Thursday 12/10/15 The Big Trip (7)

Dear Father in Heaven: I love You and I am thrilled that You love me enough that You died to save me from self-destruction. Dear Father, please forgive me of my sins this day. Lord, please be with Jimmy Swaggart Ministries as they raise the funds needed this month to stay on the air. Please help me to remember at this time of year that The Birth is about The Cross and what happened on that Cross at Calvary. Lord, please help to keep this line open and protected. Please help me now with the message and then to get it dispatched. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Brothers and sisters, fifteen days until Christmas. Time is marching forth. The longest ten minutes in my young life was the ten-minute homeroom period in high school when waiting for that last bell so I could go out and get in my car and go to work. One of the things most of us did when I was young was have a job. I started out young being a paper boy. I earned enough money to buy my first car at age 15 and also my first truck. Paper routes were a good thing for young kids back in the day. I was not good enough to play little league sports, but I did love my paper routes. Anyway, time to move forward in The Big Trip, and old Donkey Dan is ready to go.

Thursday: December 10, 2015: The Big Trip by Donkey Dan (Day Seven)

Luke 1:57 - When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared in the joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." 61 They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name." 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. (NIV)

We animals were again in position to hear what was going on. Wow, it was time for baby John to be born, and I remember when the Angel Gabriel told Zechariah to name his son John, and then Zechariah questioned angel Gabriel and Gabriel closed his mouth. Wow, those three months went pretty fast, and that means it is just six months until another baby will be born, this one to be named Jesus. I am excited about that also. But let us go back into the room. Okay, I am right outside the window, and we can hear Elizabeth telling everyone that she as going to name the baby John. Then by writing a note to Zach they asked him and he said name his son John and at that point as promised Zechariah was able to speak again. Please note here that the first thing Zechariah did after getting  his voice back was to praise the Lord. If God would punish us for three straight months, do you think when it ended we would give praise to Him, or would we be really mad?

This brings me to a question. Have you ever gotten mad at our Lord? I am talking after you have been born again. Have you ever been mad enough to yell at God and say something like, why don't you answer my prayers? I confess to you that I have done that and not all that long ago. I prayed to God right away and asked Him to forgive me, but it was one of those days when the pain level was up really high. Anyway, we are going to spend a day or two looking ahead at the life that John will have and how he got to be known as "John The Baptist," and what were some words of wisdom that he told others. Do you know what those words were?

Dear Father in Heaven, I am having a good time writing Your Word in the name of a Donkey. Please keep helping me with the message and may the message lead others to Jesus and the events of the Bible. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.

Now please go forth serving Jesus. Love ya.

Pastor Dan

I Will Serve Thee (William and Gloria Gaither)

I will serve Thee because I love Thee;
You have given life to me.
I was nothing before You found me;
You have given life to me.
Heartaches, broken pieces,
Ruined lies are why You died on Calvary.
Your touch was what I longed for;
You have given life to me.

I will serve Thee because I love Thee;
You have given life to me.
I was nothing before You found me;
You have given life to me.
Heartaches, broken pieces,
Ruined lies are why You died on Calvary.
Your touch was what I longed for;
You have given life to me.