JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"Remembering God's Faithfulness"

Ecclesiastes 12:1 

"Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:
2 While the sun and the light,
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain;
3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;
4 When the doors are shut in the streets,
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all the daughters of music are brought low.
5 Also they are afraid of height,
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to his eternal home,
And the mourners go about the streets.
6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is £loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“All is vanity.”
9And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. 10The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. 11The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. 12And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.
13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil."

Insight: The God of the Bible has kept His promises for far longer than we have been on the Earth.  Trust in Him now because He is real and He is faithful.  The wisest and richest man in history came to this conclusion and so should we.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You!  Forgive our sins and purify us!  Thanks for your faithfulness!  Thank you that we can talk to You any time and You answer!  Praise You for the dynamic relationship You offer us!  Remove our worries and our fears and replace them with your peace!  In Jesus' name, Amen."

On March 12, 1888, a legendary blizzard struck the northeast United States today. Weather forecasters had called for fair weather. Instead, however, several feet of snow were dumped on New York City. As drifts reached 20 foot heights, electric wires and roofs collapsed and 400 fatalities resulted. Newspapers later described the New York situation as "knocked out...chaos reigned, and the proud boastful metropolis was reduced to the condition of a primitive settlement." A storm can quickly change the plans of both people and animals, as described in Job 37:7-8: "So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor. The animals take cover; they remain in their dens."

This excerpt was taken from Donald DeYoung's book called, "365 Fascinating Facts From the World of Discovery."

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained".  This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.  There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

There are no new quotes this week because I lost the notes I took in church!  If I find them, I'll add them to next week's devotional.  If you like to read wise quotes now, you can either visit our Quotations Archive or get a copy of "10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings"!  It's the largest collection of Bible-based quotations in the world.