Area Director's December Devotional

Relinquishing or Relishing our Call - Today is the 22^nd of November 2012, which happens to be Thanksgiving Day and coincidentally my 63^rd birthday.    Normally, the variety of thoughts that vie for my reflective deliberation covers a wide range including JFK’s assassination on my 14th birthday to the wonderful fact that my granddaughter Avery Elizabeth Comellas was born on my 56^th birthday.   Today however is different.    One thought is capturing my attention.   Will I continue to relish my Call or slowly relinquish that Call as I slip into the “golden years?”  This focused thought was precipitated by an email from AGWM, “Dale, as our missionaries approach retirement age…(etc.).”  I have a choice.   Do I seize the day (Carpe Diem) or fade into insignificance?   I’ve discovered two distinct anointings as I prepare for this day, i.e. Ecclesiastes 9:10 and 2 Kings 20:19.  In Ecclesiastes, the preacher exhorts us, “Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all of your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning...”  This is distinctly different from the sad acquiescence of Hezekiah in Kings.   When his pride led him to flaunt his wealth to envoys from Babylon, Isaiah pronounces a judgment on his descendants to which he responds in essence, "Well that’s good because it won’t happen in my lifetime!"    Today, Thanksgiving 2012 and my birthday, I’ve decided to seize every opportunity to glorify God and live life to the fullest while there is breath in this body.   I hope you’ve made a similar commitment.    Young or old, life will come to an end, so let’s live life with a Divine perspective.

Area Director's November Devotional

Lhamo Tseten, a 24-year-old Tibetan farmer took his politics seriously, dead seriously.  He is one of seven Tibetans who have set themselves on fire this week in protest of Beijing’s heavy-handed rule, as the protesters demand the return of the Dalai Lama, their exiled spiritual leader.     No matter what our reaction to this horrific self-sacrifice, commitment at this level is unsettling.  Baptism by fire was his ultimate attempt to gain empathy for a cause, which sadly may be a lost one.   There is another baptism by fire for a Kingdom that will endure.   John the Baptist declared, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I…  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  (Matt. 3:10-11 NKJV).  Lhamo’s death disturbed me.   If one is willing to commit himself with such total abandonment to a lost cause, how much more should we as believers be willing to give our all to the One whose fire both empowers and purifies us as we give witness to His cause?    As missionaries, let us be on fire with His eternal truth, “since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire”.  (Heb. 12:28-29).