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."
From my daily reading of the bible, Our Daily Bread Devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest and Ron Hutchcraft "A Word with You" and occasionally others.