From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 1 13:04:26 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:04:26 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-03-07 Lions and liars (part one) Message-ID: <46D99B9A.6020707@dwightclough.com> I recently began to make the transition to earning my living by developing websites for people. Several days ago, I met with three retired business owners who intimately understand this type of business. Among other things, they advised me to face the realities of doing business here in the US and adjust my fees upward by quite a bit. I thought and prayed through their advice, and have decided to follow it. I mention all of this to you for just one reason: If you or anyone you know is considering my service, I'm going to extend the offer of $197 down and $97/month for just another day or two to give you a chance to get in at the old rate. After that I need to move the fees upward. You can contact me at _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Mention this note when you contact me. Thanks! /*The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him. -- 1 Kings 13:26*/ 1 Kings 13 is one of the strangest chapters in the whole Bible. I've puzzled over it for years, and only recently is it starting to make sense to me. Here's the story. A man of God confronts a wicked king, delivering his message with a powerful miracle. Under explicit instructions not to eat or drink, the man of God begins his trip home. But an old prophet, apparently jealous for a piece of the action, intercepts him and lies to him, claiming to have a message from God. The old prophet talks the man of God into disobeying God's instructions and dining with him. In the middle of the meal, the old prophet confronts the man of God about his disobedience. The man of God again starts for home, only to be killed by a lion. Just to make sure there was no mistake about this being the judgment of God, the lion and the donkey stand there together looking at the dead body. The chapter certainly proves that I can't second guess God. I would have sent the lion after the lying old prophet, not the mistaken man of God. But God's ways are not my ways. What's going on here? How do you explain God's actions? (More tomorrow.) Be encouraged! Dwight A big "Thank you!" to those of you who support our ministry. _http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.html_ I develop web sites. _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Contact us here: _http://www.dwightclough.com/contact.html_ Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 1 13:05:04 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:05:04 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-04-07 Lions and liars (part two) Message-ID: <46D99BC0.5040709@dwightclough.com> /*The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him. -- 1 Kings 13:26*/ If you meditate on this chapter, you can probably come up with several reasons why God did what he did, but I'm going to focus on just one of them: God hates second-hand religion. Remember junior high school? Boy likes girl. Boy is too chicken to tell girl. Boy makes discreet inquiries to see if maybe girl likes boy. Pretty soon there are layers and layers of people between boy and girl. That might work for junior high, but it doesn't work in the adult world. If I had to ask some guy what my wife thinks, that would only make me angry. I have a relationship with her and I don't need, nor want, any go-betweens. The man of God let a word from someone else supersede the word he received from God. It's good to get counsel from others, but there's no substitute for building your own relationship with God. Your pastor, your friend, some prophet, no other Christian has a pipeline to God for you. When you became a child of God, you got your own pipeline to God, and God wants you to use it. God wants a direct relationship with you. Everything else is just frosting on the cake. And I think this is good news. God cares enough about you, about me, to want a direct line of communication between us and God. You are not an underling far down on the organizational chart. You are His son or daughter, and He wants to sit down and talk with you. Be encouraged! Dwight A big "Thank you!" to those of you who support our ministry. _http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.html_ I develop web sites. _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Contact us here: _http://www.dwightclough.com/contact.html_ Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 1 13:05:35 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:05:35 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-05-07 Discovering God Message-ID: <46D99BDF.6090807@dwightclough.com> /*No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known. -- John 1:18*/ How do you squeeze the universe small enough so you can hold it in your hand? How do you put all the oceans of the world in a single bottle? If it were left up to us to find God, we would be in big trouble. How could we hope to know anything about Him in a year, in 70 years, in 6,000 years? It would be like counting the fish in the Pacific ocean, one by one, hoping we didn't miss any. That's why we learn the truth: No one has ever seen God. Our eyes aren't big enough. Our heart isn't pure enough. Our life isn't enduring enough to see God, unless God wants to be seen. But God wants to be seen. He wants to be known. He wants to fill our little hearts with the knowledge of Him. And He knows you can't pour the ocean into a teacup. So He gives us a drink instead from the Water of Life. What amazes me is how effortless, how automatic, how easy Jesus makes it seem -- every moment of His life was a miracle as He declared to us: This is who God is. God is not at the end of our quest; we are at the end of His quest. We didn't find Him; He found us. One night my son was looking for something. He was getting quite frustrated because he had no idea where it was. My wife walked in the room, and started laughing. "What is it? Why are you laughing?" my son wanted to know. But then he started laughing. What he was looking for was right in front of him all the time. So it is with God. Jesus has placed the unknowable right in front of us. God means to be discovered. Be encouraged! Dwight A big "Thank you!" to those of you who support our ministry. _http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.html_ I develop web sites. _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Contact us here: _http://www.dwightclough.com/contact.html_ Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 1 13:06:11 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:06:11 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-06-07 Grace and truth Message-ID: <46D99C03.2060209@dwightclough.com> /*For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17*/ When I read the first five books of the Bible, I am struck by a couple of things. First, there is great distance between God and His people. Only a very privileged few could come near to worship, and only one spoke to the Lord face to face. Second, the law was designed to cover every contingency. There are laws for every facet of life -- from dining to commerce, from warfare to marriage. We needed all of that, of course. We needed to understand the distance between our holy Creator and us fallen human beings. And with no internal compass to steer us, we needed guidance for every situation. But Jesus came along to close the distance and to give us that internal compass. With the grace and truth that Jesus supplies, the need for hundreds of regulations is dispensed. In fact, Jesus Himself dumps some of these regulations overboard. What is grace? It is more than the undeserved kindness of forgiveness. It is the transforming power of God that turns rebels into saints. What is truth? It is more than a collection of creeds. It is the living Word of God inside us that gives us the power to choose right even when the whole world has chosen wrong. Be encouraged! Dwight A big "Thank you!" to those of you who support our ministry. _http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.html_ I develop web sites. _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Contact us here: _http://www.dwightclough.com/contact.html_ Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 1 13:06:42 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:06:42 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-07-07 Contagious comfort Message-ID: <46D99C22.5070308@dwightclough.com> /*[God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4*/ Comfort is contagious when it begins with God. Note that we must first be comforted by God. Why is this? Because when we are in emotional distress, we cannot find the grace we need to offer God's comfort to others. Their pain will only add to our pain, and that is the opposite of what God intended. However, when we are comforted by God, then an amazing thing happens. We wake up to the realization that it isn't our job to fix other people. Rather it is our job to offer Jesus to the hurting places in another person's soul. When we haven't received God's comfort, we will use Jesus as a weapon to cover up our own insecurities. But when God's comfort comes in, we are at peace, and we truly have the answer to ANY trouble, because we know the answer is not found in us, but instead in God. Be encouraged! Dwight A big "Thank you!" to those of you who support our ministry. _http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.html_ I develop web sites. _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Contact us here: _http://www.dwightclough.com/contact.html_ Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 1 13:07:12 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:07:12 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-08-07 Honor your father - part 1 Message-ID: <46D99C40.1010908@dwightclough.com> /*Honor your father ... -- Exodus 20:12*/ Many of you have had fathers who were abusive, absent, unpredictable or just plain bad news. Others of you have had dads who were loving, supportive and strong. My dad meant well, I believe, but, like me, made many mistakes. I'm sure -- like me -- he often wished he could push the rewind button and do it over again. I remember the night before I left for college. My dad cried. I didn't have any words to comfort him. I didn't know why he was crying. But now I think it was because we were looking in two different directions. I was looking forward. He was looking back. God gives us fathers the sacred task of preparing our children to be fathered by God. It is a job that is bigger than any of us. Try as we might, we will fall short, and our children will feel the difference between what was and what could have been. Is fatherhood just another casualty of a fallen world, a random lottery where some of us get good fathers and some of us get bad ones? I don't think so. I prefer to believe that God begins with your eternal place in heaven in mind. From there He works backward, putting you in the exact moment in history where He wants you, giving you the family He wants you to have. He put His own Son in an imperfect family, and He put you in one also. After my dad died in 1999, I wrote: "One day God went shopping and He picked out a father for me. The dad I had might not have been perfect, but he was perfect for me." [The rest tomorrow] Be encouraged! Dwight A big "Thank you!" to those of you who support our ministry. _http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.html_ I develop web sites. _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Contact us here: _http://www.dwightclough.com/contact.html_ Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 1 13:07:41 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:07:41 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-09-07 Honor your father - part 2 Message-ID: <46D99C5D.8090508@dwightclough.com> /*Honor your father ... -- Exodus 20:12*/ So honoring our fathers is really about honoring God -- honoring His choice for our lives. For some of us it comes easy. For some of us it is an act of faith. Here, as in so many other places in life, we have rich opportunities for God - because this is a place where many of us are broken inside, and need the Lord's touch. There was a time, to be honest with you, that I feared and hated my dad. But underneath all that fear and anger was a little boy who needed the soothing touch of Jesus, and the healing truth from Him about my dad, about me, about life. As that comfort and truth flows in, I grow up inside, and I see my dad for who he really was: courageous, generous, insightful and intelligent. My dad was unpretentious but that didn't stop him from bucking the crowd and standing alone. He had a delightful, creative sense of fun that almost nobody understood. He raised his sons to think for themselves and stand up for what is right. He experienced enormous pain, but I never heard him complain about the cards he was dealt. He made mistakes, but, as he grew older, he mellowed enough to admit many of his faults and seek help for them. But he was more than that: He was my father. When I was a little boy I thought he was stronger than anyone. I thought he was eight feet tall. I thought nobody could harm us as long as my dad was with us. Nobody would dare try. If you don't struggle to honor your dad, then skip over what I have to say. But if you do, please know that the day will come when you will feel like throwing your arms around your dad and thanking him, faults and all, for being used by God to bring good into your life. The damage dad did will be undone. But to good will endure forever. Be encouraged! Dwight A big "Thank you!" to those of you who support our ministry. _http://www.dwightclough.com/donations.html_ I develop web sites. _http://www.web4us2.com/_ Contact us here: _http://www.dwightclough.com/contact.html_ Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 8 08:47:59 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:47:59 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-10-07 Our boast Message-ID: <46E299FF.8000905@dwightclough.com> *Want to preview tomorrow's devotional? * *Find that and much more at the new **DwightClough.com* *And speaking of the new site, I'd like to do something with a little more pizazz for the homepage -- I'd love to hear your ideas.* /*Now this is our boast ... -- 2 Corinthians 1:12*/ Most of us don't want to brag. Oh, deep down inside, we probably do. But, on the surface, we've learned that bragging gets us into trouble. If we brag, people call us proud and inconsiderate, and they may be right. But Paul not only admits to a boast, but he seems perfectly okay with it. So, what do you think? Can Christians brag? Just to be fair, the Jubilee Bible translates the word "boast" as "rejoicing." Okay, okay, let's call it rejoicing. What can we rejoice about? Paul gives the answer later in this same verse. We can rejoice that we have received the grace of God. God's grace makes us sincere. God's grace makes us loving. God's grace makes us holy. We have a lot to "rejoice" about. Is the urge to brag completely unholy? Is it possible that God wants His children to rejoice in the righteousness with which He clothes the saints? Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 8 08:48:36 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:48:36 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-11-07 Keep it simple Message-ID: <46E29A24.9000307@dwightclough.com> *Want to preview tomorrow's devotional? * *Find that and much more at the new **DwightClough.com* *And speaking of the new site, I'd like to do something with a little more pizazz for the homepage -- I'd love to hear your ideas.* /*For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. 2 Corinthians 1:13*/ God did not design the Bible for theologians. He designed it for regular people, for you and me. Theologians will study the Bible and never be able to plumb its depths for the same reason that scientists will study the natural order and find more questions than answers. Here's the reason: God is there. But that same God who is beyond understanding wants to make Himself understood. So He writes chatty letters to us, tells us stories, lays out clear instructions. That is a great comfort to me, because sometimes I just gotta know what God thinks. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 8 08:49:13 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:49:13 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-12-07 Fluorescent tubes and scripture Message-ID: <46E29A49.6030603@dwightclough.com> *Want to preview tomorrow's devotional? * *Find that and much more at the new **DwightClough.com* /*... the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6*/ As I sit here writing this, my room is illuminated by eight fluorescent tubes. But those fluorescent tubes, by themselves, don't do anything. By themselves, they would not dispel the darkness and bring the light. Only when they are connected to electricity do they bring light. Many people handle the word of God. Cults handle it. Atheists handle it. Even Satan himself handles it (see Luke 4:9-10). Some use it to twist the truth. Some use it to injure and harm. But others open the word and bring life. Why? What's the difference? Isn't it the same inspired scripture? In my college days, when I worked as a janitor, before the days of recycling, we had fun throwing the spent fluorescent tubes into the dumpster and watching them shatter and implode. Without electricity, a fluorescent tube is not only useless, but also one bump away from becoming a pile of shattered glass that cuts and causes harm. Scripture is a wonderful thing. But, like us, it was never meant to have any use when disconnected from the Spirit of God. When God shows up, His word brings life. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 8 08:50:13 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:50:13 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-13-07 Jars of clay Message-ID: <46E29A85.7040706@dwightclough.com> *Want to preview tomorrow's devotional? * *Find that and much more at the new **DwightClough.com* /*But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. -- 2 Corinthians 4:7*/ Everything has a purpose -- even our inadequacies. Can I provide? No. Yes, I work hard, but I've discovered that working hard and working smart by themselves mean nothing. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it work in vain. (Psalm 127). Can I protect? No. Can I heal? No. So when I pray for someone and God heals their wounded heart, I know it wasn't me. I couldn't be me. Can I instruct or encourage? No. Most of the time when I write these devotionals, I stare at the blank screen and don't have a clue what to say. I read my Bible and feel like a dummy. What ever possessed me to think I could write something worth reading? Yet, many times I go back and read what was written, and say to myself, "Wow! I could never have written that!" It seems like God spends a lot of time showing us that we really are jars of clay. But that is a good thing, because it helps us know where the really good stuff comes from. It comes from above. And here's the good part. Our heroes -- Paul, Elijah, David, Peter, Moses -- they were all jars of clay too. The same treasure that was in them is in us as well. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 8 08:51:28 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:51:28 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-14-07 The view from above Message-ID: <46E29AD0.4030405@dwightclough.com> *Check out the new **DwightClough.com* /*For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. -- 2 Corinthians 4:17*/ Though I don't travel by plane very often, I love to fly. In fact, I really am a little kid when it comes to flying -- I can't understand why anyone would want an aisle seat. It's so much fun to look out the window and see my world from a whole different perspective. From 35,000 feet cars disappear and major roads become thin lines. Houses are nearly lost and entire farms look like postage stamps. I guess every time I fly I wonder what God must think when He looks down on our lives, on all human endeavors. How His perspective must be different than our own. Paul explains that the royal children of God look at life not from the ground, but from 35,000 feet. From our place in the heavenlies with Christ (Ephesians 2:6), those troubles that seem so massive, so unmovable, so overwhelming shows up for what it really is: "light and momentary." Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 8 08:52:06 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:52:06 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-15-07 The power to believe Message-ID: <46E29AF6.6000309@dwightclough.com> *Check out the new **DwightClough.com* /*"This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe ..." Exodus 4:5*/ Throughout Exodus chapter 3, God was commissioning Moses to lead His people to freedom. But, even though he is offered one of the greatest opportunities in history, Moses doesn't want it. He's been watching sheep for forty years. No, it's not quite like living in the palace where he grew up, but now Moses is used to it -- he knows his routine, he's solidly in his comfort zone and he wants to stay there. So when chapter 4 opens, Moses starts working through his list of objections, hoping God will give up and go find someone else. "What if they don't believe me or listen to me?" he asks. I guess he didn't realize that God has a lot of experience with people who don't believe Him or listen to Him. You probably know the story. A stick turns into a snake and then back into a stick again. Moses, still stunned, stands there staring at the stick in his hand. At that moment, God conveys one of the most important lessons of all of life. Did you catch it? God makes it possible for us to believe. If we lack the ability to believe, God will give us something in our experience that will give us that ability to choose faith. Again and again throughout the history of faith, God has given His people the power to believe. I know a man who was tortured for his faith. Terrible things were done to him, but in the worst moments, his eyes were opened and he saw the glory of God. Sometimes God gives great miracles to encourage His people, but more often He gives little reminders -- sunlight sparkling in the water, a field of blossoms dancing in the wind, or a quiet voice inside that says, "Don't be troubled -- it's okay." Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 8 08:52:44 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:52:44 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-16-07 God has the answer Message-ID: <46E29B1C.50706@dwightclough.com> *Check out the new **DwightClough.com* /*We are ... perplexed, but not in despair ... 2 Corinthians 4:8*/ It's nice to know that life didn't make sense sometimes even to the great apostle Paul. He was perplexed and so are we at times. "Why is this happening to me?" we ask God. And usually He doesn't answer our question. Most of the time, we don't have the ability to understand the answer. That understanding comes later, sometimes much later. We are perplexed, but not in despair. I remember years ago listening to the cries of a friend grieving over the suicide loss of a family member. At the time she didn't know the Lord and, as far as we know, her departed loved one didn't know the Lord. There was no hope, no comfort, only despair -- a bottomless hole filled with grief. The suicide had taken place years earlier, but the despair remained and there was no consolation. We are perplexed when we don't have the answer. We are in despair when we are convinced that no answer exists. So that is our comfort. God has the answer. And until He chooses to share it with us, we let it rest with Him. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 15 09:49:33 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:49:33 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-17-07 Divine unpredictability Message-ID: <46EBE2ED.80305@dwightclough.com> *Check out the Discoveries Bible, contact us, read ahead and more all at the new *_*DwightClough.com*_ /*Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? ... If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! -- Job 41:1, 8*/ I love the book of Job because it is raw and honest. I especially love chapters 38-41 where God speaks, because He speaks here with a candor that you find nowhere else in scripture. The Lord has an opportunity to address the cries and the whys of a suffering man, and He does so in a way I would never predict - never in a thousand years. God is the God of all comfort, but He doesn't seem to make any attempt here to comfort Job. God is the God of all wisdom, but He doesn't answer any of Job's questions. Instead, God talks about the wild things. He talks about mountain goats and wild oxen, about eagles drinking blood and horses frenzied in battle. He speaks in admiring terms about the leviathan and the behemoth, creatures of immense strength and fierceness. These creatures were untamed and the Lord delights in them. What masculine chapters these are! You will find no little lambs with pink ribbons here. And the Lord speaks to Job, not in a gentle whisper (as He spoke to Elijah), but out of a howling tornado. Why is God so in love with the wild things? Why did He create an entire gender that resists domestication? I get a picture of freedom. I get a picture of celebration. I get a picture of victory. I get a picture of Divine unpredictability. I get a picture of overwhelming confidence and strength. God is no wimp. He and His army of mighty men risk much, sacrifice much, achieve greatness and go from victory to victory. Towering above them all is God, filled with joy, freedom and adventure. No, God didn't answer Job's questions. But He lifted Job up, took his eyes off his painful sores and put them on the stars, on hope, on freedom, on victory. I will have to speak as a man here, because I don't know how all my female readers will take this - but to me what God gave Job was priceless. It's what I've always longed for and, in some small measure, have received. And for that, I am thankful. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 15 09:50:19 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:50:19 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-18-07 ... a little longer Message-ID: <46EBE31B.8080102@dwightclough.com> *Check out the Discoveries Bible, contact us, read ahead and more all at the new *_*DwightClough.com*_ /*When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. -- Revelation 6:9-11*/ I got an email one day from someone who told me that she hates God because she finds Him to be cruel. As I prayed and reflected on how to best answer her, I realized that I don't have very many answers. I don't know why life doesn't make sense, and why so many people suffer so terribly. I knew that even if I had the answers, they probably wouldn't satisfy her. God has all the answers, but He only chooses to share some of those answers with us. If we really needed answers, I guess He would give them to us. Here in this passage, God's saints in heaven cry out for an answer. But God doesn't give them a direct answer. All He does is tell them that every person's suffering counts. There is weight and value in every person who suffers. Each one is bringing God's plan closer to it's conclusion. The moment will come when the last saint will fall. Then God will rise and judge the earth. When I wrote my reply, all I could do was tell her what suffering people had shown me. I had nothing to offer her, because what are my little trials compared to years of pain? But I could point her to members of the heavenly family who know pain more intimately than I do. I stood on the sidelines and looked with awe at what God had done in their lives. And I invited her to look with me. I couldn't explain it to her. Rather I just stood there, like a little child, and pointed at something I didn't understand. Their suffering counts. It speaks when I am silent. It brings God back into the lives of the people He loves. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 15 09:51:02 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:51:02 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-19-07 A picnic lunch with God Message-ID: <46EBE346.6000108@dwightclough.com> *Check out the Discoveries Bible, contact us, read ahead and more all at the new *_*DwightClough.com*_ /*Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. But God did not raise His hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. -- Exodus 24:9-11*/ I'm struck with how casual God can be at times. This is the same God who said, "... you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live." Yet He invites Moses who will later disobey and strike the rock instead of speaking to it, Aaron who will turn around and make a golden calf idol, Nadab and Abihu who will dishonor Him by burning unauthorized fire, and the seventy elders who will fail to take a stand with Joshua and Caleb after the exploration of the land. All of us have lies that we believe, deep down. Vulnerable moment: Here's one of mine. Sometimes, deep down, I have thought of God as aloof, as not really caring, as not being concerned or connected. But here He is, reaching out to the very people who will rebel against Him, inviting them up for a picnic lunch. Years ago I came upon the discovery that God likes me. That may seem unimportant to you, but to me it was absolutely life changing. I knew that God loved me, I mean, hey, that's His job. But I never knew that He liked me. That He liked hanging out with me. That He liked quirky, eccentric, sometimes bold but often hesitant me. God likes me. I'm still finding the edges of that discovery, if there are any. And, do you know something? I think He likes you too. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 15 09:51:41 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:51:41 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-20-07 An offering of thanks Message-ID: <46EBE36D.6000000@dwightclough.com> *Check out the Discoveries Bible, contact us, read ahead and more all at the new *_*DwightClough.com*_ /*Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel. -- 2 Chronicles 33:16*/ King Manasseh came to the place of thanksgiving the hard way. In his youth he poured himself into idolatry and injustice. On his hands was the blood of the innocent. God sent prophets to warn him, but he paid no attention. Finally, God gave him over to the king of Assyria, and he was thrown in prison. There, in his distress, with shackles on his feet, he cried out to the LORD, and God had compassion on him. God restored him to his own land and to the throne of Israel. Manasseh could never make right everything he had done wrong. Innocent blood still cried out for justice, but he could not deliver it. Yet God had mercy on him, and King Manasseh sacrificed thank offerings. There is something about gratitude. It reflects lessons learned. It grows as we grow. Some of us have deep regrets. If we can, we make amends. But sometimes there is nothing we can do. Except one thing. We can give an offering of thanks. Thanksgiving puts us quietly back at the feet of Jesus. And it is there that we will be restored. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 15 09:52:21 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:52:21 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-21-07 Protection from the God of Jacob Message-ID: <46EBE395.9020903@dwightclough.com> *Check out the Discoveries Bible, contact us, read ahead and more all at the new *_*DwightClough.com*_ /*... may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. -- Psalm 20:1*/ In this verse, the Lord identifies Himself as the God of Jacob. We all want protection, so we look to the same God who protected Jacob. How did God protect Jacob? He certainly did not protect him from the need to flee from his brother Esau. He didn't prevent him from being wed to the wrong woman. He didn't keep Laban from cheating him by changing his wages ten times. He didn't keep Jacob's wife, Rachel, from dying in childbirth. He didn't keep his son Joseph from being sold into slavery, his other sons from lying about it, and his son Simeon from being thrown into prison. What kind of protector is this God of Jacob? To begin with, He is a confident protector -- confident enough to wrench Jacob's hip out of its socket when Esau was coming after him with 400 men. He didn't leave Jacob any power to flee or to fight, because God didn't need Jacob's help. He is a just protector. When God saw how Jacob was being cheated by Laban, He simply changed the laws of genetics so that Laban couldn't get away with his injustice. He is a big picture protector. Jacob didn't see any reason for being wed to Leah, or any reason for the loss of Joseph. But God had reasons, and those reasons came back to protect and provide for Jacob in the end. God has a plan for your protection -- and for mine. It is a plan that is more carefully thought out than our prayer, "Just prevent anything unpleasant from ever happening to me forever and always, amen." In Hebrews 11:21 we are told that Jacob, at the end of his life, blessed his sons by faith. This is a different Jacob than the man who disguised himself as Esau in order to steal his brother's blessing. He could look into the future and see what ordinary people could not see. This was a man who had been protected by God. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 15 09:52:59 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:52:59 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-22-07 Freedom and vision Message-ID: <46EBE3BB.60803@dwightclough.com> *Check out the Discoveries Bible, contact us, read ahead and more all at the new *_*DwightClough.com*_ /*But [Joseph's] brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." -- Genesis 45:3-4*/ What did Joseph see that his brothers, in their terror, were unable to see? He saw the hand of God. Did you know that there will come a day when we will look at every event in our lives and see the hand of God? We will look at every one who has wronged us and see not the pain, but the eternal purposes of God. Joseph stood there and looked at the ten men who set out to destroy his life. These are the men who wanted to profit from his misery. These are the men who plotted his death. These are the men who reduced the value of his life to a few copper coins, and sent him away to a life of utter insignificance. He stood there with the power to do the same to them - to do more, to repay them for every evil thought they ever had, to ruin them. But instead he says, "Come close to me." Joseph has gone beyond forgiveness. He has seen the purposes of God. He has seen the work of God in his own life and in the life of his brothers. Think about it. The day Joseph forgave his brothers he became a free man. Free from the bitterness and hopelessness with which the enemy wanted to enslave him. But the day Joseph saw the purposes of God, he became a ruler. That is God's plan for us: freedom and the vision to rule. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 15 09:53:34 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:53:34 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-23-07 Understanding the fear of the Lord Message-ID: <46EBE3DE.9080208@dwightclough.com> *Check out the Discoveries Bible, contact us, read ahead and more all at the new *_*DwightClough.com*_ /*Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. -- 2 Corinthians 5:11*/ I fear semi trucks going 70 mph. That doesn't mean that I lie awake at night shivering with terror because I'm thinking about Kenworths and Peterbilts. But it does mean that I don't stand out in the middle of the Interstate waiting for a truck to run me over. There's something about 40,000 pounds of metal traveling 103 feet per second that quickly talks me into moving to the side of the road. How can we fear God, the One who loves us and the One whom we love? My brother-in-law owned and operated a Kenworth. Every week he drove all over the East Coast of the United States delivering garage doors. I rode inside his semi. It was fun. We could see over the tops of other vehicles far into the distance. Time passed quickly. If I felt like it, I could go in the back and take a nap. But you would never convince me to jump out and stand in it's path. The very same semi that is comfortable and fun inside, would be dangerous and terrifying if I were just 20 feet away, standing in front of the front bumper. We are in Christ. From our position in Christ we look out and see men and women standing in the highway. Many of them are looking the other way, wearing earplugs or closing their eyes. That's why we keep looking for ways to send the message, "It's a lot safer, and a lot more fun in here." Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 22 18:44:35 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:44:35 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-24-07 Seeing the scriptures with new eyes 1-3 - Ephesians 3:20 Message-ID: <46F59AD3.9010607@dwightclough.com> */What can you imagine? How big can you think? God thinks bigger... Do you want to ask Him for something? Ask big because you're dealing with a big God./ Ephesians 3:20 from the /Discoveries Bible/ * I want to tell you about the /Discoveries Bible/ project. I am concerned -- and have been for decades -- about something I see happening in the church. When certain words are heard or read, the listener (or reader) goes into "religious neutral" - the words have been used so often that they have been deprived of any real meaning. The rich meaning that was intended is lost because we "zone out." A couple years ago I heard about a court case that demonstrates this reality. A separation of church and state advocate was suing a governmental agency because a prayer was said during that agency's proceedings. The court upheld the right of the agency to include the prayer because the words used in the prayer had lost any real meaning and therefore could not be construed to have religious significance. (Amazing, isn't it?) Consider these biblical words and phrases: salvation, holy, worship, truth, praise, love, fear of the Lord, redemption, faith, sacrifice, blessed and so on. These words permeate the scriptures, but as Christians, most of us have heard them so often that they now carry little real meaning any more. Please understand what I'm saying: These are incredibly important realities that are being conveyed by words that don't work as well as they used to. So do we need another Bible translation or paraphrase? No, not exactly. But I do think we need to see the Bible that we have with new eyes. More tomorrow ... Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 22 18:45:07 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:45:07 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-25-07 Seeing the scriptures with new eyes 2-3 - Ephesians 3:20 Message-ID: <46F59AF3.6080008@dwightclough.com> */What can you imagine? How big can you think? God thinks bigger... Do you want to ask Him for something? Ask big because you're dealing with a big God./ Ephesians 3:20 from the /Discoveries Bible/ * Continued from yesterday ... Do we need another Bible translation or paraphrase? No, not exactly. But I do think we need to see the Bible that we have with new eyes. That's what I'm attempting to do with the /Discoveries Bible/. I want to make the meaning accessible to the reader. I pray that God will take some things that have grown stale for some of us and breathe new life into them. I don't pretend that the /Discoveries Bible/ will be a great work of scholarship. I recommend that you /don't/ use it to form your theology. The other day I was working on a project for a client. He looked at it and didn't like it. At first I felt terrible. I like doing good work and I don't want my name attached to anything that isn't good. So I held all of this up to the Lord, and He showed me something I never really considered before. The Lord showed me this: I thought I was doing this work for my client. But that was really an illusion. In reality, I did the work for the Lord. He received it; He accepted it; He liked it. Now He was giving me a new assignment: "Go, make your client happy." The Lord reminded me that He is the One who establishes the work of our hands (Psalm 90). So here we have it: Same situation, brand new perspective. That's what I want to do with the /Discoveries Bible/. Same Bible passage, brand new perspective. More tomorrow ... Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 22 18:48:48 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:48:48 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-26-07 Seeing the scriptures with new eyes 3-3 - Ephesians 3:20 Message-ID: <46F59BD0.2020608@dwightclough.com> */What can you imagine? How big can you think? God thinks bigger... Do you want to ask Him for something? Ask big because you're dealing with a big God./ Ephesians 3:20 from the /Discoveries Bible/ * Continued from yesterday ... For the last two days, I've been talking about a new project at DwightClough.com -- the /Discoveries Bible/. In practical terms, it takes time to work on something like this. And -- even though it sounds secular, it is true - time does mean money. So I've been trying to figure out how, as a professional writer, I can carve out time to work on the /Discoveries Bible/. Here's what I've come up with. If you would like to sponsor a chapter of the /Discoveries Bible/, you can do so for a $50 donation to Dwight Clough Ministries. (Tax deductible in the USA) You can donate online at my website (http://www.DwightClough.com) or print out a sheet that you can mail in with a check. When you contribute, let me know which chapter you'd like to sponsor and why. (It can be any chapter in the Bible whether I've finished it or not.) When I finish and post that chapter online, I'll include your reason for sponsoring it along with your name (or "anonymous" - your choice). You may sponsor as many chapters as you want. Or your small group or Bible study may sponsor an entire book of the Bible if you would like. (Although we may do a printed version at some future date, my plan for now is to make the Discoveries Bible available to readers for free on the web.) Several days ago I drove down to Chicago and picked up 260 copies of /Amazing Faith/. This is a collection of fifteen stories of God at work in the lives of His people in all kinds of situations -- overcoming racial prejudice, being interrogated by the KGB, surviving breast cancer, offering hope to urban teenage "throwaways," living with an alcoholic spouse, walking away from a lucrative job, standing up to incredible pressure to deny the faith and so on. I loved working on this book with Tom Shaw and interviewing people like Jerry Jenkins, George Verwer, Dr. Gary Chapman and others. /Amazing Faith/ retails for $11.99 but it is now out of print. I'm so glad I was able to find these last 260 copies in the publisher's warehouse. As my way of thanking you for being a friend to this ministry, I want to send you a copy of /Amazing Faith/ -- when you send a donation of any amount to Dwight Clough Ministries. I also want to speak to our dear friends around the world who pray fervently for us but truly cannot afford to send any money. Your prayers mean more than dollars ever will. If you would like a copy of this book, let me know and I'll do my best to send you one. Finally, all of you. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your encouragement. You are precious to Kim and me. May the Lord greatly encourage you today. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 22 18:46:20 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:46:20 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-27-07 New creation - 2 Corinthians 5:17 Message-ID: <46F59B3C.5040406@dwightclough.com> /*Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -- 2 Corinthians 5:17*/ I was born again in a little yellow house in Carolina Beach, North Carolina when I was about ten years old. At that moment, the Spirit of God transformed me, and I became a new person. When I was placed in Christ, an indestructible Dwight was born, and the old dead Dwight ceased to be. I was created, as the Bible says elsewhere, for good works. This is the work of God. We all know the works of the flesh ... impurity, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, selfish ambition and so on. Most of us -- me included -- know these things because we've been guilty of them at various times. I would like to suggest to you that God's work is stronger, more enduring, more cunning, more indestructible, more powerful than the works of the flesh. Jesus is bringing transforming newness to every part of us. God's work is certain and powerful. But it is also patient and considerate. God transforms us one "yes" at a time. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 22 18:49:41 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:49:41 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-28-07 Risk - Numbers 13:1-2 Message-ID: <46F59C05.6040404@dwightclough.com> /*The LORD said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan ... " -- Numbers 13:1-2*/ Even though I never put it on my resume, I always wanted to be an explorer. The idea of trekking across Greenland with just a dog, a sled and a .38 caliber pistol to find the Magnetic North Pole, or working my way through steaming jungles to find the headwaters of the Nile, or hiking through the Andes in search of lost treasure -- these things always appealed to me. Of course, exploring is risky business. There are polar bears and army ants, hidden crevasses in the ice and huge Canaanites in the land. Even though God knows all the risks, He still sends us out to explore. Why? Doesn't He know that Christianity is about being safe and comfortable and not upsetting the applecart? Apparently not. Evidently, He figures the discoveries that await us are worth the risks we endure. Yes, we might be eaten by cannibals or fall through a hole in the ice, but the reward is greater than all those risks. Or, more to the point with most of us, yes, our friends may think we are fools, we may lose our money and our reputation, but those are small things compared to the great adventure with God. Better to risk it all in a valiant attempt, then to stay safe when God says go. So here's to the great adventure. Lord, may You enjoy our company as we set out to explore the land with You. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 22 18:52:16 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:52:16 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-29-07 Hearing Him ourselves - John 4:41-42 Message-ID: <46F59CA0.5000303@dwightclough.com> /*And many more believed by His own word and said unto the woman, "Now we believe, not because of thy speech; for we have heard Him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." -- John 4:41-42 adapted from The Jubilee Bible*/ There comes a moment when we all need to make a transition. Eternal life never rides on coat tails. God seeks you out because He wants a relationship with /you/. Somebody else's faith, someone else's word may help us to come to Christ, but it is Christ's own word to us that keeps us there. As I have opportunity I meet and pray with people. I share my own word with them, at times. But that isn't what they ultimately need. They go away changed not because they meet with me, but because they meet with Christ. That is the greatest privilege of all ... leading people to Jesus, for salvation - certainly, but not only for that, also for the bread of life -- for every word that comes from the mouth of God. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 22 18:52:47 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:52:47 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 09-30-07 The way of love - John 1:14 Message-ID: <46F59CBF.5030002@dwightclough.com> /*The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. -- John 1:14*/ The way of love is to enter the world of the person you wish to love. In the summer of 2002 I interviewed Tamara White who has a ministry to gangs, street people and "throw-aways" in Denver, Colorado. I have enormous respect for Tamara, because, at great risk to herself, she goes where the people are, where the need is, and there she makes her dwelling. She has been stalked. She has been shot at with Uzi submachine guns. Tamara has done things that, frankly, I would be scared to do. She has lived in places I wouldn't want my daughters to even visit. But she cares, so she goes, and she makes a difference. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. What a risk taker God is! How courageous He is to humble Himself. To become one of us. To get lost in the mass of insignificant humanity. To mingle with us on our own turf. God pioneered the way of love. He entered the world of the ones He wanted to love. Now we know that we matter to Him. Be encouraged! Dwight Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Sep 29 11:05:16 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:05:16 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 10-01-07 The anatomy of trouble -- Psalm 34:19 Message-ID: <46FE69AC.5030100@dwightclough.com> /*A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all. -- Psalm 34:19*/ When trouble comes, our mis-perceptions rush to the surface.... I'm trapped. God has forgotten about me. It will only get worse. God doesn't like me any more. God is just punishing me for something I must have done wrong. God likes to see me squirm. Then God gives us an opportunity to replace doubt with faith. This is Divine work -- we cannot do it on our own. We can only bring our deepest fears to Jesus and see what He wants to do with them. We hand our fear to Jesus; He hands faith to us. We invite Him into the scariest places. Then, when trouble has finished doing its work, God shows us how small the problem really was compared to His boundless solution. So why does a righteous man have many troubles? Because every time we get to know Jesus a little more; His comfort sinks a little deeper into the core of who we are. 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 Sep 29 11:08:40 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:08:40 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 10-02-07 Something was amiss -- 1 Kings 17:20 Message-ID: <46FE6A78.5050900@dwightclough.com> /*Then [Elijah] cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have You brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?" -- 1 Kings 17:20*/ I want to focus in on one word in this verse: the word "also." God's judgment had fallen upon a nation. For three successive years, famine left people starving and in desperate need. Dying of hunger or of disease was a commonplace fact of life. I'm sure the survivors looked at each other and asked, "Where will it end?" and "Are we all going to die?" A widow's son gets sick and dies. That won't even make the six o'clock news. Nobody is going to care. Everybody has problems of their own. But God cares. Deep down Elijah knows that God cares -- that something is amiss here -- that he shouldn't take this blow lying down. I would like to suggest to you that there is an invisible line around the people of God. There is a boundary that is not to be crossed. Does that mean that we are all exempt from trouble, that sickness and death will never claim any of us? No. But it does mean that we are God's property and he watches over what is His. There is a line that cannot be crossed drawn around you. I don't know exactly where that line is and neither do you. But God does. And that line has been drawn so that you and I won't become another "also," another statistic in a meaningless sea of tragedies. Jesus said, "Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die." (John 11:26) God's resilient eternal life has been planted in us, and all the forces of hell and all the tragedies of this world cannot snuff it out. 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 Sep 29 11:09:35 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:09:35 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 10-03-07 God's heart and our pain -- John 11:35 Message-ID: <46FE6AAF.20104@dwightclough.com> /*Jesus wept. -- John 11:35*/ We can never understand human suffering without taking into account the suffering of God. Why did Jesus weep? Why didn't He smile? He was the only one present who knew that the grief of Mary and Martha would soon give way to delirious, dancing joy. He was the only one present with the power to reverse the tragedy, and He fully intended to use that power. Yet He wept. God is not aloof. Even moments before our deliverance, His heart feels every bit of our pain. 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 Sep 29 11:10:39 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:10:39 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 10-04-07 Dealing with doubt -- Hebrews 11:6 Message-ID: <46FE6AEF.4090607@dwightclough.com> /*... without faith it is impossible to please God ... -- Hebrews 11:6*/ What about doubt? What about those little voices that tell us that God won't come through for us, that God isn't really kind, that God is going to leave us hanging, that God as we know Him doesn't really even exist? The disciples knew those voices of doubt. "Lord," they said, "increase our faith." Jesus didn't seem to be troubled by their request. Instead, He said, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can ..." Every doubt is an opportunity for God to show up in our place of weakness and do something supernatural. When we bring our doubts to the Master and hear the Word of God, something inside us changes forever. We begin to taste and see that God is good. What is faith? In part, faith opens the door on all these secret chambers of doubt and allows a life-changing God to come inside. 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 Sep 29 11:11:50 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:11:50 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 10-05-07 Reason to rejoice -- Daniel 4:37 NIV Message-ID: <46FE6B36.6030801@dwightclough.com> *//* /*... those who walk in pride He is able to humble. -- Daniel 4:37 NIV */ Now, here is reason to rejoice! Not for the other guy, but for ourselves. You and I can bring our pride to God. We don't need to hide it from the Lord any more. God knows what to do with it. Do you think that God is eager to humiliate you? He is not. Is God unkind? Of course not! We may rush to Him with all our sins and all our temptations. He not only forgives our sins, but He also cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 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 Sep 29 11:13:06 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:13:06 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 10-06-07 God's sovereignty and man's free choice -- 2 Kings 5:2 Message-ID: <46FE6B82.7020906@dwightclough.com> /*Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. -- 2 Kings 5:2*/ I have a question for you. Was it God's will for this young girl to be taken captive? In few words, the writer of this passage sweeps over an enormous personal tragedy. A village was burned. Men were cut down. Women were violated. Children were scattered. Human beings were uprooted from all that was good and sure and secure, and turned into property. How could this be the will of God? Most of us know the story. The writer is setting the stage for the healing of a man, the eternal salvation of an important leader, and the healing of nations. The way God got there was through this great tragedy -- a young girl taken captive. Some people believe that the sovereignty of God excludes human choice. But God is not so insecure. He gives people freedom to make terrible choices. His sovereignty just means that He always wins -- that no matter what we choose, His good plan will unfold. It is like me playing chess with the great chess grandmaster, Bobby Fischer. I might choose my moves, but Bobby Fischer will choose the outcome of the game. 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 Sep 29 11:13:56 2007 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:13:56 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 10-07-07 Good gifts -- Exodus 20:17 Message-ID: <46FE6BB4.7090606@dwightclough.com> /*You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. -- Exodus 20:17*/ Why would we think that a gift from the devil is better than a gift from God? The whole point of this commandment is this: God gives good gifts. There have been times in my marriage when I couldn't figure out what drug induced me to say, "I do." This is usually the time when the devil brings out the dessert tray and whispers, "See what you're missing!" We all know, I hope, that there's nothing but candy-coated poison on that tray. But what is God getting at here, when he tells us to refuse the devil's gift? I think the main point is to take a second look at what you already have. In my case, when I stop trying to get my wife to be a little god who is burdened with meeting needs in me she was not designed to meet, and just let her be my wife, I have it pretty good. In fact, the longer I look at this custom-designed gift from God to me, the more I realize I have it real good. God, open our eyes to see the goodness of Your gifts to us. 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: