From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Dec 2 09:14:58 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:14:58 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-03-07 The joy -- Hebrews 12:2 Message-ID: <4752BDE2.203@dwightclough.com> /We show people how to experience God's love. Out of that encounter flows everything good -- healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God's love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details./ /*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*/ /Guest devotional from Kim Clough/ We were singing about the cross, and I saw in my mind Jesus standing in front of me, about four feet away. We were singing about the cross, and you would expect it to be a serious, somber, sad time. But Jesus had a huge grin on His face. Why? In my mind I heard Him say, "I was happy to do it. Don't be sad -- I'm not. I wanted to do it." I found myself grinning too -- not very appropriate for a song about the cross perhaps -- but I couldn't get sad. He wasn't. He was happy. Jesus put His arms around me and stood next to me with His arm around me. Then I understood. No, Jesus did not enjoy suffering. He didn't have a "martyr's complex." But Jesus laid down His life for us. No one killed Him. He laid down down His life willingly. And He is happy -- filled with joy -- that He could die for us. He is happy to know and love you and me. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Dec 2 09:15:53 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:15:53 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-04-07 Our miracle -- Luke 1:37 Message-ID: <4752BE19.3080105@dwightclough.com> /We show people how to experience God's love. Out of that encounter flows everything good -- healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God's love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details./ /*For nothing is impossible with God. -- Luke 1:37*/ I don't know if Zechariah and Elizabeth tried getting their miracle their way or not. By the time Gabriel showed up in the temple, Zechariah's faith had worn thin. It sounds like he had given up. But God hadn't given up. How long had God planned the miraculous birth of John the Baptist? Let me suggest it was planned from the beginning of time. Our impossibilities of grief, of betrayal, of lack, of pain, of need -- none of these have escaped God's notice. His solution -- our miracle -- is already on the books. When our miracle shows up, we make some discoveries, just like Zechariah did: God's plans are bigger than ours. God hasn't forgotten, and He hasn't stopped caring. What God does for us isn't just for us alone. It has a ripple effect that will touch people all over the world. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Dec 2 09:16:31 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:16:31 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-05-07 The word of comfort -- Luke 10:21 Message-ID: <4752BE3F.6040806@dwightclough.com> /We show people how to experience God's love. Out of that encounter flows everything good -- healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God's love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details./ /*At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure." -- Luke 10:21*/ I love Christmas. It is my favorite time of year. For this is the time of year when we return to wonder. For a moment in time we leave our arrogance and our cynicism and our pretension behind, and we join children everywhere looking up into the sky at angels. These great creatures of power and beauty smile to reassure us as we stand there with the shepherds trembling with fear and awe. "Do not be afraid!" With soothing voices they bring a word of comfort from God Himself. /The/ word of comfort. Emmanuel. God is with us. And all of us, we throw away our cell phones and our appointment books, so with the shepherds we can scramble to find that baby. We come to Bethlehem, but we can't take in what we find there. How could God Himself be so small and so breakable? In our hearts we hear the angel's song. It echoes not just through the hills, but through the centuries, finding each of us and calling each of us back to the day when God became a child. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Dec 2 09:17:07 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:17:07 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-06-07 What a child understands -- Luke 10:21 Message-ID: <4752BE63.5040403@dwightclough.com> /We show people how to experience God's love. Out of that encounter flows everything good -- healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God's love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details./ /*At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure." -- Luke 10:21*/ When I was a boy, I was enthralled by the bubble lights on our family's Christmas tree. They were shaped like candles, with some sort of bubbling substance - alcohol perhaps - inside, boiling from the heat of the light bulb. I don't think you can buy them any more -- at least I haven't been able to find them for the last thirty years. I imagine they were probably a fire hazard. Too bad. I always wanted to share them with my children before they grew too old to appreciate something like that. There are many things that only children understand. One day when my children were young, we were sitting on the edge of a slightly raised platform at church. No one else was around, so we took off our shoes and counted all our fingers and toes. Adults understand that almost everybody has ten fingers and ten toes. But children understand the wonder of making that discovery. Innocence. Discovery. Wonder. These are precious things. It is no coincidence that I lingered so long by the Christmas tree when I was a child. For the only heart that is really ready to receive the Christmas Child is the heart full of wonder. To me this is precious: that God has little time for our jaded sophistication, but has open arms for our wide-eyed wonder. Enjoy this season of wonder and awe! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Dec 2 09:19:32 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:19:32 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-07-07 Our job -- John 1:31 Message-ID: <4752BEF4.7010200@dwightclough.com> /We show people how to experience God's love. Out of that encounter flows everything good -- healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God's love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details./ /*... the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed ... -- John 1:31*/ John the Baptist is getting at more than just the reason for his ministry. He is getting at the reason for everything we do. Why do I hug my children? So Jesus might be revealed. Why do I pay my taxes? So Jesus might be revealed. Our lives make room for Jesus to show up. John's baptizing could never change a nation. But, by leaving room for Jesus to show up, the whole world was changed. There is a role for our inadequacies. It is to remind us to make room for Jesus to show up. Jesus, of course, was here all along. But we need life as a visual aid to help us see Him. Jesus was obscure and unknown until after John started baptizing. So also, He may be obscure and unknown to someone in your world or in mine. But we do what God calls us to, and we can tell if we are successful by remembering John's word's, "He must increase, and I must decrease." The people who produced the movie series, Lord of the Rings, made a statement that struck me: "If you say to me, 'Wow, that was a great special effect,' then we have failed. Our job is to make the special effects look like the real thing." It isn't about us and our work. If we are successful, people aren't looking at us. Rather, they are all looking at Him. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Dec 2 09:20:17 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:20:17 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-08-07 Life in review -- Matthew 1:2 Message-ID: <4752BF21.5030405@dwightclough.com> /We show people how to experience God's love. Out of that encounter flows everything good -- healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God's love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details./ /*Abraham was the father of Isaac ... -- Matthew 1:2*/ Matthew begins his gospel by reminding us that Jesus didn't get here by accident. He arrived as the culmination of a series of miracles and divinely-appointed "coincidences." It took the impossible to get Jesus onto this earth, and God was up to the task. Abraham and Sarah have a child about 70 years later than most couples do. Isaac wrestled in prayer for God to grant his barren wife a child. Jacob accidentally married the wrong woman. Judah, well ... you can read that story for yourself. As you read down the list, you see that babies keep arriving under unusual circumstances. In Jesse's family, even after seven boys, it took one more baby to get the child God wanted for His royal line (now there's a mom with raw courage!). Even today, the path to Jesus' arrival is paved with miracles, with improbabilities, with the unusual and the unexpected. In my own life, who would have guessed that my dad's assignment to a radar post on the North Carolina coast would result in an eternal change of direction for us all! It seems so random on the surface. It seemed so unfair at the time -- it wasn't the transfer my parents wanted. But now I look back at that mixture of dirt roads, alligators, dogs tipping over trash cans, copperheads and childhood bullies, sand, heat, sweat, songs, testimonies, missionaries, meals and love with gratitude in my heart. And that may be the lesson. Life doesn't always make sense in "play" mode. Sometimes you gotta push rewind before you start smiling and realizing what an ingenious plan God had all along. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 14:48:42 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:48:42 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] A special Christmas request to my Discoveries readers Message-ID: <475AF51A.1000100@dwightclough.com> This year, I'm going to ask you for something I've never asked for before. I would like you to give me a Christmas gift. Before you get offended and delete this ... Before you run to off to Wal-Mart and buy me something... ... let me explain. For my Christmas gift, I would like to hear from you. It could be one sentence. It could be three pages. As long as it's from your heart, I don't care how long or short it is. Tell me anything you want, but I would especially like to hear about your dreams. * What would you like to do? * What would you like to experience? * What would you like to launch or start? * What would you like to buy or fund? * What would you like to see happen so your world could be a better place? It doesn't have to be "spiritual." Just tell me what's in your heart. If you're excited about it, I probably will be too. Before you write to me, let me give you a gift. It's an online video about someone with a dream. I was deeply touched by it and I hope you will be too. Here it is ... http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html Thank you, and Merry Christmas! Dwight PS. Replying to this message is iffy. Instead, you can get my personal email address at http://empowergood.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Dec 2 09:20:47 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:20:47 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-09-07 New plans -- Matthew 1:18 Message-ID: <4752BF3F.6020208@dwightclough.com> /We show people how to experience God's love. Out of that encounter flows everything good -- healing, growth, obedience, sacrifice, mission. As you plan your year-end giving, remember that a gift to Dwight Clough Ministries Inc. empowers us to help people on every continent to experience God's love, sometimes for the very first time. See DwightClough.com for details./ /*This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. -- Matthew 1:18*/ Mary and Joseph had big plans. They were looking forward to sharing life together. But suddenly they come to an unexpected intersection and collide with the plans of God. It was not a head-on collision. They weren't going in the wrong direction. They just didn't have the whole picture. God came along and made their plans much bigger and better. In the movie, Amadeus, composer Antonio Salieri writes a musical composition to welcome the younger, but greater composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. After performing the piece, Salieri offers a copy of the score to Mozart. But Mozart waves it aside. Mozart has heard it once; therefore, it is locked in memory. Instead of accepting the composer's work, Mozart sits down to the keyboard and begins rewriting the piece. "Did you think of this?" he asks Salieri who stands shrinking beside him. "How about this?" he says as he plays new variations, each one clearly superior to anything Salieri could have written. While Mozart is tactless and rude, he is also a genius. He could take any composition and turn it into a masterpiece. Our best plans may seem big and bright to us. But they are awkward until we allow God to rewrite them. He comes up with variations that turn our lives into masterpieces. Jesus enters our world, and nothing thereafter is the same. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:15:09 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:15:09 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-10-07 Refunds and exchanges -- Matthew 1:19 Message-ID: <475B095D.9050501@dwightclough.com> /*Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. -- Matthew 1:19*/ As we unwrap the package of life, sometimes we panic, look for the receipt, and try to find a way to take it back to the store for refund or exchange. Let's face it: Sometimes God's will doesn't make any sense to us. We want smooth waters, but God sends a storm. Joseph was bewildered. He felt betrayed. His world was crashing down, and he was looking for a way out. But we need to keep in mind that God's will takes into account all the elements, even our bewilderment. Joseph here had the good sense not to make a public scene, and, in so doing, he left room for God to work. God sees your confusion and mine. He knows that His ways often make no sense to us. Let the plan of God unfold -- there is more to come, and it will all make sense in the end. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:15:50 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:15:50 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-11-07 Unnecessary? -- Matthew 1:20 Message-ID: <475B0986.2020606@dwightclough.com> /*But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife ... -- Matthew 1:20*/ Why Joseph? Wasn't he unnecessary? He wasn't part of the conception. God was perfectly able to provide for and protect Mary and Jesus. And certainly no human could be a better father than God Himself. I have grown up in a world that has tried to dispense with men. The feminist who said, "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle," found the blade that cut deep into the fabric of our society. The survivors are often emasculated, androgynous or alienated. That's why I'm glad Joseph gets a visit from an angel as well. Joseph has a role. He has an important place in the story. Yes, God could do everything you are doing better, faster, sweeter. But He invites you in. It is no mistake that you are you. You have a role in God's plan that only you can fulfill. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:16:21 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:16:21 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-12-07 New identity -- Matthew 1:21 Message-ID: <475B09A5.4050004@dwightclough.com> /*She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. -- Matthew 1:21*/ Years ago, a dear friend was battling cancer. It was so distressing because how do you fight something that's inside you? Many of our readers have faced cancer and you may be one of them. If that is your struggle now, please know that my prayers are with you. Anyway, I didn't know what to do, so I photocopied every passage in the Bible where Jesus healed someone, and pasted them into a scrapbook along with pictures that I had cut out of catalogs and brochures. I called it a healing book, and I gave it to our friend. Although she eventually died, her cancer did go into remission and she was given another year and a half of life. Cancer can destroy your body, but sin can destroy your soul and rob your spirit of life. Until the birth and death of Jesus, there was no lasting defense against sin. It was enmeshed in our hearts, intertwined with who we were. To remove sin was to remove us. But Jesus came to do the impossible, to save us from our sins. To do that, Jesus had to create a new identity for us. We had to be born again. Keep in mind that the work of God is far greater than just convincing us to reform and become a follower of Christ. The work of God transforms us from within so that the cancer of sin loses its grip on us. We become the incorruptible, indestructible children of God. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:16:54 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:16:54 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-13-07 Moving ahead with God's plans -- Matthew 1:22 Message-ID: <475B09C6.6040004@dwightclough.com> /*All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. -- Matthew 1:22*/ Think about it! How many are trying to disrupt the plans and purposes of God? Satan and all his fallen angels, and, with them, billions of disgruntled and deceived people. Yet, here we are, in the middle of Roman oppression, of sometimes corrupt religion, of weak and miserably misinformed people, but God is going merrily along with His plans as though there was no opposition at all. Only God can do this. He announces what He's going to do and gives the whole universe a fair chance to fight it if that is what is wished. Then without violating anybody's will, He just shows up and does exactly what He said He was going to do all along. This gives me hope. I have plenty of impossible conundrums in my life, but I also have a God who waltzes through them with ease. He's going to do exactly what He said He would do. Yes, it is impossible. And yes, He will find a way. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:17:30 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:17:30 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-14-07 God with us -- Matthew 1:23 Message-ID: <475B09EA.1020307@dwightclough.com> /*"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" -- which means, "God with us." -- Matthew 1:23*/ This is a switch. In Exodus 19, God makes it clear that we are allowed only so close. If anybody set foot on the mountain God was visiting, they were to be stoned or shot with arrows. But here in Matthew, God chooses to do more than just visit. He chooses to move in with us, to hang out where we hang out, to live among us common folk. I had a professor in college who was like that. He brought his wife and kids to class one day. Then he invited any of us who wished to come over to his house. So I went, along with a few other students. Wow! They were nice. They were regular people, so much unlike those who showed up for class and then disappeared into that mysterious world of the rest of their lives. Why did God move in with us? The answer is clear. He wanted to be close. He didn't want to go on being God at a distance. And so He did what it took to shorten the distance between us and Him. He remains God, beyond our understanding, beyond us in every category, yet Christ shows up as our elder Brother, as Family, as our Friend. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:18:05 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:18:05 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-15-07 Good news -- Luke 2:10 Message-ID: <475B0A0D.8090300@dwightclough.com> /*I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. -- Luke 2:10*/ If I were God, I would have thrown in a word or two about the Son of God being born in the wrong place. What is royalty doing in a manger? But God seems to overlook the stable. Instead God turns and opens His arms wide to "all the people." Even the innkeeper. All the people -- the inkeeper, the world, and even the church need good news. Sometimes we think the gospel, the good news, the euangellion is only for poor lost sinners "out there." But the church needs to hear good news also. Good news like Jesus is here and He knows what to do with our secret fears, our deepest shame, our most humbling inadequacies. He does more than forgive sins. He makes us into sons and daughters of God. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:18:37 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:18:37 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-16-07 The journey to Bethlehem -- Matthew 2:1-2 Message-ID: <475B0A2D.7020106@dwightclough.com> /*After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." -- Matthew 2:1-2*/ Why is it that some can recognize the presence of Christ, while others miss it entirely? All my life I have been fascinated by the "Wise Men," the Magi. Who were they? How far did they travel? And how did they know? How did they know that this was no ordinary king? How did they know that the star signified more than just a new regime, but rather a king who needed to be worshipped? There was a star. Surely other people saw it. Yet no one else followed the star so far as we know. Why? These kings or astrologers or whatever they were arrived at city that was clueless. The greatest events of history were happening in nearby Bethlehem, but nobody seemed to know anything about it. It took someone from the outside to point it out. I don't know the answers to most of these questions. I'm not sure God provides answers to them. But I do know that the One who was born under the star still wants to be found. He wants to be found by every part of us, including the parts that forgot to look. He wants to be found not only by the religious part of us, but also by the scared part, the tempted part, the angry part, the apathetic part, the hopeful part. Let's take the journey to Bethlehem. Let's find the One who came to put us back together. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:19:08 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:19:08 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-17-07 Disturbed by the news -- Matthew 2:3 Message-ID: <475B0A4C.9000901@dwightclough.com> /*When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. -- Matthew 2:3*/ The world is full of people who are disturbed by the news that a King has been born. Herod is so crazed with power that when he finds out the news that the Messiah has been born, his first response is to try to find him and kill him. The people of Jerusalem also somehow seem to know that this Messiah came to save them from their sins, and they wanted no such salvation. Why do we resist letting Christ be King? I suggest it's because we believe a lie. Herod believed the lie that he could hold on to power and that power would protect him. But he died, just like everyone else, and all his power was stripped from him. Where are we unwilling to let Christ reign? In our fears? In our lusts? In our pride? In our greed? We all have a line someplace in our souls. On one side we say "yes" to Christ; on the other side we say "no." In between is the lie. That is our spiritual journey. Follow the "yes's" until we get to the lie. Then let Jesus tell us the truth, so that another "no" can be turned to a "yes." I'm not saying this is easy. It requires great courage to find the border of our faith -- but that is where Christ takes us -- out into the deep. But it is out in the deep that we let down our nets and discover what we never dreamed was there. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:19:36 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:19:36 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-18-07 Always on the move -- Luke 2:4 Message-ID: <475B0A68.3060405@dwightclough.com> /*So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem... -- Luke 2:4*/ Like migrant workers, Joseph and Mary seem always on the move. Mary travels to Judea, stays with Elizabeth, then returns to Galilee. The Romans tell Joseph that he and very expectant Mary must make a difficult journey. They try to settle down in Bethlehem, but a power-mad king drives them away to Egypt. Yet Egypt isn't home, so they head back to Judea, and change their destination mid-route - ending up in Galilee. When the story picks up again, Jesus is twelve, and, once again, they are traveling. Roman oppression and gossipy prejudice accounted for most of these migrations. These relocations could seem arbitrary, but they aren't. Every time, without realizing it, they hit the bullseye of God's perfect plan. When we seem in the grip of forces we cannot control, let's remember that stronger arms are at work, and God will not let something so small as a power-mad king -- or, for that matter, all the legions of hell -- meddle with His perfectly crafted plan. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:20:09 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:20:09 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-19-07 You never know -- Luke 2:5 Message-ID: <475B0A89.9050804@dwightclough.com> /*He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. -- Luke 2:5*/ I have a question for you: Did Mary need to make the trip? Were they officially married? Could she have stayed home with her parents? Or, now that she was pregnant, did she get kicked out of her home? What kind of rejection did she put up with? Was Joseph the only one who would take her in? They didn't seem to be in any hurry to return to Nazareth -- it looks like they spent the next two years in Bethlehem and then they took off to Egypt. Here's the point. Look around you. You and I never know what kind of struggles other people are wrestling with. How many people around us are putting on a brave face, but inside are in turmoil? May the God who has accepted us grant us the heart we need to accept others around us, even the "fringe" people whose eccentricities may make us feel uncomfortable. And rejoice with me! God knows all about us, and yet He calls us family. I'm glad you are part of our family, my brothers and sisters! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:20:47 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:20:47 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-20-07 Quietness -- Luke 2:6-7 Message-ID: <475B0AAF.4020202@dwightclough.com> /*While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. -- Luke 2:6-7*/ In the recent movie version of "The Count of Monte Cristo," the count makes a spectacular appearance to the elite social circle of his day. He arrives in a hot air balloon, complete with fireworks, dancers, dozens of servants -- all the fanfare you could imagine. By contrast, the first appearance of Jesus seems like an entry of stealth. Tucked away in a Judean village, in a cave or a stable, a traveling Jewish woman stops to give birth to a baby. It seems out of place. But Jesus' birth became a metaphor for His whole life. Years later, Pilate couldn't understand why Jesus didn't vigorously defend Himself. It didn't occur to Jesus to bother. He knew that He had no lasting place in this world, until He returns to take possession of everything that is rightfully His. Today Jesus is being born into the lives of people all over the world. Again, His entry is mostly unpublished, unrecognized, quiet. Quiet. Sort of like the Joshua's first six trips around Jericho. Someday the trumpet will sound! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:21:12 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:21:12 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-21-07 Our brightest hopes -- Matthew 1:25 Message-ID: <475B0AC8.9080806@dwightclough.com> /*... she gave birth to a son ... -- Matthew 1:25*/ This has become a special day for me because twelve years ago my son Alan was born. It was the shortest day of the year, but one of the longest days of my life. I woke up early, went to work, drove to Chicago and back (over 300 miles), got permanently laid off from my job, came home, drove my wife to the hospital, and, by the end of the day, my namesake, Dwight Alan Clough, Jr., was a little baby wrapped up in a blanket. He seemed so fragile and small. During labor my wife's blood pressure spiked at 197/127 then dropped to 60/40. Meanwhile, I had lost my job on the darkest cold day of the year. But that little six pound baby somehow hung on and grew. The doctor said my wife could never safely deliver another child, but two and a half years later God gave us our little Sally. My job was gone. Unemployment paid me for a month and then refused to pay any more. But God provided a living and we made it through. Alan has my name, but he has much more than I could ever give him. He has a people savvy that can only be a gift from God because he certainly didn't get it from me. He is naturally street wise and sizes up situations better than some people twice his age. We call him our future millionaire because at age five he was watching the Nightly Business Report, and he told us his goal was to own fifty Taco Bell restaurants. What's the point? The point is that good life sometimes flourishes on doubtful soil. The point is that God specializes in taking our darkest hours and drawing out of them our brightest hopes. Who could have guessed that the hope of the whole world could be found wrapped in cloth lying in a box over a bed of hay! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:21:42 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:21:42 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-22-07 The manger -- Luke 2:7 Message-ID: <475B0AE6.7040109@dwightclough.com> /*She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. -- Luke 2:7*/ They didn't have a cradle. They didn't have a crib. They didn't have expensive baby clothes. But what they did have, they gave. What is a manger? It is nothing by itself. Yet, given to Christ, it has become a powerful message that has rocked every generation for centuries. God transforms plain things into works of wonder. A picnic lunch became a miracle meal. A jar of oil became an investment property. What do we have? Our homes might not be spotless, our cars might not be fancy. It may seem like we have nothing to give but the plainest of gifts. But let's not hold back! Let us give what we have to Christ. Our plain gifts, every one of them, is an opportunity for God to work wonders. Who knows what He might do! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:22:11 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:22:11 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-23-07 Join the adventure -- Matthew 2:13 Message-ID: <475B0B03.8050300@dwightclough.com> /*... the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," He said, "take the child and His mother and escape ... " -- Matthew 2:13*/ I like to play chess with my brother, even though he is a much better player than I am. I plan out how I'm going to trap him, and sometimes he plays along. He lets me trap him. But what I don't realize is that when the trap is over, his pieces will be exactly where he wants them to be and his position will be stronger than ever. Herod tries to trap God's Messiah. Sometimes you wonder how people can get these ideas in their heads. Herod genuinely thought he could eliminate God's Son? God brings the Magi along to finance a trip to Egypt. He lets Herod spring his trap, and the outcome puts everything exactly where God wants it to be. How much notice did Joseph get? About 20 minutes. Joseph didn't need to know any sooner. Sometimes it will be the same with us. God has a plan, but He might not tell us what it is until He's ready for us to do something. God has already done the hard work. He's figured out the winning strategy. All we have to do is join the adventure when He taps us on the shoulder. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:22:38 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 21:22:38 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-24-07 Treasures -- Luke 2:19 Message-ID: <475B0B20.9070300@dwightclough.com> /*But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. -- Luke 2:19*/ What are you treasuring? What is buried deep in your soul? I think about a four year old boy, sitting in a farmhouse kitchen, warming up near the cookstove, eating homemade toast with a thick layer of sugar on the top, while Grandma rolled out lefse and prayed in Norwegian. I think of a young man, a bit shy, posing for a snapshot next to a young woman with a beautiful smile. I think of five words written on a yellow piece of paper folded over, carried in a wallet, unfolded and read again and again: "I love you very much." I think of a new baby girl being carried by her daddy for the first time, looking up with wide eyes, wondering, I suppose, what sort of daddy he would be. The year is coming to an end again. Soon it will be time to do taxes, and we will discover that some of us are rich, some of us are poor, and some of us are in between. But all of us have been given treasure. Enjoy! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 8 16:23:12 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 21:23:12 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-25-07 Good news of great joy -- Luke 2:10 Message-ID: <475B0B42.1090304@dwightclough.com> /I originally wrote this when my oldest daughter was a little girl. It has become a favorite here. Merry Christmas! / /*"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy ... " -- Luke 2:10*/ I remember my first Santa Claus doubts. How could a fat man get down a skinny chimney, not just at our house, but at the houses of little boys and girls all over the world? I mean there must be hundreds. Then came the fateful day when I learned the Truth. Two truths, in fact. My mother was cleaning something in the living room and she said, "You know the Easter Bunny is just make believe." That didn't bother me. The Easter Bunny always hid the baskets behind the TV. He was expendable. Then she added, "You know, make believe, just like Santa Claus." I nodded like I had known all along. But inside this revelation hurt. I wanted to believe that somewhere there was someone who cared enough about me to find out just what I wanted and to risk getting stuck in the chimney to bring it to me. I missed Santa Claus. He had been a good friend. I think my dad missed Santa Claus too. Now he had to take the place of the man from the North Pole. And my dad's sack of toys wasn't as big as he wanted it to be. Every December he sat us down and delivered the sad news. "I'm afraid there won't be much of a Christmas this year," he told us. "We just don't have the money." I felt for him. I wanted to tell him it was okay. "We don't have the money," he said and so my brother and I prepared ourselves to face the sparse holiday my father had predicted. Yet, on the morning of the 25th, we came downstairs to find our stockings stuffed and the floor beneath the tree littered with presents. Santa slipped out of my life, and, as I grew older, a chilling realization slipped in -- one that haunts me even to this day. In every city and scattered across the country, little ones, with hearts full of hope, hang up their stockings with care. But the man in red flies by their homes without stopping. In the morning their stockings look no different than they did the night before. These children don't need to be told that there is no Santa Claus. They find out quite on their own. Now I'm a dad. My little girl never heard of Santa Claus until one of the neighbors told her. And, at bedtime, she doesn't ask me to tell her about a man with toys and eight reindeer. Instead she says, "Tell me about when Jesus was born." She knows the story well, but she asks me to tell it to her just the same. I start with the decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. I tell her that Joseph and Mary had to walk a long time. And when they got to Bethlehem, no place was found for them to stay. My daughter and I ponder that in the silence of our own thoughts. I suppose she thinks of how it would be to never find a McDonald's with a Playland and how it would be to ride on a donkey without a car seat. But I think of Joseph. There he was, pushed out of his home by a senseless decree from a Roman emperor. He comes to the town that is rightfully his own, but no one greets him. No one takes him in. Worried, he asks around for a midwife and a dry, warm, comfortable bed for Mary. "Sorry," people say. "Sorry, we can't help you." In the end, he takes shelter in a barn. And all he can offer the one he loves is a wool blanket and some straw. I feel for him. Then my mind goes back to my dad. I see him there at the kitchen table, sifting through a stack of bills, wondering where he will get the money to buy toys for his children. And for the little ones everywhere whose stockings are empty, I hurt. I wish I could shower gifts on them all. And I wonder, Where is the outrage from heaven? My daughter tugs at my arm. "Tell me the rest of the story, Daddy." We switch to the hills around Bethlehem. "On the night Jesus was born," I tell her, "in the hills, the sheep were sleeping -- sleeping away. 'Baaa. Baaaa.' They were dreaming sheep dreams. The shepherds were there, watching over their sheep. "All of a sudden, an angel appeared to the shepherds! They were afraid. "But the angel said, 'Do not be afraid.'" My daughter always smiles when I tell her this. "The angel said, 'I bring you good news of great joy. For tonight unto you in the city of David is born a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord. And this will be a sign unto you: You will find the baby lying in a manger.' "And suddenly, all across the sky, the night was bright with angels. And they were singing, 'Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace, goodwill to men.'" My little girl's eyes get big as we look at the bedroom ceiling together. And I wonder to myself, /Can she see what my eyes cannot? Can she see the heavens filled with angels?/ What would it be like to see the heavens open? I ask myself. But, though I try, I can see no vision of angels. Instead of angels, I see a man. But he's not in a shepherd's field; he's in a hospital room. And he's not singing. He's dancing, holding his newborn daughter in his arms, filled with emotions he could never put into words. I see him there, spinning and twirling, and I realize that man is me. "Daddy, tell me the rest of the story." The reason for the angels' visit begins to make sense. So, tonight, I change the story. "What do you suppose those shepherds saw when they came to the barn where Jesus was born? Do you think they saw Joseph out in front, dancing under the stars?" "Daddy, you are silly. They saw the baby Jesus lying in a manger." Oh, yes. I sit there for a long time while my daughter falls asleep and dreams of angels. I sit there and think about those words from heaven: "Do not be afraid." And, suddenly, I want to rush back through the years and talk to a little boy who grew up to be a daddy himself and say, "Have you seen the angels? Have you heard their song? Did you know that Jesus is here?" And then I want to stop at a kitchen table and speak to my tired and discouraged dad. "Do not be afraid. What you cannot give has been given for you." And I want to swoop down chimneys everywhere with angels at my side and bring the good news to every little one whose heart was filled with hope. "Do not be afraid. The heavens have opened for you. The angels are here for you. Immanuel has come. Do not be afraid." If I could, I'd bear presents to them all. Not because I think the trinkets I can give will satisfy Christmas needs. Instead, I'd bring gifts as tokens of a giving, caring God. And I'd pray that when the children finally unwrapped the paper, they'd find not a doll nor a toy truck, but rather a tiny baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The next morning, my wife and I are busy in the kitchen. Company is coming. Our little girl is talking to her dollies and her stuffed animals, saying this and that. We don't pay much attention, glad to have a few minutes to straighten the house and make a meal. All at once we are arrested by her words: "Do not be afraid. For I bring you good news of great joy." Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 15 10:02:46 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:02:46 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-26-07 Stadiums and baby blankets 1-2 -- Psalm 8:3-4 Message-ID: <4763EC96.4040700@dwightclough.com> /Guest devotional by James R. Jones/ /*When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? -- Psalm 8:3-4*/ I read recently that if every star in this incredible universe could be made the size of the head of a pin -- and then if all these stars could be poured into Miami's Orange Bowl Stadium (Can you imagine how many stars it would require to make a depth of only one foot?), all these stars would fill the stadium to overflowing... how many times do you think? Once? -- twice? -- one thousand times? No, more than 3 billion times. Then, keeping this same perspective, our planet Earth would be the approximate size of a grain of sand.... and on this grain of sand are you and I and six billion (sub-microscopic) people. The Bible says God knows the number of hairs on each head. The Bible also tells us that God knows every time a sparrow falls to the ground. Just think that the God who made all these stars and every existing particle of matter, loves each of us intensely. In fact, He loves us so much He commissioned His dear Son to visit this grain of sand. Why? For the expressed purpose of dying for each of us so as to restore our broken fellowship with Him. Good thoughts, James. More tomorrow ... Be encouraged! Dwight PS. I've enjoyed this slide show that starts outside our galaxy and moves progressively closer until we look at the inside of a carbon atom. Find it at http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.html You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 15 10:03:27 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:03:27 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-27-07 Stadiums and baby blankets 2-2 -- Psalm 8:3-4 Message-ID: <4763ECBF.2030603@dwightclough.com> /Guest devotional by James R. Jones (continued from yesterday)/ /*When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? -- Psalm 8:3-4*/ Yesterday we learned that if every star in the universe were shrunk down to the size of the head of a pin, those stars would fill 3 billion stadiums to overflowing. Now, add to this knowledge these facts: The mother of our son's wife is a dear elderly woman who makes baby blankets as a hobby. She recently asked my Jean if we could use some baby blankets. At first Jean declined, stating that none of our acquaintances were in need of a baby blanket. Later, Jean went home and thought, "Why don't we take some down to Cuba?" She ran the idea by me, and I tried to dissuade her from taking-up precious suitcase space with such a specialty need as baby blankets. Thankfully, Jean prevailed, and when we arrived in Bauta, Cuba, Pastor Osvaldo's mother-in-law, Caridad, came by the apartment, and Jean asked her if she knew anyone who could use a baby blanket. I wish you could have seen Caridad's eyes grow wide as she told us of a family member who has a tiny baby and that the young mother had been weeping because she had not so much as a blanket to cover her baby (using rags instead). Caridad comforted the young mother by telling her not to cry, but rather to pray that God would send the baby a blanket. So here we all are on this grain of sand, and a young mother in Cuba asks her Heavenly Father for a baby blanket. God has a woman in Ohio making baby blankets, and another woman in a nearby city who is impressed to take some blankets down to Cuba. The blankets are packed tightly into a suitcase, and God's delivery system gets two baby blankets exactly where they are needed... into the hands of the young Cuban mother who had prayed for a blanket. I was honored to carry God's answer to prayer in a suitcase. Wouldn't you think God would be far too busy keeping 3 billion stadiums-full of stars from crashing into each other to be involved in a young Cuban mother's request? Our God is beyond awesome!!! Thanks, James! Good testimony! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 15 10:04:04 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:04:04 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-28-07 The gospel of peace -- Luke 1:74 Message-ID: <4763ECE4.1070302@dwightclough.com> /*... to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve Him without fear ... -- Luke 1:74*/ If we really understood the truth, could anything frighten us? The Bible says, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what can mortal man do to me?" Well, mortal man can do quite a bit. But Paul, who received "quite a bit" from the hand of mortal man said, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." What does this mean? It means that the gospel -- the real gospel -- is so powerful that it transforms our fears into peace and turns cowardice into courage. When speaking of the armor that defends us from the schemes of the evil one, Paul refers to the "gospel of peace." How do we receive this transformation from God? By denial? By suppression? By pretending that we have no fears, when, in reality, we are riddled with them? I don't think so. It's by inviting Jesus into our fears and asking Him for the transforming truth. One day I was driving to a church to tell a pastor about a seminar I was doing. For some reason I found myself dreading this meeting, and a shaky fear was growing inside me. So I just found a quiet spot on the road, pulled over to the side, focused in on this fear, did my best to discover where it was coming from and invited Jesus into the whole mess. Nothing terribly dramatic happened, but the fear dissipated and I sensed it was time to go on. I went into the church without fear, had a wonderful meeting with the pastor, and went on to have great meetings with several other pastors that day. You see it isn't our heads that need to know all this information about "Fear not for I am with you," but rather it is our hearts. That's why we find our fears and invite Jesus into them so He can get the truth to the place where it's going to make a difference. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 15 10:04:47 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:04:47 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-29-07 What has God made clean? -- Acts 11:9 Message-ID: <4763ED0F.4000201@dwightclough.com> /*"Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." -- Acts 11:9*/ What has God made clean? Is it not His own children -- you and I -- who are washed? (1 Corinthians 6:11) Part of the adventure of the Christian life is making the discovery of who we really are. How many of us have felt embarrassed, ashamed, guilty, dirty, inadequate? We all have felt some or all of those feelings. But when God forgives, He also offers us the grace to forgive ourselves. When God washes us, He wants us to look in the mirror and see clean. The gospel frees us from shame. (Romans 10:11) The truth sets us free from shame. If we cannot see ourselves and each other through the lens of truth, what has darkened our vision? Isn't it just another lie that God wants to take away? God is interested in more than just forgiving our sins. He wants us to forgive ourselves when we are forgiven by Him. He wants us to accept and embrace ourselves and each other for who we really are -- God's children, made spotless by the blood of the Lamb. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 15 10:05:20 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:05:20 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-30-07 Our expectations and God's imagination -- Acts 3:5 Message-ID: <4763ED30.8040902@dwightclough.com> /*So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. -- Acts 3:5*/ The man in this passage was lame from birth. His expectations were molded by his limitations. He would never walk. He would never work. He would always beg. In his world, there were only two kinds of people -- those who gave him money and those who didn't. You could draw a small circle and write inside it with tiny words, "our expectations." For that is what they are -- tiny compared to the gift of God. We hope for money, or some improvement in our spouse, or relief from pain. But, like the man in the story, we don't wake up thinking that today we might receive a gift from God that will forever change our lives. But we might. Who knows what God has in store for you? Who can draw a circle around the imagination of God! When I pray the prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:10), I ask God to "bless me with blessings I don't even have the sense to ask for." Who knows what He might give! Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Dec 15 10:05:52 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:05:52 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-31-07 A window to God -- Acts 3:16 Message-ID: <4763ED51.6050806@dwightclough.com> /*By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. -- Acts 3:16*/ I often think about the verse, "And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it from whose face earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them." When God is revealed, everything is transformed. I can't find words strong enough to express what happens when God makes His entrance. I was asking the Lord why faith was so important to Him, and I think He was telling me that faith provides an avenue for God to show up. He conceals Himself most of the time so men can be free to choose good or evil. But faith pokes a little hole in the curtain and allows the light of His presence and power to shine through. We say that we must believe because we cannot see. But I think it is more a case of: we must believe in order to see. Where can we direct our faith today? God, grant us the grace to believe so that Your presence and power can be revealed in our lives. Be encouraged! Dwight You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Discoveries Devotional -- Inspiration in Your Inbox is provided daily by Dwight Clough Ministries, Inc. 1223 West Main Street #228 Sun Prairie, WI 53590 USA Dwight Clough Ministries is supported by your donations. Visit _www.DwightClough.com_ for more information. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: