If we could save ourselves—why would we need a Savior? Jesus didn’t enter the world to help us save ourselves. He entered the world to save us from ourselves.
As a Boy Scout, I earned a lifesaving merit badge. The fact is, the only people I saved were other Boy Scouts who didn’t need to be saved. During training I would rescue other trainees. We took turns saving each other. But since we weren’t really drowning, we resisted being rescued. “Stop kicking and let me save you,” I’d say.
It’s impossible to save those who are trying to save themselves. You might save yourself from a broken heart or going broke or running out of gas. But you’re not good enough to save yourself from sin. You are not strong enough to save yourself from death. You need a Savior…and because of Bethlehem, you have one!
Read more Because of Bethlehem
1 Samuel 24-27
“I’m No Rebel”
24 1-4 When Saul came back after dealing with the Philistines, he was told, “David is now in the wilderness of En Gedi.” Saul took three companies—the best he could find in all Israel—and set out in search of David and his men in the region of Wild Goat Rocks. He came to some sheep pens along the road. There was a cave there and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were huddled far back in the same cave. David’s men whispered to him, “Can you believe it? This is the day God was talking about when he said, ‘I’ll put your enemy in your hands. You can do whatever you want with him.’” Quiet as a cat, David crept up and cut off a piece of Saul’s royal robe.
5-7 Immediately, he felt guilty. He said to his men, “God forbid that I should have done this to my master, God’s anointed, that I should so much as raise a finger against him. He’s God’s anointed!” David held his men in check with these words and wouldn’t let them pounce on Saul. Saul got up, left the cave, and went on down the road.
8-13 Then David stood at the mouth of the cave and called to Saul, “My master! My king!” Saul looked back. David fell to his knees and bowed in reverence. He called out, “Why do you listen to those who say ‘David is out to get you’? This very day with your very own eyes you have seen that just now in the cave God put you in my hands. My men wanted me to kill you, but I wouldn’t do it. I told them that I won’t lift a finger against my master—he’s God’s anointed. Oh, my father, look at this, look at this piece that I cut from your robe. I could have cut you—killed you!—but I didn’t. Look at the evidence! I’m not against you. I’m no rebel. I haven’t sinned against you, and yet you’re hunting me down to kill me. Let’s decide which of us is in the right. God may avenge me, but it is in his hands, not mine. An old proverb says, ‘Evil deeds come from evil people.’ So be assured that my hand won’t touch you.
14-15 “What does the king of Israel think he’s doing? Who do you think you’re chasing? A dead dog? A flea? God is our judge. He’ll decide who is right. Oh, that he would look down right now, decide right now—and set me free of you!”
16-21 When David had finished saying all this, Saul said, “Can this be the voice of my son David?” and he wept in loud sobs. “You’re the one in the right, not me,” he continued. “You’ve heaped good on me; I’ve dumped evil on you. And now you’ve done it again—treated me generously. God put me in your hands and you didn’t kill me. Why? When a man meets his enemy, does he send him down the road with a blessing? May God give you a bonus of blessings for what you’ve done for me today! I know now beyond doubt that you will rule as king. The kingdom of Israel is already in your grasp! Now promise me under God that you will not kill off my family or wipe my name off the books.”
22 David promised Saul. Then Saul went home and David and his men went up to their wilderness refuge.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 17, 2018
Read: Luke 1:18–25
Zachariah said to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.”
19-20 But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.”
21-22 Meanwhile, the congregation waiting for Zachariah was getting restless, wondering what was keeping him so long in the sanctuary. When he came out and couldn’t speak, they knew he had seen a vision. He continued speechless and had to use sign language with the people.
23-25 When the course of his priestly assignment was completed, he went back home. It wasn’t long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. “So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!” she said.
INSIGHT
Zechariah and Elizabeth were descendants of Aaron (Luke 1:5). God had designated that only Aaron’s descendants could serve as priests (1 Chronicles 23:13). Israel’s priesthood was divided into twenty-four divisions, with each division rotating to serve in the temple for just two weeks every year (24:1–19). With so many priests, lots were cast to determine which specific priest would have the once-in-a-lifetime privilege to burn incense in the Holy Place. Coupled with the angel announcing the birth of a son despite their old age, this would have been the highest point of Zechariah’s life (Luke 1:8–13, 18). The same archangel Gabriel, who told Daniel the meaning of the vision that concerns “the appointed time of the end” (Daniel 8:19), now appears to Zechariah, whose name means “the Lord has remembered.” God remembered His promise to send the Messiah and now sets in motion the events of the end times. - K. T. Sim
From Shame to Honor
By Poh Fang Chia
[The Lord] has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people. Luke 1:25
It’s that time of the year again, when families gather to celebrate the festive season together. Some of us, however, dread meeting certain “concerned” relatives whose questions can make those who are still single or childless feel that there’s something wrong with them.
Imagine the plight of Elizabeth, who was childless despite being married for many years. In her culture, that was seen as a sign of God’s disfavor (see 1 Samuel 1:5–6) and could actually be considered shameful. So while Elizabeth had been living righteously (Luke 1:6), her neighbors and relatives may have suspected otherwise.
Nonetheless, Elizabeth and her husband continued to serve the Lord faithfully. Then, when both were well advanced in years, a miracle occurred. God heard her prayer (v. 13). He loves to show us His favor (v. 25). And though He may seem to delay, His timing is always right and His wisdom always perfect. For Elizabeth and her husband, God had a special gift: a child who would become the Messiah’s forerunner (Isaiah 40:3–5).
Do you feel inadequate because you seem to lack something—a university degree, a spouse, a child, a job, a house? Keep living for Him faithfully and waiting patiently for Him and His plan, just as Elizabeth did. No matter our circumstances, God is working in and through us. He knows your heart. He hears your prayers.
God, You are forever faithful and good. Help us to keep trusting in You, even when we experience heartache.
Keep living for Him faithfully and waiting patiently for His plan.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 17, 2018
Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies
The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him… —1 Corinthians 2:14
The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe…” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have no sense of need for the gospel. It is God who creates this sense of need in a human being, but that person remains totally unaware of his need until God makes Himself evident. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). But God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He wants to withhold something from us, but that is the plan He has established for the way of redemption. Through our asking, God puts His process in motion, creating something in us that was nonexistent until we asked. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time. And as redemption creates the life of God in us, it also creates the things which belong to that life. The only thing that can possibly satisfy the need is what created the need. This is the meaning of redemption— it creates and it satisfies.
Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is “lifted up,” the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him. The creative power of the redemption of God works in the souls of men only through the preaching of the gospel. It is never the sharing of personal experiences that saves people, but the truth of redemption. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” My Utmost for His Highest, April 23, 773 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 17, 2018
The "Do You Really Believe?" Test - #8331
When you stand at the edge of the overlook, gazing across at the mighty Niagara Falls, listening to its liquid thunder, you can't help but be impressed with its majestic beauty and its tremendous power. But that's as close as I want to get. A person who somehow fell into those churning waters would have little chance of survival; maybe no chance. That didn't seem to bother the famous tightrope walker known as the Great Blondin. No, back in 1859, he made history. He crossed the gorge of the Niagara River on a tightrope. At one point, he executed a back somersault. His next tightrope trip across the Falls, Blondin crossed on a bicycle, he walked across blindfolded, then he pushed a wheelbarrow, and he cooked an omelet in the center. He made the trip with his hands and feet manacled at one point. Then came his ultimate performance. He announced he would carry a man across the Falls on his back. Most of the folks believed he could do it. No one wanted to be the one who went on his back, though, except his manager who climbed on the back of the Great Blondin, and to the amazement of all who watched, he arrived safely on the other side.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'Do You Really Believe?' Test."
So many people said they believed that the Great Blondin could carry a man on a tightrope across Niagara Falls. But none of them was willing to trust his life to Blondin, except that one man-his manager. In reality, he was the only one who really believed in that guy, because he staked everything on his trust in that man.
So many people say they believe in Jesus Christ. They say they believe that He died on the cross to rescue us from the death penalty of our sins. That He didn't stay dead; He rose from the dead. Well, that's good. That's believing with your head, which the Bible, though, does not accept as the kind of faith that will get you to heaven someday.
No, Romans 10:10 insists that "it is with your heart that you believe and are justified" (that means made right with God). And believing with your heart is more than agreeing with all the facts about Jesus or saying you believe that He can save us. It's climbing on his back and saying, "Jesus, I'm putting my total trust in You and in nothing else. Only You can erase my sins from God's book, and only You can carry me across to heaven, and I'm counting on You to do that."
The issue in whether or not you have a relationship with God isn't what beliefs you agree with or what meetings you go to, or what religion you're a part of. The whole issue is, "Where are you placing your trust to get to heaven?" In your Christianity? In your Christian religion or rituals? In your Christian upbringing or your Christian knowledge? Or even trying to live like a Christian? Well, none of those can save you from the awful death penalty for our sinful rebellion against God. It's got to be Jesus. It's got to be all Jesus. It's got to be only Jesus.
So our word for today from the Word of God is the familiar words of John 3:16. Listen this time as if your life depends on it. It does. "God so loved the world (You can put your name there...God so loved ______) that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever (Put your name there) believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
So, has there ever been a time when you clearly, consciously told Jesus that you were abandoning all other hopes and putting yourself completely in His hands to forgive your sin and to carry you across to heaven? It's that moment when you make everything He died on the cross for personally yours. Have you ever done that? If you don't know you have, you probably haven't. But you could. Today, as you feel His Spirit drawing you to Him, you need to get this settled. Just tell Him right now, "Jesus, I'm yours from this day on."
This is the day that you know Him for real. This is the day you go from just believing about Him to belonging to Him. Our website is there to help you cross over into belonging to Him, and I encourage you to get there as soon as you can. It's ANewStory.com.
Look, you've been so close. Your head believes, but you've got to move Him those 18 inches from your head to your heart.