Max Lucado Daily: PURCHASED WITH A HIGH PRICE
The Christmas tree hunt is on! The preferences are different, but the desire is the same. We want the perfect Christmas tree! You search for the right one. You walk the rows. You examine them from all angles. This one is perfect!
God does the same. He has picked you! And he knows exactly where you’ll be placed. He has a barren living room in desperate need of warmth and joy. A corner of the world needs some color. He selected you with that place in mind. God made you on purpose with a purpose. He interwove calendar and character, circumstance and personality, to create the right person for the right corner of the world. And then he paid the price to take you home. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “God bought you with a high price!”
The Christmas promise is this: we have a Savior and his name is Jesus!
From Because of Bethlehem
Nahum 1
God Is Serious Business
A report on the problem of Nineveh, the way God gave Nahum of Elkosh to see it:
2-6 God is serious business.
He won’t be trifled with.
He avenges his foes.
He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging.
But God doesn’t lose his temper.
He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power.
Still, no one gets by with anything.
Sooner or later, everyone pays.
Tornadoes and hurricanes
are the wake of his passage,
Storm clouds are the dust
he shakes off his feet.
He yells at the sea: It dries up.
All the rivers run dry.
The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,
the Lebanon orchards shrivel.
Mountains quake in their roots,
hills dissolve into mud flats.
Earth shakes in fear of God.
The whole world’s in a panic.
Who can face such towering anger?
Who can stand up to this fierce rage?
His anger spills out like a river of lava,
his fury shatters boulders.
7-10 God is good,
a hiding place in tough times.
He recognizes and welcomes
anyone looking for help,
No matter how desperate the trouble.
But cozy islands of escape
He wipes right off the map.
No one gets away from God.
Why waste time conniving against God?
He’s putting an end to all such scheming.
For troublemakers, no second chances.
Like a pile of dry brush,
Soaked in oil,
they’ll go up in flames.
A Think Tank for Lies
11 Nineveh’s an anthill
of evil plots against God,
A think tank for lies
that seduce and betray.
12-13 And God has something to say about all this:
“Even though you’re on top of the world,
With all the applause and all the votes,
you’ll be mowed down flat.
“I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true,
but I won’t afflict you again.
From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck
and splitting it up for kindling.
I’m cutting you free
from the ropes of your bondage.”
14 God’s orders on Nineveh:
“You’re the end of the line.
It’s all over with Nineveh.
I’m gutting your temple.
Your gods and goddesses go in the trash.
I’m digging your grave. It’s an unmarked grave.
You’re nothing—no, you’re less than nothing!”
15 Look! Striding across the mountains—
a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace!
A holiday, Judah! Celebrate!
Worship and recommit to God!
No more worries about this enemy.
This one is history. Close the books.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Read: John 16:16–24
“In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me.”
Joy Like a River Overflowing
17-18 That stirred up a hornet’s nest of questions among the disciples: “What’s he talking about: ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? And, ‘Because I’m on my way to the Father’? What is this ‘day or so’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”
19-20 Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
21-23 “When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions.
23-24 “This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!
INSIGHT:
Just as the angel appeared in the night sky to give shepherds reason for joy, Jesus also used a dark moment to offer His disciples reason for hope on the other side of His suffering and their confusion. What they didn’t yet know would only be revealed in time. Christ’s death was a loving Father’s way of reconciling a rebel world to Himself. The despair of that night was necessary so that, three days later, a reason for hope now, and fullness of joy later, could be offered to all (v. 33).
Spreading Joy
By Julie Ackerman Link
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:10
When Janet went to teach English in a school overseas, she found the atmosphere gloomy and depressing. People did their jobs, but no one seemed happy. They didn't help or encourage one another. But Janet, grateful for all that God had done for her, expressed it in everything she did. She smiled. She was friendly. She went out of her way to help people. She hummed songs and hymns.
Little by little, as Janet shared her joy, the atmosphere at the school changed. One by one people began to smile and help each other. When a visiting administrator asked the principal why his school was so different, the principal, who was not a believer, responded, “Jesus brings joy.” Janet was filled to overflowing with the joy of the Lord and it spilled over to those around her.
Take the joy of Christmas with you every day.
The gospel of Luke tells us that God sent an angel to ordinary shepherds to deliver an extraordinary birth announcement. The angel made the surprising proclamation that the newborn baby “will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10), which indeed He did.
Since then this message has spread through the centuries to us, and now we are Christ's messengers of joy to the world. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we continue the practice of spreading the joy of Jesus as we follow His example and serve others.
How might you spread the joy of Jesus to others today?
Share your story at odb.org
Take the joy of Christmas with you every day.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
The Right Kind of Help
And I, if I am lifted up…will draw all peoples to Myself. —John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery.
When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person can get to God in any other way, then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. The theme of the world’s religion today is to serve in a pleasant, non-confrontational manner.
But our only priority must be to present Jesus Christ crucified— to lift Him up all the time (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Every belief that is not firmly rooted in the Cross of Christ will lead people astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is trusting in the reality of redemption, his words will be compelling to others. What is extremely important is for the worker’s simple relationship with Jesus Christ to be strong and growing. His usefulness to God depends on that, and that alone.
The calling of a New Testament worker is to expose sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, he cannot always be charming and friendly, but must be willing to be stern to accomplish major surgery. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful speeches. We must be willing to examine others as deeply as God has examined us. We must also be sharply intent on sensing those Scripture passages that will drive the truth home, and then not be afraid to apply them.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Those Christmas Magic Words - #7812
It was Christmastime and two-year old Timmy was sitting on his aunt's lap. He was ready to get down. His Aunt Gayle gave her usual requirement for letting him go, "You can't get down until you say the magic words." In case you've forgotten, the magic words are "pretty please with sugar and honey on the top." Right. Except for this time. Timmy turned to his aunt and he simply replied: "Unto you is born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Those Christmas Magic Words."
You know what? Those really are the magic words; especially two of them – "unto you." And that's the part so many good people have missed. Maybe you. See, Jesus is coming close to you this Christmas so you don't have to miss Him any longer, because if you miss Jesus, you'll miss heaven.
Jesus' coming was personal – it was very personal. It was unto you. You can sit in church your whole life and you can miss making Jesus personal for you. You can know all about Him, you can go to His meetings, give to His causes, agree with everything He taught, even do a lot of good things for Him and somehow you never have that moment when you grab Jesus with both hands to be your Savior from your sin. Picture those people stranded on their rooftops some years ago in that aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and that rescuer that came down the cable to save them. He was their only hope, and they grabbed him like he was. They wrapped themselves around that rescuer from above, and they held on with everything they had.
That's what you've got to do with Jesus. When did you do that? Maybe you don't remember an exact time, but if you don't know you did that, you probably didn't. You know if you've told Jesus you're pinning all your eternal hopes on Him – just like a person knows whether or not they're married. This is a conscious choice. You know if you did it or not.
Your sin is just too serious for any amount of religion to erase it. It took Jesus pouring out His life on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sin to rescue you. If there had been any other way, if any amount of goodness or religion could get you to Him, would He have ever gone through that?
He becomes your Savior when you grab Him like those hurricane victims grabbed their rescuer. Two words are all the difference. They're found in Galatians 2:20, our word for today from the Word of God. "I live my life by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Those words – "for me." Has there ever been a time when you, in your heart, stood at the foot of Jesus' cross and you said, "For me. Lord, what You did here was for Me and I'm giving me to you."
If not, you stand at risk of being in the group of church folks that Jesus described in Matthew 7:21. He said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." These people go on to talk about all the Christian things they have done and the Bible says, "then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.'" (Matthew 7:23) I don't ever want you to hear those awful words. Neither does He.
That's why you've been given this opportunity to finally make Jesus your personal Savior. For you He was born. For you He died. And now He's calling to you to come to Him. Don't miss Him. Here on the edge of celebrating His coming to earth, He will come into your life. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours from this day on. I believe You died for me and I'm giving me to You right now."
Do you want that? Do you want to be sure of it? I would just ask you to go to our website ANewStory.com. Let your new story begin there, because that's where you can find the way to be sure you belong to Jesus before this day is over.
This could be your personal Jesus-day; the day that changes everything – the day that changes your eternity.