Max Lucado Daily: ON YOUR KNEES - December 20, 2024
A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave, where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. There’s one stipulation, however. You have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t enter standing up.
The same is true of the Christ. You know, you can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees. So at the birth of Jesus, while the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring, the meek were kneeling. They were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus!
In the Manger
Nehemiah 3
The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests were up and at it: They went to work on the Sheep Gate; they repaired it and hung its doors, continuing on as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. The men of Jericho worked alongside them; and next to them, Zaccur son of Imri.
3–5 The Fish Gate was built by the Hassenaah brothers; they repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, worked; next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel; next to him Zadok son of Baana; and next to him the Tekoites (except for their nobles, who wouldn’t work with their master and refused to get their hands dirty with such work).
6–8 The Jeshanah Gate was rebuilt by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah; they repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, which was under the rule of the governor from across the Euphrates, worked alongside them. Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the goldsmiths’ guild worked next to him, and next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers. They rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.
9–10 The next section was worked on by Rephaiah son of Hur, mayor of a half-district of Jerusalem. Next to him Jedaiah son of Harumaph rebuilt the front of his house; Hattush son of Hashabneiah worked next to him.
11–12 Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab rebuilt another section that included the Tower of Furnaces. Working next to him was Shallum son of Hallohesh, mayor of the other half-district of Jerusalem, along with his daughters.
13 The Valley Gate was rebuilt by Hanun and villagers of Zanoah; they repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. They went on to repair 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.
14 The Dung Gate itself was rebuilt by Malkijah son of Recab, the mayor of the district of Beth Hakkerem; he repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars.
15 The Fountain Gate was rebuilt by Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, mayor of the Mizpah district; he repaired it, roofed it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. He also rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Siloam at the King’s Garden as far as the steps that go down from the City of David.
16 After him came Nehemiah son of Azbuk, mayor of half the district of Beth Zur. He worked from just in front of the Tomb of David as far as the Pool and the House of Heroes.
17–18 Levites under Rehum son of Bani were next in line. Alongside them, Hashabiah, mayor of half the district of Keilah, represented his district in the rebuilding. Next to him their brothers continued the rebuilding under Binnui son of Henadad, mayor of the other half-district of Keilah.
19–23 The section from in front of the Ascent to the Armory as far as the Angle was rebuilt by Ezer son of Jeshua, the mayor of Mizpah. From the Angle to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest was done by Baruch son of Zabbai. Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, took it from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of Eliashib’s house. Priests from the neighborhood went on from there. Ben-jamin and Hasshub worked on the wall in front of their house, and Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, did the work alongside his house.
24–27 The section from the house of Azariah to the Angle at the Corner was rebuilt by Binnui son of Henadad. Palal son of Uzai worked opposite the Angle and the tower that projects from the Upper Palace of the king near the Court of the Guard. Next to him Pedaiah son of Parosh and The Temple support staff who lived on the hill of Ophel worked up to the point opposite the Water Gate eastward and the projecting tower. The men of Tekoa did the section from the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.
28–30 Above the Horse Gate the priests worked, each priest repairing the wall in front of his own house. After them Zadok son of Immer rebuilt in front of his house and after him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate; then Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph; then Meshullam son of Berekiah rebuilt the wall in front of his storage shed.
31–32 Malkijah the goldsmith repaired the wall as far as the house of The Temple support staff and merchants, up to the Inspection Gate, and the Upper Room at the Corner. The goldsmiths and the merchants made the repairs between the Upper Room at the Corner and the Sheep Gate.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 20, 2024
by Xochitl Dixon
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 40:1-8
“Comfort, oh comfort my people,”
says your God.
“Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem,
but also make it very clear
That she has served her sentence,
that her sin is taken care of—forgiven!
She’s been punished enough and more than enough,
and now it’s over and done with.”
3–5 Thunder in the desert!
“Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road straight and smooth,
a highway fit for our God.
Fill in the valleys,
level off the hills,
Smooth out the ruts,
clear out the rocks.
Then God’s bright glory will shine
and everyone will see it.
Yes. Just as God has said.”
6–8 A voice says, “Shout!”
I said, “What shall I shout?”
“These people are nothing but grass,
their love fragile as wildflowers.
The grass withers, the wildflowers fade,
if God so much as puffs on them.
Aren’t these people just so much grass?
True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,
but our God’s Word stands firm and forever.”
Today's Insights
We tend to make the phrase “the Word of God” (see Isaiah 40:8) into a synonym for Scripture itself. And it’s true that the Bible is an integral and vital way in which God reveals Himself to us. Ultimately, however, the greater revealer of God is a living and enduring person: Jesus. Isaiah 40:1-11 has a strong messianic message as it describes this eternal Word in whom we trust. This is who Isaiah is pointing to—the Word made flesh as revealed in John 1 (see especially vv. 1, 14). The words of God given to us in the pages of the Bible point to the Word of God (Jesus) spoken of in John 1.
The Truth Never Changes
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8
When he was younger, my son Xavier and I read a fictional children’s story about a boy who rebelled against his teacher by referring to a pen by a made-up name. The student convinced his fellow fifth graders to use the new name he created for pens. News about the boy’s replacement word spread through the whole town. Eventually, people across the country changed the way they referred to pens, simply because others accepted one boy’s made-up reality as a universal truth.
Throughout history, flawed human beings have embraced ever-changing versions of truth or personal preferred realities to suit their desires. However, the Bible points to one truth, the one true God, and one way to salvation—the Messiah—through whom “the glory of the Lord will be revealed” (Isaiah 40:5). The prophet Isaiah affirmed that people, like all created things, are temporal, fallible, and unreliable (vv. 6-7). He said, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (v. 8).
Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah provides a dependable foundation, a safe refuge, and a secured hope. We can trust God’s Word because Jesus Himself is the Word (John 1:1). Jesus is the Truth who never changes.
Reflect & Pray
When have you been tempted to reject what the Bible says simply because others accepted another view as truth? How does knowing Jesus is the Word and the fulfillment of all God’s promises comfort you?
Dear Jesus, please help me live in a way that shows I believe the Bible is the truth that never changes.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 20, 2024
The Right Lines of Work
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. — John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of why Jesus Christ died. It wasn’t out of sympathy. If sympathy is all that human beings require, then Christ’s cross was a farce; there was no need for it. But the cross was necessary. What the world needs isn’t just a little bit of love, as so many preach today; it’s a surgical operation.
When you are face–to–face with a soul in spiritual difficulty, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If the soul you’re counseling can get to God by some path other than the cross, then the cross is unnecessary. If you’re holding out your own sympathy as that other path, you’re a traitor to Jesus Christ. You have to keep your soul rightly related to God and pour out for others in the way he has designated, not in the human way of sympathy and understanding. The dominant note in spiritual guidance today is amiable religiosity; we have to avoid this, or we ignore God and his gospel.
The one thing New Testament workers have to do is exhibit Jesus Christ crucified, to lift him up all the time. Any doctrine that isn’t embedded in the cross will lead astray. When we believe in Jesus Christ and base our message on the reality of redemption, the people we talk to will inevitably be concerned by what we say. The thing that remains and deepens is the worker’s simple relationship to Jesus Christ. Our usefulness to God depends on that and that alone.
God’s workers can’t be poetic; we have to be surgical. Our calling is to uncover sin and reveal Jesus Christ as savior, not to give beautiful discourses. We have to go deep when we preach to others, as deep as God has gone with us. We have to be discerning in sensing which Scriptures will bring the truth straight home to another soul, and then apply them fearlessly.
Micah 1-3; Revelation 11
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally.
The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 20, 2024
Amazing Grace, Amazing Christmas - #9900
There are lots of people digging into their family tree these days. In fact, we've done some of our own. A lot of digging around to find out where your roots are. You know, where my grandfather came from and my great grandfather, and which king or famous person I'm descended from. Of course I would be descended from someone famous, right?
Some people do find out that they are related to royalty, and then other people find out some embarrassment in their family tree - the old horse thief, you know, that they'd rather not talk about. For 2,000 years God has been developing and protecting a line for His Son to come through, and there are in that family tree some eyebrow raisers.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Amazing Grace, Amazing Christmas."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God, comes right out of the Christmas Story, is found in Matthew 1. Now, you may or may not be aware of the fact that the Christmas Story begins actually with a genealogy - a list of Jesus' family tree. God's been preparing this line for the Messiah; it's this most special family tree in the history of planet earth. He goes down a long list of names that starts here with Abraham, works its way down, and I'll just read a couple of them to you.
"Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth," etc. You probably don't want to hear a whole lot more of that. But all of a sudden you stop and your eye goes back and you say, "Rahab? What's she doing in Jesus' family tree?" Now, in most of this genealogy only the father is mentioned. It's only in rare cases where God wants to make a special point of it that He includes the mother. Why Rahab?
Now, if you remember your Old Testament a little bit, some years before, the Israelites were preparing to conquer the land of Canaan. God sent in a couple of spies and they went to the city of Jericho and they found one home where they were taken in to hide, and it turned out it was the home of Rahab - the prostitute. She turned out to be the prostitute who gave herself to the Jewish God for the rest of her life.
But these aren't the kind of people you talk about in your family tree; these are the ones you cover up. This is scandalous. This isn't the king! And yet God makes it a point to include her. You see, there's a hidden message here in the Christmas Story. A message that Jesus is for people who know they need forgiving and who know that God's grace has no limits. God doesn't use the word deserve when it comes to salvation. None of us deserves to be in His family tree. It's not just Rahab that's a surprise; what is Ron Hutchcraft doing in God's family? What are you doing in His family?
We're sinners who must always find grace to be "Amazing grace - how sweet the sound." The hymn says, "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me...a sinner condemned, unclean." I hope today you still find God's grace amazing, and that you haven't been around so long that you think you belong in God's family because you deserve it. There is no one listening today who can not be forgiven by Him. Rahab was. And there is no person who doesn't still need His amazing grace today.
But maybe you've never experienced that grace for yourself. Oh, you've heard that song a lot of times - Amazing Grace. It says, "I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see." But today, this Christmas season, how appropriate. The God who will forgive all those who come to Him, holds out His hand to you and says, "Grab My hand." His Son died to pay the penalty that you deserve. And God can be a forgiver because of the death of His Son on a cross. And, because His Son walked out of His grave under His own power, what began in a manger ended on a cross, and culminated with a resurrection and becomes personal for you when you let this Jesus be the forgiver of your sins.
That's the day you're welcomed into His family. Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I want the Savior you came to be, to be my Savior. You came into the world at Christmas. Come into my life this Christmas season."
And, go to our website and find out there how you can be sure you belong to Him - ANewStory.com. Because the story of Rahab tells us this Christmas that there is no one who He will not welcome into the family of God.