JCSM's Weekly Devotions (click here to listen!)

"Celebrate Your Spiritual Birthday"

Joshua 24:14-16  "'Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!  And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.'  So the people answered and said: 'Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods.'"

Esther 9:24-28  "Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.  So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur.  Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants."

Mark 5:19, 20  "Jesus (said), 'Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.'  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled."

Insight: Next to Christ's birthday and resurrection, we should celebrate our spiritual birthday.  The day we left spiritual death and entered spiritual life was an awesome day!  Take time to recall the things God has done and share them with others.  He has not forgotten and we should not forget.

Prayer: "Dear Lord, bless us and make us like You.  Forgive our sins and lift us up.  Thank you for saving us!  Thank you for changing us and helping us live holy lives.  Remind us to celebrate our spiritual birthdays and days where You intervened in our lives.  There is no other like You!  You are worthy of all our praise, love, and devotion.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

Emma Willard (1787-1870), who was an American educator and historian, was a leader in the movement to provide higher education among women.  Emma Willard was born in Berlin, Connecticut and began teaching at the age of sixteen.  She was married to John Willard in 1809 and with his help she established a girl's boarding school and later a girl's seminary at Middleton, Vermont.  The seminary was moved to New York and became the famous Emma Willard School.  She wrote many successful books and later built a school for women in Athens, Greece. ¹

In 1843, American historian Emma Willard wrote:

"The government of the United States is acknowledged by the wise and good of other nations, to be the most free, impartial, and righteous government of the world; but all agree, that for such a government to be sustained for many years, the principles of truth and righteousness, taught in the Holy Scriptures, must be practiced.  The rulers must govern in the fear of God, and the people obey the laws." ²

In 1857, Emma Willard published a book for children entitled, Morals for the Young: or, Good Principles Instilling Wisdom. In it she states:

"My Dear Children and Youth: ---

"Since, then, wisdom teaches us to rate everything at its just value, it is wise to seek the favor and fear the frown of God, rather than to seek the favor, and fear the frown of men....

Look upon a Savior's cross... ask pardon... and the Holy Spirit's guidance... receive the Christian's armor. ³

If you'd like to have the citations for the footnotes above, please email us.  If you'd like to see more quotes from those who framed and founded America, please click here: http://jcsm.org/AmericasFounders/.

(This explanation came from "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained", by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  This book is on CD and gives over 4,000 answers to alleged Bible errors, regarding the entire Bible at http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.org.  There is also a 300 question workbook that accompanies the CD-ROM.)

People act peculiar when they're in pain.

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