The Family Altar

389 Pages·2005·3.61 MB·English

by  The Dodd Family

The Family Altar

The Family Altar
Selected Daily Scripture Readings
and
Selected Thoughts
From Sermons of William Branham
Timothy A Dodd
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King
James Version.
All inspirational thoughts are from the sermons of
William Marrion Branham
Cover Photo: Dennis Huculak
For more information contact:
Bible Believers Fellowship of Grande Prairie
P.O. Box 22051
Grande Prairie, AB Canada T8V 6X1
Internet: BibleBelievers.ca
Printed in Canada
Table of Contents
Foreward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Daily Devotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
January .......................................... Day 1
February ........................................ Day 32
March .......................................... Day 61
April ............................................ Day 92
May ........................................... Day 122
June ........................................... Day 153
July ........................................... Day 183
August ......................................... Day 214
September ...................................... Day 245
October ......................................... Day 275
November ...................................... Day 306
December ....................................... Day 336
Appendix (References to Sermon Segments) . . . . . . 381
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Foreward
While there is considerable resource material available to assist the
Believer in studying the messages of Brother William Branham, The Family
Altar is the first of its kind to be prepared for the family time of prayer and
Bible reading.
"The Family Altar" leads the reader into a spiritual thought through the
daily scripture reading with accompanying segments from the sermons of
Brother William Branham. It will be obvious to the diligent reader that the
Holy Spirit has given Brother Timothy Dodd divine direction in presenting
spiritual truths in this most unique manner. Brother Dodd is a dedicated
pastor and servant of Christ and is to be commended for his sacrificial
labor of love on behalf of the Bride of Jesus Christ.
"Altar" throughout the scripture always speaks of "sacrifice" and God is
pleased when we present to Him at the family altar our lives as "a living
sacrifice", and our offerings of praise and thanksgiving for the blessings of
family and home.
I am pleased to express my personal admiration for Timothy and his wife,
Alison. I admire the strong Christian principles they have instilled in their
wonderful family. Successfully raising eight children in a world that is
falling apart in every way is no simple undertaking! Their sons are fine,
dedicated young men who are taking their places of responsibility in the
secular world as well as within the church. Their daughters have learned
how to be homemakers, following the excellent guidance and example of
their godly mother.
Every family that avails itself of the spiritual riches within the covers of this
book will be immeasurably blessed.
Pastor Edward F. Byskal
Cloverdale Bibleway
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Preface
“Are you ready to establish the old family altar again?” - William Branham,
January 20, 1963
William Branham was born in 1909 in very humble surroundings. A
supernatural sign, witnessed by those present at his birth, was the only clue
that a servant of God whose ministry would affect millions, was being
welcomed into the world. In time, his life and ministry was used of God to
bring the “Full Gospel” of Jesus Christ into manifestation and, accompanied
by the signs which God gave him, took that supernatural gospel to the
world. This ministry continues to have a telling impact today.
I am just one of millions of people who believe William Branham to be a
prophet to our generation. His recorded messages have been an inspiration
to me for over 20 years. I am sure that I am not alone when I say that in
listening to and reading those messages I have been often moved by just
a simple statement, a short story, or just a casual yet inspirational thought.
Every person has a unique way of saying things and William Branham is
no exception. With these things in mind, I have endeavored to put together
some of those thoughts in a form for daily devotions to enable others to
take a moment out of their busy lives and read something which might
draw them closer to God, or at the very least make them think of something
they had not thought on for some time.
I will go no further without thanking those pioneers who have gone before
me, without whose labors I could never of done this work. I am thinking of
those whose diligent work and vision have preserved and restored the
audio taped sermons of William Branham. Among them are Cloverdale
Bibleway and Voice of God Recordings (formerly Spoken Word
Publications). I would also express sincere appreciation for the work of all
those people who took the time to inscribe those messages in book form,
and then into computer format, culminating in a searchable database. In
particular I would like to single out Neil Halava and his group of paid
workers and unpaid volunteers. I could not have done this book without
their work.
Though I hope all will enjoy this book, it is compiled mainly with families in
mind. I think back to when our family was young. Endeavoring to focus our
children’s minds on easy to understand scriptural readings was no simple
task. Sometimes it was too deep, other times a story seemed too light.
Many times by reading something too long, young attention spans were lost
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to day dreaming or sleep. Accordingly, all the readings chosen for “The
Family Altar” are selected in the hope that children of a young age will be
able to understand them, and benefit from them.
Most of all, this book is intended as a companion to prayer. Prayer is the
greatest weapon a Christian has. We can do anything too much, but we
cannot pray too much. Introducing prayer to young minds is an important
responsibility of every parent which cannot be overemphasized.
There are several features in the book which lend themselves to the use of
it as a reading for your “Family Altar”.
Firstly, each page begins with a scripture reading that is gleaned from the
full scripture reading recommended for the day. The scripture reading is
not lengthy so as not to lose the concentration of young minds. If you are
not reading to young children you may wish to read the whole chapter of
the Bible from which it was taken.
Secondly, the sermon segments selected for this book are not intended to
introduce or support a doctrinal position, but rather provide inspiration and
instruction. While no human being can put something together without in
some way reflecting his or her own ideas and makeup, I hope that what is
presented here appears well balanced. As the intended audience is young
minds, as well as their parents, the sermon segments will tend to be simple
to understand. All sermon segments are from sermons preached by
William Branham and a full list of references to the sermons from which
they are taken follow at the end of the book.
As William Branham left no written work, only oral work in the form of tape
recorded sermons, it is sometimes impossible to present his statements
exactly as spoken in order to produce a clear statement in written form. For
the purposes of this book I have removed repeated words, corrected the
sentences as Brother Branham himself corrected his statements in mid-
sentence while speaking, and added the odd additional word where
necessary. In example of the latter, in the March 21 sermon segment used,
Brother Branham says “Judaea is just as about as far under the equator as this
is above it.” We have superimposed the word “[Jeffersonville]” over “this”
which is obviously the meaning intended as the sermon was preached in
Jeffersonville. This is done sporadically in order to make the sermon
segments more understandable. Anywhere you see the brackets [] you will
know that this is the method used. We have not in any way edited the
grammar for this book as we feel that Brother Branham’s ministry was
evidently vindicated by God, and if his grammar was good enough for God,
it is good enough for us.
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