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Peace on Earth – Ann Tatlock
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A soldier is a soldier

For a child will be born to us…and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 NASB

It was mid-January, but my co-worker’s handmade Christmas sign still hung in large letters over his desk: “Peace on Earth.” I looked at it and marveled at the irony of those words. The previous day, America had been living in peacetime. But today, January 17, 1991, our troops had been mobilized and we were witnessing the beginning of the Persian Gulf War.

My mind traveled back to 1973 when the U.S. started pulling troops out of Vietnam. That war had been going on for as long as I could remember. When someone scribbled “Peace at last” on a classroom wall at school, I gazed at that bit of graffiti with surprise. I didn’t even know peace was possible. I assumed a world at war was simply the natural order of things.

And so it is, if you really think about it. Maybe our own country isn’t always actively at war (although we’re just now ending the eleven-year war in Iraq and Afghanistan that followed the Persian Gulf War), but at any given time, dozens of wars are being fought all over the world. In spite of peace talks, peace accords, the global peace movements, the Peace Corp, “Visualize World Peace,” and well-meaning groups singing “Give Peace a Chance,” there is never peace on earth. Never.

Why, then, did the angels greet the shepherds by saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14, KJV)? I believe it was because they were announcing the fulfillment of the promise given in Isaiah 9:6. The child who had been born that night in a manger was the Prince of Peace. His coming marked a new revelation of God’s redeeming work in the world, and yet Christ’s life and death are threaded throughout with additional promises that continue to turn our eyes to what is not yet seen.

Though the world as we know it now churns with the constant chaos of war, don’t lose hope. Some of God’s greatest Christmas gifts—including peace on earth–are still to come.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for bringing peace to our hearts as we look to the final coming of your peace on earth.

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Ann Tatlock is a two-time winner of the Christy Award for her novels All the Way Home and Promises to Keep. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, saying “her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit www.anntatlock.com.

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Who? – Ann Tatlock
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And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” Mark 8:29

The little girl looked up at me with a puzzled expression. “Who?” she asked again.

“Jesus,” I repeated. “You know, we celebrate Christmas because it’s his birthday. Haven’t you heard about Jesus?”

My daughter’s playmate shook her head. I don’t know who was more mystified: six-year-old Sara, who thought Christmas really was about Santa Claus, or me, who couldn’t believe Sara had never heard the name of Jesus. Only later when I learned her parents were atheists would I understand.

My heart goes out to those who’ve never heard the name of the Savior. How do they live without Him? I wonder. Lately, though, the Lord has been turning that question back on me.

Life’s worries had been piling up. There was never enough money to pay the bills. My extended family was dealing with health and relationship issues. On top of that, I was the parent of a teenager! I was tired and discouraged and in some ways brokenhearted. The days were becoming a joyless exercise in endurance.

And then, unmistakably, Jesus nudged my spirit, asking, “Who do you say that I am?”

“What, Lord?” I asked.

“Who do you say that I am?”

“Well, you’re the Christ, of course. The son of the living God. My savior, my redeemer, my purpose, and my only hope.”

“They why aren’t you living like it? You’re just as burdened as the people who’ve never heard my name.”

He was right, of course. I frequently wonder how people can live without Jesus, and yet my worries too often keep me from living with him. I know he’s my savior, but is he my ever-present help in time of need? Do I trust him enough to turn my problems over to him, saying, “I can’t handle them, but I know you can?”

On the day of my confession, my worries lifted like a fever breaking and an inexplicable peace came over me. That’s not to say that I don’t still have my worries and doubts, but slowly I’m learning God is who he says he is, and I can rest in knowing that all he does is for our good and for his glory.

By the way, some years later Sara’s parents became believers. Isn’t that just like God?

Prayer: Jesus, you say you are the way, the truth and the life, Savior, Redeemer, Lord of all. Today I affirm that you are who you say you are. Amen.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit www.anntatlock.com.

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Carols in the Night – Ann Tatlock
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About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25

The last thing I felt like doing was singing. I was in the midst of a three-week wait to see a specialist who would determine whether or not I was showing early signs of a serious illness. Although I was eventually found to be all right, the experience left me shaken.

Up to that point in my life, I had never battled anything worse than the common cold and one or two rounds of strep throat. I took good health for granted. Then suddenly, I was broadsided by the fact that, like everyone else, I was all too human. Sooner or later, this body of mine is going to draw its last breath. As I thought about my own mortality, I realized that death was not part of God’s original plan. It had come about because of sin, and it was something only God himself could conquer.

And so He came into the world in the form of a baby, taking on a body just like ours, but one that would be broken for our sakes. For 33 years he dwelled among us, pointing us toward life and then securing the way through his own death and resurrection.

Paul and Silas were able to sing in the night, their backs beaten and bloodied, their feet in stocks, their future uncertain. The prisoners who were listening were no doubt awed, not solely because these tortured men were singing, but because the songs themselves were filled with hope. Paul and Silas could sing because they knew, whether they died that night or the next day or sometime in the years ahead, they would follow Christ in death, through resurrection and on into eternal life.

Christmas. Divine love. Hope. A heavenly home. If I really believe, I have every reason to sing too, even in the darkest night.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit www.anntatlock.com. Read Ann’s devotions

In His Time — Ann Tatlock
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“He hath made everything beautiful in His time” Ecclesiastes 3:11

As I stood at the window looking out at the gray November morning, I felt the jittery fear and anxiety of the past year gel into a hard lump of resignation. Fourteen months had passed since my husband’s business partner walked out, leaving their fledgling business in financial ruin. Scrambling to scrape by ever since, Bob and I faced a December that looked worse than bleak. There would be no way we could pay our bills, let alone buy Christmas gifts for family and friends. And if the downward spiral continues, I thought, surely we’ll lose everything.

I turned on the coffeemaker in the kitchen, then padded back down the hall in my slippers to my office. No one else was awake and this was supposed to be my quiet hour for Bible reading, but God had let me down. Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides, had somehow not provided for me.

I switched on my computer and opened my e-mail. There was a note from my friend Kris, a talented painter who lived in New England. Kris and I had never met, but two years before she’d written to me after reading one of my books. We’d become fast friends via the Internet, regularly exchanging family news and prayer requests. At the time we connected, her own husband had been out of work, so she knew what it was to face financial uncertainty.

“I hope you won’t be angry with me,” she began, “but last February I held a show, and I dedicated the proceeds of the first painting sold to you….”

As my eyes slid over the words, I couldn’t quite comprehend them. I had to read her note several times before I finally understood. Kris had sold a painting and she was sending me the proceeds—because the Lord had laid it on her heart to do so! She had tried to think of a way to send me the money anonymously, but couldn’t decide how. So, she confided, I simply had to trust her when she said the money wasn’t from her but from the Lord.

“You may remember,” she went on, “how when Mike was unemployed, money came in to us from unexpected sources, and it lifted our faith so.” She explained that the woman who had bought the painting had only now paid for it and, “it’s just sad it has taken so long.”

While Kris felt frustrated by what appeared to be the buyer’s procrastination, I was awed by God’s perfect timing. We hadn’t needed the money in February so much as we needed the money now. Kris didn’t know that, but God did.

In a rush of wonder, I jumped up and paced the house, marveling at God’s glorious provision. Fifteen minutes earlier I had despaired, and now I rejoiced! Who but God could bring about a change like that?

The Lord not only knows what we need, he knows when we need it. He is Jehovah Jirah, and his timing is always perfect.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Oncea Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit http://www.anntatlock.com/.Read Ann’s devotions

What is Eternal? – Ann Tatlock
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“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35

One April morning my friend Teresa drove her daughter to school, and by the time she got home her house was engulfed in flames. Neighbors had called the fire department and the wailing of sirens was coming closer, but it was already too late to save Teresa’s home.

Two days later, I stepped into what was left of the house. While the exterior was still standing, the interior was a scene of complete devastation. Nothing remained of the simple but beautiful furnishings, the pictures and family photos, the books, flower arrangements and knick-knacks. All the colors had been reduced to black ash, left wet and soggy by the firemen’s efforts to put out the flames.

I walked in quiet disbelief from room to room, looking for anything at all that could be salvaged. I saw nothing that had survived the fire, until I came to the living room.

There, something caught my eye. It lay at the spot where Teresa had had a stack of books beside a reading chair. I picked up the object from out of the ashes and discovered it was the book on top of the pile.

The leather cover was charred and damp, but when I opened it I was amazed to find the inside completely intact. From Genesis to Revelation, not one word of Teresa’s Bible had been destroyed by the fire.

What a perfect picture, I thought, of the end of the age. We are told in 2 Peter 3 what the Day of the Lord will be like. God will destroy the earth, and the heaven too, by fire. But this isn’t meant to be an act of total destruction; it’s an act of purification.

The things that are not of God will be destroyed, but God’s Word will remain. God has promised that on that day he will unveil a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness will dwell. This new creation will never be touched by sin or suffering or brokenness, and it will never come to an end.

For those who have placed their faith in Christ, this is our great hope. His Word is eternal, and those who believe in his Word have eternal life.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit www.anntatlock.com

 ISBN-10: 0764200062
ISBN-13: 978-0764200069
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“Souled” Out to Impure Beliefs — Ann Tatlock
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“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:…to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27

Once while visiting relatives, I was browsing the bookcases in their home when I came across a collection of books on reincarnation. Knowing my relatives to be Christian, I asked my cousin why he had these books. He explained that, years before, when one of our cousins died of cancer, the books had been a source of comfort for him. Even now, he said, reincarnation seemed within the realm of possibility.

Reincarnation is, of course, a belief inherent to Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. To take ideas like that and add them to Christianity—or to any other religion—is called syncretism. It’s the smorgasbord approach to faith; you pick and chose whatever beliefs you like from the many religions of the world and blend them up into your own theological concoction.

This is becoming common today in our world of relativism. It’s hard to stay grounded in the Bible when the world is constantly telling us that there are no standards of absolute truth. With that kind of thinking, the Bible no longer appears to be the final Word of God.

I don’t remember much from high school biology, but I do remember something about osmosis. It’s the process through which fluids pass through the semipermeable membrane of a living cell. In other words, the living cell takes on the fluid that’s around it.

That’s what we’re like as people. It’s human nature. We easily take on the ideas and values of our families and friends and even the entire culture. We may even accept as plausible religious beliefs that contradict biblical teaching.

It’s important then, if we are going to be Bible-believing Christians, to culture-proof ourselves. We do this through the discipline of discernment. To be discerning is to have the maturity of faith to know good from evil, right from wrong, truth from error.

How do we develop discernment? By becoming thoroughly acquainted with the Bible, the Word of God. By praying for the Holy Spirit to teach us as we read the Word (John 16:13). By weighing every teaching against Scripture (1 Thes. 5:21). And by testing the spirits to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1).

Discernment is the shield that keeps us from unwittingly taking on the ways of the world. It’s the gatekeeper that says no to the things that are not of God. It’s the guardian of a pure and undefiled faith, which is the Lord’s desire for each one of us as his children.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit http://www.anntatlock.com/

ISBN-10: 0764200062
ISBN-13: 978-0764200069
Read Ann’s devotions

What is Good — Ann Tatlock
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“Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2 Cor. 11:14

When The Chronicles of Narnia came out in theaters, we took our then eight-year-old daughter to see it. As soon as the movie was over, Laura said, “That White Witch can’t be evil. She was too beautiful to be bad.”

Thankfully, my husband latched onto this teachable moment by saying, “Well you see, honey, it’s important to know that not everything that’s beautiful is good.”

Our culture offers plenty that’s appealing—even to Christians—but appearances can be deceiving. Not everything that looks good is of God.

Some years back, I was going through a dry spell in my walk with God. Church seemed irrelevant, the Bible wasn’t speaking to me, my prayer life had gone flat. I decided I needed a new way to seek the Lord.

I started reading the works of Christian mystics without knowing they were Christian mystics. I didn’t even know what mysticism was. But what I read sounded good and I liked it. One day while browsing through the books at a Goodwill Store, I came across one specifically on Christian mysticism. I bought it. But I never read it. Somehow—by the grace of God—I lost it.

I later learned that mysticism is the practice of having a direct experience of “God” through non-rational (and non-biblical) means. The most common method for achieving this experience is through meditation. Not meditation on God’s Word, but rather, mind-emptying meditation. Mantra-chanting meditation that is meant to relieve the chanter of all thought so “God” can enter in.

The earliest Christians to practice this kind of meditation borrowed the method from Eastern mysticism. Which is the essence of our present New Age movement. Which teaches that only by emptying the mind can we enter into a state of higher consciousness where we will recognize that we ourselves are God.

Just a few days ago, I found this statement on a Christian mystic website: “The goal for the Christian mystic is to become Christ—to become as fully permeated with God as Christ is, thus becoming like him, fully human, and by the grace of God, also fully divine.”

But this is an impossible goal. As God’s creation, we reflect his glory, but we will never be divine. To think otherwise is to believe the lie of Satan in the Garden: “You will be like God.”

New Age writer Marilyn Ferguson claims that 31% of New Agers she quizzed said it was Christian mysticism that got them involved in the New Age movement. The way I see it, many of them probably hungered, as I did, for a deeper relationship with God. They saw something that looked beautiful and, not knowing the danger, walked through an open door leading straight back to the original lie.

That I didn’t walk that path myself is nothing less than a gift. It was enticing to think I could experience God in a new way, but God’s protective hand threw down a roadblock. All I can do is thank him, and make sure that others know this truth: Not everything that’s beautiful is good.
May the God who is all good keep us securely on his path of righteousness.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit www.anntatlock.com

 ISBN-10: 0764200062
ISBN-13: 978-0764200069
Read Ann’s devotions

What is Truth? — Ann Tatlock
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Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” John 18:37-38

“Ask me anything, anything at all,” the man offered amiably. He was a locally well-known church leader who had come to visit our little Student Life group at the private school I attended in the 1970s. The group was made up of a handful of Christian students as well as seekers (those students who came to get out of mandatory study hall in the dorms).

For an awkward moment, no one said anything. Then somebody irreverently piped up, “Okay, then, what is reality?”

I almost fell through the floor. We have a respected speaker in our midst and some smart aleck throws the school joke at him? Hey, man, what is reality? A-ha-ha-ha!

Little did I know then that our adolescent joke would become the big question of the 21st century. Because another way to ask the question is, “What is truth?” Unfortunately, the most commonly held answer today is, “Nobody can really know.”

As a culture, we’ve stopped believing in absolutes, a mindset that knocks the very foundation out from under everything. Truth, then, becomes relative, subjective, and pliable. In fact, if you meditate hard enough, you can create your own reality, whatever you want it to be!

But this isn’t how the Bible portrays truth at all. In the Bible, truth is distinct and unchanging. While some may think of it as a set of doctrines, a collection of ideas, or a man-made philosophy, it’s none of those things. According to God’s revelation, truth is a Person.

The irony of Pilate asking Jesus, “What is truth?” is this: Pilate was looking Truth in the face and he didn’t recognize it. Not long before he was questioned by Pilate, Jesus described himself to his disciples by saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

Interestingly, the Greek word he used for truth here is aletheia, which can also be translated “reality.”

So what is reality? Jesus is reality. And everything he told us while he lived among us is true: God is there and he loves us. God the Father has made a way of salvation through the sacrificial blood of Christ the Son. And God is creating a new heaven and a new earth where “everyone who belongs to the truth” will live with him eternally. This is what God himself has revealed to us, and we can rest assured in his promises.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. Visit www.anntatlock.com

 ISBN-10: 0764200062
ISBN-13: 978-0764200069
Read Ann’s devotions

Drawing the Line — Ann Tatlock
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“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

Some years ago, I surprised myself by joining a bowling league. I rarely bowled, and when I did my average hovered around 120. I was not exactly bowling league material. But I enjoyed the game and when someone invited me to the league, I decided to give it a shot.

One day while my partner was taking her turn, I glanced over at the score sheet of the team bowling beside us. I noticed the scorekeeper drawing a thick dark line with her pencil between the third and fourth frames. Curious, I asked, “What’s the line for?”

She tapped to the left of the line with the point of the pencil. “See these first three frames?” she asked. I nodded. “Sue was bowling really bad. Even got a gutter ball.” I looked at the numbers she’d recorded and nodded again. “So when that happens, we draw a heavy line between the frames to mark a new beginning. We don’t want the bad throws of those early frames to affect the rest of the game.”

Since that time, the image of the heavy line on the score sheet has stayed with me. There have been many days when I needed it as a reminder that I too can draw a line across my life and start fresh, not because of anything I can do, but because of what Christ as done for me.

We all have moments in our lives that come back to haunt us. Sins we’ve committed that still leave a residue of shame, even though we’ve asked God for forgiveness. Wounds brought on by other people, even though we’ve said we forgive them. It’s easy to relive the difficult times and to let the memories fester. But when we do, we become locked in the past, unable to move forward and mature in the faith.

Ours is a God who says, “Behold, I make all things new”. We can lay His promise as a line across our life, knowing that no matter what we may think or feel, we are gifted with a new beginning each time we ask God for a fresh start. With our past in God’s hands, we have only to look forward, and to press on to the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association “Book of the Year” in fiction for both All the Way Home and I’ll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her “one of Christian fiction’s better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories.” Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Ashville, North Carolina. Visit www.anntatlock.com.

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Andrea knew when she married John Sheldon that her love was not returned, but they both stayed in the marriage for their own reasons. Now John is returning home from a five-year stint in prison, and while Andrea wants him home, she knows his return will upset the life she and the children have adjusted to in his absence. But she hopes his homecoming will offer them a second chance at marriage.

John is apprehensive about how he will be received, but he is returning a different man. While incarcerated, he committed his life to Christ and wants to hold fast to his newfound faith. Andrea is wary of his conversion, son Billy is delighted, and daughter Rebekah is skeptical. Six-year-old Phoebe doesn’t remember her father and is withdrawn. Can John and Andrea mend the rifts that have torn their family apart?

One Minute Meditations for the culturally challenged and spiritually stuck. Daily devotions from the perspective of one man and one woman, delivered online and by email that inspire you to move beyond the “busy-ness” of life into an intimate relationship with God through an interactive friendship with the Father. Christian Devotions takes Christ from the heavens and places him in your heart.