Max Lucado Daily: God Sent a Savior
Christmas cards. Punctuated promises. On this special day, can I share words from my favorite Christmas cards?
“He became like us, so we could become like Him.”
“Angels still sing and the star still beckons.”
“God has given a Son to us. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)
And my favorite…
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.”
Merry Christmas everybody!
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 7
The Privilege of Holiness
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. 2 When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy[d] them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, 4 for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. 6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. 11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.
12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!
16 “You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you. 17 Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ 18 But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. 19 Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. 20 And then the Lord your God will send terror[e] to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!
21 “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. 23 But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.
25 “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.
7:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 7:26.
7:20 Often rendered the hornet. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Read: Ephesians 2:13-19
But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
A Temple for the Lord
19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
Insight
Unity is a common theme in the New Testament writings of Paul. Jesus has brought us peace with God and therefore we should also be at peace with each other. In Ephesians 2, Paul talks about peace between Jew and Gentile. Despite the centuries-old separation of the two groups, God in Christ Jesus has “broken down the middle wall of separation” (v.14). In the temple there was a wall beyond which Gentiles could not pass; it formed the boundary of “the court of the Gentiles.” However, Jesus has removed the barriers between God and us and between us and others. Now we all are “members of the household of God” (v.19).
Lasting Peace
By David C. McCasland
He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. —Ephesians 2:14
On Christmas Eve 1914, during the First World War, the guns fell silent along a 30-mile stretch of the Western Front. Soldiers peered cautiously over the tops of trenches while a few emerged to repair their positions and bury the dead. As darkness fell, some German troops set out lanterns and sang Christmas carols. Men on the British side applauded and shouted greetings.
The next day, German, French, and British troops met in no man’s land to shake hands, share food, and exchange gifts. It was a brief respite from war that soon ended when the artillery and machine guns roared to life again. But no one who experienced “The Christmas Truce,” as it became known, would ever forget how it felt and how it fueled their longing for lasting peace.
In Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah we read, “His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). By His death on the cross, Jesus removed the “no man’s land” between us and God. “For He Himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14).
In Jesus we can find lasting peace with God and harmony with each other. This is the life-changing message of Christmas!
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!” —Wesley
Only in Christ can true peace be realized.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
The Hidden Life
…your life is hidden with Christ in God. —Colossians 3:3
The Spirit of God testifies to and confirms the simple, but almighty, security of the life that “is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul continually brought this out in his New Testament letters. We talk as if living a sanctified life were the most uncertain and insecure thing we could do. Yet it is the most secure thing possible, because it has Almighty God in and behind it. The most dangerous and unsure thing is to try to live without God. For one who is born again, it is easier to live in a right-standing relationship with God than it is to go wrong, provided we heed God’s warnings and “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7).
When we think of being delivered from sin, being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and “walk[ing] in the light,” we picture the peak of a great mountain. We see it as very high and wonderful, but we say, “Oh, I could never live up there!” However, when we do get there through God’s grace, we find it is not a mountain peak at all, but a plateau with plenty of room to live and to grow. “You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36).
When you really see Jesus, I defy you to doubt Him. If you see Him when He says, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27), I defy you to worry. It is virtually impossible to doubt when He is there. Every time you are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to you. “My peace I give to you…” (John 14:27)— a peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers you completely, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. “…your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
BARE FEET, BOOTS AND A MAN IN BLUE - #7293
Like most Americans, I just about O.D. on the news. No matter what it's about! It could be news about elections, or some economic problem, or eruptions in the Middle East. It's all important, but it's not exactly in the "joy to the world" category.
So I absolutely loved the feel-good story out of New York City that went viral across Facebook a couple of years ago. It was about the friendly policeman and the freezing homeless man. And it had "Christmas Story" written all over it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bare Feet, Boots and a Man In Blue."
In case you missed it, a young police officer on patrol in Times Square, came upon a homeless man, who was sitting there barefoot on the sidewalk. It was one of those "two pair of socks" night for the officer and even then his feet were freezing. He couldn't imagine a man sitting there barefoot all night. So the man in blue went inside a nearby store and bought the homeless man a $100 pair of boots with his own money. When he gave those boots to that barefoot man, well, you can only imagine the joy.
It would have been one of life's invisible acts of kindness except for a tourist who was there with a cell phone camera. She was so moved with what she was watching, she snapped the picture, which has now been seen by millions of people. Maybe because it was the Christmas season, that poignant scene triggered a flashback to something my personal Hero did over and over again. It's one of the many things that makes me love Him. That would be Jesus.
The incident I remember took place when Jesus was entering a town, surrounded by crowds that were really anxious to see Him. The Bible says there was a blind beggar who had heard that "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." Much to the aggravation of the people around Jesus, he started shouting loudly, "Jesus, have mercy on me!"
A lot of annoyed people there told him in no uncertain terms to shut up. Or "shutteth up" (if that sounds more Biblical to you). So he just shouted louder, the man did. The blind man was a growing nuisance. He was an embarrassment. After all, they had a "celebrity" in town. Then two little words that tell me so much about Jesus, and they are our word for today from the Word of God. Two words: Luke 18:40; "Jesus stopped". Nobody else stopped, but Jesus did. Not for the mayor. Not for the millionaires. Not for the ministers, but for the miserable. The guy everyone else walked by or walked over. That's who Jesus stops everything for. And the first thing that blind man ever saw was the face of Jesus. Because Jesus did what only He could do; He gave that man his sight.
The Bible's filled with stories of people nobody would stop for except Jesus. Marginalized people like blind Bartimaeus. Obnoxious people like Zacchaeus, the tax collector. Condemned people like the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Even the hardened criminal on the cross next to Jesus, in His agony Jesus answered that thief's cry for mercy and guaranteed him heaven.
For 2,000 years, Jesus has been stopping for the lonely, the losers, the lost. And letting them know that someone knows their name. Someone hears their cry. Someone really loves them. And it's God's one and only Son. He sees me; He sees a world lost in sin, away from God, headed for an awful eternity. And He does what no one else could do. What no religion could ever do. He pays for my sins with His blood. In the words of the Bible, "He was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten so that we might have peace; He was lashed and we were healed!" (Isaiah 53:5).
You know, Jesus stopped for me when my soul was destitute, when my soul was doomed. Like the hymn says, "Once I was lost, but now I am found. I was blind, but now I see." You know, He might be passing your way today. He knows your name. He knows your scars. He knows your sin, and He died for it. He's reaching your direction. Would you grab His hand today to begin your personal relationship with the man who loved you enough to die for you?
If you want to know how; if I could possibly help you, please check out our website ANewStory.com and let Jesus do for you what only He can do.
