Lifetime Daily DevotionsSample

It's Circled on His Calendar     For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure. Isaiah 46:9b-10 (NAS)   What an absolutely wonderful evening it had been! They had eaten out in the backyard and now were relaxing under the trees heavy with fruit. Nate looked out over the field, pleased with the work he had done that day and the promise of a super yield from his crops. His eyes rested on the plow that he had spent many hours using as he prepared his land for planting. "Do you remember what that plow used to be? A sword. An evil, dreaded, hated tool of war! I have thoughtlessly and ruthlessly slaughtered many men with that horrible sword! It has now been beaten into a plowshare. Praise the Lord! It will be used for killing no more! And that pruning hook leaning against the oak - it was my spear, a bloody weapon to be feared in my hand. No more. Swords and spears are gone! We sit here without any fear at all. Could you, in your wildest dreams, have thought this would ever be? And none of our sons will ever know the trauma, the horror, the nightmare of war. Never again will our sons train for war. Peace. Peace all over the world. Only God could bring this about. Oh! How I thank Him and praise His glorious name."             Only a dream for us today, a dream that appears to be impossible. But God has promised that His Utopia will come about in His timing according to His plan. "Never again will they train for war!"[1]             I would not dare to join a group of people who were students of prophecy or who had studied the Bible for years. You talk about being out of place - dressing for a wedding and going to the ball game! That's exactly where I would be. But there are some things that make up our "body of truth" that give us confidence in understanding what we read. For example: God cannot lie. That is an issue that cannot be disputed. Oh, we may think He lied to us when things don't come about as we thought they would. "God told me that she was going to get well! He lied to me!" No. We thought we heard God tell us but we were mistaken. God will not lie. God cannot lie.[2] So we can be unwavering in our declaration that what God said, God will do.[3]             So one of these days (who knows when) all war will cease. No more conscripting young men and sending them to fight, be horribly maimed, and die on foreign soil. No more fear of despotic authorities catching up with us and throwing us in a dungeon. No more. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall no longer fight each other, for all war will end. There will be universal peace, and all the military academies and training camps will be closed down. Everyone will live quietly in his own home in peace and prosperity, for there will be nothing to fear. The Lord Himself has promised this. Micah 4:3-4 (Taylor's Living Bible)               Oh, dear Lord. Fear never leaves the side of many people and rules over the world. Disease and hunger are ever-present killers. Families are ripped apart. Living in peace and security will never be known by millions and millions of people. But God promises that some day . . . The words Micah writes will be true for every family during the time when the Lord rules. There will actually be food so we can cook out in the backyard. There will be fun and laughter. There will be no fear. For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.[4]   [1] Micah 4:3-4 [2] Titus 1:2 [3] Numbers 23:19 [4] Micah 4:4