called him, and now to be in the financial position he was in. It was only a few months before his death that he received a visit from a young man who he had met and ministered to on the island. This young man had accepted the Lord as his Savior, and had been saved after hearing the missionary. He had also become a minister himself and started a church, and now had one of the largest churches in the South Pacific. Thousands of people had been saved by this young minister, and the Word of God had spread throughout the entire area. All of this was due to this missionary following the commands of Jesus and obeying him. The missionary now fully understood what the Lord had blessed him with and had planned for his life. God has a plan for you as well, and when you follow it, you will please God, and will be blessed. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six December 3

Be Patient

Be Patient “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Job 2:7 We have all heard the story about the patience of Job, where Satan inflicted him with severe hardships to test his faith in God and try to turn him against God. Job is the perfect example in that Satan had inflicted him in such a way to get him to give up on God and give in to Satan. Job suffered in a way that would have caused almost anyone to give in and say “enough is enough”, I will do as you say and denounce God. Job however had enough faith in God to endure the pain and suffering and not give in. He lost everything but kept his faith in God, and did not waver even during his suffering. He had the patience to endure the hardships of life, as he had a promise that if he would keep his faith he would be rewarded many times over with God’s blessings. This is the way God wants each of us to be in dealing with the pain and suffering that we go through in our own lives. He even tells us to be content, even in the times we are having trials and struggles I believe that God allows many things in our lives to happen in order to test our faith. He knows ahead of time what impact many of these things will have on us, and tests our patience in trusting in Him. We must learn to be patient and many times not expect God to respond in our time frame, but in His time frame. This is hard for many as we want things now, and become impatient when our prayers are not met. But we must be patient, and if we live our lives in the way God wants us to, he will reward us as he did Job with more than we had before. God is patient with us as he wants us to receive His gift of salvation, and we need to be patient with Him in our times of suffering. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six December 2

Love Your Neighbor

Love Your Neighbor “The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 In order to be a witness for Jesus we must learn how to love other people. The entire Bible is about Love and God’s love for us. He loved us enough to give his son for us, and to save us from our sins. The most important thing he wants us to do is learn to love others. As we set our daily goals and objectives we should always have this as one of our top priorities, our primary objective, and our greatest ambition. We must not let our schedules, our own personal agendas, our preoccupation with ourselves interfere with our relationships with other people. I have mentioned my grandfather many times in my writings, who left a legacy of loving his neighbors and spent much of his life thinking about people around him. He left a legacy of love, which I believe each of us needs to be striving for. We need to continually be evaluating ourselves to see how we are doing in this regard. Are we going out of our way to help other people, or are we shunning any opportunity to interact with people? Are we taking the time to listen, to find out about our friends and neighbors and to let them know we are there for them? A relationship with someone must be demonstrated by the time we spend with them. We must show them we care for them, not by just telling them, but must be demonstrated to them by our actions toward them. We must invest our time and talents in them to show them we care about them. If we are true Christians we must obey this command of God to love our neighbors as ourselves, as this is one of the main premises of his word. If you are not obeying this command, you need to seriously consider changing your behavior, as this is not the behavior and attitude you need to please God. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Six December 1