Great and Marvelous are His Works

Friends:
I send you this daily devotion because faithful men have sent me daily devotions for many years. At the end of today’s devotion you will see Papa Roys devotion. He is the elder (86 yr old) at Calvary Chapel Merritt Island where I was saved and he baptized me in 1994! *He has sent me a daily devotional ever since. Lord grant me a double portion of that Spirit which propels such a mans service! Praise God!
Merry Christmas from the Shocks *******************************************************************************
December 25 Great and Marvelous Are His Works
“Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.” —Revelation 15: 3-4
It is very likely that every one of the singers of this song had been martyred for their faith. By the time John sees and hears them in this heavenly scene, these faithful believers had stood firm against the Antichrist—who ordered everyone on earth to receive a mark on either the right hand or the forehead—and had lost their life because of their refusal to obey. But though they experienced death, they escaped the judgments to come upon the earth. And now here they are in heaven, standing before the throne of God and offering Him praise.
The song these martyrs sing is a song of victory. Though Satan had raged against them, God gave them victory over the powers of darkness, and the beautiful lyrics that spring forth are lyrics motivated by awe and gratitude. “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!” How worthy He is to receive our worship!
***The song of the Lamb—a beautiful song of thanksgiving and praise for the One who shows mercy and grace to the lost.
Lord, we are so grateful that we have come to know You and to experience Your love and compassion. May we be faithful in our service to You always. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Touch of Encouragement for you Dan Merry Christmas! As you start the day I want to encourage you to make time to focus on the whole reason for the day – Jesus coming to be with us & ultimately to make a way for us to be forgiven and set free. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7) (Read Philippians 2:5-11) How are you going to spend Christmas day? Here are a few ideas that you might like to prepare for, if you get the opportunity: 1. As soon as you wake up on Christmas day, stop and pray. Don’t worry about the rest of the day just yet; just sit up and thank God for Jesus.
2. Think about & pray for those people you will meet with, that you might have an opportunity to talk about Jesus with them. Christmas day is THE EASIEST day of the year to talk about Jesus!
3. Think about those Christians around the world who aren’t able to celebrate Christmas freely. Maybe they are persecuted for their faith – maybe they are the only Christian in their community. Pray for them.
4. Volunteer to give thanks (say ‘grace’) before the Christmas meal with your family or friends. Perhaps you or your family doesn’t normally do that kind of thing. Tell them it’s just for Christmas day. Thank God for your family, friends, Jesus and the food.
5. If you are around people who don’t know much about Jesus, try some discussion starters. “Do you think it’s weird that we celebrate the birth of a baby 2000 years ago?” or “did you know, Jesus was probably born around 6-4 BC, and not on the 25th of December”, or something else that is more natural for you. Try and use the opportunity of Christmas, and see if you can strike up a conversation to share the story of Jesus’ birth with those around you. May God bless you with His joy this Christmas
– Papa Roy