A friend of mine asked her students to make a list of questions, they would like to ask Mary. Here are some responses: “What was Jesus’ first word?” “Did he ever get sick?” “Did Jesus ever misbehave?” They’re all legitimate questions.
The fact that we can ask them raises a greater one. Why did God go so far? Why did He become a human being? A chief reason? He wants you to know that he gets you. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, He understands how you feel and has faced what you face. Jesus has been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin! (Hebrews 4:15-16). So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. “Take the mercy, accept the help!” Because of Bethlehem, you can boldly go to him!
Read more Because of Bethlehem
Psalm 57
A David Psalm, When He Hid in a Cave from Saul
57 1-3 Be good to me, God—and now!
I’ve run to you for dear life.
I’m hiding out under your wings
until the hurricane blows over.
I call out to High God,
the God who holds me together.
He sends orders from heaven and saves me,
he humiliates those who kick me around.
God delivers generous love,
he makes good on his word.
4 I find myself in a pride of lions
who are wild for a taste of human flesh;
Their teeth are lances and arrows,
their tongues are sharp daggers.
5 Soar high in the skies, O God!
Cover the whole earth with your glory!
6 They booby-trapped my path;
I thought I was dead and done for.
They dug a mantrap to catch me,
and fell in headlong themselves.
7-8 I’m ready, God, so ready,
ready from head to toe,
Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune:
“Wake up, soul!
Wake up, harp! wake up, lute!
Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!”
9-10 I’m thanking you, God, out loud in the streets,
singing your praises in town and country.
The deeper your love, the higher it goes;
every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness.
11 Soar high in the skies, O God!
Cover the whole earth with your glory!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 10, 2018
Read: Isaiah 44:1–5
Proud to Be Called Israel
44 1-5 “But for now, dear servant Jacob, listen—
yes, you, Israel, my personal choice.
God who made you has something to say to you;
the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you.
Don’t be afraid, dear servant Jacob,
Jeshurun, the one I chose.
For I will pour water on the thirsty ground
and send streams coursing through the parched earth.
I will pour my Spirit into your descendants
and my blessing on your children.
They shall sprout like grass on the prairie,
like willows alongside creeks.
This one will say, ‘I am God’s,’
and another will go by the name Jacob;
That one will write on his hand ‘God’s property’—
and be proud to be called Israel.”
INSIGHT
Isaiah was the most prolific of the writing prophets, but the great size of his book is eclipsed in importance by its content. Commentator John Gill wrote: “He should rather be called an evangelist than a prophet . . . certain it is that no one writes so fully and clearly of the person, offices, grace, and kingdom of Christ; of his incarnation and birth of a virgin; of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow, as [Isaiah] does.” Isaiah’s focus on Messiah and His mission was vital to preparing the way for Christ’s coming, for it provided Israel with critical identifiers of Christ and certain hope in His promised victory.
For more on Isaiah, check out Knowing God Through Isaiah at discoveryseries.org/sb151. - Bill Crowder
“The Lord’s”
By Arthur Jackson
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16
It doesn’t take much to notice that getting “inked” is very popular these days. Some tattoos are so small that one barely notices them. Others—from athletes to actors to everyday people—have opted to cover much of their bodies with multicolored inks, words, and designs. The trend seems like it’s here to stay, a trend that netted $3 billion in revenue in 2014—and an additional $66 million for tattoo removal.
Regardless of how you may feel about tattoos, Isaiah 44 speaks metaphorically about people writing something on their hands: “The Lord’s” (v. 5). This “self-tattoo” is the climax of an entire paragraph that speaks of the Lord’s care for those He had chosen (v. 1). They could count on His help (v. 2); and their land and descendants were marked for blessing (v. 3). Two simple, powerful words, “The Lord’s,” affirmed that God’s people knew they were His possession and that He would take care of them.
Those who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ can confidently say of themselves, “The Lord’s!” We are His people, His sheep, His offspring, His inheritance, His dwelling. These are the things we cling to in the varied seasons of life. While we may have no external mark or tattoo, we can take heart that we have the witness of God’s Spirit in our hearts that we belong to Him (see Romans 8:16–17).
Father, the expressions of Your love and care are all around me and Your Spirit lives within me. Thank You!
How can the truth that you belong to God impact how you live?
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 10, 2018
The Offering of the Natural
It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. —Galatians 4:22
Paul was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience. Sin is what made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.
Abraham had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac (see Genesis 21:8-14). Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). Sanctification means more than being freed from sin. It means the deliberate commitment of myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay whatever it may cost.
If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. We excuse ourselves by saying, “Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I was a child.” Then discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life for God.
God is not actively involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper and gratify it. But once we are willing to put it out in the desert and are determined to keep it under control, God will be with it. He will then provide wells and oases and fulfill all His promises for the natural (see Genesis 21:15-19).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 10, 2018
Flying Too Low - #8326
Every child's dream-Disney World! Our three-year-old granddaughter had counted down her visit there for weeks. And she was absolutely giddy as she finally entered the Magic Kingdom. One ride she really wanted to try was the flying elephants. Actually, the flying Dumbos, named after that elephant with the oversize ears that enabled him to be a flying elephant! Dumbo basically just goes around and around; he's a ride for little kids...kids like me. Now when you pull the bar in your Dumbo car, it starts to go up. Not super-high, but high enough to get a nice view of a lot of things in the park. And our granddaughter began making those Dumbo circles with her uncle, and he started to pull the bar up to help the flying elephant fly. It was not to be. Our little princess would have none of this going higher business...nope! Too scary! She made it no secret that Dumbo was to fly at the lowest possible level...and stay there.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flying Too Low."
There's a whole lot of people who are just like our granddaughter with her flying elephant-not flying; settling for a low level spiritually when there's so much to see higher up. And maybe, without realizing it, you have settled into a low level of all there is to experience in the living Christ. You may not realize it because so many other believers around you are flying low, too. It seems to be like normal Christianity. It's not. Just because spiritual mediocrity is common, doesn't mean it's normal! And my guess is your heart is saying, "There's got to be more than this." Well, there is. Much more.
The writer of Hebrews gave some early Christians this challenge: "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again...Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with teaching about righteousness." God's saying, "Look, you've known Jesus much too long for you to still be living on the ABC's of the Bible. Grow up, son! Grow up, daughter! There's so much more that only spiritual grownups experience!" The challenge continues: "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity" (Hebrews 5:12-13; 6:1).
God's made you restless for more because He wants you to go for a much bigger, much bolder, much more powerful and exciting relationship with Him. He's calling you to the kind of spirit the great Apostle Paul had after thirty years of one of the greatest Christian lives ever. It's in Philippians 3, beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God. "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." In other words, "I refuse to stay at the level I am at! I'm going higher! I want to see the view!"
So what does this look like? Okay, give yourself to four "going higher" goals. First, dig deeper into God's Word than you've ever gone before. Two, pray bigger in God's throne room than you've ever prayed before; no more safe, predictable, scripted prayer. Three, open wider to God's control than you've ever opened up before. Let Him drive in areas where you've always insisted on holding that wheel. Four, tackle something bigger in God's work than you've ever risked before; say yes to a mission for Him that will make you dig deeper into Him than you've ever been before.
So go for the awesome view that's up higher. It may be safe down low, but it's boring and it's powerless. In the time you've got left, however little or much that may be, don't you want to experience all of Jesus that you can? No more settling for life where it's safe. You're going higher where the view is amazing!