From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 1 16:45:22 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:45:22 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-03-08 Courage and authority -- 1 Kings 18:18-19 Message-ID: <490CBFE2.1010304@dwightclough.com> /*"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." -- 1 Kings 18:18-19*/ Where does Elijah get his courage? He flatly contradicts King Ahab. He sets the record straight. He accuses Ahab of ruining the country. And then he issues an order to the king, and fully expects him to obey it. Jesus said, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing." Elijah here certainly could have done nothing without the LORD granting him authority. You don't just go up to the highest authority in the land and start issuing orders unless and until you represent something or Someone bigger than yourself. One of the ways God manages a fallen world is through successive layers of authority. In any case, whether governments, families or fallen angels, Jesus is always at the top of the organizational chart. When I was 20 years old, I became a parole and probation officer. At first, it seemed very strange to issue instructions to hardened criminals who were twice my age. But I came to understand that it wasn't me issuing the orders. The State of Ohio issued those orders. I was just the spokesman for the state. When God wants something accomplished, He will grant us all the authority we need to get the job done. Courage will come as God enables us to understand the assignment and the authority He has granted each of us. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 1 16:45:52 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:45:52 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-04-08 True theology will follow -- 1 Kings 18:21 Message-ID: <490CC000.6080905@dwightclough.com> *For my friends in the US: This is not a day for godly people to stay home. Pray, listen to God, vote, come home and pray some more.* /*Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. -- 1 Kings 18:21*/ There is a limit to what theology can do. Nobody in his right mind is going to give away his life for a creed. Nobody is going to die for a doctrinal statement. The people said nothing. On one hand they have King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. They have made it politically incorrect to follow the LORD. No, they've made it downright dangerous to follow the LORD. Follow Him and you might die. On the other hand, they have Elijah who seems be running this show, who is following the LORD, and who is claiming that Baal is phony baloney. Not enough data. Any choice was risky. Better play it cool. -- This was how they were thinking. God knew this. He knew that reclaiming His place in their lives would require them to experience God in a fresh new way. And He was ready. This is one of the reasons, by the way, that God allows Christians to suffer for their faith. Most people can't relate to a picture of a Jesus on a cross, an event removed by 2,000 years. But they do understand a neighbor, a coworker, a family member who suffers for Christ and by so doing extends to them the depth of God's love for them. God invites us to taste and see that He is good. He wants to meet us in the realm of our experience. As we shall see in a few verses, when we experience the real God, true theology will follow. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 1 16:46:33 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:46:33 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-05-08 The sin of Jeroboam -- 1 Kings 13:34 Message-ID: <490CC029.3010100@dwightclough.com> /*This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth. -- 1 Kings 13:34*/ Twenty-five times in scripture we come back to the sin of Jeroboam. I don't think any other name in the Bible is more often associated with sin than his. The sin of Jeroboam led to the fall of nine successive dynasties and the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Eight kings were assassinated; the sin of Jeroboam was a factor in every one. Again and again, the LORD sent prophets to warn these kings to turn away from the sin of Jeroboam, but all of these warnings were ignored. In hindsight, it seems incredible, tragic, immeasurable folly and a vast loss of what could have been so good. On the surface, it seems like the sin of Jeroboam is idolatry -- the worship of golden calves at Bethel and Dan. But when we look below the surface, we discover some things that I think can help us understand how to uproot sin in our own lives. If you read 1 Kings 12, you discover that Jeroboam had a problem. He was looking for a way to consolidate his power. Worship in Israel centered around visiting Solomon's magnificent temple in Jerusalem three times a year. To allow his subjects to travel into his rival's territory to worship seemed dangerous to him. It seemed more than dangerous; it felt suicidal. He needed a way to keep them out of his rival's country. So he devised a solution. He created regional shrines. He needed something that would rival the glory of Solomon's temple, so he created idols of gold. The very thing that was designed to save his dynasty destroyed it. Jeroboam's solution became his problem. This is sin at its essence. A solution that becomes a problem. Finding an alternative to God. Building a house of cards with a foundation of lies. What would cure the sin of Jeroboam? Taking his problem to God. Letting God tell him the truth - did he need the idols? Not once in all the Bible do we read of any king of Israel asking God how to maintain the kingdom without the golden calves. They had prophets. They had a way of asking. But somehow, they couldn't bring themselves to do so. If you struggle with a sin in your life, how do you get rid of it? You can fight the sin all day long, but if you don't let yourself discover the reason the sin is in your life, you probably won't accomplish much. What is the sin doing for you? Is it possible that God could do for you what you think the sin will do? Is it possible that God can provide the validation, the security, the sense of belonging, the vindication or whatever it is that you need? I believe this is what God longs to do in your life and mine. He wants to be our solution. And He will be as we allow. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 1 16:47:00 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:47:00 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-06-08 Pixie dust -- Luke 12:20 Message-ID: <490CC044.8060606@dwightclough.com> /*... who will get what you have prepared for yourself? -- Luke 12:20*/ In the Disney version of Peter Pan, Peter is puzzled because Wendy cannot fly. He cannot figure it out, until it dawns on him that she was never sprinkled with pixie dust. Like Wendy before pixie dust, money keeps us earthbound until it is given to God. Like tentacles reaching up from the grave, so also the lies we believe about money twist and tangle around us, until we cannot escape their gravitational pull without God mercifully hacking us free. What do we truly believe? Money is the meter that reveals the content of our hearts. What are we, for example, without stylish clothing, a newer car or a nice house in the suburbs? What damage will we sustain if those things are taken away from us? (I realize that our readers come from many countries and many cultures, so you may have to substitute something that makes more sense for your culture.) Where exactly is the fear line in your heart? I know where mine is. And why does God sometimes pull us across it? Let me suggest that He wants to show us the truth we never quite grasped before: He is on the other side. Our fears seem so real, but they are illusions. God is the reality. It seems like we will plunge into the recklessness of giving all alone. But we are not alone. He is there to catch us. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 1 16:47:29 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:47:29 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-07-08 Take heart -- Habakkuk 3:19 The Message Message-ID: <490CC061.3040103@dwightclough.com> /*Counting on GOD's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. -- Habakkuk 3:19 The Message*/ There are a few truths we need to come back to, and this is one of them. God's work isn't finished. Justice may seem like a joke, but sooner or later everyone comes face to face with God. The rope may be long, but it will hang the evildoer in the end. Many things in life seem true, but aren't. It may seem that God doesn't care, that He is on vacation, that we are all alone. But even though those things may seem horribly real, they are passing illusions that will be replaced with earth shaking reality of the God who loves justice. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 1 16:47:59 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:47:59 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-08-08 The vacuum principle - part one -- Galatians 6:1 Message-ID: <490CC07F.7000001@dwightclough.com> /*Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. -- Galatians 6:1*/ If you take away sin, what is left? Think about it. I think this is a very important question that most people haven't considered, yet it is the reason so many people have so many problems. I think most Christians would say that if you take away sin you are left with righteousness or obedience or goodness. But I disagree. If you take away sin, you are left with a vacuum. You are left with an emptiness that longs to be filled and will be filled quickly with something. It might be filled again with the same sin. People who wrestle with addictions understand this. They try to stop, and they can't. Or this vacuum might be filled with self righteousness. Often it is, and this is why people get such a bad taste in their mouths for what they believe to be Christianity. Jesus made it clear that if you drive out an evil spirit, that it will come back, and finding the house unoccupied, rounds up seven worse spirits and re-enters the house. It's the vacuum principle. You can bet those evil spirits wouldn't be at all interested in returning if they knocked on the front door and Jesus answered. (More tomorrow.) Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 1 16:48:33 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:48:33 -0500 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-09-08 The vacuum principle - part two -- Galatians 6:1 Message-ID: <490CC0A1.9010803@dwightclough.com> /*Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. -- Galatians 6:1*/ I like chocolate. It has become a joke among those who know me well. I contend that chocolate is a great weight loss food because if you're hungry for chocolate and you eat something else, you'll eat and eat and eat and never get full. If I'm hungry for chocolate, I'll sometimes dip pretty low. I'll even eat generic kids snack chocolate that tastes more like plastic than the real thing. But give me a choice, and I'll walk away from kids chocolate, milk chocolate, coffee-flavored chocolate, white chocolate -- I'll leave it far behind for what I truly like: dark, semisweet chocolate - like what you'd find in a Mounds bar or in a Hershey's Special Dark. You can't simply get rid of sin. But you can trade it in for something better. The reason we can restore our brothers and sisters gently is this: We have the same vacuum inside -- the same cravings that only Jesus can deeply satisfy. If we want to restore people, let's find out what need they are trying to meet with their sin. At the core, we have the same needs. Now let's find a way for Jesus to meet that need. Many Christians just want to get people converted and scratch their heads when that doesn't settle everything. But Jesus wants to find His way deep into our hearts so that He fills all the vacuums left when we give our sins to Him. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 8 12:11:51 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:11:51 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-10-08 New creation -- Galatians 6:16 Message-ID: <4915C857.90103@dwightclough.com> /*Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. -- Galatians 6:16*/ The work of God is deep inside our hearts. A new creation is what we are. Who does the creating? God does. What is the result? The result is you are uniquely you and I am uniquely me; and God, you and I can all celebrate that. While, yes, sin is sin, God does an amazing thing in this verse. He liberates us from cookie-cutter righteousness. Righteous you and righteous I look totally different, just like each of my four kids looks totally different. There's a family look, yeah, but that's where the similarity ends. God is reckless compared to man. People try to get everybody to line up and wear the same "this-is-how-you-should-live" uniform. But God creates us each wildly different than the other, and celebrates it all. This, by the way, is one reason we can all learn from each other. Each of us reflects something from the Master that isn't caught quite the same way by anybody else. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 8 12:12:26 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:12:26 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-11-08 The fire of God -- 1 Kings 18:38 Message-ID: <4915C87A.70205@dwightclough.com> /*Then the fire of the LORD fell ... -- 1 Kings 18:38*/ There's so much that I like about this chapter: Elijah standing up to King Ahab, Elijah provoking a contest with Baal and challenging the people to choose the true God, Elijah taunting the false prophets, Elijah soaking his sacrifice with precious water, and Elijah's brief but powerful prayer. But this is the moment that makes everything else so special: God showed up. This is the central fact of human history, the main truth of the Bible: At the right time, God shows up. Notice how God works. He first gets our attention. Though many people probably ignored Elijah's prediction of no rain, everybody felt the reality of its fulfillment. As human resources drain away, God narrows our options until, in the end, we have only two choices: God or Baal. When we still cannot choose, He makes it abundantly clear: There is no one in heaven or on earth like the LORD. The fire of God fell. And it falls today, to burn up our doubts and fears, and to make our choices clear. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 8 12:12:53 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:12:53 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-12-08 Acting on orders -- 1 Kings 18:43 Message-ID: <4915C895.5020908@dwightclough.com> /*"Go and look toward the sea," [Elijah] said to his servant. And he went up and looked.*/ /*"There is nothing there," he said.*/ /*Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."*/ /*-- 1 Kings 18:43*/ Sometimes we go to the cupboard looking for answered prayer, and there's nothing there. A pastor I knew was an air traffic controller in Korea during the Korean War. One night he was faced with a terrible dilemma. A North Korean bomber was flying around the hills trying to find their base and bomb it. Everything was blacked out, so the bomber was dropping bombs harmlessly in a deserted valley nearby. But an American plane was returning to base. The sophisticated navigational systems that we now take for granted were not available then. The only way the pilot could safely land was to see the runway. The only way to see the runway was to turn on the lights. But if he turned on the lights, the bomber would find the base and bomb it. In the tower with the controller was a friend of the American pilot. He demanded that the controller turn on the lights. The controller refused, citing his orders to keep the base in a blackout while an enemy bomber was in the vicinity. Eventually, the American plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the side of a mountain, killing the pilot. There was an investigation. Why did the young air traffic controller refuse to turn on the lights? His actions led to the death of an American pilot and the loss of an American plane. How could he explain himself? The General conducting the investigation looked at the air traffic controller. But after hearing ten words, he dismissed the case against him. "Sir," the air traffic controller said, "I was acting on the last orders I received." Sometimes in life, we need to move forward on the last orders we received. God has given us an instruction, He hasn't given us any updates or changes, so we move ahead on the instruction we have unless and until God chooses to change it. God honored Elijah's persistence, and the seventh time, He sent the promised rain. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 8 12:13:19 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:13:19 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-13-08 Lasting authority -- 1 Kings 19:1-3 Message-ID: <4915C8AF.10205@dwightclough.com> /*Now [King] Ahab told [Queen] Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the [false] prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them."*/ /*Elijah was afraid and ran for his life ... -- 1 Kings 19:1-3*/ In the showdown between the LORD and Baal, the LORD clearly won -- fire fell, the people were convinced, rain came, and Elijah ran ahead of Ahab back to Jezreel. But, if Elijah was expecting a hero's welcome, he was in for a big disappointment. The main infection of Baalism remained in the form of Queen Jezebel. She was unmoved by God's display of power and remained determined to spread her poison to the people through her weak and vacillating husband, King Ahab. Jezebel had a history of killing people who disagreed with her. No doubt she fully intended to kill Elijah, but, when she got him to run away, she accomplished much of what she wanted: She left no doubt about who was really in charge of Israel. She was. Yet Jezebel's power was far more limited than she realized. Jesus understood this when He spoke to Pilate. "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." (John 19:10-11) Jezebel thought she could kill Elijah, but she couldn't. Rather, she herself was executed by a ruler (Jehu) who was appointed by one of Elijah's servant's servants. Jezebel's threat seemed so real. But it proved to be an illusion. She had no lasting power over the people of God. Enduring power belongs to the Son of God, and we are seated in heavenly places with Him. No monster of this age can take that away, and God will have the last word. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 8 12:13:48 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:13:48 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-14-08 Into the light -- Genesis 3:9 Message-ID: <4915C8CC.4060306@dwightclough.com> /*But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" -- Genesis 3:9*/ Here we have God's basic question after the fall, and man's biggest problem. What we bring out into the open before God, God can fix. What we hide in the shadows, festers and infects, and keeps us unclean. So much of life is God wooing us out of the shadows. Not violating us by dragging us into the light, but gently awakening us to the truth: Jesus is willing; He will touch us and we will be clean. God knows all the secret corners of our hearts. What we may want so much to hide from Him, He knows about already. Jesus is not here to condemn, but here to restore the sons and daughters of God. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 8 12:14:13 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:14:13 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-15-08 Hugs -- Matthew 23:37 The Message Message-ID: <4915C8E5.2090403@dwightclough.com> /*Jerusalem! Jerusalem! ... How often I've ached to embrace your children ... -- Matthew 23:37 The Message*/ A few years ago, a bumper sticker appeared on the back of police cars, minivans, family cars -- for a while it was part of the fabric of American culture. It read, "Have you hugged your kid today?" I would like to turn this little saying around, and ask it a different way: "Have you let God hug His kid today?" Who is His kid? You are! Did you know that the best thing you can do for your world is let yourself be loved by God? It may seem selfish, but it is not. In this verse, Jesus is describing a longing, an ache that He feels to embrace those He loves. To embrace you. To love you. It is not selfish to permit God to love you, His child. It may seem impractical, but it is not. When you have opened your heart to the love of God, then God enters your life with fresh power, creativity, possibility, and anointing. I don't know exactly how God wants to show His love to you. But God knows. And if you will open the door today - every day - God will find a way to come in. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 8 12:14:39 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:14:39 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-16-08 Good news -- Mark 16:15 Message-ID: <4915C8FF.7010202@dwightclough.com> /*He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. -- Mark 16:15*/ There is a shortage of good news in our world. Imagine what it would be like if you turned on the TV and instead of hearing about wars and disasters, about crime and political scandals, you heard a report that went like this: "The president has just announced that he is going to pay off everybody's debt. If you owe anybody anything, just send the bill to the president and he has agreed to pay it out of his own private funds." Now that would be good news! We bring good news into our world. That is our role. Deep down, people know they are messed up. When a person finally feels safe enough to muster the courage to take an honest look at himself, he knows, immediately, that something is wrong. Most people cannot be bullied into this kind of honesty. Bullying doesn't work because people hide from bullies or retaliate. But our job is to preach good news. What is the good news? Jesus will fix everything that's wrong with you and with your world if you will let Him. Jesus is the Solution. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 15 19:16:33 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:16:33 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-17-08 The right Medicine -- John 15:5 Message-ID: <491F6661.80508@dwightclough.com> /*... apart from Me, you can do nothing. -- John 15:5*/ Most of us would agree that Jesus is the Solution. But what exactly does that mean? It means that we need to prescribe the right Medicine to a sick world. Sometimes we get confused about that. We prescribe all sorts of things that cannot cure. Faith, by itself, cannot cure. Religion, in my view, has done more harm than good. Repentance is not the Solution. Obedience heals nothing. Character is not the Cure. Hard work won't help. All our crafty step-by-step solutions to a better life are meaningless. I realize I'm bashing things most of us hold sacred. But understand what I'm saying. These things are nice, but they are not the Solution this world needs. They are not the Solution you need, I need. Jesus is the Solution. Either we bring Jesus to our hurting world or we are not preaching good news. When we walk with Jesus into those messed up places in our lives, then faith will come. Repentance will follow and disobedience will no longer make any sense. Character will grow. But the cart can't pull the horse. The solution is never "Jesus AND." It is simply Jesus. He will make it right and everything good will follow. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 15 19:17:19 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:17:19 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-18-08 Offering the Solution -- John 15:5 Message-ID: <491F668F.1060400@dwightclough.com> /*... apart from Me, you can do nothing. -- John 15:5*/ Are we prescribing problems or solutions? Let me give you an example. Suppose a man comes to us and says, "I hate my father." (This is a pretty common discovery once people start getting honest with themselves.) Suppose we say, "You need to forgive your father." Have we offered a solution? No. We have simply restated the problem. He hates his father. He is holding on to the anger and cannot release his father from his father's offenses (real or imaginary). But suppose we help this man find his anger, figure out why he is angry, and figure out what why he is unwilling to give that anger to Jesus. Suppose we hold all of that up to Jesus in our honest helplessness to do anything apart from Him. Now we have offered the Solution. We have brought Jesus to the place of need. There is a reason why this man cannot let go of his anger, and Jesus knows what to do with that reason. Is forgiveness the solution? No. Jesus is the Solution. Forgiveness is just the outcome. By the way, the forgiveness that comes when Jesus is applied to the problem is far different than the teeth-clenching, hand-wringing, "I-just-gotta-forgive-him-whether-I-feel-like-it-or-not" forgiveness that comes when people mistakenly think that obedience is a solution. When Jesus is the Solution, forgiveness is a delight, because our hearts have been transformed to look like His heart. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 15 19:17:46 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:17:46 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-19-08 A miracle waiting to happen -- John 9:1-3 Message-ID: <491F66AA.9080101@dwightclough.com> *As [Jesus] went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"* *"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." -- John 9:1-3* Every person is a miracle waiting to happen. Notice the players here in this little story. There is the man blind from birth. He has given up. He knows he will never see. He doesn't even know what seeing is. He is helpless and there is no hope. Along comes average Joe Christian - the disciples. In their sin-centered world, they wanted to turn this man's misery into a theology lesson. Then Jesus arrives on the scene. He is the only One who sees the situation for what it really is: an opportunity for God. Every one of us has problems that aren't going away. It's part of the human condition. It might be a problem with health or money or marriage or addiction or whatever. But, if we have the guts to be honest, we have stubborn problems - and, apart from God, there's no solution. In fact, I will suggest that we need these kinds of problems if we are ever to learn something about who we are and who God is. Not that we go looking for them. No, they will come to us. To add insult to injury, we all will have people in our lives who will delight to point out our faults and failings, who will try to convince us that our problems are a result of some sin or shortcoming that we could have avoided. Then there is God. He sees the problem for what it is: an opportunity for God to show us who He is. Some of us will discover God as our Healer. Some will discover Him as the One who mends broken hearts. Some of us will find Him as the One who makes a way when there is no way. Some of us will discover God as the One who sets us free. All of these discoveries started out as people with problems. But then the problem fades and the treasure remains. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 15 19:18:12 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:18:12 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-20-08 Fear not -- Isaiah 41:10 Message-ID: <491F66C4.8080304@dwightclough.com> /*So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. -- Isaiah 41:10 */ What we fear controls us. On one side of the fear line we are willing and obedient, ready to serve God and do whatever He commands. On the other side, we say, "God, I cannot do that. It's too scary." Some time ago, a missionary told this story. A group of militant anti-Christians shouting angry accusations surrounded and broke into a Christian compound. When the leader of the compound went out to reason with the crowd, he was mercilessly beaten. This man had a little child - she was barely old enough to begin speaking a few words clearly. She had never spoken a complete sentence before. While her father was being beaten, she walked out toward the angry mob. Someone from the mob saw the little girl and intended to bring harm to her. One of the women of the compound saw what was about to take place, she ran as fast as she could, scooped up the little one, and ran into a women's dormitory. She barely had time to bolt the door before the angry crowd caught up with her. The surrounded the dormitory attempting to knock down the door or break through the windows. When that failed, they doused the building with kerosene and tried to start it on fire. Inside, the women were terrified. They were screaming and crying, but all of a sudden, something arrested their attention. The little child, who had never before spoken a sentence, said this: "Why are you so afraid? Don't you know that you are the apple of My eye?" >From that point forward, the women stood in awe of God. The angry crowd tried again and again to set the house on fire, but could not. They finally dispersed and went home. The point of my story? God will meet you in your fears. He will show you that He has not abandoned you. He will show you what kind of God He is, that His strength is enough even for you. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 17 19:40:55 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:40:55 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-21-08 Let the little children -- Mark 10:14 Message-ID: <49220F17.2010707@dwightclough.com> /*When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. -- Mark 10:14 */ Behavior is a barometer. Transformation is the thermostat. By this I mean that our behavior reveals what is in our hearts. Transformation changes what is in our hearts. For me, one of the things that grieves me most is the mistreatment of children. I have mourned my own mistakes and failings with my own children; many times I have cried out to God over this. While I was in Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the thing that grieved me the most was the times I was in homes in which parents were unkind to their own children. Homes can be rebuilt. Possessions can be restored. Even mourning for lost loved ones runs its course. But the mistreatment of a child can hurt for a lifetime and replicate itself into future generations. One of the things I love about Jesus is this: He welcomes, loves and defends those who have no power or status in this world. Jesus has always been the Champion of little people, the powerless and the invisible. Do you want to measure God's work in your life? Here's one way you can do it -- look for the love and care He has placed in you for little ones who have no strength of their own. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 17 19:41:30 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:41:30 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-22-08 God's work in us -- Job 1:8 Message-ID: <49220F3A.2010407@dwightclough.com> "/*Have you considered my servant Job?" -- Job 1:8*/ The LORD initiates a dialogue with Satan, and He brings up the topic of Job's righteousness. What can we learn from that? First of all, consider this: God doesn't lose. He went into this exchange fully knowing that He would win Satan's challenge. God was very willing to put one of us (i.e., Job) on display, fully knowing that He (God) would emerge triumphant and would bring us along with Him. Satan would like us to believe that Job was righteous because he was well paid to be righteous. But God took this opportunity to show the whole universe that His righteousness runs far deeper than that. Throughout history, men and women of faith have clung to their love for God even when it appeared that God had forgotten and abandoned them. This faithfulness is God's work in us. The roots of this faithfulness run deep, far too deep for the enemy's claws to reach. What will sustain us in our hour of need? God's work in us. God is the Victor, even when the war is waged in a fallible human heart. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 17 19:42:07 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:42:07 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-23-08 What we see and what God sees -- Psalm 51:3 Message-ID: <49220F5F.2050200@dwightclough.com> "/*For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me." -- Psalm 51:3*/ Sometimes it seems that God's eyesight has gone bad. Doesn't He see what a rotten sinner I am? Why would He want to hang around me? In this passage, David has fallen from great heights to horrible depths. Others have gone lower, but they started lower. Few in history have fallen the distance David fell. It took him by surprise, as sin often does. He had no idea what was in his heart, until he was trapped by the inescapable reality of what he had done. For most of us, finding the courage to look at who we really are, and where we are really at, doesn't come until we are forced to do so by the consequences of our own terrible choices. The alcoholic never predicts where that first time drink will lead. Here's the good news. God knows everything about you and me. Everything that haunts us, everything we try to hide - He knows it all. Yet He still loves us with a love that can be measured by the blood of His own Son. Can you see nothing but your own failings? Then run blindly into the arms of God. He will make you clean. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 24 19:12:05 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:12:05 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-24-08 Teach us to pray -- Luke 11:1 Message-ID: <492B42D5.90303@dwightclough.com> /*... teach us to pray ... -- Luke 11:1*/ Real prayer requires two things: 1. The real God 2. The real you If we really knew God - if we went to heaven and saw Him and experienced Him in all His glory, nothing would ever frighten us again. No one could threaten or do anything to us that would ever scare us, no matter how mean or cruel they might be. I say that because connecting with the real God is more than just connecting with the theologically correct God (although that, too, is important). We seek after the God who is there. Pretense and performance never work in the presence of God. He knows us. So we must make the journey of honesty and courage and admit to God (and to ourselves) who we really are and what is really going on inside. The good news is this: The real God plus the real you equals real change. Jesus touched the leper and made him clean. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 24 19:12:49 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:12:49 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-25-08 A quick lesson in prayer -- 1 Thessalonians 5:25 Message-ID: <492B4301.8070905@dwightclough.com> /*Brothers, pray for us. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:25*/ One of the outcomes of encountering God in prayer is love. We love because He first loved us. Another is wisdom. Another is transformation. One day I was praying for a ministry that was experiencing some problems. As I went to pray, I felt God speak to me and say, "Don't pray for ministries. Pray for people." That was an important lesson for me. Ministries are temporary. People are eternal. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 24 19:13:17 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:13:17 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-26-08 Releasing others to God -- Acts 20:32 Message-ID: <492B431D.1090201@dwightclough.com> /*Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. -- Acts 20:32*/ You will have, from time to time, those in your life who depend on you to provide what they need - physically, financially, emotionally, spiritually. While that may be okay and appropriate for a season, the time will come when you need to transfer their dependence to God, whether they are ready for it or not. When Jesus walked this earth, He healed many people. But He also left many more people unhealed. Why? He committed them to God and to the word of His grace. Do you have any idea of the power of God's word? With a word God can create worlds, shatter kingdoms, rebuild the fallen, restore the heartbroken, bring peace like gentle rain. With a word, God opened up the skies and delivered bread from heaven to the Israelites for forty years. With a word God froze the heavens in their place while Joshua and his armies fought the Lord's battles. With a word, God will build you up, and give you what you cannot earn. Right now I have people in my life who are looking to me to be something more than God wants me to be for them. I commit them to God; I release them. Not to abdicate my responsibilities, because I am very willing to give, to help. But I release them because God can give far more than I could ever hope to provide. Please don't misunderstand. When God directs us to help, we help. When God directs us to give, we give. When God directs us to lay down our lives, we lay them down. But the moment comes when it's no longer about us. It's about a God who is much, much bigger than us, who can handle all the problems we mistakenly took as our own. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 24 19:13:50 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:13:50 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-27-08 Thanksgiving -- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Message-ID: <492B433E.70409@dwightclough.com> /*... give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:18*/ Why would God ask us to do such a difficult thing? Some time ago I shared the story of an mountain climber who fell into a crevasse during a blizzard and was given up as dead. Trapped, with no way to climb up and out, he started to climb down. When he got to the bottom of the crevasse, he discovered, to his complete surprise, a light. There was an opening in the ice. There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanksgiving is like this. It is a light in a dark place -- not because it is, in itself, some kind of magical incantation, but rather because it brings God near, and He is our way of escape. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 24 19:14:21 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:14:21 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-28-08 Into the light -- Luke 8:42-48 Message-ID: <492B435D.6010906@dwightclough.com> /*As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, and she had spent all she had on doctors, but no one could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.*/ /*"Who touched Me?" Jesus asked.*/ /*When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against You."*/ /*But Jesus said, "Someone touched Me; I know that power has gone out from Me."*/ /*Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed. Then He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." */ /*-- Luke 8:42-48*/ This is so important. Consider this woman. Ponder what her life was like and you have a picture of nearly everyone who sits beside you in church, and, most likely, of yourself. Nearly all of us have problems that we cannot talk about. Problems that keep us in the shadows. As we scramble from "solution" to "solution," our hope fades, and our desperation intensifies. If only Jesus would quietly, unobtrusively, secretly heal us, we pray. But a secret healing is not to be. Jesus brings it out into the light. "Who touched Me?" He asks. We want to deny it, but Jesus keeps looking at us until we step out into the light. "Yes," we acknowledge. "Yes, I had problems that I could not solve on my own. Yes, I appeared all together on the outside, but deep inside I was hurting. You have healed me." The rest of us take note. So, there is someone else, like myself. So, Jesus does care about my secret need. Maybe Jesus will heal even me. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 24 19:14:51 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:14:51 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-29-08 A new name -- Revelation 2:17 Message-ID: <492B437B.9000209@dwightclough.com> /*I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. -- Revelation 2:17*/ The movie, /The Bourne Identity/, opens with a man with gunshot wounds floating on the Mediterranean Sea. The crew of a fishing boat picks him up and nurses him back to health. He regains his strength, but has lost his memory. There are many things he can remember, like how to speak several languages. But he cannot remember who he is. His only possession was a bank account number corresponding to a safety deposit box in a Swiss bank. He goes to the bank and discovers a passport with his photo on it bearing the name Jason Bourne. But, as he searches further, he finds a dozen other passports, each with his photo, but issued by different countries, each giving him a different identity. He spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out who he really is. [By the way, I'm not recommending /The Bourne Identity/ as the perfect family movie. I only bring it up because it illustrates a point.] In a way, Bourne's problem is our problem. We have forgotten who we really are, and spend most of our lives trying to deal with that problem. I would like to spend the next few days looking at three of our identities: 1. The identity we give ourselves. 2. The identity we were given by a fallen world. 3. The identity we are given by God. The good news is this: Once God shows us who we really are, we are able to approach any problem from a position of strength. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Mon Nov 24 19:15:21 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:15:21 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 11-30-08 Our outward identity -- Matthew 6:1 Message-ID: <492B4399.7030705@dwightclough.com> "/*Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." -- Matthew 6:1*/ Who are we really? As we search to uncover who we really are, we often start with the identity we give ourselves. This first identity is who we pretend to be - the persona we project that we hope everyone else will buy. The image we try to portray to others usually reflects how we see ourselves and/or how we want others to see us. It controls many of our choices, from the clothes we wear to the car we drive to our hobbies, the courtesies we show, and so on. For example, we create an appearance for ourselves - choosing or avoiding certain types of clothing, shoes, hats, makeup, jewelry, piercings, tattoos, hairstyles and so on. Why? Because these things create an illusion about who we want others to believe that we are. This is why there are books on the subject of dressing for success. This identity is enormously important. Without it, there would be no civilization in a fallen world. We may feel like punching someone in the nose, but that would be inconsistent with the identity we project, so our courtesies tell us to walk away. We may feel like looking for romance from someone outside our marriage partner, but our sense of "character" tells us no. Unfortunately, most of Christianity as it is practiced is contained within this identity. In church, we carefully hide our deeper identities from each other and from ourselves. Instead of "coming clean" with each other, we expend an enormous amount of energy rearranging our image by working on various Christian behavior modification programs. As a result, Christianity is viewed as one more self help program, and a restrictive one at that. The good news is this: God's grace goes far deeper than behavior modification. God's grace creates an entirely new identity for us. But, that identity does us little practical good until we come face to face with our ugliest identity, the one the fallen world gives to us. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:32:21 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:32:21 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-01-08 The plank in our own eye -- Matthew 7:3 Message-ID: <4931ED25.5090505@dwightclough.com> /*New for December*/ /*Throughout December, I'd like to do two things. First, I'd like to celebrate Christmas, my favorite time of year, that moment when God placed eternity's plan into the hands of a carpenter and a peasant girl. In a couple days, I'm going to start focusing on Christmas. Second, I'd like to reach out to those of you who are experiencing financial struggles. Throughout the world, many are now experiencing financial turmoil. Many of you are experiencing lack, some of you for the first time in your lives. Throughout December I want to add something to our daily devotional. Starting tomorrow, I want to speak a word of encouragement each day to those of you who are experiencing money problems, poverty or financial distress. */ "/*Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" -- Matthew 7:3*/ Most people underestimate the damage done by the fall. As Kim and I have resolved to be honest with ourselves, with God and with each other about what is really inside, we find layer after layer of damage. Even so, I know that I am still blind to many of my own faults, because I keep on discovering more faults in me that were there all along. Our second identity is the identity we deny, we suppress, we pretend doesn't exist, we minimize, we rationalize, we excuse in ourselves but see plainly in others. Like a treacherous ocean undertow, this second identity forms a powerful undercurrent of false and painful messages in our minds. "You are all alone." "God will never love you." "It's your fault." "God will never make you happy; you need to find happiness on your own." "You will never amount to anything." "It's hopeless." "You are not safe." And so on. Below the surface of our civilized veneer, this powerful second identity dominates how we experience life. At every opportunity it throws fears and doubts, temptations and anger into the center stage of our minds. With great effort we wrestle to control these things. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail. This is our ugly self. It is the self we don't want to look at. But, if we are to grow as Christians into the place God wants us to be, we must look at it. But here's the good news: If Daniel had never entered the lion's den, there would be no story of deliverance. Once we face the ugly reality of who we are, we will find a deeper truth - the truth that sets us free. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:33:02 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:33:02 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-02-08 Finding ourselves -- Ephesians 2:6 Message-ID: <4931ED4E.4090508@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*You may feel as though you have run out of options. But God does not run out of options. I get the picture here of lichen growing on rocks in the tundra, tough yet beautiful. Lichen thrive in places where nothing else can grow. God does not run out of options for His children.*/ /*And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus ... -- Ephesians 2:6*/ Discovering our deepest identity is as simple as opening the Bible. Experiencing it, however, requires a miracle from God. The real you - the you conceived by God and redeemed by the blood of Christ - lives all of life from a position of strength. The real you is beyond safe - you're indestructible, designed to live forever. The powers of darkness move out of the way for the real you. Sin has no appeal to the real you, because you already have something far better than anything sin can offer. The real you doesn't need to inquire, "What would Jesus do?" because His desires are your desires, you want what He wants. It's no coincidence that the Bible tells us that we are transformed by "the renewing of our minds." Our minds need to be renewed for us to comprehend who we really are, because our experience has led us to believe something else. This is why the process of Christian growth takes us through all three identities. We become a Christian and want to behave correctly (our first identity - how we appear to others). But something is getting in the way and making it difficult (our second identity - from the fallen world). As we explore what is getting in the way and hold it up to Jesus, He exposes it as a lie, and replaces it with the truth of who we really are (our third identity - the one given us by God). Years ago people talked about "finding themselves." The phrase became a clich?, almost a joke. But it is a good description of the Christian life. God wants us to find ourselves, our true selves, and, as we do, we will be delighted with what we discover. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:33:35 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:33:35 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-03-08 The way of love -- John 1:14 Message-ID: <4931ED6F.1070403@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*Money means power. Most of us don't truly understand that (I'm guessing) until we have no money. When God gives us a tour of how the powerless experience life, note well what that experience is like. When power (money) is restored to us, we will be, I think, much more wise in how use the power (money) God has given us.*/ /*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. You can read about Tamara White in our book, /Amazing Faith/. http://www.dwightclough.com/books.php Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:34:04 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:34:04 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-04-08 Discovering God -- John 1:18 Message-ID: <4931ED8C.3090100@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*If you suddenly find yourself in the job market, let me offer a few practical tips for your resume. (I've written thousands of resumes for clients over the years.) 1. Don't lie. There are plenty of attractive ways to tell the truth. 2. Have a target job. You don't necessarily need to identify it on the resume, but every part of your resume should be designed to show how you are qualified for that target job. 3. Resumes get scanned in seconds. That means you must control what the employer reads. Here's how you do that. You put the most important information toward the top, toward the left, and at the beginning of paragraphs / bullet lists. 4. Have a friend proofread your resume and give you honest feedback. 5. Hand your resumes out to friends and colleagues. The best opportunities are found through networking.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:34:31 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:34:31 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-05-08 Life in review -- Matthew 1:2 Message-ID: <4931EDA7.7070407@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*There's an old saying, "God closes one door before He opens another." It's trite, I know. It's a clich?. But it's also very often true. Sometimes the disaster is merely a stepping stone in the plan of God to get you where He wants you to be. Giddy expectancy is an act of faith, but it isn't misplaced when it comes to the plan of God.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:35:01 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:35:01 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-06-08 New plans -- Matthew 1:18 Message-ID: <4931EDC5.1050902@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*Wealth comes in many forms. The capacity to love is one form of wealth. Gratitude is a form of wealth. Optimism is a form of wealth. The ability to experience wonder and awe is a form of wealth. And the list goes on. My family teases me because I'm always exclaiming, "What a beautiful day!" But I like 'em all. Hot, cold, sunny, cloudy, rainy, foggy, snowy -- they all hold beauty to me. You bank account may be empty, but that doesn't mean your heart needs to be.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:35:26 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:35:26 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-07-08 Refunds and exchanges -- Matthew 1:19 Message-ID: <4931EDDE.6080009@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*We've experienced financial challenges for many years. One of the hardest parts of that is watching our children slowly awaken to the realization that we are poor compared to the families of their friends. My youngest is in that process now. She asks me for things I can't give her, and I respond by hugging her and saying, "I love you, sweetheart." She ignores the affection and replies, "That means 'no,' doesn't it?" But I was having a conversation with my oldest daughter the other day. "You have two fathers," I told her. (That got her attention!) I pulled out my wallet, and showed her the contents. "This is what your earthly father has in his wallet." I paused, and then continued, "Now what do you suppose your heavenly Father has in His wallet?" While it may be true that we have limited funds for a season, here's the bigger truth: Our family is wealthy, and a temporary budget challenge will never overcome the people of God.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:35:56 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:35:56 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-08-08 Unnecessary? -- Matthew 1:20 Message-ID: <4931EDFC.1020704@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*I know this is a time when many of you -- especially you dads -- feel a deep hurt in your hearts because you are unable to give your children the Christmas gifts you want to give. I know that feeling well. So let me speak a word (I think from the Lord) to you dads (and moms). Your hands are not empty. Bring the loaves and the fish that you have to Jesus. He will perform the miracle for you. He will multiply the love that you have in your heart for your children. They will not remember these times with sorrow, but rather with joy and thanksgiving.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:36:23 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:36:23 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-09-08 Chosen by lot -- Luke 1:9 Message-ID: <4931EE17.3010703@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*I'm blessed to be married to one of the best money managers in the world. I've watched Kim go grocery shopping and the check out clerks will stare at the total bill and the overflowing shopping cart in amazement. How does she buy so much with so little? Well ... here are a couple of food buying tips I've picked up along the way. You're really trying to buy the most nutrition for your dollar (or franc or yen or whatever). Here in America, the more cardboard, the more plastic, the less nutrition, as a rule. Whole foods deliver more nutrition than processed foods. Switch from white rice to whole grain brown rice. Brown rice and beans together form a complete protein. Canned foods deliver less nutrition than fresh, as a rule. Overcooking destroys nutrients. If it's safe to eat the food raw, usually it's better for you raw. The list of ideas here could go on and on, but you get the concept. You may need to learn new skills and gather new information, but you can eat well on a very limited budget. */ /*... [Zechariah] was chosen by lot ... -- Luke 1:9*/ In our lives, many things are uncertain and beyond our control. From a human point of view, life seems like a lottery -- by chance you are born to parents who are good or evil, rich or poor, healthy or sick. By chance, you find good opportunities and live a blessed life, or, by chance, your life seems cursed. By chance you live in a prosperous and powerful nation or in a nation that is not prosperous or powerful. By chance you live now in this generation. As Christians, we are taught not to assign our misfortunes to "bad luck." We may be confused on how to explain them, but we want to affirm that a good God is in charge of the universe and nothing happens by chance. Let me suggest to you that God knows what to do with the chances that we have and the chances that we've lost. God can turn any hand into a winning hand. Even now, He is orchestrating the next step in His good plan for you through something that may appear as uncertain as a chance. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sat Nov 29 20:36:50 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:36:50 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-10-08 An answer to your prayer -- Luke 1:13 Message-ID: <4931EE32.9040809@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*God didn't shortchange you on time. You have all the time you need. Don't forget to take time for what's important. When you're in financial trouble, it's easy to think, I desperately need to work my way out of this mess. I need to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If only there were more hours in a day. No. God created cycles of work and rest, of achievement and celebration, of labor and relationship. There is a time for everything. Work hard when it's time to work. But when the workday is over, commit what you couldn't do to the Lord. He will take care of it. */ /*But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard...." -- Luke 1:13*/ Sometimes our lives are defined by a single prayer. It may be a prayer for a child, as was the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth. It may be a prayer for healing or deliverance. It may be a prayer for blessing, as was the case with Jabez. I want you to think about your prayer. Look at what the Lord did. Zechariah and Elizabeth could no longer have what they longed for. They were too old. Their dream had died. It may be that you can no longer lift your face heavenward. Maybe your dream has died. Think about your prayer. There were so many years of silence. Pleading with God. Faithfully obeying His commandments, yet moving through life with a silent cry of anguish. No response. Nothing. Where was God? Think about your prayer. Who can understand the ways of God? Zechariah is chosen to enter the Most Holy Place and burn incense before the Lord. A great privilege, but a weighty responsibility. The assembled worshipers were praying outside. Zechariah went in with ropes tied to his ankles, so that if he or they did anything to displease God, Zechariah's dead body could be pulled from the temple without anyone violating God's sacred space. In this moment of great fear, God's silence is broken. "Yes, I have heard your prayer." "Yes." God is preparing an answer to your prayer. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:25:19 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:25:19 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-11-08 The kingdom within -- Luke 17:21 Message-ID: <493304BF.3050004@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*There's nothing like poverty to force you to be creative. When you're rich, you can buy your way out of almost any trouble, but when you're poor, you need to think and pray your way out. A small example: We couldn't afford karate lessons, horseback riding lessons, guitar lessons for any of our kids. But God provided a way, without us needing to come up with the money. With God, there are always alternatives.*/ "/*... the kingdom of God is within you." -- Luke 17:21*/ On Christmas Day the presents are wrapped with care. Some have beautiful bows and ribbons, some are plainly wrapped. But the beauty of the outward package does not always predict the delight that will be produced by what is inside. So also is the work of God. His most important work is hidden deep inside us. We look at each other and see the wrapping, and, most of the time, we can only guess what is inside. The scriptures tell us that the sons (the children) of God will be revealed. What does that mean? That means that the great work of God inside you and inside me will someday put on display. Our sins, our shame, our mistakes, our inadequacy will be swept aside by the wonder of His love, and who we truly are will be revealed. To me this is a comfort. I'm sometimes misunderstood. More often I stumble, sin and make stupid mistakes. But the kingdom of God is within me. And His kingdom shall prevail. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:25:50 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:25:50 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-12-08 Light for every man -- John 1:9 Message-ID: <493304DE.6090902@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*You may feel pressured (or even bullied) into sending money to various ministries who claim that when you give to them, you will become rich. Let me offer a word of advice and encouragement. Set the magazine aside. Turn off the TV. Switch off the radio. And have a sit-down talk with Jesus. Jesus is not going to bully you into anything. He will show you what you should give to whom. Jesus will empower you to give with wisdom, with faith, with joy. He may tell you to give more than you were planning. He may tell you to give less. But if you listen to Him, you can move forward without guilt and without regret. */ /*The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. -- John 1:9*/ How much light does it take to see? Not much. At night, I move around the house with only a dim night light. I've walked outside with only the light of the moon and a few stars. I like plenty of light. Especially when I'm trying to clean; I mean you have to be able to see the dirt to remove it. But, to survive, you don't need much light. What am I saying? It's very clear that not everybody gets the same amount of light. Some people are bathed in the knowledge of the glory of God. Some live in deep darkness. But, to each person, some light is given. This verse tells us that. Though many people are extraordinarily evil, and though darkness seems to go from bad to worse, that God still somehow seems to navigate through all of that and bring some light to every man. Wherever sin is at work, grace is also at work. People are troubled by the question, "What about those who have never heard the gospel?" That is a troubling question, because God wants people to hear. The church has paid with blood so that people can hear. But God is not without resources. To each one, some light has been given. Even those who have never heard the name of Jesus are illuminated by the light of His entrance into our world. The point is, God is not stuck with a problem He can't solve. Whether through opposition or neglect, some will never hear the gospel. Their lives are not evidence of some flaw in God's plan or of some inadequacy in His management of the universe. Rather, God has worked out every contingency so we can leave this troubling question with Him, and turn back to the task of winning our world for Christ. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:26:24 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:26:24 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-13-08 Need and gifts -- 2 Corinthians 9:15 Message-ID: <49330500.2020800@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*There may be a temptation to follow various get-rich-quick schemes. Most of these things are candy-coated poison. Yes, I have talked to people who make multiple thousands of dollars a day. (One guy made $500,000 a day.) But making that kind of money requires you to build a certain kind of business foundation that God may or may not be calling you to build. Focus rather on how you can use the skills God has given you to meet a legitimate need. If something smells fishy, it probably is.*/ /*Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! -- 2 Corinthians 9:15*/ [Note: I wrote this five years ago, when we were going through a particularly rough time financially.] Do any of us really want to be needy? I don't. I want to have a bumper crop of health and prosperity so I have plenty to give and plenty to keep. But all of us will be needy at different times. As we fall through successive layers of need, what is really in our hearts comes to the surface. Here's what was in mine: Self-doubt. Dwight, have you been a fool? You say you've been hearing from God, but if you were really hearing from God you wouldn't be in such a mess. Pride and shame. What's wrong with my contribution to my world? I'm a man. I'm a smart man. I don't want anybody paying my way. I want to pay my own way. God doubt. Okay, God, where are You? I keep telling people You are going to show up. Where are You? Deep down inside, are You really aloof and cruel? Do You really enjoy seeing Your children squirm? Then, like a spring day when you walk outside and flowers are suddenly in bloom, expressions of God's heart show up. Someone shows up at the door with bag after bag of groceries. I get a call to stop by the church because someone has left a box of Christmas presents for our children, cash for our family. Someone else sends an anonymous money order. Another writes a check. Still another trades in his Christmas gift to give us the money to make our annual trip to Ohio to see my wife's family. But it really hit me when I was in the Dollar store last night with my four kids. I went there because I wanted them to each be able to buy a gift for their mother. But I felt like God was saying, "Let them each buy a gift for every member of the family. It will be okay, you'll see." So I let them do it, even though I didn't have enough money with me to pay for all that. While I was there, I ran into an old friend. We chatted for a few minutes and then she went back to her shopping. As I was standing in the checkout line, she walked by, quickly pressed a couple folded bills into my hand, and disappeared. I know that she doesn't have a lot of money. But there it was, enough money to pay for everything in my cart. I think it was at this point that I finally began to understand the heart of God. We are neither friendless nor alone. The sacrifice and kindness of others made God's heart real to me -- His heart full of kindness, good humor and care. For those who gave, I thank you, if you are reading this, and I pray that all you gave will return to you a thousand times. But I know that whenever we give, we are instantly richer, because we have entered into the heart of God. Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:26:54 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:26:54 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-14-08 New identity -- Matthew 1:21 Message-ID: <4933051E.3020104@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*A word on network marketing. There are a number of legitimate network (multi-level, relational) marketing opportunities out there. They all operate on basically the same principle. Somebody needs to sell something, and rather than hire a professional sales force, they offer ordinary people the opportunity to become distributors of their product(s). If you recruit people to help you sell the product, you get a percentage of their sales as well. The recruitment process can involve mystery, hype, and the promise of making zillions of dollars. Now let's get real. Can you make money doing that? Yes. Is it a lot of hard work? Yes, and double yes. If you love networking with people, and just seem to attract successful people who in turn attract other successful people, yes, you might make good money doing this. But you might lose hundreds, even thousands of dollars as well. Take it from me, a guy who learned by unhappy experience. Approach this opportunity with your eyes wide open, and know that it will almost certainly take more time and more money than you expect.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:27:23 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:27:23 -0600 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-15-08 Moving ahead with God's plans -- Matthew 1:22 Message-ID: <4933053B.8060900@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*It's interesting how our definition of "necessity" changes. At one level of income, we may "need" to get a new car every couple years. At another level of income, we may need a bus pass or a bicycle or a pair of shoes. Understanding this gives us the power to create margin in our lives, as we spend a little less, give and invest a little more.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:27:41 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:27:41 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-16-08 God with us -- Matthew 1:23 Message-ID: <49330557.6060901@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*It is more blessed to give than to receive. I genuinely believe that. If you are a child of God, deep in your heart I know you do too. But let me show you the other side of the coin. It is more educational to receive. Here's what I mean. Accept help. Most of us hate to humble ourselves, to admit that our best efforts weren't good enough, that we tried and failed, that we are now in need. But understand this: All of us are needy. In one way or another, every single person is incomplete alone. By accepting help graciously when we need it, and offering help generously when we can, we acknowledge the truth God spoke in Genesis, when He said, "It is not good for man to be alone." I understand the application to marriage, but it goes beyond that. We need each other.*/ "/*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:28:13 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:28:13 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-17-08 The journey to Bethlehem -- Matthew 2:1-2 Message-ID: <49330573.9000402@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*The first time the rent or mortgage is due -- and you have no idea how you're going to pay it -- can be a time of real panic. I don't wish that situation on anyone. Obviously, we all do our best to make sure we don't get in that situation. But it happens. Sometimes the best laid plans go awry, and we find ourselves with our backs up against the wall. Let me encourage you. I've been there many times. God has never abandoned us. Something happened. Something changed; something came through at the last moment. My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.*/ /*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 worshiped? 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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:28:43 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:28:43 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-18-08 Disturbed by the news -- Matthew 2:3 Message-ID: <49330591.2070000@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*When you have financial troubles, you will get rude, senseless and ridiculous counsel from friends and relatives. Some will spend plenty of time trying to get you to see the obvious. ("Don't you know that you could lose everything if you don't get a job soon?" And so on.) Accept it with a smile and a "thank you." Then, when you're all alone, take it to the Lord, so He can separate the wheat from the chaff. Sometimes there's nuggets of gold hidden in the mud of rudeness; let the Lord clean off the mud for you.*/ /*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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:29:05 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:29:05 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-19-08 Join the adventure Message-ID: <493305AB.4010907@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*Let me say a word to you if you are a man. Do you know that God is at work in you? Do you know that God has confidence in you, even if you have lost confidence in yourself? Do you know that deep inside you do have what it takes? You will climb out of this valley. You will overcome. Hang in there, my friend. You will triumph in the end. You will find a way.*/ /*... 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 What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From discoveries at dwightclough.com Sun Nov 30 16:29:32 2008 From: discoveries at dwightclough.com (Inspiration in Your Inbox) Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:29:32 -0000 Subject: [Discoveries] 12-20-08 The carnival -- Luke 2:1 Message-ID: <493305C6.4060601@dwightclough.com> /*For those struggling financially ...*/ /*Let me say a word to you couples. Believe in God; believe in each other. Nothing helps in difficult times like a spouse who believes in you when it seems like nobody else does. See the strengths in your life's companion and draw them out. Marriage should be a refuge from the storms of life; let your marriage be that.*/ A big happy birthday to Steve Freitag /*In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree ... -- Luke 2:1*/ You never know how God is going to use an event in your life. When I was a high school student, I was consumed with the idea of winning the national high school debate tournament. I spent every spare moment working on debate, researching the topic for that year, combing through books from the University Law Library that would put any normal person fast asleep in six minutes flat. My mother decided I needed some balance in my life, so, one hot summer day, she hauled me off to the East Side Businessmen's Carnival. It was terrible -- noise, and rides, and junk food -- and, well, maybe it wasn't so bad, even if I was kicking and screaming the whole way. On the way out I walked through a large tent. A woman was passing out literature. She looked at me. I looked at her. We both hesitated. I had no idea that the rest of my life hung in that moment of hesitation. Okay, I decided. I'll take your tract. We talked. That conversation got our family into a different church. That church got me to attend Moody Bible Institute, where I met my wife. And everything in my life has flowed from that. What are senseless, arbitrary and random events to God? They are an opportunity to intervene for good. God is here! Be encouraged! Dwight What happens when you partner with Dwight Clough Ministries? Victims of violent crimes and survivors of abuse are finding peace, wholeness, the power to forgive and the strength to set boundaries. Those ensnared by addictions are finding freedom. Marriages are being restored. Families are strengthened. Christian brothers and sisters in restricted lands who face persecution are finding strength and encouragement. Young believers are learning how to walk with the Lord, and people are coming into the faith for the first time. None of this happens as a result of one person's efforts, but rather this is God's work as He blesses the sacrifice of many people including yourself. We partner with you, with other ministries, and, most significantly, with the Lord. That's how the supernatural happens. 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. You may freely post, reprint or redistribute this devotional provided a reference or link back to _DwightClough.com_ is included. Change your subscription: _http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/discoveries_ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: