There's one word that describes the night Jesus came-ordinary. A beautiful night but nothing to keep a person awake. The sheep were ordinary. No fleece made of gold. No history makers. And the shepherds…peasants they were, probably wearing all the clothes they owned. You won't find their staffs in a museum or their writings in a library. They were nameless and simple. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an "extra" on the front of ordinary, the night might have gone unnoticed.
But God dances amidst the common. And that night He did a waltz. The black sky exploded with brightness The night was ordinary no more. The angel came in the night because that's when lights are best seen and most needed. God comes into the common for the same reason. His most powerful tools are the simplest.
From The Applause of Heaven
Psalm 40
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
3 He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.
4 Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,
who have no confidence in the proud
or in those who worship idols.
5 O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.
6 You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand[a]—
you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “Look, I have come.
As is written about me in the Scriptures:
8 I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your instructions are written on my heart.”
9 I have told all your people about your justice.
I have not been afraid to speak out,
as you, O Lord, well know.
10 I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;
I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.
I have told everyone in the great assembly
of your unfailing love and faithfulness.
11 Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.
Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.
12 For troubles surround me—
too many to count!
My sins pile up so high
I can’t see my way out.
They outnumber the hairs on my head.
I have lost all courage.
13 Please, Lord, rescue me!
Come quickly, Lord, and help me.
14 May those who try to destroy me
be humiliated and put to shame.
May those who take delight in my trouble
be turned back in disgrace.
15 Let them be horrified by their shame,
for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”
16 But may all who search for you
be filled with joy and gladness in you.
May those who love your salvation
repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!”
17 As for me, since I am poor and needy,
let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.
You are my helper and my savior.
O my God, do not delay.
Footnotes:
40:6 Greek version reads You have given me a body. Compare Heb 10:5.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Read: Romans 8:28-30
And we know that God causes everything to work together[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[b] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
Footnotes:
8:28 Some manuscripts read And we know that everything works together.
8:29 Or would be supreme.
INSIGHT:
Romans 8:28 is often given as a promise to comfort and encourage those who are going through difficult and painful times. This promise is all-encompassing, for “all things” must include the good and the bad circumstances of life. It assures us that God is not absent and is sovereignly working in all things for our good. Although He may seem silent or even out of sight, nothing is ever wasted in the hands of God. The Old Testament equivalent of Romans 8:28 is Genesis 50:20: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good” (nlt). Romans 8:28 is a promise with a redemptive purpose, for God wants us “to become like his Son” (v. 29 nlt). Sim Kay Tee
When Things Don’t Go Well
By Lawrence Darmani
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God. Romans 8:28
The first words that many people like to quote when misfortune hits are: “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). But that’s hard to believe in hard times. I once sat with a man who had lost his third son in a row, and I listened as he lamented, “How can this tragedy work for my good?” I had no answer but to sit silently and mourn with him. Several months later, he was thankful as he said, “My sorrow is drawing me closer to God.”
Tough as Romans 8:28 may be to understand, countless testimonies give credence to the truth of it. The story of hymn writer Fanny Crosby is a classic example. The world is the beneficiary of her memorable hymns, yet what worked together for good was born out of her personal tragedy, for she became blind at the age of 5. At only age 8, she began to write poetry and hymns. Writing over 8,000 sacred songs and hymns, she blessed the world with such popular songs as “Blessed Assurance,” “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” and “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.” God used her difficulty to bring good for her and us and glory for Him.
God has good purposes and always remains with us.
When tragedy befalls us, it’s hard to understand how anything good can come from it, and we won’t always see it in this life. But God has good purposes and always remains with us.
What trial in your life have you found to be for your good? What good things have come from it? What are you now suffering that you pray will bring something good?
God always has good purposes for our trials.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Sacrifice and Friendship
I have called you friends… —John 15:15
We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if…!” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.
But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.
Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God….” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).
Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.
“I have called you friends….” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We can understand the attributes of God in other ways, but we can only understand the Father’s heart in the Cross of Christ. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 558 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Going After God's MIA's - #7467
I met Gary when we were both working with our local high school football team. He was a coach. I was the football. No, actually I was sort of an unofficial chaplain for the team. Gary was basically a happy guy, pretty laid back. Until "they" come up in the conversation. "They" are the men who were prisoners of war or missing in action in the Vietnam War. When it came to the subject of the MIA's who had not been accounted for, Gary wasn't laid back anymore. Suddenly he was really intense, really serious. See, Gary was one of a number of veterans determined to do whatever they can to make sure we do everything we can to locate or at least account for our missing soldiers.
I was at a flag-raising ceremony where Gary participated in uniform. The rallying point of the veterans there was that black flag - you may have seen it. They're still around. It has the silhouette of a man's head on it, the words POW and MIA, and a stirring four-word motto, "You are not forgotten."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Going After God's MIA's."
I got to thinking about some other MIA's the other day when I got a call from a friend. He told me he'd been missing in action spiritually for a while. He said, "My wife and I got real busy, we started using Sunday as a day just to sleep late and lay low, and we haven't been to church in a long time." They used to be real active. And they're back now. I'll tell you how that all happened in just a moment.
But first, our word for today from the Word of God. It's from John 10. Beginning in verse 15, Jesus says, "I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also." So, is Jesus content just to rest with the sheep that are already in? Never! There are still sheep He laid down His life for who are still missing in action.
My friend -the spiritual MIA- told me he was at a basketball game and a man from their old church came up to him, put his arm around him, and said, "Tom, we really miss you. Why don't you come back to church?" Doesn't sound like much, but that was all it took to make an MIA want to come home spiritually. I thank God for at least one man in that church who was looking out for the MIAs. Who reached out to one and said, "Man, you are not forgotten."
The problem is that most of us are so busy in our personal rat race, and sometimes so comfy in our Christian cocoon, that we forget the ones who aren't home yet. But would you listen to the heart of Jesus? He's aching for those who are still out there lost. How much do the MIAs bother you?
It's so easy to settle into our Christian routine, keep our busy Christian schedule, do all our Christian activities and slowly but surely forget the people Jesus died for who do not know it yet. We get numb, we get complacent, we get comfortable, forgetting that our Lord's mission was "to seek and to save those who are lost" (Luke 19:10). If we're following Him, that's where we'll be going. We can't claim to be much of a follower of Jesus if we are not passionate about the people who are lost, who are dying, those He died for, those who are away from Him. In the midst of enjoying all those who are already home, the heart of Jesus is out there with the people who aren't home.
And you know some of them. You know people who are spiritually missing in action. Do you care? Would you ask the Shepherd to break your heart for them as His heart is broken? Would you get actively involved in going after them? Would you be sure that your fellow believers, your ministry, your church do not forget them?
Jesus has not forgotten the ones who aren't home yet. Please - don't you forget them.