Ezekiel 36, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE LORD IS ON HIS THRONE

When tragedy strikes—whether personal, national, or global—people wonder how God could allow such things to happen. Is God really in control? Can we trust him to run the universe if he would allow this? It is important to recognize that God dwells in a different realm. God said to Isaiah, “Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

How vital, then, that we pray, armed with the knowledge that God is in heaven. And he has chosen to bend near toward earth to see our sorrow and hear our prayers. Though we may not be able to see his purpose or his plan, the Lord of heaven is on his throne and in firm control of the universe and our lives.

Ezekiel 36

Back to Your Own Land

“And now, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel. Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to God’s Message. God, the Master, says, Because the enemy crowed over you, “Good! Those old hills are now ours!” now here is a prophecy in the name of God, the Master: Because nations came at you from all sides, ripping and plundering, hauling pieces of you off every which way, and you’ve become the butt of cheap gossip and jokes, therefore, Mountains of Israel, listen to the Message of God, the Master. My Message to mountains and hills, to ditches and valleys, to the heaps of rubble and the emptied towns that are looted for plunder and turned into jokes by all the surrounding nations: Therefore, says God, the Master, now I’m speaking in a fiery rage against the rest of the nations, but especially against Edom, who in an orgy of violence and shameless insolence robbed me of my land, grabbed it for themselves.’

6-7 “Therefore prophesy over the land of Israel, preach to the mountains and hills, to every ditch and valley: ‘The Message of God, the Master: Look! Listen! I’m angry—and I care. I’m speaking to you because you’ve been humiliated among the nations. Therefore I, God, the Master, am telling you that I’ve solemnly sworn that the nations around you are next. It’s their turn to be humiliated.

8-12 “‘But you, Mountains of Israel, will burst with new growth, putting out branches and bearing fruit for my people Israel. My people are coming home! Do you see? I’m back again. I’m on your side. You’ll be plowed and planted as before! I’ll see to it that your population grows all over Israel, that the towns fill up with people, that the ruins are rebuilt. I’ll make this place teem with life—human and animal. The country will burst into life, life, and more life, your towns and villages full of people just as in the old days. I’ll treat you better than I ever have. And you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll put people over you—my own people Israel! They’ll take care of you and you’ll be their inheritance. Never again will you be a harsh and unforgiving land to them.

13-15 “‘God, the Master, says: Because you have a reputation of being a land that eats people alive and makes women barren, I’m now telling you that you’ll never eat people alive again nor make women barren. Decree of God, the Master. And I’ll never again let the taunts of outsiders be heard over you nor permit nations to look down on you. You’ll no longer be a land that makes women barren. Decree of God, the Master.’”

16-21 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they polluted it by the way they lived. I poured out my anger on them because of the polluted blood they poured out on the ground. And so I got thoroughly angry with them polluting the country with their wanton murders and dirty gods. I kicked them out, exiled them to other countries. I sentenced them according to how they had lived. Wherever they went, they gave me a bad name. People said, ‘These are God’s people, but they got kicked off his land.’ I suffered much pain over my holy reputation, which the people of Israel blackened in every country they entered.

22-23 “Therefore, tell Israel, ‘Message of God, the Master: I’m not doing this for you, Israel. I’m doing it for me, to save my character, my holy name, which you’ve blackened in every country where you’ve gone. I’m going to put my great and holy name on display, the name that has been ruined in so many countries, the name that you blackened wherever you went. Then the nations will realize who I really am, that I am God, when I show my holiness through you so that they can see it with their own eyes.

24-28 “‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!

29-30 “‘I’ll pull you out of that stinking pollution. I’ll give personal orders to the wheat fields, telling them to grow bumper crops. I’ll send no more famines. I’ll make sure your fruit trees and field crops flourish. Other nations won’t be able to hold you in contempt again because of famine.

31 “‘And then you’ll think back over your terrible lives—the evil, the shame—and be thoroughly disgusted with yourselves, realizing how badly you’ve lived—all those obscenities you’ve carried out.

32 “‘I’m not doing this for you. Get this through your thick heads! Shame on you. What a mess you made of things, Israel!

33-36 “‘Message of God, the Master: On the day I scrub you clean from all your filthy living, I’ll also make your cities livable. The ruins will be rebuilt. The neglected land will be worked again, no longer overgrown with weeds and thistles, worthless in the eyes of passersby. People will exclaim, “Why, this weed patch has been turned into a Garden of Eden! And the ruined cities, smashed into oblivion, are now thriving!” The nations around you that are still in existence will realize that I, God, rebuild ruins and replant empty waste places. I, God, said so, and I’ll do it.

37-38 “‘Message of God, the Master: Yet again I’m going to do what Israel asks. I’ll increase their population as with a flock of sheep. Like the milling flocks of sheep brought for sacrifices in Jerusalem during the appointed feasts, the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. And they’ll realize that I am God.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Ephesians 2:12–18

remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Insight
The process of bringing people into the family of God is the work of all three persons of the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The book of Ephesians begins with high praises to God, “who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (1:3) and has sealed believers in Jesus with the Holy Spirit (vv. 13–14). The work of Jesus is featured in chapter 2. Ironically, His violent death on the cross is the means through which Jews and gentiles are reconciled and all of sinful humanity can be at peace with God: “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (v. 13). Note also that the mission of the Son includes bringing us to the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit: “For through him we . . . have access to the Father by one Spirit” (v. 18).

Fireworks of Life
He himself is our peace. Ephesians 2:14

On New Year’s Eve, when high-powered fireworks detonate across cities and towns worldwide, the noise is loud on purpose. By their nature, say manufacturers, flashy fireworks are meant to split the atmosphere, literally. “Repeater” blasts can sound the loudest, especially when exploded near the ground.

Troubles, too, can boom through our hearts, minds, and homes. The “fireworks” of life—family struggles, relationship problems, work challenges, financial strain, even church division—can feel like explosions, rattling our emotional atmosphere.

Yet we know the One who lifts us over this uproar. Christ Himself “is our peace,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14. When we abide in His presence, His peace is greater than any disruption, quieting the noise of any worry, hurt, or disunity.

This would have been powerful assurance to Jews and gentiles alike. They’d once lived “without hope and without God in the world” (v. 12). Now they faced threats of persecution and internal threats of division. But in Christ, they’d been brought near to Him, and consequently to each other, by His blood. “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (v. 14).

As we start a new year, with threats of unrest and division ever rumbling on the horizon, let’s turn from life’s noisy trials to seek our ever-present Peace. He quiets the booms, healing us. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray
What “fireworks” are shattering the calm in your life? When you give them to God in prayer, what peace do you feel?

Comforting God, when life’s fireworks shock and unsettle me, draw me to Your peace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Yesterday
You shall not go out with haste,…for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. —Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. “…God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow. “…the Lord will go before you….” This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste….” As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else.  The Shadow of an Agony, 1163 L

Bible in a Year: Malachi 1-4; Revelation 22

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 31, 2020

The Delete Button You Can't Reach - #8864

So many times, the latest technology becomes a great blessing and a great curse. For example, are cell phones a blessing or a curse? Yes. It's great that I can reach anyone or they can reach me basically anytime or anywhere. And it's terrible that people can reach me anytime, anywhere. How about e-mail? Fast, efficient communication from wherever you are to wherever they are. But then there's "spam" - the email equivalent of junk mail. You can wake up to dozens of new emails, including a bunch I really don't want. But there's this button on your computer that really comes in handy. It just says "delete." If you don't like what you're getting, delete. If you don't want to keep something, delete. If you write something you decide you don't want to send, delete. One key stroke and what you don't want is gone.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Delete Button You Can't Reach."

Here's the problem. Because we live in a world where it's so easy to delete, we may start thinking we can delete things that, in fact, are not going to go away. Like the consequences of our actions for example. The payback for the things we've done wrong. The judgment of Almighty God for making ourselves number one instead of Him. There are some things you just can't delete. Delay, maybe. Delete, never.

That's guaranteed, actually, by God Himself in our word for today from the Word of God in Galatians 6:7. It's one of the laws in the universe, and no one is so smart or religious enough to escape it. God says, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." Sow corn, you'll get corn whether you want corn or not. Sow wheat, you'll get wheat. Sow sin, you'll get judgment; consequences here and eternal consequences forever.

Any farmer can tell you that you don't reap the harvest as soon as you sow the seed. But make no mistake. The harvest is delayed but it's inevitable. In the case of our disobedience toward God, the Bible spells out the harvest in these chilling words: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). That death is life here without the God who makes life work and life after death without God in a place called hell.

There are short-term "undeletable" consequences for sin. Deceit today, discredited and un-trusted tomorrow. Indulging your lust today, scarred relationships and disgusting bondage tomorrow. Sex outside of marriage today, the real thing ruined tomorrow. Trash talk today, loss of respect and reputation tomorrow. But far worse than those consequences is the eternal death penalty that our sin carries with it. No religion on earth, and no amount of your goodness can possibly delete your sin from God's book. Only the One whose laws we've broken can delete your sin and cancel your hell. The delete button for human sin is beyond human reach.

The Bible declares our only hope in these words: "Christ carried our sins in His body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). When Jesus said "Father, forgive them" from His cross, He was including you. If you abandon all other hope of being forgiven, you pin all your hopes on Him. The Bible says He is "a God...who pardons sin" and who will "hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:18, 19). Imagine. Every sin, every wrong thing you've ever done, deleted by one stroke of God's hand because you reached out to Jesus, His Son, and you said, "Rescue me. You're my only hope, Jesus!"

Don't you want that? Well, I'd love to help you take this step into this love relationship with Jesus. Let me invite you to go to our website to get this settled. The address is ANewStory.com. It could be yours begins there.

The awful harvest for your sin was taken by Jesus on the cross, so you could make the greatest trade in the world - eternal death for eternal life.

Ezekiel 35, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE PROMISES OF GOD

No words written on paper will ever sustain you like the promises of God. Do you know them? To the bereaved, God promises: “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). To the besieged, God promises: “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19). To the sick, God promises: “The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness” (Psalm 41:3). To the sinner: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

And when fears surface, respond with this thought: But God said… And when doubts arise: But God said… And when guilt overwhelms you: But God said… Search the Scriptures for promises like a miner digging for gold, and once you find a nugget, grasp it. Trust it. For there is no greater treasure.

Ezekiel 35

A Pile of Rubble

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, confront Mount Seir. Prophesy against it! Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says:

“‘I’m coming down hard on you, Mount Seir.
    I’m stepping in and turning you to a pile of rubble.
I’ll reduce your towns to piles of rocks.
    There’ll be nothing left of you.
    Then you’ll realize that I am God.

5-9 “‘I’m doing this because you’ve kept this age-old grudge going against Israel: You viciously attacked them when they were already down, looking their final punishment in the face. Therefore, as sure as I am the living God, I’m lining you up for a real bloodbath. Since you loved blood so much, you’ll be chased by rivers of blood. I’ll reduce Mount Seir to a heap of rubble. No one will either come or go from that place! I’ll blanket your mountains with corpses. Massacred bodies will cover your hills and fill up your valleys and ditches. I’ll reduce you to ruins and all your towns will be ghost towns—population zero. Then you’ll realize that I am God.

10-13 “‘Because you said, “These two nations, these two countries, are mine. I’m taking over” (even though God is right there watching, right there listening), I’ll turn your hate-bloated anger and rage right back on you. You’ll know I mean business when I bring judgment on you. You’ll realize then that I, God, have overheard all the vile abuse you’ve poured out against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They’re roadkill and we’re going to eat them up.” You’ve strutted around, talking so big, insolently pitting yourselves against me. And I’ve heard it all.

14-15 “‘This is the verdict of God, the Master: With the whole earth applauding, I’ll demolish you. Since you danced in the streets, thinking it was so wonderful when Israel’s inheritance was demolished, I’ll give you the same treatment: demolition. Mount Seir demolished—yes, every square inch of Edom. Then they’ll realize that I am God!’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Exodus 34:1–7

The New Stone Tablets

The Lord said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

4 So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

Insight
Moses was up on the mountain forty days and nights communing with God and receiving the law, which was to regulate the covenantal relationship He had with the Israelites (Exodus 24:18; 31:18). But down in the camp the people worshiped the golden calf and thereby broke the covenant. This severing was symbolized when Moses broke the two tablets containing God’s law (32:19). Moses interceded and asked Him to forgive the people for their sin and not to abandon them (vv. 31–32; 33:12–17). Although God forgave the Israelites, He also meted out discipline (32:31–35). In chapter 34, the law is reissued and the covenant renewed (v. 1). God also gave the people a self-revelation of who He is: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, loving, faithful, forgiving, and just (vv. 6–7).

True Success
The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6

My interview guest politely answered my questions. I had a feeling, though, that something lurked beneath our interaction. A passing comment brought it out.

“You’re inspiring thousands of people,” I said.

“Not thousands,” he muttered. “Millions.”

And as if pitying my ignorance, my guest reminded me of his credentials—the titles he held, the things he’d achieved, the magazine he’d graced. It was an awkward moment.

Ever since that experience, I’ve been struck by how God revealed Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:5–7). Here was the Creator of the cosmos and Judge of humanity, but God didn’t use His titles. Here was the Maker of 100 billion galaxies, but such feats weren’t mentioned either. Instead, God introduced Himself as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (v. 6). When He reveals who He is, it isn’t His titles or achievements He lists but the kind of character He has.

As people made in God’s image and called to follow His example (Genesis 1:27; Ephesians 5:1–2), this is profound. Achievement is good, titles have their place, but what really matters is how compassionate, gracious, and loving we’re becoming.

Like that interview guest, we too can base our significance on our achievements. I have. But our God has modeled what true success is—not what’s written on our business cards and resumés, but how we’re becoming like Him. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray
How tempted are you to base your significance on your accomplishments? What aspect of God’s character needs to grow in you today?

Spirit of God, make me compassionate, gracious, patient, and loving!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
“And Every Virtue We Possess”
…All my springs are in you. —Psalm 87:7

Our Lord never “patches up” our natural virtues, that is, our natural traits, qualities, or characteristics. He completely remakes a person on the inside— “…put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24). In other words, see that your natural human life is putting on all that is in keeping with the new life. The life God places within us develops its own new virtues, not the virtues of the seed of Adam, but of Jesus Christ. Once God has begun the process of sanctification in your life, watch and see how God causes your confidence in your own natural virtues and power to wither away. He will continue until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus. Thank God if you are going through this drying-up experience!

The sign that God is at work in us is that He is destroying our confidence in the natural virtues, because they are not promises of what we are going to be, but only a wasted reminder of what God created man to be. We want to cling to our natural virtues, while all the time God is trying to get us in contact with the life of Jesus Christ— a life that can never be described in terms of natural virtues. It is the saddest thing to see people who are trying to serve God depending on that which the grace of God never gave them. They are depending solely on what they have by virtue of heredity. God does not take our natural virtues and transform them, because our natural virtues could never even come close to what Jesus Christ wants. No natural love, no natural patience, no natural purity can ever come up to His demands. But as we bring every part of our natural bodily life into harmony with the new life God has placed within us, He will exhibit in us the virtues that were characteristic of the Lord Jesus.

And every virtue we possess
Is His alone.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him.  The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L

Bible in a Year: Zechariah 13-14; Revelation 21

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Thick Ice - #8863

Let me give you a little weather preference test (as if we get to vote). Why don't you rank these one, two, three from the best to the worst: rain, snow, ice. I just gave you my ranking. Rain is no problem. I grew up in the Midwest; and I lived in the Northeast so I can handle snow. Even when you have to walk or drive, there's at least something to dig into. But ice? Oh, man, ice storms can leave some very nice things behind. Every branch, limb, and home is glittering with this beautiful coating of ice. But it is a pain if you've got to go anywhere. Reminds me of an old song, "Freeze a Jolly Good Fellow."

Well, anyway, we've had some major league ice storms where we live, and I went out one morning and I found my car entombed with this thick, hard armor of ice. I could have just tried to chip it away. In fact I started to do that. But I would have either damaged the car or damaged its' owner. So I decided to work smart. I let the car run for a while, and I warmed it up from the inside. You know what happened. A few minutes later that ice came off pretty easily.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thick Ice."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 16. It's kind of about ice around a heart. See, the ice around a car is hard to penetrate, but the ice around a person is even harder. Maybe you can think of a person you're concerned for right now who's pretty hard. Maybe some person who's got an affect on your future or your security, and there's ice around them.

Well, almost everyone has at least one impossible person in their world; one person whose ice you just can't seem to get through. Let's look at God's way of getting through the ice. For example, in Acts 16:14, the missionary Paul comes upon a woman named Lydia, a prominent merchant in her town, and it says, "The Lord opened her heart to respond."

Back in the Old Testament Saul didn't want to be the first king of Israel until it says in 1 Samuel 10:9, "The Lord changed his heart." Proverbs 21:21 says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. He directs it like a water course wherever He pleases." You get it? God's in the heart changing business; the heart warming business.

Think about the person in your world who's hard to reach. Maybe it's a defiant or a wandering child, an unresponsive mate. Maybe you've got a hard-to-talk-to boss, or employee, a coworker, or fellow student, or a person who will be making the decisions that could greatly affect your church or your ministry; maybe someone who seems as if he or she won't ever give Jesus a chance. Well, God's method of melting the ice is the same as mine for de-icing my car. Warm the person up from the inside, change their heart, soften their heart, turn their heart your direction.

Malachi 4:6 says, "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers." So often we try all kinds of things to convince people, and nag them, and politic with them, and lobby them. But recently I've been learning the power of a simple but powerful prayer, "Lord, change his heart; change her heart. Warm them on the inside. Turn their heart your direction, my direction. Move them to be open to what You want."

Many of us have made getting through human ice a lot harder by under-praying in this area. Why don't you focus your praying on the hearts of key people? Ask God to remove the blinders, to give you favor, to neutralize prejudices, to create openness. We'd probably have a lot less conflict and a lot more success if we'd spend more time talking to God about a person than we do talking to the person or about the person.

And remember, God's a heart warmer, a heart softener, a heart changer. Pray as if He is. It works with a frozen car or a frozen person. When they've been warmed on the inside it's a lot easier to get through that ice. And believe me, no one can thaw out a heart like God can.

1 Peter 5, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: PRAYER CHANGES THINGS

We are never without hope because we are never without prayer. Prayer confesses, “God can handle it, and since he can, I have hope!” When we pray in the name of Jesus, we come to God on the basis of Jesus’ accomplishment. The Scripture says, “Since we have such a great high priest [Jesus] over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:21-22).

Some people say, “Prayer changes things because it changes us.” I agree, but only in part. Prayer changes things because prayer appeals to the top power in the universe. It is the yes to God’s invitation to invoke his name. Prayer moves the world because prayer moves the heart of God.

1 Peter 5

He’ll Promote You at the Right Time

 I have a special concern for you church leaders. I know what it’s like to be a leader, in on Christ’s sufferings as well as the coming glory. Here’s my concern: that you care for God’s flock with all the diligence of a shepherd. Not because you have to, but because you want to please God. Not calculating what you can get out of it, but acting spontaneously. Not bossily telling others what to do, but tenderly showing them the way.

4-5 When God, who is the best shepherd of all, comes out in the open with his rule, he’ll see that you’ve done it right and commend you lavishly. And you who are younger must follow your leaders. But all of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for—

God has had it with the proud,
But takes delight in just plain people.

6-7 So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.

He Gets the Last Word
8-11 Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.

12 I’m sending this brief letter to you by Silas, a most dependable brother. I have the highest regard for him.

I’ve written as urgently and accurately as I know how. This is God’s generous truth; embrace it with both arms!

13-14 The church in exile here with me—but not for a moment forgotten by God—wants to be remembered to you. Mark, who is like a son to me, says hello. Give holy embraces all around! Peace to you—to all who walk in Christ’s ways.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Ephesians 6:10–20

The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Insight
In Paul’s day, Roman soldiers would carry a large wooden shield covered in leather in battle, wetting the leather to extinguish any fire-tipped arrows fired from the opposing side. In battle, the first row of soldiers would carry their shields in front, while the rows behind would hold their shields above their heads, effectively protecting the unit from nearly all incoming threats. This was called a testudo (or tortoise) formation because it resembled a tortoise shell.

In Ephesians 6:10–20, Paul subtly inverts this military image to describe believers’ resistance to evil forces. Paul relies on imagery from Isaiah 59:17, which describes God’s righteousness in restoring His exiled people. The metaphor reveals that the only way for believers to stand firm against evil is through continual reliance on “the Lord and . . . his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10).

Unseen Realities
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but . . . against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12

In 1876, men drilling for coal in central Indiana thought they had found the gates of hell. Historian John Barlow Martin reports that at six hundred feet, “foul fumes issued forth amid awesome noises.” Afraid they had “bitten into the roof of the devil’s cave,” the miners plugged the well and scurried back to their homes.

The miners, of course, were mistaken—and some years later, they would drill again and be rich in natural gas. Even though they were mistaken, I find myself a little jealous of them. These miners lived with an awareness of the spiritual world that is often missing from my own life. It’s easy for me to live as if the supernatural and the natural rarely intersect and to forget that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but . . . against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

When we see evil winning in our world, we shouldn’t give in or try to fight it in our own strength. Instead, we’re to resist evil by putting on “the full armor of God” (vv. 13–18). Studying Scripture, meeting regularly with other believers for encouragement, and making choices with the good of others in mind can help us “stand against the devil’s schemes” (v. 11). Equipped by the Holy Spirit, we can stand firm in the face of anything (v. 13). By:  Amy Peterson

Reflect & Pray
How can you cultivate an awareness of the reality of the spiritual world? Is God calling you to “put on” some part of the “armor” Paul describes? What might that look like today?

Help me to remember, God, to walk and serve by faith and in Your power.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Deserter or Disciple?

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. —John 6:66

When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must “walk in the light” of that vision (1 John 1:7). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t “walk in the light” of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the “heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, “Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?” You have to “walk in the light” of the vision that has been given to you. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the “heavenly vision,” do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— “…for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.

Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed.  Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R

Bible in a Year: Zechariah 9-12; Revelation 20

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
When You've Fallen and You Can't Get Up - #8862
So how many diets have you been on in your life? Lost count? Yeah, me too. I think I must have gone on my first diet when I was about six months old. If you're one of those over-blessed people who can eat anything you want and never gain weight, oh fine! Just keep it to yourself and have some sympathy for the rest of us. But if you've been on a diet, then you know what it's like to blow a diet probably. You've been eating just celery and tofu for the past couple of weeks, and you're getting lighter. Then somebody offers you a French fry and you succumb. Then you say, "Oh well, I might as well eat all the French fries!" Then you feel so bad about it, you say, "Oh, what's the use, I might as well wash it down with a milkshake while I'm at it!" An hour later, you're thinking, "If I've blown it this bad, I might as well order pizza too...with extra cheese and extra pepperoni, of course!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You've Fallen and You Can't Get Up."

You're making progress, you slip, you feel bad about slipping-so you fall farther. You start thinking, "What's the use after what I've done?" You give up and you maybe even end up worse off than when you began. That's not just a blueprint for dieting disaster. It's a blueprint for spiritual disaster.

I call it the Cycle of Shame. It's one of the devil's favorite tools for pulling a follower of Jesus down and then keeping them down. You could be trapped in that Cycle of Shame even now. Or you've been there and you don't want to go back there. You may have fallen, but you can get up! There's so much hope for you in our word for today from the Word of God in Micah 7:8-10. It's about someone who has fallen but who's defiantly turning the tables on the enemy who brought them down.

Here's what defiant hope sounds like: "Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. He will bring me out into the light. I will see His righteousness. Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame."

Notice at the beginning, it's you who are covered by shame because of what you've done. At the end, it's your enemy who's covered with shame because you've shaken off his shackles of shame, and you've realized you can't change you but the Lord can. You have refused to stay down. You are defiantly determining to make the devil pay for what he deceived you into doing. You're going to do some serious damage to the kingdom of the one who had tried to do some serious damage to you.

Satan succeeds in keeping you down with that "what's the use?" lie when you make a big mistake. You focus on you instead of the One who died so you could be free. The Bible doesn't say, "The righteous man never falls." It says in Proverbs 24:16, "Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again." You don't let one sin turn into 100 sins. You get up right away and you pick up where you left off growing in Christ.

You bring your sin, you bring your failure to Jesus, you turn from it, and you apply the forgiveness Jesus paid for at the Cross to that sin. And you believe His promise about what you did, "I will remember their sins no more" (Hebrews 10:17). Satan keeps pointing to your past because, well, it can't be changed. Jesus keeps pointing to your future because it's yet to be written.

Yes, you went down, but you don't have to stay down! Jesus stands ready this very minute to pick you up, dust you off, bandage your wounds, and help you start running for Him again; forgiven, restored, and stronger than you've ever been before.

Ezekiel 34 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: GOD PROVIDES

God is enough. Isn’t this the message of Moses and Joshua and the journey to the Promised Land? Who opened the Jordan River? Who led the people across on dry ground? Who appeared to encourage Joshua? Who brought down the Jericho walls? Who fought for and delivered the people? God!

He cared for his people. Even in the wilderness they never went without provision. He gave them not just food but clothing and good health. Moses once reminded the Hebrews, “Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years” (Deuteronomy 8:4). The following phrases were never heard in the wilderness: “Oh bummer, my robe has another rip in it.” “Hey, new sandals. Where did you get them?” There was no want for food, no need for clothing. God provided for them, and God promised to provide you.

Ezekiel 34

When the Sheep Get Scattered

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, ‘God, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren’t shepherds supposed to feed sheep? You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don’t feed the sheep. You don’t build up the weak ones, don’t heal the sick, don’t doctor the injured, don’t go after the strays, don’t look for the lost. You bully and badger them. And now they’re scattered every which way because there was no shepherd—scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes. Scattered—my sheep!—exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills. My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one out looking for them!

7-9 “‘Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of God: As sure as I am the living God—Decree of God, the Master—because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, listen to what God has to say:

10 “‘Watch out! I’m coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They’re fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I’ll rescue my sheep from their greed. They’re not going to feed off my sheep any longer!

11-16 “‘God, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I’m going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered to in the storms. I’ll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. I’ll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost, I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they’re not exploited.

17-19 “‘And as for you, my dear flock, I’m stepping in and judging between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. Aren’t you satisfied to feed in good pasture without taking over the whole place? Can’t you be satisfied to drink from the clear stream without muddying the water with your feet? Why do the rest of my sheep have to make do with grass that’s trampled down and water that’s been muddied?

20-22 “‘Therefore, God, the Master, says: I myself am stepping in and making things right between the plump sheep and the skinny sheep. Because you forced your way with shoulder and rump and butted at all the weaker animals with your horns till you scattered them all over the hills, I’ll come in and save my dear flock, no longer let them be pushed around. I’ll step in and set things right between one sheep and another.

23-24 “‘I’ll appoint one shepherd over them all: my servant David. He’ll feed them. He’ll be their shepherd. And I, God, will be their God. My servant David will be their prince. I, God, have spoken.

25-27 “‘I’ll make a covenant of peace with them. I’ll banish fierce animals from the country so the sheep can live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. I’ll make them and everything around my hill a blessing. I’ll send down plenty of rain in season—showers of blessing! The trees in the orchards will bear fruit, the ground will produce, they’ll feel content and safe on their land, and they’ll realize that I am God when I break them out of their slavery and rescue them from their slave masters.

28-29 “‘No longer will they be exploited by outsiders and ravaged by fierce beasts. They’ll live safe and sound, fearless and free. I’ll give them rich gardens, lavish in vegetables—no more living half-starved, no longer taunted by outsiders.

30-31 “‘They’ll know, beyond doubting, that I, God, am their God, that I’m with them and that they, the people Israel, are my people. Decree of God, the Master:

You are my dear flock,
    the flock of my pasture, my human flock,
And I am your God.
    Decree of God, the Master.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, December 28, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Jeremiah 33:6–11

“‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. 7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity[a] and will rebuild them as they were before. 8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. 9 Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’

10 “This is what the Lord says: ‘You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without people or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more 11 the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying,

“Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
    for the Lord is good;
    his love endures forever.”

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.

Insight
Jeremiah spoke the words in Jeremiah 33:6–11 while Jerusalem was under siege from Nebuchadnezzar’s army. Yet he himself was a prisoner of King Zedekiah at the time. Displeased with Jeremiah’s persistent message of judgment against Judah, the king had the prophet placed in confinement (see 32:2–5). Imagine being a prisoner inside a starving city surrounded by a hostile army. That was Jeremiah’s personal situation. Yet God continued to speak through His prophet. Chapter 33 begins, “While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him a second time” (v. 1). The message again was bleak. The city’s desperate measures to save itself would fail. But verse 6 signals a change. God would bring a future deliverance.

Visit ChristianUniversity.org/OTTBP to gain an overview of the book of Jeremiah.

Rebuilding the Ruins
Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor. Jeremiah 33:9

At seventeen, Dowayne had to leave his family’s home in Manenberg, a part of Cape Town, South Africa, because of his stealing and addiction to heroin. He didn’t go far, building a shack of corrugated metal in his mother’s backyard, which soon became known as the Casino, a place to use drugs. When he was nineteen, however, Dowayne came to saving faith in Jesus. His journey off drugs was long and exhausting, but he got clean with God’s help and with the support of friends who are believers in Jesus. And ten years after Dowayne built the Casino, he and others turned the hut into a house church. What was once a dark and foreboding place now is a place of worship and prayer.

The leaders of this church look to Jeremiah 33 for how God can bring healing and restoration to people and places, as He’s done with Dowayne and the former Casino. The prophet Jeremiah spoke to God’s people in captivity, saying that although the city would not be spared, yet God would heal His people and would “rebuild them,” cleansing them from their sin (Jeremiah 33:7–8). Then the city would bring Him joy, renown, and honor (v. 9).

When we’re tempted to despair over the sin that brings heartbreak and brokenness, let’s continue to pray that God will bring healing and hope, even as He’s done in a backyard in Manenberg. By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray
How have you seen God bring restoration in your own life and in the lives of others? How can you pray for His healing this day?

God, thank You for sparking new life in what appeared to be dead. Continue to work in me, that I might share Your saving love with others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 28, 2020

Continuous Conversion

…unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3

These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives. If we trust in our own abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. When God through His sovereignty brings us into new situations, we should immediately make sure that our natural life submits to the spiritual, obeying the orders of the Spirit of God. Just because we have responded properly in the past is no guarantee that we will do so again. The response of the natural to the spiritual should be continuous conversion, but this is where we so often refuse to be obedient. No matter what our situation is, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered. But we must “put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24). God holds us accountable every time we refuse to convert ourselves, and He sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us.

To refuse to be continuously converted puts a stumbling block in the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, “I won’t submit.” We deify our independence and self-will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of bartering the Word of God for a more suitable conception of your own.  Disciples Indeed, 386 R

Bible in a Year: Zechariah 5-8; Revelation 19

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 28, 2020
Dynamite Praying - #8861

Since Jim was a boy, it's always been a custom in his family to usher in the new year with fireworks. It's legal where they live. Recently, he told me about the New Year's Eve celebration he remembers more than any other. The church was having a traditional watch night service where everyone prayed in the new year. In fact, the pastor was praying right at the stroke of midnight. At the same time, not far from the church, Jim's dad was taking time out to bring in the new year a little differently. Not with fireworks - with dynamite! He had some dynamite left from a construction project. He thought it would be a great idea to set it off at the stroke of midnight - which he did! Suddenly, everybody in the church was startled by this thunderous explosion outside. The pastor never missed a beat in his prayer.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Dynamite Praying."

A prayer meeting and an explosion; maybe those things should always go together. Consider the model prayer meeting in Acts 4, beginning with verse 24, our word for today from the Word of God. The powerful council that had arranged for Jesus' crucifixion has now ordered Jesus' disciples to shut up about Jesus or else. Peter and John reported this to the believers. I mean, it was a very volatile situation. Here was their response.

"When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. 'Sovereign Lord,' they said, 'You made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through Your servant David: 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?' Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against Your holy servant Jesus. They did what Your power and will had decided beforehand. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness. Stretch out Your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs...'"

Now, here's the result of their prayer: "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the Word of God boldly." Okay, well here you go: powerful prayer - explosive results. Let's pray like that, huh, if you want to get results like that. We can learn some of the secrets of dynamite prayer from how these early believers prayed under life-threatening pressure.

First, you focus on the greatness of God rather than the greatness of the problem. This prayer is actually more about God than anything else. Great prayers always are.

Secondly, pray God's words back to Him. The early believers actually prayed God's promises and God's words right back to Him. We should pray on His promises, too.

Thirdly, pray specifically for your response to the situation. They prayed for boldness. The situation is not what will decide this. It will be how you choose to respond to the situation.

Finally, pray for things only God could do - boldness when you feel like running - miracles to show people God's glory.

Frankly, our prayers are often so small, so predictable, so unworthy of the great God with whom we're talking. When you pray to a very big God for very big things, beginning with big things to happen in you, prepare for something explosive to happen. That will be the sound of your God blowing the lid off things!

Ezekiel 33, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Divine Warnings

Warnings.  Red lights in life that signal us of impending danger. They exist in all parts of life. Sirens scream as a marriage starts to sour; alarms blare when a faith weakens.
We usually know when trouble is just around the corner. Christians who've fallen away felt the fire waning long before it went out.  Unwanted pregnancies or explosions of anger are usually the result of a history of ignoring warnings about an impending fire.
Are your senses numb? Are your eyes trained to turn and roll when they should pause and observe?  One-night stands.  Dust-covered Bibles.  Careless choice of companions.  Denial of Christ.
Proverbs 19:27 says, "Cease listening to [My] instruction and you will stray from the words of knowledge."
Divine warnings.  Inspired by God; tested by time. Heed them and safety is yours to enjoy!
From God Came Near

Ezekiel 33

You Are the Watchman

 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘If I bring war on this land and the people take one of their citizens and make him their watchman, and if the watchman sees war coming and blows the trumpet, warning the people, then if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet and ignores it and war comes and takes him off, it’s his own fault. He heard the alarm, he ignored it—it’s his own fault. If he had listened, he would have saved his life.

6 “‘But if the watchman sees war coming and doesn’t blow the trumpet, warning the people, and war comes and takes anyone off, I’ll hold the watchman responsible for the bloodshed of any unwarned sinner.’

7-9 “You, son of man, are the watchman. I’ve made you a watchman for Israel. The minute you hear a message from me, warn them. If I say to the wicked, ‘Wicked man, wicked woman, you’re on the fast track to death!’ and you don’t speak up and warn the wicked to change their ways, the wicked will die unwarned in their sins and I’ll hold you responsible for their bloodshed. But if you warn the wicked to change their ways and they don’t do it, they’ll die in their sins well-warned and at least you will have saved your own life.

10 “Son of man, speak to Israel. Tell them, ‘You’ve said, “Our rebellions and sins are weighing us down. We’re wasting away. How can we go on living?”’

11 “Tell them, ‘As sure as I am the living God, I take no pleasure from the death of the wicked. I want the wicked to change their ways and live. Turn your life around! Reverse your evil ways! Why die, Israel?’

12-13 “There’s more, son of man. Tell your people, ‘A good person’s good life won’t save him when he decides to rebel, and a bad person’s bad life won’t prevent him from repenting of his rebellion. A good person who sins can’t expect to live when he chooses to sin. It’s true that I tell good people, “Live! Be alive!” But if they trust in their good deeds and turn to evil, that good life won’t amount to a hill of beans. They’ll die for their evil life.

14-16 “‘On the other hand, if I tell a wicked person, “You’ll die for your wicked life,” and he repents of his sin and starts living a righteous and just life—being generous to the down-and-out, restoring what he had stolen, cultivating life-nourishing ways that don’t hurt others—he’ll live. He won’t die. None of his sins will be kept on the books. He’s doing what’s right, living a good life. He’ll live.

17-19 “‘Your people say, “The Master’s way isn’t fair.” But it’s the way they’re living that isn’t fair. When good people turn back from living good lives and plunge into sin, they’ll die for it. And when a wicked person turns away from his wicked life and starts living a just and righteous life, he’ll come alive.

20 “‘Still, you keep on saying, “The Master’s way isn’t fair.” We’ll see, Israel. I’ll decide on each of you exactly according to how you live.’”

21 In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city’s fallen.”

22 The evening before the survivor arrived, the hand of God had been on me and restored my speech. By the time he arrived in the morning I was able to speak. I could talk again.

23-24 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, those who are living in the ruins back in Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man and he owned the whole country. But there are lots of us. Our ownership is even more certain.’

25-26 “So tell them, ‘God the Master says, You eat flesh that contains blood, you worship no-god idols, you murder at will—and you expect to own this land? You rely on the sword, you engage in obscenities, you indulge in sex at random—anyone, anytime. And you still expect to own this land?’

27-28 “Tell them this, Ezekiel: ‘The Message of God, the Master. As sure as I am the living God, those who are still alive in the ruins will be killed. Anyone out in the field I’ll give to wild animals for food. Anyone hiding out in mountain forts and caves will die of disease. I’ll make this country an empty wasteland—no more arrogant bullying! Israel’s mountains will become dangerously desolate. No one will dare pass through them.’

29 “They’ll realize that I am God when I devastate the country because of all the obscenities they’ve practiced.

30-32 “As for you, son of man, you’ve become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, ‘Let’s go hear the latest news from God.’ They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don’t do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. To them you’re merely entertainment—a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it.

33 “But when all this happens—and it is going to happen!—they’ll realize that a prophet was among them.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Psalm 103:1–14

Of David.

Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.

Insight
In Psalm 103, David praises God and tells readers to remember “all his benefits” (v. 2), which are both physical and spiritual, involving the forgiveness of sin and the healing of diseases (v. 3). David uses imagery to explain these benefits.

One image of a physical benefit is seen in the phrase “so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (v. 5). This is appropriate because the eagle is a symbol of vitality and strength. Some interpreters suggest this expression could refer to molting, where the eagle loses its feathers and grows new ones, so their youth is, in a sense, renewed.

An example of the spiritual benefit is explained through the images of dust and grass (vv. 14–16). David compares man’s temporary life to a flower that flourishes for a time but is then blown away by the wind in contrast to God’s everlasting love (v. 17).

A Song in the Night
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Psalm 103:8

The sun had long set when our electrical power suddenly went out. I was at home with our two younger children, and this was their first time experiencing a power outage. After verifying that the utility company knew about the outage, I located some candles, and the kids and I huddled together in the kitchen around the flickering flames. They seemed nervous and unsettled, so we began to sing. Soon the concerned looks on their faces were replaced with smiles. Sometimes in our darkest moments we need a song.

Psalm 103 may be one of the psalms prayed or sung after the people of God had returned from exile to a homeland that had been laid waste. In a moment of crisis, they needed to sing. But not just any song, they needed to sing about who God is and what He does. Psalm 103 also helps us remember that He’s compassionate, merciful, patient, and full of faithful love (v. 8). And in case we wonder if the judgment for our sin still hangs over our heads, the psalm announces that God isn’t angry, He has forgiven, and He feels compassion. These are good things to sing about during the dark nights of our lives.

Maybe that’s where you find yourself—in a dark and difficult place, wondering if God really is good, questioning His love for you. If so, pray and sing to the One who abounds in love! By:  Glenn Packiam

Reflect & Pray
How might God’s saving acts in Jesus give you a better picture of what He’s like? How does He view you?

Dear Jesus, help me to see the love of God revealed in Your life, death, and resurrection. Lift up my weary head that I might sing of Your goodness and faithfulness.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Where the Battle is Won or Lost
"If you will return, O Israel," says the Lord… —Jeremiah 4:1

Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.

I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.

In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The attitude of a Christian towards the providential order in which he is placed is to recognize that God is behind it for purposes of His own.  Biblical Ethics, 99 R

Bible in a Year: Zechariah 1-4; Revelation 18

1 Peter 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The Secret of Forgiveness

You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you. Is it still hard to consider the thought of forgiving the one who hurt you? If so, go one more time to the room. Watch Jesus as he goes from disciple to disciple. Can you see him? Can you hear the water splash? Can you hear him shuffle on the floor to the next person? Keep that image.
John 13:12 says, "When he had finished washing their feet. . ." Please note, he finished washing their feet. That means he left no one out. Why is that important? Because that means he washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. That's not to say it was easy for Jesus, and that's not to say it's easy for you. It IS to say, God will never call you to do what he hasn't already done!
From Inspirational Reader

1 Peter 4

Learn to Think Like Him

Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

3-5 You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.

6 Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus.

7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

Glory Just Around the Corner
12-13 Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

14-16 If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter. But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!

17-19 It’s judgment time for God’s own family. We’re first in line. If it starts with us, think what it’s going to be like for those who refuse God’s Message!

If good people barely make it,
What’s in store for the bad?

So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

1 Kings 19:9–12, 15–18

 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

The Lord Appears to Elijah
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Insight
When God tells Elijah that He’s reserved seven thousand people in Israel who remain loyal to Him (1 Kings 19:18), He corrects Elijah’s misunderstanding that he’s the only one left who truly worships God (18:22; 19:10, 14). Some scholars view seven thousand as symbolizing fullness. In spite of the opposition of the wicked Israelite king Ahab and his wife Jezebel, God had preserved a godly remnant. The notion of a remnant preserved by God is seen with Noah’s family (Genesis 6–9), with the survivors of military sieges (2 Kings 19:4, 30–31), and within the exile (Isaiah 10:20–22; 11:16; 46:3). For the apostle Paul, Jewish believers in Jesus now constitute a faithful remnant that fulfills the claim of 1 Kings 19:18 (Romans 11:2–5).

Who Needs Me?
When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 1 Kings 19:15

While on a red-eye flight to Washington, DC, opinion writer Arthur Brooks overheard an elderly woman whisper to her husband, “It’s not true that no one needs you anymore.” The man murmured something about wishing he were dead, and his wife replied, “Oh, stop saying that.” When the flight ended, Brooks turned around and immediately recognized the man. He was a world-famous hero. Other passengers shook his hand, and the pilot thanked him for the courage he displayed decades ago. How had this giant sunk into despair?

The prophet Elijah bravely and single-handedly defeated 450 prophets of Baal—or so he thought (1 Kings 18). Yet he hadn’t really done it alone; God was there all along! But later, feeling all alone, he asked God to take his life.

God lifted Elijah’s spirits by bringing him into His presence and giving him new people to serve. He must go and “anoint Hazael king over Aram,” Jehu “king over Israel,” and Elisha “to succeed you as prophet” (19:15–16). Invigorated with renewed purpose, Elijah found and mentored his successor.

Your great victories may lie in the rearview mirror. You may feel your life has peaked, or that it never did. No matter. Look around. The battles may seem smaller, the stakes less profound, but there are still others who need you. Serve them well for Jesus’ sake, and it will count. They’re your purpose—the reason you’re still here. By:  Mike Wittmer

Reflect & Pray
Who can you serve today for Christ? Why is it so vital for you to reach out to others with God’s love?

Holy Spirit, open my eyes to those I can serve for Jesus’ sake.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 26, 2020
“Walk in the Light”

If we walk in the light as He is in the light…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. —1 John 1:7

To mistake freedom from sin only on the conscious level of our lives for complete deliverance from sin by the atonement through the Cross of Christ is a great error. No one fully knows what sin is until he is born again. Sin is what Jesus Christ faced at Calvary. The evidence that I have been delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me. For a person to really know what sin is requires the full work and deep touch of the atonement of Jesus Christ, that is, the imparting of His absolute perfection.

The Holy Spirit applies or administers the work of the atonement to us in the deep unconscious realm as well as in the conscious realm. And it is not until we truly perceive the unrivaled power of the Spirit in us that we understand the meaning of 1 John 1:7 , which says, “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” This verse does not refer only to conscious sin, but also to the tremendously profound understanding of sin which only the Holy Spirit in me can accomplish.

I must “walk in the light as He is in the light…”— not in the light of my own conscience, but in God’s light. If I will walk there, with nothing held back or hidden, then this amazing truth is revealed to me: “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses [me] from all sin” so that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke in me. On the conscious level it produces a keen, sorrowful knowledge of what sin really is. The love of God working in me causes me to hate, with the Holy Spirit’s hatred for sin, anything that is not in keeping with God’s holiness. To “walk in the light” means that everything that is of the darkness actually drives me closer to the center of the light.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart. Bringing Sons Unto Glory, 231 L

Bible in a Year: Haggai 1-2; Revelation 17

Ezekiel 32, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: EVERY DAY A CHRISTMAS

When Christ was born, so was our hope. This is why I love Christmas. The event invites us to believe the wildest of promises: he did away with every barrier, fence, sin, bent, debt, and grave. Anything that might keep us from him was demolished. He only awaits our word to walk through the door. Invite him in, escort him to the seat of honor, and pull out his chair. Clear the table; clear the calendar. Call the kids and neighbors. Christmas is here. Christ is here.

One request from you, and God will do again what he did then: scatter the night with everlasting light. He’ll be born in you. Let “Silent Night” be sung, every heart can be a manger, every day can be a Christmas. The Christmas miracle—a yearlong celebration!

Ezekiel 32

A Cloud Across the Sun

 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, sing a funeral lament over Pharaoh king of Egypt. Tell him:

“‘You think you’re a young lion
    prowling through the nations.
You’re more like a dragon in the ocean,
    snorting and thrashing about.

3-10 “‘God, the Master, says:

“‘I’m going to throw my net over you
    —many nations will get in on this operation—
    and haul you out with my dragnet.
I’ll dump you on the ground
    out in an open field
And bring in all the crows and vultures
    for a sumptuous carrion lunch.
I’ll invite wild animals from all over the world
    to gorge on your guts.
I’ll scatter hunks of your meat in the mountains
    and strew your bones in the valleys.
The country, right up to the mountains,
    will be drenched with your blood,
    your blood filling every ditch and channel.
When I blot you out,
    I’ll pull the curtain on the skies
    and shut out the stars.
I’ll throw a cloud across the sun
    and turn off the moonlight.
I’ll turn out every light in the sky above you
    and put your land in the dark.
        Decree of God, the Master.
I’ll shake up everyone worldwide
    when I take you off captive to strange and far-off countries.
I’ll shock people with you.
    Kings will take one look and shudder.
I’ll shake my sword
    and they’ll shake in their boots.
On the day you crash, they’ll tremble,
    thinking, “That could be me!”

To Lay Your Pride Low
11-15 “‘God, the Master, says:

“‘The sword of the king of Babylon
    is coming against you.
I’ll use the swords of champions
    to lay your pride low,
Use the most brutal of nations
    to knock Egypt off her high horse,
    to puncture that hot-air pomposity.
I’ll destroy all their livestock
    that graze along the river.
Neither human foot nor animal hoof
    will muddy those waters anymore.
I’ll clear their springs and streams,
    make their rivers flow clean and smooth.
        Decree of God, the Master.
When I turn Egypt back to the wild
    and strip her clean of all her abundant produce,
When I strike dead all who live there,
    then they’ll realize that I am God.’

16 “This is a funeral song. Chant it.
    Daughters of the nations, chant it.
Chant it over Egypt for the death of its pomp.”
    Decree of God, the Master.

17-19 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the first month, God’s Message came to me:

“Son of man, lament over Egypt’s pompous ways.
    Send her on her way.
Dispatch Egypt
    and her proud daughter nations
To the underworld,
    down to the country of the dead and buried.
Say, ‘You think you’re so high and mighty?
    Down! Take your place with the heathen in that unhallowed grave!’

20-21 “She’ll be dumped in with those killed in battle. The sword is bared. Drag her off in all her proud pomp! All the big men and their helpers down among the dead and buried will greet them: ‘Welcome to the grave of the heathen! Join the ranks of the victims of war!’

22-23 “Assyria is there and its congregation, the whole nation a cemetery. Their graves are in the deepest part of the underworld, a congregation of graves, all killed in battle, these people who terrorized the land of the living.

24-25 “Elam is there in all her pride, a cemetery—all killed in battle, dumped in her heathen grave with the dead and buried, these people who terrorized the land of the living. They carry their shame with them, along with the others in the grave. They turned Elam into a resort for the pompous dead, landscaped with heathen graves, slaughtered in battle. They once terrorized the land of the living. Now they carry their shame down with the others in deep earth. They’re in the section set aside for the slain in battle.

26-27 “Meshech-tubal is there in all her pride, a cemetery in uncircumcised ground, dumped in with those slaughtered in battle—just deserts for terrorizing the land of the living. Now they carry their shame down with the others in deep earth. They’re in the section set aside for the slain. They’re segregated from the heroes, the old-time giants who entered the grave in full battle dress, their swords placed under their heads and their shields covering their bones, those heroes who spread terror through the land of the living.

28 “And you, Egypt, will be dumped in a heathen grave, along with all the rest, in the section set aside for the slain.

29 “Edom is there, with her kings and princes. In spite of her vaunted greatness, she is dumped in a heathen grave with the others headed for the grave.

30 “The princes of the north are there, the whole lot of them, and all the Sidonians who carry their shame to their graves—all that terror they spread with their brute power!—dumped in unhallowed ground with those killed in battle, carrying their shame with the others headed for deep earth.

31 “Pharaoh will see them all and, pompous old goat that he is, take comfort in the company he’ll keep—Pharaoh and his slaughtered army. Decree of God, the Master.

32 “I used him to spread terror in the land of the living and now I’m dumping him in heathen ground with those killed by the sword—Pharaoh and all his pomp. Decree of God, the Master.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, December 25, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

John 3:1–8, 13–16

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[a] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[b] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[c]

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Footnotes
John 3:3 The Greek for again also means from above; also in verse 7.
John 3:6 Or but spirit
John 3:7 The Greek is plural.
John 3:8 The Greek for Spirit is the same as that for wind.
John 3:13 Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven
John 3:14 The Greek for lifted up also means exalted.
John 3:15 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 21.

Insight
Nicodemus is first mentioned in John 3:1. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish civil and judicial authority. The Sanhedrin was led by the high priest and consisted of seventy members: “the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law” (Mark 14:53). Nicodemus is mentioned again in John 7:45–52 and finally in John 19:38–42. Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and another prominent member of the council, asked Pilate for Jesus’ body to be taken down from the cross. Nicodemus and Joseph embalmed His body and buried Him in a new tomb, which belonged to Joseph (Matthew 27:57–60; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50–53).

Joy to the World
God so loved the world.  John 3:16

Every Christmas we decorate our home with nativity scenes from around the world. We have a German nativity pyramid, a manger scene fashioned out of olive wood from Bethlehem, and a brightly colored Mexican folk version. Our family favorite is a whimsical entry from Africa. Instead of the more traditional sheep and camels, a hippopotamus gazes contently at the baby Jesus.

The unique cultural perspective brought to life in these nativity scenes warms my heart as I ponder each beautiful reminder that Jesus’ birth was not just for one nation or culture. It’s good news for the whole earth, a reason for people from every country and ethnicity to rejoice.

The little baby depicted in each of our nativity scenes revealed this truth of God’s heart for the entire world. As John wrote in relation to Christ’s conversation with an inquisitive Pharisee named Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The gift of Jesus is good news for everyone. No matter where on earth you call home, Jesus’ birth is God’s offer of love and peace to you. And all who find new life in Christ, “from every tribe and language and people and nation” will one day celebrate God’s glory forever and ever (Revelation 5:9). By:  Lisa M. Samra

Reflect & Pray
In what unique ways do you celebrate the birth of Jesus? How might the reminder of God’s love for the whole world bring joy this Christmas season?

Father, thank You for providing salvation through the gift of Your Son.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 25, 2020
His Birth and Our New Birth

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." —Matthew 1:23

His Birth in History. “…that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of— He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate— God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent— the appearance of God in human form.

His Birth in Me. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.

God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone; you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set. God does not contradict our social instincts; He alters them.  Biblical Psychology, 189 L

Bible in a Year: Zephaniah 1-3; Revelation 16

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 25, 2020
The Charlie Brown Christmas Miracle - #8860

A lot of us have it just about memorized - but it's still a Christmas classic - the Charlie Brown Christmas special on TV. You maybe hear that familiar piano theme in your mind even now. Huh? Can you hear it? Charlie's efforts to find the meaning of Christmas are, of course, repeatedly frustrated by Lucy's big mouth and Snoopy's garishly decorated doghouse. But then there's Linus on stage, in the spotlight, reciting the story of the first Christmas from the Bible. And Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, of course! It is, of course, the last tree on the lot: it's bedraggled, it's broken, and it's pitiful. But Charlie insists on giving that miserable little tree his tender loving care. And by the end, that tree, fully decorated, has become the beautiful center of the whole gang's Christmas celebration.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You this very special day about "The Charlie Brown Christmas Miracle."

It's amazing how a broken tree can become special with some tender, loving care; or more importantly, a broken person. With all the joy of the Christmas season, it could also be a time that reopens a lot of old wounds for you; a time that intensifies the loneliness and highlights the broken parts of your life.

And yet there's hope in that simple birth announcement the angels made the night Jesus arrived on earth, "A Savior has been born to you." A savior! Well, that's a rescuer - like the emergency workers who rescued people from the rubble of the World Trade Center towers. Jesus has, in fact, been pulling people out of the rubble for 2,000 years, and He stands ready this Christmas day to do that for you.

His invitation is recorded in Matthew 11:28, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. And it is hope for a hurting heart. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." "Come to Me." Now, that's Jesus' gentle invitation to you this Christmas day. Come to Him for things that no one else has ever been able to do for you; things that no one on earth can do for you.

Like beginning the healing of your broken heart. The Bible says of the Lord, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." His unconditional love for you, the value He gives you, the emotional safety He provides - they provide a healing harbor for your life. Jesus' "Come to Me" invitation is also an invitation to come to be forgiven.

Ultimately, what's broken us is the sinning that's been done against us and the sinning that we've done against others - and, most of all, against God. That's why we need a Savior, a Rescuer. We've hijacked our life from our Creator. We've lived it the way we wanted to live it instead of the way He wanted us to. And that's put us in an orbit far from His love and far from His purpose. In a word, the Bible calls it "lost."

But that's why that baby came to Bethlehem. That's why Jesus went to that horrific cross to die. He was paying the penalty for every wrong thing you and I have ever done. So He could forgive you and erase every sin from God's book, which means you could go to heaven when you die. He loves you so much He gave His life so you could be with Him forever. And then He came back from His grave to prove He's got the power to deliver on all His promises.

Charlie Brown's love made something special out of a broken tree. Jesus' love for you led Him to be broken for you on the tree where He died so you could have a brand new beginning. This is a great time of year to finally give yourself to the One who gave Himself for you; to find the One you've been looking for your whole life.

If you're ready to bring the sin and the broken pieces of a lifetime to Jesus and begin your personal relationship with Him, would you tell Him that? Tell Him today, "Jesus, you came for me. I'm Yours."

I hope you'll go to our website if you're at that point - ANewStory.com. A lot of people have gone there, and it's helped them understand how to begin their relationship with this Jesus.

This could be your first Christmas with Christ in your heart. It's time for you to experience for yourself this most awesome love in the universe. That tug you're feeling in your heart? That's Jesus extending His invitation to you, "Come to Me this Christmas day."

Ezekiel 31, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 
Max Lucado Daily: THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS

Maybe your life resembles a Bethlehem stable – crude in some spots, smelly in others, not much glamour. You do your best to make the best of it, but try as you might, the roof still leaks, and the winter wind still sneaks through the holes you just can’t seem to fix. You’ve shivered through your share of cold nights, and you wonder if God has a place for a person like you.

Find your answers in the Bethlehem stable. The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us. The moment Mary touched God’s face is the moment God made his case. There is no place he will not go. No place is too common, no person is too hardened, no distance is too far. There is no person he cannot reach. There is no limit to his love.

Ezekiel 31

The Funeral of the Big Tree

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, that pompous old goat:

“‘Who do you, astride the world,
    think you really are?
Look! Assyria was a Big Tree, huge as a Lebanon cedar,
    beautiful limbs offering cool shade,
Skyscraper high,
    piercing the clouds.
The waters gave it drink,
    the primordial deep lifted it high,
Gushing out rivers around
    the place where it was planted,
And then branching out in streams
    to all the trees in the forest.
It was immense,
    dwarfing all the trees in the forest—
Thick boughs, long limbs,
    roots delving deep into earth’s waters.
All the birds of the air
    nested in its boughs.
All the wild animals
    gave birth under its branches.
All the mighty nations
    lived in its shade.
It was stunning in its majesty—
    the reach of its branches!
    the depth of its water-seeking roots!
Not a cedar in God’s garden came close to it.
    No pine tree was anything like it.
Mighty oaks looked like bushes
    growing alongside it.
Not a tree in God’s garden
    was in the same class of beauty.
I made it beautiful,
    a work of art in limbs and leaves,
The envy of every tree in Eden,
    every last tree in God’s garden.’”

10-13 Therefore, God, the Master, says, “‘Because it skyscrapered upward, piercing the clouds, swaggering and proud of its stature, I turned it over to a world-famous leader to call its evil to account. I’d had enough. Outsiders, unbelievably brutal, felled it across the mountain ranges. Its branches were strewn through all the valleys, its leafy boughs clogging all the streams and rivers. Because its shade was gone, everybody walked off. No longer a tree—just a log. On that dead log birds perch. Wild animals burrow under it.

14 “‘That marks the end of the “big tree” nations. No more trees nourished from the great deep, no more cloud-piercing trees, no more earthborn trees taking over. They’re all slated for death—back to earth, right along with men and women, for whom it’s “dust to dust.”

15-17 “‘The Message of God, the Master: On the day of the funeral of the Big Tree, I threw the great deep into mourning. I stopped the flow of its rivers, held back great seas, and wrapped the Lebanon mountains in black. All the trees of the forest fainted and fell. I made the whole world quake when it crashed, and threw it into the underworld to take its place with all else that gets buried. All the trees of Eden and the finest and best trees of Lebanon, well-watered, were relieved—they had descended to the underworld with it—along with everyone who had lived in its shade and all who had been killed.

18 “‘Which of the trees of Eden came anywhere close to you in splendor and size? But you’re slated to be cut down to take your place in the underworld with the trees of Eden, to be a dead log stacked with all the other dead logs, among the other uncircumcised who are dead and buried.

“‘This means Pharaoh, the pompous old goat.

“‘Decree of God, the Master.’”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Luke 2:8–20

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Insight
In Luke 2, we learn that shepherds were the first to hear the announcement of Jesus’ birth (vv. 8–20). Shepherds were considered to be in a low social class, especially those who were in the fields at night (v. 8), and they were often viewed as unclean. Scholars suggest that shepherds were the first to see Jesus for the following reasons. First, the shepherds in the field reflect humans living their regular lives. Second, Jesus came to save everyone, including the lowly and outcast. Finally, it reminds us that Jesus is the messianic Shepherd who came to save the lost.

When Peace Breaks Out
Peace to those on whom his favor rests. Luke 2:14

On a cold Christmas Eve in Belgium in 1914, the sound of singing floated from the trenches where soldiers were dug in. Strains of the carol “Silent Night” rang out in German and then in English. Soldiers who earlier in the day had been shooting at each other laid down their weapons and emerged from their trenches to shake hands in the “no man’s land” between them, exchanging Christmas greetings and spontaneous gifts from their rations. The ceasefire continued through the next day as the soldiers talked and laughed and even organized soccer matches together.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 that occurred along World War I’s Western Front offered a brief glimpse of the peace the angels proclaimed on the first Christmas long ago. An angel spoke to terrified shepherds with these reassuring words: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you” (Luke 2:10–11). Then a multitude of angels appeared, “praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests’” (vv. 13–14).

Jesus is the “Prince of Peace” who saves us from our sins (Isaiah 9:6). Through His sacrifice on the cross He offers forgiveness and peace with God to all who trust in Him. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced the peace Jesus provides? In what practical way can you share His peace with someone today?

Prince of Peace, rule in my heart today. I praise You for Your perfect peace that this world can never take away!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 24, 2020
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.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We begin our Christian life by believing what we are told to believe, then we have to go on to so assimilate our beliefs that they work out in a way that redounds to the glory of God. The danger is in multiplying the acceptation of beliefs we do not make our own. Conformed to His Image, 381 L

Bible in a Year: Habakkuk 1-3; Revelation 15

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 24, 2020
The Radical Christmas Victory Plan - #8859

There's something really special about having a new baby in the family at Christmastime isn't there, since it's really all about a baby. I remember, you know, for example celebrating with a brand new granddaughter. Well, she didn't do much celebrating that Christmas. She really didn't do much of anything except lie there and look irresistible. Now, in my head, I know that babies are helpless, but being around one for a little while really brings that home. Our little darlin' couldn't eat unless Mommy fed her; she couldn't burp unless someone burped her (that's something that some of us grew up and learned to be quite good at); our baby couldn't move unless someone moved her; her little hands sort of flailed around - absolutely no ability to control what they did. Helpless.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Radical Christmas Victory Plan."

Now try to get your mind around this: the helpless hands of that little Jewish baby Mary was holding in the manger were the hands that created the galaxies! The Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, the One of whom the Bible says, "Through Him all things were made." (John 1:3) He comes to our planet in this helpless little package that basically can do nothing for himself. Omnipotence becomes helpless to rescue a world full of dying people. As one song says, "What a strange way to save the world."

Get used to it. It seems to be God's favorite modus operandi. And this radical victory plan - use the weak to do amazing things - can be both an encouragement to you and an explanation for some of your recent struggles. Let's go to our word for today from the Word of God to see the story of that first Christmas from heaven's viewpoint. Philippians 2, beginning with verse 5, tells us that our attitude "should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."

God goes on to explain that, though Jesus was "in very nature God," He "made Himself nothing (now picture that helpless, little infant in a cattle stall), taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness...He humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!"

The great plan of God to redeem our world starts with Jesus as a helpless baby in a cattle stall and culminates with Him nailed to a criminal's cross. But Colossians 2:l5 announces the crushing triumph won by that "weakness." It says Jesus disarmed the princes of hell and "made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross!" As musician Michael Card says, "His most awesome work was done through the frailty of His Son!"

God loves to win through weakness. Then it's a whole lot of God, and hardly any of us. That's why He chooses unlikely candidates and does mighty things through them - which means your inadequacy, your ordinariness may be exactly the qualities that can make you a spiritual hero. According to Jesus, who is it that will "inherit the earth?" The mighty? No - the meek (Matthew 5:3).

And about the struggles you've been going through recently. God will do whatever it takes to help us realize our weakness - to break our death grip on the steering wheel and finally let Him drive - to break that stubborn pride of ours, the self-reliance, our need to control.

The events of this year, if anything, have ripped from our hands any ability to control what's going on, the illusion of control. And all so we can finally surrender and let His strength come flooding in. Maybe the battles you've been going through have been to take you beyond yourself and beyond things you can fix, you can solve, you can figure out - so you'll get out of the way and let God do what only He can do.

A baby wrapped in rags - a bloodied man, hanging on a cross. Vivid pictures of God's radical plan for victory - winning through weakness so everyone will know that the Lord is God!