How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good [things,] Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” - Isaiah 52:7 NKJV

Welcome to 22 Days of Peace! We all need peace in our lives, but the world is trying to rob us of it. Maybe you’ve been missing peace. Peace is a gift from God that He wants to give to you! Our prayer is that, as you go through this devotional, you will find the missing peace that you were looking for as God gives it to you.

Dear Rock Family, It has been an incredible year of sowing into the Kingdom of God. This year, we were not able to physically travel to the mission field but it did not stop the move of God or our involvement in these precious places.

In the season that we are in, we have to make sure that we do not allow the spirit of complacency to kick in and allow us to get comfortable with becoming stagnant and not being effective for building the kingdom of God. In 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Paul tells Timothy, "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

As a boat has no road or guardrails, the time of quarantine created a life with fewer guidelines and structure. “Sleep, eat, watch TV, repeat,” became the norm. But at some point, the nudges of the Holy Spirit became undeniable. “Use this time wisely,” he admonishes. “Make progress. Advance. Grow.” And while doing more exercises or taking an online class are great ways to redeem the time, what is MOST “essential”? Time with the Lord. It can never be trumped, not with hundreds of pounds lost nor dozens of doctorates earned. How do we practically DO this thing called “spending time with the Lord”? Just like spending time with a friend can be done in many ways, there isn’t a single formula for spending time with God. But one way is through praise and worship.

When we think about the resurrection of Jesus we usually focus on what happened that morning. Rightfully so, because the most significant miracle in the Bible–namely Jesus being raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit–happened that morning. Everything that took place after this event followed in the wake of that astounding event. So, what took place that evening is also quite significant to our faith today. I believe that it shows what can happen as time goes on and as our focus gets off Jesus on to other things. If you read earlier in John chapter 20 you will see that the disciples came to the tomb when Mary told them that she found it empty. Peter and John ran to see the empty tomb but then returned to their own houses.

Genesis 1:5 (FBV) - God called the light "day," and He called the darkness “night.” So there was evening, and then the morning, making day one. Coming in to a new year is always an exciting time. People make fresh starts and commit to making their lives better. As a church we will often fast and pray in order to focus our attention on what God is speaking to us and hear His voice for the new year. This year was no different.

The greatest enemy you’ll ever fight is YOU. Yes, you… Well, the “old you”, the one that still hangs around even though you’ve made Jesus the Lord of your life. The real you, the New You is a new creation, born of God’s Spirit, with a hunger for righteousness, to do God’s will (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). But you’re a three-part person: you are a spirit, you have a soul (your mind, will, and emotions) and you live in a body, your earth suit.

Merry Christmas Rock Family! It is December and the Christmas season is upon us. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year as we remember and celebrate the coming of our Lord in the form of a baby. This year has presented us with many challenges already and in the coming days and weeks, there may be new ones on the horizon. It looks like things have the potential to get pretty “bad” relatively soon for people who claim Christ as their king.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have the thought of, what can I give God? Think on that for a minute. He does so much for us and yet what can we give Him?