Dec 22, 2025 – Hot or Cold
In his sermon yesterday, Pastor Mark Pettus (Church of the Highlands) used a car analogy which really spoke to me that I guess I’ve never thought of in relation to faith. I don’t have his exact words; but, basically, he pointed out how, when we leave church, we can walk home or we can get in the car and drive. He said that once we accept Christ as our Savior and invite Him into every area of our lives, it’s like the difference in walking or riding to our destination.
JA – Today’s devotion pairs so well with Pastor Mark’s sermon yesterday because he spoke about the Advent wreath of candles used in many churches during the Christmas season and about light in the darkness. In the devotion, Young speaks in Jesus’ voice saying that candles and Christmas lights are a way of “symbolizing My coming into the world – eternal Light breaking through the darkness and opening the way to heaven…. Fix your eyes on Me, beloved! Through thousands of good thought-choices, you can find Me – ‘see’ Me – as you journey through this life.” (See John 8:12 and John 1:5)
JC – “Praise and worship are the best responses to the wonder of My being. Sing praises to My holy Name. Gaze at Me in silent adoration. Look for a star of guidance in your own life, and be willing to follow wherever I lead. I am the Light from on high that dawns upon you, to guide your feet into the way of Peace.”
Power – Joyce writes, “What you say affects not only you, but it affects others as well. The words that come out of your mouth go into your ears as well as other people’s, and then they drop down into your soul where they give you either joy or sadness, peace or upset, depending on the types of words you have spoken.” Proverbs 12:14 – “From the fruit of his words a man shall be satisfied with good.”
Streams – Genesis 15:12 – “A thick and dreadful darkness came over him. “ Cowman talks about Abraham’s dark season and sympathizes (from her own experience of loss) with others who are facing sadness and despair, “…a sorrow that comes crashing down upon you, wrings from your soul its peaceful rest in the grace of God, and casts it into a sea of darkness that is unlit by even one ray of hope?” Riding with God rather than walking alone eases these kinds of burdens. Pastor Mark pointed out that no darkness can exist when even a small amount of light is present and that darkness can’t overcome light but Light can overcome darkness.
Cowman continues, “And know that He who endured the ‘dreadful darkness’ of Calvary and the feeling of having been forsaken on the cross is ready to accompany you ‘through the valley of the shadow of death’ (Ps. 23:4) until you can see the sun shining on the other side.” She shares from F. S. Webster who points out (from Judges 6:13) how Gideon doubted God’s presence and explains that, “God has allowed the difficulty to come upon you, in order to bring you closer to Himself. It has come not to separate you from Jesus but to cause you to cling to Him more faithfully, more firmly, and more simply.”
Prevail 356 – So many things can lure us away from the stability, comfort, and power of our faith. Loss for sure, but also apathy and success as Larson points out in today’s devotion telling about a woman who left her family and about the “spiritual impotence” of the people in Laodicea. Revelation 3:15 – “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!” I experienced that kind of apathy in a previous relationship wishing that the person would at least get mad at me and show some level of caring. Larson writes, “Jesus gave everything to bring us into His family. He saved us from sin and death. He wants a bride that loves Him, serves Him, and enjoys life with Him. Why wouldn’t we respond?…….Ask Him if you’ve become lukewarm about anything that’s important to Him.”
Utmost – Chambers writes, “When God draws me, the issue of my will comes in at once – will I react to the revelation which God gives; will I come to Him?… Belief is not an intellectual act; belief is a moral act whereby I deliberately commit myself…. Belief must be the will to believe. There must be a surrender of the will…. As far as feelings go, I must stake all blindly: I must will to believe…until I am no longer confident in what I have done, I am confident only in God. The hindrance is that I will not trust God, but only my mental understanding…. dissociate myself from my old ways of looking at things, and by putting myself right over on to Him. Every man is made to reach out beyond his grasp. It is God who draws me….” Hot or cold, light in the darkness, walk or ride.
