1 Samuel 24-27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: YOU NEED A SAVIOR

If we could save ourselves—why would we need a Savior?  Jesus didn’t enter the world to help us save ourselves.  He entered the world to save us from ourselves.

As a Boy Scout, I earned a lifesaving merit badge.  The fact is, the only people I saved were other Boy Scouts who didn’t need to be saved.  During training I would rescue other trainees.  We took turns saving each other.  But since we weren’t really drowning, we resisted being rescued.  “Stop kicking and let me save you,” I’d say.

It’s impossible to save those who are trying to save themselves.  You might save yourself from a broken heart or going broke or running out of gas.  But you’re not good enough to save yourself from sin.  You are not strong enough to save yourself from death.  You need a Savior…and because of Bethlehem, you have one!

Read more Because of Bethlehem

1 Samuel 24-27

“I’m No Rebel”
24 1-4 When Saul came back after dealing with the Philistines, he was told, “David is now in the wilderness of En Gedi.” Saul took three companies—the best he could find in all Israel—and set out in search of David and his men in the region of Wild Goat Rocks. He came to some sheep pens along the road. There was a cave there and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were huddled far back in the same cave. David’s men whispered to him, “Can you believe it? This is the day God was talking about when he said, ‘I’ll put your enemy in your hands. You can do whatever you want with him.’” Quiet as a cat, David crept up and cut off a piece of Saul’s royal robe.

5-7 Immediately, he felt guilty. He said to his men, “God forbid that I should have done this to my master, God’s anointed, that I should so much as raise a finger against him. He’s God’s anointed!” David held his men in check with these words and wouldn’t let them pounce on Saul. Saul got up, left the cave, and went on down the road.

8-13 Then David stood at the mouth of the cave and called to Saul, “My master! My king!” Saul looked back. David fell to his knees and bowed in reverence. He called out, “Why do you listen to those who say ‘David is out to get you’? This very day with your very own eyes you have seen that just now in the cave God put you in my hands. My men wanted me to kill you, but I wouldn’t do it. I told them that I won’t lift a finger against my master—he’s God’s anointed. Oh, my father, look at this, look at this piece that I cut from your robe. I could have cut you—killed you!—but I didn’t. Look at the evidence! I’m not against you. I’m no rebel. I haven’t sinned against you, and yet you’re hunting me down to kill me. Let’s decide which of us is in the right. God may avenge me, but it is in his hands, not mine. An old proverb says, ‘Evil deeds come from evil people.’ So be assured that my hand won’t touch you.

14-15 “What does the king of Israel think he’s doing? Who do you think you’re chasing? A dead dog? A flea? God is our judge. He’ll decide who is right. Oh, that he would look down right now, decide right now—and set me free of you!”

16-21 When David had finished saying all this, Saul said, “Can this be the voice of my son David?” and he wept in loud sobs. “You’re the one in the right, not me,” he continued. “You’ve heaped good on me; I’ve dumped evil on you. And now you’ve done it again—treated me generously. God put me in your hands and you didn’t kill me. Why? When a man meets his enemy, does he send him down the road with a blessing? May God give you a bonus of blessings for what you’ve done for me today! I know now beyond doubt that you will rule as king. The kingdom of Israel is already in your grasp! Now promise me under God that you will not kill off my family or wipe my name off the books.”

22 David promised Saul. Then Saul went home and David and his men went up to their wilderness refuge.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, December 17, 2018
Read: Luke 1:18–25

Zachariah said to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.”

19-20 But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.”

21-22 Meanwhile, the congregation waiting for Zachariah was getting restless, wondering what was keeping him so long in the sanctuary. When he came out and couldn’t speak, they knew he had seen a vision. He continued speechless and had to use sign language with the people.

23-25 When the course of his priestly assignment was completed, he went back home. It wasn’t long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. “So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!” she said.

INSIGHT
Zechariah and Elizabeth were descendants of Aaron (Luke 1:5). God had designated that only Aaron’s descendants could serve as priests (1 Chronicles 23:13). Israel’s priesthood was divided into twenty-four divisions, with each division rotating to serve in the temple for just two weeks every year (24:1–19). With so many priests, lots were cast to determine which specific priest would have the once-in-a-lifetime privilege to burn incense in the Holy Place. Coupled with the angel announcing the birth of a son despite their old age, this would have been the highest point of Zechariah’s life (Luke 1:8–13, 18). The same archangel Gabriel, who told Daniel the meaning of the vision that concerns “the appointed time of the end” (Daniel 8:19), now appears to Zechariah, whose name means “the Lord has remembered.” God remembered His promise to send the Messiah and now sets in motion the events of the end times. - K. T. Sim

From Shame to Honor

By Poh Fang Chia

[The Lord] has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people. Luke 1:25

It’s that time of the year again, when families gather to celebrate the festive season together. Some of us, however, dread meeting certain “concerned” relatives whose questions can make those who are still single or childless feel that there’s something wrong with them.

Imagine the plight of Elizabeth, who was childless despite being married for many years. In her culture, that was seen as a sign of God’s disfavor (see 1 Samuel 1:5–6) and could actually be considered shameful. So while Elizabeth had been living righteously (Luke 1:6), her neighbors and relatives may have suspected otherwise.

Nonetheless, Elizabeth and her husband continued to serve the Lord faithfully. Then, when both were well advanced in years, a miracle occurred. God heard her prayer (v. 13). He loves to show us His favor (v. 25). And though He may seem to delay, His timing is always right and His wisdom always perfect. For Elizabeth and her husband, God had a special gift: a child who would become the Messiah’s forerunner (Isaiah 40:3–5).

Do you feel inadequate because you seem to lack something—a university degree, a spouse, a child, a job, a house? Keep living for Him faithfully and waiting patiently for Him and His plan, just as Elizabeth did. No matter our circumstances, God is working in and through us. He knows your heart. He hears your prayers.

God, You are forever faithful and good. Help us to keep trusting in You, even when we experience heartache.

Keep living for Him faithfully and waiting patiently for His plan.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 17, 2018

Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies

The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him… —1 Corinthians 2:14

The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe…” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have no sense of need for the gospel. It is God who creates this sense of need in a human being, but that person remains totally unaware of his need until God makes Himself evident. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7). But God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He wants to withhold something from us, but that is the plan He has established for the way of redemption. Through our asking, God puts His process in motion, creating something in us that was nonexistent until we asked. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time. And as redemption creates the life of God in us, it also creates the things which belong to that life. The only thing that can possibly satisfy the need is what created the need. This is the meaning of redemption— it creates and it satisfies.

Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32). When we preach our own experiences, people may be interested, but it awakens no real sense of need. But once Jesus Christ is “lifted up,” the Spirit of God creates an awareness of the need for Him. The creative power of the redemption of God works in the souls of men only through the preaching of the gospel. It is never the sharing of personal experiences that saves people, but the truth of redemption. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” My Utmost for His Highest, April 23, 773 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 17, 2018

The "Do You Really Believe?" Test - #8331

When you stand at the edge of the overlook, gazing across at the mighty Niagara Falls, listening to its liquid thunder, you can't help but be impressed with its majestic beauty and its tremendous power. But that's as close as I want to get. A person who somehow fell into those churning waters would have little chance of survival; maybe no chance. That didn't seem to bother the famous tightrope walker known as the Great Blondin. No, back in 1859, he made history. He crossed the gorge of the Niagara River on a tightrope. At one point, he executed a back somersault. His next tightrope trip across the Falls, Blondin crossed on a bicycle, he walked across blindfolded, then he pushed a wheelbarrow, and he cooked an omelet in the center. He made the trip with his hands and feet manacled at one point. Then came his ultimate performance. He announced he would carry a man across the Falls on his back. Most of the folks believed he could do it. No one wanted to be the one who went on his back, though, except his manager who climbed on the back of the Great Blondin, and to the amazement of all who watched, he arrived safely on the other side.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The 'Do You Really Believe?' Test."

So many people said they believed that the Great Blondin could carry a man on a tightrope across Niagara Falls. But none of them was willing to trust his life to Blondin, except that one man-his manager. In reality, he was the only one who really believed in that guy, because he staked everything on his trust in that man.

So many people say they believe in Jesus Christ. They say they believe that He died on the cross to rescue us from the death penalty of our sins. That He didn't stay dead; He rose from the dead. Well, that's good. That's believing with your head, which the Bible, though, does not accept as the kind of faith that will get you to heaven someday.

No, Romans 10:10 insists that "it is with your heart that you believe and are justified" (that means made right with God). And believing with your heart is more than agreeing with all the facts about Jesus or saying you believe that He can save us. It's climbing on his back and saying, "Jesus, I'm putting my total trust in You and in nothing else. Only You can erase my sins from God's book, and only You can carry me across to heaven, and I'm counting on You to do that."

The issue in whether or not you have a relationship with God isn't what beliefs you agree with or what meetings you go to, or what religion you're a part of. The whole issue is, "Where are you placing your trust to get to heaven?" In your Christianity? In your Christian religion or rituals? In your Christian upbringing or your Christian knowledge? Or even trying to live like a Christian? Well, none of those can save you from the awful death penalty for our sinful rebellion against God. It's got to be Jesus. It's got to be all Jesus. It's got to be only Jesus.

So our word for today from the Word of God is the familiar words of John 3:16. Listen this time as if your life depends on it. It does. "God so loved the world (You can put your name there...God so loved ______) that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever (Put your name there) believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

So, has there ever been a time when you clearly, consciously told Jesus that you were abandoning all other hopes and putting yourself completely in His hands to forgive your sin and to carry you across to heaven? It's that moment when you make everything He died on the cross for personally yours. Have you ever done that? If you don't know you have, you probably haven't. But you could. Today, as you feel His Spirit drawing you to Him, you need to get this settled. Just tell Him right now, "Jesus, I'm yours from this day on."

This is the day that you know Him for real. This is the day you go from just believing about Him to belonging to Him. Our website is there to help you cross over into belonging to Him, and I encourage you to get there as soon as you can. It's ANewStory.com.

Look, you've been so close. Your head believes, but you've got to move Him those 18 inches from your head to your heart.

1 Samuel 23 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: What Love Does

Would you do what Jesus did? He exchanged the worship of angels for the company of killers. If you were God, would you? I wouldn't, but Christ did! Jesus humbled Himself. He went from commanding angels to sleeping in the straw. Why? Because that is what love does. It puts the loved before itself. Your place in heaven was more important to Him than His place in heaven, so He gave up His so you could have yours.
It's time to let His love cover all things in your life. Every promise broken, every cross word, and harsh word. His love covers all things. Let it! Do it for His sake. For the peace of your heart. And do it for their sake. For the people in your life. Let His love fall on you so yours can fall on them.
From In the Manger

1 Samuel 23

Living in Desert Hideouts
23 1-2 It was reported to David that the Philistines were raiding Keilah and looting the grain. David went in prayer to God: “Should I go after these Philistines and teach them a lesson?”

God said, “Go. Attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

3 But David’s men said, “We live in fear of our lives right here in Judah. How can you think of going to Keilah in the thick of the Philistines?”

4 So David went back to God in prayer. God said, “Get going. Head for Keilah. I’m placing the Philistines in your hands.”

5-6 David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. He scattered their cattle, beat them decisively, and saved the people of Keilah. After Abiathar took refuge with David, he joined David in the raid on Keilah, bringing the Ephod with him.

7-8 Saul learned that David had gone to Keilah and thought immediately, “Good! God has handed him to me on a platter! He’s in a walled city with locked gates, trapped!” Saul mustered his troops for battle and set out for Keilah to lay siege to David and his men.

9-11 But David got wind of Saul’s strategy to destroy him and said to Abiathar the priest, “Get the Ephod.” Then David prayed to God: “God of Israel, I’ve just heard that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the city because of me. Will the city fathers of Keilah turn me over to him? Will Saul come down and do what I’ve heard? O God, God of Israel, tell me!”

God replied, “He’s coming down.”

12 “And will the head men of Keilah turn me and my men over to Saul?”

And God said, “They’ll turn you over.”

13 So David and his men got out of there. There were about six hundred of them. They left Keilah and kept moving, going here, there, wherever—always on the move.

When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the raid.

14-15 David continued to live in desert hideouts and the backcountry wilderness hills of Ziph. Saul was out looking for him day after day, but God never turned David over to him. David kept out of the way in the wilderness of Ziph, secluded at Horesh, since it was plain that Saul was determined to hunt him down.

16-18 Jonathan, Saul’s son, visited David at Horesh and encouraged him in God. He said, “Don’t despair. My father, Saul, can’t lay a hand on you. You will be Israel’s king and I’ll be right at your side to help. And my father knows it.” Then the two of them made a covenant before God. David stayed at Horesh and Jonathan went home.

19-20 Some Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Did you know that David is hiding out near us in the caves and canyons of Horesh? Right now he’s at Hakilah Hill just south of Jeshimon. So whenever you’re ready to come down, we’d count it an honor to hand him over to the king.”

21-23 Saul said, “God bless you for thinking about me! Now go back and check everything out. Learn his routines. Observe his movements—where he goes, who he’s with. He’s very shrewd, you know. Scout out all his hiding places. Then meet me at Nacon and I’ll go with you. If he is anywhere to be found in all the thousands of Judah, I’ll track him down!”

24-27 So the Ziphites set out on their reconnaissance for Saul.

Meanwhile, David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the desert south of Jeshimon. Saul and his men arrived and began their search. When David heard of it, he went south to Rock Mountain, camping out in the wilderness of Maon. Saul heard where he was and set off for the wilderness of Maon in pursuit. Saul was on one side of the mountain, David and his men on the other. David was in full retreat, running, with Saul and his men closing in, about to get him. Just then a messenger came to Saul and said, “Hurry! Come back! The Philistines have just attacked the country!”

28-29 So Saul called off his pursuit of David and went back to deal with the Philistines. That’s how that place got the name Narrow Escape. David left there and camped out in the caves and canyons of En Gedi.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Read: James 1:16–27

16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

Act on What You Hear
19-21 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

26-27 Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

INSIGHT
What’s interesting about James’s definitions of good and bad religion is that they’re not simply opposites. James says bad religion is summarized by not controlling one’s speech (v. 26). Following that, we would expect James to say that good religion has something to do with taming our tongue. Instead, good religion is defined by looking after the helpless and needy and not being influenced by the ways of the world. - J.R. Hudberg

Mirrors and Hearers
By Lawrence Darmani

Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it . . . will be blessed in what they do. James 1:25

When I emerged from my hotel in Kampala, Uganda, my hostess, who had come to pick me up for our seminar, looked at me with an amused grin. “What’s so funny?” I inquired. She laughed and asked, “Did you comb your hair?” It was my turn to laugh, for I had indeed forgotten to comb my hair. I’d looked at my reflection in the hotel mirror. How come I took no notice of what I saw?

In a practical analogy, James gives us a useful dimension to make our study of Scripture more beneficial. We look in the mirror to examine ourselves to see if anything needs correction—hair combed, face washed, shirt properly buttoned. Like a mirror, the Bible helps us to examine our character, attitude, thoughts, and behavior (James 1:23–24). This enables us to align our lives according to the principles of what God has revealed. We will “keep a tight rein” on our tongues (v. 26) and “look after orphans and widows” (v. 27). We will pay heed to God’s Holy Spirit within us and keep ourselves “from being polluted by the world” (v. 27).

When we look attentively into “the perfect law that gives freedom” and apply it to our lives, we will be blessed in what we do (v. 25). As we look into the mirror of Scripture, we can “humbly accept the word planted in [us]” (v. 21).

Heavenly Father, “open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18). Help me to order my life according to what You show me in Scripture.

As a mirror reflects our image, the Bible reveals our inner being.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Wrestling Before God
Take up the whole armor of God…praying always… —Ephesians 6:13,18

You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because “we are more than conquerors through Him…” (Romans 8:37). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— “take up the whole armor of God….”

Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28)— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Am I becoming more and more in love with God as a holy God, or with the conception of an amiable Being who says, “Oh well, sin doesn’t matter much”?  Disciples Indeed, 389 L

Psalm 54, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: There is One Name-Jesus

Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Resurrection and the Life, Alpha and Omega. Phrases that stretch the boundaries of human language in an effort to capture the un-capturable, the grandeur of God. They always fall short. Hearing them is somewhat like hearing a Salvation Army Christmas band on the street corner playing Handel's Messiah. No names do God justice!
But there is one name. Jesus. A name so typical, if He were here today, his name might be John or Bob or Jim. He was touchable, approachable, reachable. "Just call me Jesus," you can almost hear Him say. Those who walked with Him remembered Him not with a title or designation, but with a name-Jesus! It's a beautiful name and a powerful name. The day is coming when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord!
From In the Manger

Psalm 54

A David Psalm, When the Ziphites Reported to Saul, “David Is Hiding Out with Us”
54 1-2 God, for your sake, help me!
    Use your influence to clear me.
Listen, God—I’m desperate.
    Don’t be too busy to hear me.

3 Outlaws are out to get me,
    hit men are trying to kill me.
Nothing will stop them;
    God means nothing to them.

4-5 Oh, look! God’s right here helping!
    God’s on my side,
Evil is looping back on my enemies.
    Don’t let up! Finish them off!

6-7 I’m ready now to worship, so ready.
    I thank you, God—you’re so good.
You got me out of every scrape,
    and I saw my enemies get it.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Read: Luke 1:46–55
 And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news;
    I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
    I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
    the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
    on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
    scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
    pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
    the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
    he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
    beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

INSIGHT
The birth of Jesus was a miracle because the Holy Spirit formed the body of Jesus in the womb of a young virgin girl. That this information comes to us from Luke is significant, because Luke was a doctor (Colossians 4:14) and understood the audacity of the claims of Jesus’s virgin conception and birth. But Luke first tells of another miraculous conception that predated Jesus by six months—that of John the Baptist (Luke 1:24–26). By human standards, his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were too old to have a baby (vv. 7, 18). But in both the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist we see the working of God for whom nothing is impossible (v. 37 nasb).

For more, see Mary and Joseph: Reflecting on the Wonder of Christmas at discoveryseries.org/hp074. - Bill Crowder

Mosaic of Beauty
By Lisa Samra

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Luke 1:46–47

Sitting in the courtyard of the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, Israel, I was overwhelmed with the beautiful display of sixty-seven mosaics containing the words of Luke 1:46–55 in as many languages. Traditionally known as the Magnificat from the Latin “to magnify,” these verses are Mary’s joyous response to the announcement that she will be the mother of the Messiah.

Each plaque contains Mary’s words, including: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. . . . For the Mighty One has done great things for me” (vv. 46–49). The biblical hymn etched in the tiles is a song of praise as Mary recounts the faithfulness of God to her and the nation of Israel.

A grateful recipient of God’s grace, Mary rejoices in her salvation (v. 47). She acknowledges that God’s mercy has extended to the Israelites for generations (v. 50). Looking back over God’s care for the Israelites, Mary praises God for His powerful acts on behalf of His people (v. 51). She also thanks God, recognizing that her daily provision comes from His hand (v. 53).

Mary shows us that recounting the great things God has done for us is a way to express praise and can lead us to rejoice. This Christmas season, consider God’s goodness as you reflect on the year. In doing so, you may create a mosaic of great beauty with your words of praise.

Father, we praise You for the great things You’ve done in our lives this year. We rejoice in Your mercy and care for us.

Make a list of the ways God has blessed you this year and reflect on it in silence. Then share stories of His goodness with someone.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 15, 2018
“Approved to God”
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15

If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, “I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else,” then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.

Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a confused God, not a God who stands apart from the problems, but One who stands in the thick of the whole thing with man.  Disciples Indeed, 388 L

Psalm 63 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: CHRIST DOES A WORK IN YOU

Jesus not only did a work for us; he does a work in us!  Colossians 1:27 tells us, “The mystery in a nutshell is just this:  Christ is in you.”  He commands our hands and feet, requisitions our minds and tongues.  As Romans 8:29 declares,  “He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son.”

We’ll never be sinless, but we will sin less. And when we do sin, we have assurance that the grace that saved us also preserves us. We may lose our tempers, our perspective, and our self-control.  But we never lose our hope.  Scripture promises, “He is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!”

Read more Because of Bethlehem

Psalm 63

A David Psalm, When He Was out in the Judean Wilderness
63 God—you’re my God!
    I can’t get enough of you!
I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God,
    traveling across dry and weary deserts.

2-4 So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open,
    drinking in your strength and glory.
In your generous love I am really living at last!
    My lips brim praises like fountains.
I bless you every time I take a breath;
    My arms wave like banners of praise to you.

5-8 I eat my fill of prime rib and gravy;
    I smack my lips. It’s time to shout praises!
If I’m sleepless at midnight,
    I spend the hours in grateful reflection.
Because you’ve always stood up for me,
    I’m free to run and play.
I hold on to you for dear life,
    and you hold me steady as a post.

9-11 Those who are out to get me are marked for doom,
    marked for death, bound for hell.
They’ll die violent deaths;
    jackals will tear them limb from limb.
But the king is glad in God;
    his true friends spread the joy,
While small-minded gossips
    are gagged for good.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, December 14, 2018
Read: Revelation 5:1–13

The Lion Is a Lamb
5 1-2 I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One Seated on the Throne. It was written on both sides, fastened with seven seals. I also saw a powerful Angel, calling out in a voice like thunder, “Is there anyone who can open the scroll, who can break its seals?”

3 There was no one—no one in Heaven, no one on earth, no one from the underworld—able to break open the scroll and read it.

4-5 I wept and wept and wept that no one was found able to open the scroll, able to read it. One of the Elders said, “Don’t weep. Look—the Lion from Tribe Judah, the Root of David’s Tree, has conquered. He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals.”

6-10 So I looked, and there, surrounded by Throne, Animals, and Elders, was a Lamb, slaughtered but standing tall. Seven horns he had, and seven eyes, the Seven Spirits of God sent into all the earth. He came to the One Seated on the Throne and took the scroll from his right hand. The moment he took the scroll, the Four Animals and Twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. Each had a harp and each had a bowl, a gold bowl filled with incense, the prayers of God’s holy people. And they sang a new song:

Worthy! Take the scroll, open its seals.
Slain! Paying in blood, you bought men and women,
Bought them back from all over the earth,
Bought them back for God.
Then you made them a Kingdom, Priests for our God,
Priest-kings to rule over the earth.

11-14 I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand in full song:

The slain Lamb is worthy!
Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength!
Take the honor, the glory, the blessing!

Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing:

To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb!
The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength,
For age after age after age.

The Four Animals called out, “Oh, Yes!” The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped.

INSIGHT
A repeated word in today’s passage is worthy (vv. 2, 4, 9, 12), which is used to describe Jesus. But what does worthy mean? While a dictionary definition is helpful, the passage itself defines it. First, Jesus is worthy because He has triumphed (v. 5) and can therefore open the scroll and break the seals. But John goes on to describe how He has triumphed. Jesus is worthy because He has triumphed by being slain and purchasing people with His blood (v. 9). - J.R. Hudberg

Heaven’s Love Song
By Mart DeHaan

We love him because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

In 1936, songwriter Billy Hill released a popular hit song titled “The Glory of Love.” Before long a nation was singing about the joy of doing even little things out of love for one another. Fifty years later, lyricist Peter Cetera wrote a more romantic song with a similar title. He imagined two people living forever, knowing together they did it all—for the glory of love.

Revelation, the last book in the Bible, describes a new love song that will someday lift the voices of everyone in heaven and earth (Revelation 5:9, 13). The music begins, however, in a minor key of mourning. John, our narrator, cries, seeing no answer to all that has gone wrong with the world (vv. 3–4). But his mood brightens and the music builds to a crescendo (vv. 12–13) as John learns the real glory and story of love. Soon he hears all creation praising the powerful Lion-King of Judah (v. 5), who has won the hearts of His subjects by lovingly sacrificing Himself, like a Lamb, for our rescue (v. 13).

In the most moving lyrics ever sung, we see why even simple acts of kindness rise on the wings of a song. The glory we sing about reflects the heart of our God. We sing about Him because He gave us our song.

Father, please help us to see that even the smallest acts of love and kindness can remind us of Your love for us.

In what ways can you thank God today through simple acts of kindness?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 14, 2018
The Great Life
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled… —John 14:27

Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. As long as we try to serve two masters, ourselves and God, there will be difficulties combined with doubt and confusion. Our attitude must be one of complete reliance on God. Once we get to that point, there is nothing easier than living the life of a saint. We encounter difficulties when we try to usurp the authority of the Holy Spirit for our own purposes.

God’s mark of approval, whenever you obey Him, is peace. He sends an immeasurable, deep peace; not a natural peace, “as the world gives,” but the peace of Jesus. Whenever peace does not come, wait until it does, or seek to find out why it is not coming. If you are acting on your own impulse, or out of a sense of the heroic, to be seen by others, the peace of Jesus will not exhibit itself. This shows no unity with God or confidence in Him. The spirit of simplicity, clarity, and unity is born through the Holy Spirit, not through your decisions. God counters our self-willed decisions with an appeal for simplicity and unity.

My questions arise whenever I cease to obey. When I do obey God, problems come, not between me and God, but as a means to keep my mind examining with amazement the revealed truth of God. But any problem that comes between God and myself is the result of disobedience. Any problem that comes while I obey God (and there will be many), increases my overjoyed delight, because I know that my Father knows and cares, and I can watch and anticipate how He will unravel my problems.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.
Disciples Indeed

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 14, 2018

A Tender Song in Your Troubled Times - #8330

I don't mind visiting people in the hospital. I just don't like to stay in hospitals myself. My medical value system sort of works like this: minor surgery is any operation on somebody else, and major surgery is any operation on me. I've actually learned there's something worse than being a hospital patient myself. It's having one of our grandchildren in the hospital, especially when the treatment means pain. I can take it when I'm the one hurting. It's just hard to take it when it's one of them. When our grandson was only ten months old he had to go to the emergency room in another town, and it wasn't a happy time for the little guy. They had to try multiple times to get a needle into a vein for a blood test. It was excruciating! He was increasingly traumatized by one injection after another and that big old oxygen mask they kept holding over his nose.

As soon as I got there, I decided there was just one thing I could do that might help. It's a little song I've sung to him since the first times I ever held him. It's always seemed to calm him down, even when he was unusually upset. So I leaned down so my cheek was touching his cheek and I began to gently sing our little song in his ear. With medical folks continuing their necessary but pretty scary work, he stopped his panic crying and he settled down a lot. I must have stayed there for 30 or 40 minutes. I think that song must have nearly driven a couple of nurses cuckoo. But my grandson...well, a little song made a big difference.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Tender Song in Your Troubled Times."

After that night, I got to thinking how many times God has come into my traumatic moments and, in essence, He's sung His song quietly in my heart; a song that has calmed me so many times...from the loss of a baby to losing my wife. From the body blow of very bad news to the stresses of financial crisis or an overload of responsibility. You may be in one of those troubled, even traumatizing times right now. Listen for your Father's singing. It's the song that says, "A lot has changed, My child, but the most important thing has not. I'm still here watching over you. I've helped you through times like these before, and you're OK because I'm here."

Our word for today from the Word of God in Zephaniah 3:17 paints this reassuring picture of our Heavenly Father's love for us. "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." He will quiet you with His love expressed in His singing over you.

You can't imagine how much you mean to Him. The more you're hurting, the more fearful you are, the closer He gets. He is, in the words of the 46th Psalm, "our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble" (Psalm 46:1 - KJV). Those verses go on to say, "Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way...the Lord Almighty is with us...Be still and know that I am God."

And the psalmist said in Psalm 32, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

As Corrie ten Boom, concentration camp survivor, said, "Don't wrestle, just nestle." In your trauma times, you can let your fears take over, or you can let your Father take over. You choose what you focus on. Isaiah says of God, "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on you" (Isaiah 26:3 - NLT).

Peace for the trusting. Why? Because your one fixed point in a world where everything else is moving is your never-leaving, always-loving Heavenly Father. You're OK because He's there with you, close to you, singing to your soul the song that He's sung every time you've needed Him.

Luke 22:47-71, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A PEOPLE TO POPULATE HEAVEN

God has high plans for you and me.  He is recruiting for himself a people who will populate heaven.  It will be perfect.  Perfect in splendor.  Perfect in righteousness.  One word describes heaven:  perfect!  One word describes us:  imperfect!  So what does God do?  Abandon us?  Start over?  He could.  But he loves us too much to do that.

Will he populate heaven with rebellious, self-centered citizens?  If so, would heaven be heaven?  Colossians 1:19 says, “God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ.”  All the love of God was in Jesus.  All the strength of God was in Jesus.  All the compassion and power and devotion of God were, for a time, in the earthly body of a carpenter. What started in the Bethlehem cradle culminated on the Jerusalem cross!  And God did it all to take us home to heaven.

Read more Because of Bethlehem








Luke 22:47-71

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a crowd showed up, Judas, the one from the Twelve, in the lead. He came right up to Jesus to kiss him. Jesus said, “Judas, you would betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

49-50 When those with him saw what was happening, they said, “Master, shall we fight?” One of them took a swing at the Chief Priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.

51 Jesus said, “Let them be. Even in this.” Then, touching the servant’s ear, he healed him.

52-53 Jesus spoke to those who had come—high priests, Temple police, religion leaders: “What is this, jumping me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I’ve been with you in the Temple and you’ve not so much as lifted a hand against me. But do it your way—it’s a dark night, a dark hour.”

A Rooster Crowed
54-56 Arresting Jesus, they marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a safe distance. In the middle of the courtyard some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, “This man was with him!”

57 He denied it, “Woman, I don’t even know him.”

58 A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, “You’re one of them.”

But Peter denied it: “Man, I am not.”

59 About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really adamant: “He’s got to have been with him! He’s got ‘Galilean’ written all over him.”

60-62 Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

Slapping Him Around
63-65 The men in charge of Jesus began poking fun at him, slapping him around. They put a blindfold on him and taunted, “Who hit you that time?” They were having a grand time with him.

66-67 When it was morning, the religious leaders of the people and the high priests and scholars all got together and brought him before their High Council. They said, “Are you the Messiah?”

67-69 He answered, “If I said yes, you wouldn’t believe me. If I asked what you meant by your question, you wouldn’t answer me. So here’s what I have to say: From here on the Son of Man takes his place at God’s right hand, the place of power.”

70 They all said, “So you admit your claim to be the Son of God?”

“You’re the ones who keep saying it,” he said.

71 But they had made up their minds, “Why do we need any more evidence? We’ve all heard him as good as say it himself.”

The Message (MSG)

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Read: Lamentations 3:1–3, 13–24

God Locked Me Up in Deep Darkness
3 1-3 I’m the man who has seen trouble,
    trouble coming from the lash of God’s anger.
He took me by the hand and walked me
    into pitch-black darkness.
Yes, he’s given me the back of his hand
    over and over and over again.

He shot me in the stomach
    with arrows from his quiver.
Everyone took me for a joke,
    made me the butt of their mocking ballads.
He forced rotten, stinking food down my throat,
    bloated me with vile drinks.

16-18 He ground my face into the gravel.
    He pounded me into the mud.
I gave up on life altogether.
    I’ve forgotten what the good life is like.
I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished.
    God is a lost cause.”

It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God
19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
    the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
    the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
    and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left.

INSIGHT
The book of Lamentations expresses the grief of Jerusalem following the 587 bc invasion of Babylon. With her walls broken, her children exiled, and survivors living in the rubble of better times, it bares the soul of a once-proud people.

In its original Hebrew language, the book is composed of five chapters of carefully constructed poems. Its finely polished composition provides literary relief to the overwhelming confusion of a nation that has lost control of its own emotions and destiny. The only hope left is in the belief that above the clouds of this dark night of a nation’s soul, there is a God who has in the past shown that His mercies and love will never end. - Mart DeHaan

The “Hope for a Baby” Tree
By Elisa Morgan

His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22–23

After wrapping the tree with clear twinkle lights, I tied pink and blue bows on its branches and christened it our “Hope for a Baby” Christmas tree. My husband and I had been waiting for a baby through adoption for more than four years. Surely by Christmas!

Every morning I stopped at the tree and prayed, reminding myself of God’s faithfulness. On December 21 we received the news: no baby by Christmas. Devastated, I paused by the tree that had become a symbol of God’s provision. Was God still faithful? Was I doing something wrong?

At times, God’s apparent withholding results from His loving discipline. And other times God lovingly delays to renew our trust. In Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah describes God’s correction of Israel. The pain is palpable: “He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver” (3:13). Through it all, Jeremiah also expresses ultimate trust in God’s faithfulness: “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (vv. 22–23).

I left the tree standing well beyond Christmas and continued my morning prayer. At last, on Easter weekend, we received our baby girl. God is always faithful, though not necessarily on our timeline nor always according to our desires.

My children are now in their thirties, but each year I set up a miniature version of the tree, reminding myself and others to hope in God’s faithfulness.

Dear God, help me trust You today even when I can’t see what You are doing. You are faithful.

The best reason for hope is God’s faithfulness.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Intercessory Prayer
…men always ought to pray and not lose heart. —Luke 18:1

You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to “fill up…[with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Colossians 1:24), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, “It is putting yourself in someone else’s place.” That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.

As an intercessor, be careful not to seek too much information from God regarding the situation you are praying about, because you may be overwhelmed. If you know too much, more than God has ordained for you to know, you can’t pray; the circumstances of the people become so overpowering that you are no longer able to get to the underlying truth.

Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding. And yet intercession is the only thing that has no drawbacks, because it keeps our relationship completely open with God.

What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply “patched up.” We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.  The Highest Good, 544 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 13, 2018

Hope in Five Words - #8329

Narnia was a mythical land, created by C. S. Lewis, where the animals talk and where four children experience a series of incredible adventures. The seven-part series, The Chronicles of Narnia, have long fascinated children and adults alike. (I'm one of them.) And then came Disney's movie version of the first Narnia story, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," and it was a blockbuster. In the story, the wardrobe is the closet through which the children discover Narnia. The witch is the evil ruler of the land. She's creating an endless winter where it says it was "always winter but never Christmas." And the lion is Aslan, the great son of the Emperor from across the sea. He is, in C. S. Lewis' imagery, the Christ-figure of Narnia. As the children begin to experience the icy and dangerous world that Narnia has become under that evil ruler, one of the animals announces that there is hope on the horizon. Hope turns out to be five words: "Aslan is on the move." Indeed, he was, and Narnia would soon be set free.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope in Five Words."

Five words may explain the strange stirring that you've been feeling in your heart lately. Five words may mean hope for you. Those five words? "Jesus is on the move." The One of whom the Bible says: "The Lion of the tribe of Judah...has triumphed" (Revelation 5:5). He may very well be on the move in your personal world and in your heart.

What He's moving to do is pictured in our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 3, beginning with verse 7. God is speaking to Moses from an amazing burning bush in the wilderness. He says, "I have seen the misery of My people, I have heard them crying out, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them. So now, go. I am sending you."

When Jesus starts moving, He's on a rescue mission. In fact, the name God told Mary and Joseph to give Him that first Christmas, Jesus, literally means "Jehovah rescues." Every time we say "Jesus," we're saying why He came - to rescue. In Moses' day, God was coming down to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt. Today, God comes down to rescue people from the bleakness and the bondages of a life lived outside of His purposes; the kind of "my way" living that the Bible calls sin.

Sin robs this life of its meaning and joy, and it condemns us to the death penalty of an awful eternity. Jesus came like the rescuers who went into the fallen towers of the World Trade Center that dark September 11th. He risked His life to save us from a deadly situation from which we could never save ourselves. He gave His life, and He's on the move right now, and He's got rescue on His mind.

If you've given yourself to the Savior who died for you, He's asking you to join Him in His rescue mission. Your heart's been restless to make a greater difference, and that's why you feel restless. He's moving to rescue people you know from a hopeless, "always winter" life and from an awful, Christless eternity. He's calling your name and saying, as He did to Moses, "Go! I am sending you." That's why He put you where you are - to rescue. Don't miss the destiny you were made for.

Maybe there's never been a time you grabbed Jesus to be your spiritual Rescuer. He's coming close to you today so you can. Your hope of finding the purpose you were made for, your hope of experiencing God's awesome love, your hope of changing your eternal address to heaven is five words: "Jesus is on the move." That stirring - that tug in your heart you fee l- that's Jesus. He's ready for you to come to Him. And you don't come when you're ready; you come when He's ready. When He's moving in your heart, there are, according to the Bible, two choices. Either open your heart or harden your heart to Him.

Please, open your heart to Him. Tell Him, "Lord Jesus, I know what You did on the cross is my only hope. I'm ready to turn the running of my life over to You as my Rescuer from my sin." I'd love to help you know how you can belong to Jesus before this day is over. That's why our website. Go there please - ANewStory.com. Because Jesus is on the move...in your heart.

Luke 22:24-46, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE HEART OF THE HUMAN PROBLEM

The sinful nature is the stubborn, self-centered attitude that says, “My way or the highway.” The sinful nature is all about self: pleasing self, promoting self, preserving self.  I have a sin nature!  So do you.  Under the right circumstances you will do the wrong thing.  You’ll try not to, but you will.  You have a sin nature.  You were born with it.

The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart! Christmas commemorates the day and the way God saved us from ourselves.  The angel speaking to Mary in Matthew 1:21 says, “. . .you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  Each of us entered the world with a sin nature. God entered the world to take it away!

Read more Because of Bethlehem

Luke 22:24-46
Get Ready for Trouble
24-26 Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: “Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It’s not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant.

27-30 “Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You’d rather eat and be served, right? But I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves. And you’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. Now I confer on you the royal authority my Father conferred on me so you can eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and be strengthened as you take up responsibilities among the congregations of God’s people.

31-32 “Simon, stay on your toes. Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from me, like chaff from wheat. Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.”

33 Peter said, “Master, I’m ready for anything with you. I’d go to jail for you. I’d die for you!”

34 Jesus said, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Peter, but before the rooster crows you will have three times denied that you know me.”

35 Then Jesus said, “When I sent you out and told you to travel light, to take only the bare necessities, did you get along all right?”

“Certainly,” they said, “we got along just fine.”

36-37 He said, “This is different. Get ready for trouble. Look to what you’ll need; there are difficult times ahead. Pawn your coat and get a sword. What was written in Scripture, ‘He was lumped in with the criminals,’ gets its final meaning in me. Everything written about me is now coming to a conclusion.”

38 They said, “Look, Master, two swords!”

But he said, “Enough of that; no more sword talk!”

A Dark Night
39-40 Leaving there, he went, as he so often did, to Mount Olives. The disciples followed him. When they arrived at the place, he said, “Pray that you don’t give in to temptation.”

41-44 He pulled away from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, remove this cup from me. But please, not what I want. What do you want?” At once an angel from heaven was at his side, strengthening him. He prayed on all the harder. Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face.

45-46 He got up from prayer, went back to the disciples and found them asleep, drugged by grief. He said, “What business do you have sleeping? Get up. Pray so you won’t give in to temptation.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Read: Romans 7:14–25

I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

NSIGHT
In Romans 7:14–25, Paul candidly shares his personal spiritual struggles as well as his deep confidence in Christ for help and hope (7:25). Romans 8 then unpacks that help and hope. The hopeful promise of “no condemnation” (8:1) is supported by the most extensive treatment of the Holy Spirit’s helping ministry (vv. 5–27) found anywhere in the Scriptures (outside of John 14–16). Paul’s confidence in Christ’s help and hope are not theoretical—they are provided by the indwelling Holy Spirit (8:11). - Bill Crowder

The “No-Secret” Secret
By Randy Kilgore

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15

A coworker confessed to me that he didn’t think he was “Jesus material.” I listened as he described what he called his “comfortable, narcissistic” life, and how it didn’t satisfy him. “But here’s my problem, I’ve been trying to be good, even caring, but it isn’t working. It seems that the very things I want to do, I can’t do, and the things I want to stop doing, I just keep doing.”

“What’s your secret?” he asked me in complete sincerity. “My secret,” I answered, “is that there is no secret. I’m as powerless to live up to God’s standards as you are, which is why we need Jesus.”

I pulled out a Bible and showed him “his” quote as the apostle Paul expressed it in Romans 7:15. Paul’s words of frustration often resonate with both pre-Christians and Christians who find themselves trying to be good enough to deserve God but falling short. Maybe it resonates with you. If so, Paul’s declaration that Christ is the author of our salvation and its resulting changes (7:25–8:2) should thrill you. Jesus has already done the work to free us from the very things that have us so puzzled with ourselves!

The barrier between us and God, the barrier of sin, has been removed without any work on our part. Salvation—and the changes made by the Holy Spirit in the process of our growth—is what God desires for all. He knocks on the door of our souls. Answer His knock today. It’s no secret that He’s the answer!

See christianuniversity.org/NT225 for more study on the book of Romans.

Without Jesus, salvation and spiritual growth are both gifts beyond our reach.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Personality
…that they may be one just as We are one… —John 17:22

Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.

Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— “…that they may be one just as We are one….” Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold.  Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
It's Show Time! - #8328

We had been working on our college production for our Junior-Senior Banquet for months. It was an original musical drama, written and directed by my roommate and me, based on the book of Esther. The orchestra had rehearsed night after night, the chorus had rehearsed, the actors, the light crew, the sound crew; we had prepared as much as we could. The night before, we had the dress rehearsal. But all those months of preparation and practice came down to one evening-the night of the big performance, and it was show time!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "It's Show Time!"

All our work, all our experiences over all those months were to get us ready for the moment that really mattered; the real performance that would affect many people's lives. The practices with no audience watching actually helped us to do it right when there was a large audience watching. It may be you're in rehearsal right now. Yeah, God is sending or allowing you to go through some things right now that really are your preparation for some important assignments ahead...which means that what you're going through isn't random. It isn't meaningless. It has great meaning, but you can't see that now. But many will see it when it's finally "show time."

It happened to David. In our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Samuel 17, beginning with verse 34, young David is persuading the king that he can go out and defeat the enemy giant, Goliath, even though he is only a shepherd boy and all the professional soldiers have retreated. He says, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who has delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

David had experienced God's power in battles that he fought when no one was watching. What he learned there (because he did it right in practice) enabled him to win a decisive victory for the Lord when the nation was watching! I can't help but think of something Lisa Beamer said in an interview. Her husband, Todd, had died trying to stop the hijackers of Flight 93 on that September 11th. Lisa was thrust into the national spotlight, where she winsomely represented her faith and her hope in Jesus Christ. She said, though, that it was her struggle with the death of her father years earlier that had prepared her for this larger moment, where she then impacted millions of lives.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose life included some very high highs and some very low lows, said, "Through the ups and downs of success, we become better people, and as better people, God can call us to bigger jobs." Maybe that's what God is doing in your life right now. He's preparing you for bigger things, for opportunities you can't imagine right now that will impact many lives. That's the reason for the things you're going through right now.

But now, you're in practice where there aren't many people watching, where the load is heavy, and where the temptations are many. And now is the time you've just got to be faithful. You must be opening yourself up to God's working as you never have before. Or maybe it's "show time" right now, a major crunch time when it's your time to show what a mighty God you serve. Why? So you can hear the applause of heaven!

Psalm 142 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE GOD?

Would you like to see God?  Take a look at Jesus!  Hebrews 1:3 says, “Jesus radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.”  In John 14:9, Jesus himself said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”  Anyone who has seen me weep has seen the Father weep.  Anyone who has seen me laugh as seen the Father laugh.  Anyone who has seen me determined has seen the Father determined.

Everything changes when we see the face of God.  He came with tears too.  He knows the burden of a broken heart.  He knows the sorrow life can bring.  He could have come as a shining light or a voice in the clouds, but he came as a person.  Does God understand you?  Look into God’s face and be assured.  Find the answer in Bethlehem.

Read more Because of Bethlehem

Psalm 142

A David Prayer—When He Was in the Cave
142 1-2 I cry out loudly to God,
    loudly I plead with God for mercy.
I spill out all my complaints before him,
    and spell out my troubles in detail:

3-7 “As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away,
    you know how I’m feeling,
Know the danger I’m in,
    the traps hidden in my path.
Look right, look left—
    there’s not a soul who cares what happens!
I’m up against it, with no exit—
    bereft, left alone.
I cry out, God, call out:
    ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’
Oh listen, please listen;
    I’ve never been this low.
Rescue me from those who are hunting me down;
    I’m no match for them.
Get me out of this dungeon
    so I can thank you in public.
Your people will form a circle around me
    and you’ll bring me showers of blessing!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Read: Matthew 13:53–58

When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” They got their noses all out of joint.

58 But Jesus said, “A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family.” He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.

INSIGHT
Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, the one promised in the Old Testament who would rescue God’s people and rule them justly. The word Messiah (from the Greek messias) is found only twice in the New Testament—John 1:41 and 4:25. John is careful to translate this word for his readers: “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ)” (1:41). The word Christ (christos) means “anointed.” It’s the New Testament equivalent of Messiah and is found multiple times, beginning in Matthew 1:1: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah (christos) the son of David, the son of Abraham.” The composite picture of the Messiah/the Christ is that He is Jesus, the God-man, the King who has been raised from death and exalted to the right hand of God (Acts 2:32–36). - Arthur Jackson

Expect the Messiah
By Patricia Raybon

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary?” Matthew 13:55

The repairman looked young—too young to fix our problem, a car that wouldn’t start. “He’s just a kid,” my husband, Dan, whispered to me, showing his doubt. His disbelief in the young man sounded like the grumbling in Nazareth where citizens doubted who Jesus was.

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” they asked (Matthew 13:55) when Jesus taught in the synagogue. Scoffing, they were surprised to hear that someone they knew was healing and teaching, and asked, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” (v. 54). Instead of trusting in Jesus, they were offended by the authority He displayed (vv. 15, 58).

In this same way, we may struggle to trust in our Savior’s wisdom and power, especially in the familiar and ordinary details of our daily lives. Failing to expect His help, we may miss out on the wonder of His life transforming our own (v. 58).

As Dan found, the help he needed stood right in front of him. Finally agreeing to accept the young man’s aid, my husband allowed him to look at our old car’s battery. By switching just one bolt, the mechanic had the car running in seconds—engine humming and lights ablaze. “It lit up like Christmas,” Dan said.

So too may we expect and experience the Messiah bringing fresh light, life, and help into our daily journey with Him.

When I doubt You, Lord, help my unbelief.

What are some practical ways you can remind yourself or others that God is in control and He is able?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Individuality
Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…" —Matthew 16:24

Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.

The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, “I can’t believe,” it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, “I will not surrender,” or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24). It is your individuality that refuses to “be reconciled to your brother” (Matthew 5:24). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. “…let him deny himself…”— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
When Your Shopping Is Over - #8327

Christmas shopping is really fun for a while. But after a few stressful trips to the mall, after spending more time looking for a parking place than you do in the store, after battling the crowds and trying to find a store that still has what you're looking for, well Christmas shopping starts to lose some of its glitter. But then there's that golden moment when you walk in the house with your last installment of shopping bags, you collapse in the recliner, and you declare in a loud, triumphant voice, "I'm done with my shopping!" What a feeling!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Your Shopping is Over."

Some of us spend our whole life shopping. Not for presents, but for peace. For something that will fill that hole in our heart. And sooner or later, most of us realize that we're looking for something spiritual. Many writers have observed that America today is actually a nation of spiritual seekers, and maybe you're one of them. If so, you're shopping in the right store. The only real meaning and the only real peace is going to be found in something spiritual.

But maybe you're like a lot of people who have been better at seeking than finding. You've shopped for spiritual reality in a variety of places: different churches, maybe different religions, maybe some New Age spirituality, or some self-improvement programs, or a variety of spiritual experiences. You tired of shopping? Would you like to be able to say, "My shopping is over!" Then there's a pathway to fulfillment in our word for today from the Word of God right in the Christmas story.

The Magi, usually known as the "three wise men," represent all of us spiritual seekers in the story of that first Christmas. Matthew 2:1, "they traveled many miles to Jerusalem, following what they believed to be a guiding star. After consulting with the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was...They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts."

These guys had been searching for a long time. So have you maybe. Their searching finally ended at the feet of Jesus. So will yours. No, it's not Christianity that will satisfy a seeking heart, not a church, not a denomination. It's Jesus. Why? The Bible simply explains in Colossians 1:16, "All things were created by Him and for Him." That includes you and me. You can never find inner peace and your restlessness can never end until you belong to the One you were made for.

Because we've taken over the life that was supposed to be His, well, we're separated from that anchor relationship. But Jesus came to Bethlehem ultimately to die on Skull Hill. He died on that cross to carry all the guilt and all the hell of all your sin so you could finally come home to the love you've been looking for your whole life.

And this Christmas season would be a great time for you to finally say, "My shopping is done!" If you want the search to end, why don't you tell Jesus that you're giving yourself to Him with all the faith you've got. You could literally do that right where you are. You don't have to be in church; no stained glass. Just you and Jesus.

If you want to begin your personal relationship with Him, I especially would like to invite you to our website. In fact, I hope you can check it out right after this if possible. It's ANewStory.com. And I'll tell you why. It really is there for someone like you who's at the edge of actually belonging to the One who loves you the most. A lot of people have gone there and they've found the help they needed in nailing down a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

What a time to get that done. ANewStory.com - find your way there today. Then you know what? If you tell Jesus, "I'm yours," in the words of the song, you know where you can be? You can finally be "home for Christmas."

Psalm 57, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: QUESTIONS FOR MARY

A friend of mine asked her students to make a list of questions, they would like to ask Mary. Here are some responses: “What was Jesus’ first word?” “Did he ever get sick?”  “Did Jesus ever misbehave?” They’re all legitimate questions.

The fact that we can ask them raises a greater one.  Why did God go so far?  Why did He become a human being?  A chief reason?  He wants you to know that he gets you. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, He understands how you feel and has faced what you face.  Jesus has been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin!  (Hebrews 4:15-16).  So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give.  “Take the mercy, accept the help!” Because of Bethlehem, you can boldly go to him!

Read more Because of Bethlehem

Psalm 57

A David Psalm, When He Hid in a Cave from Saul
57 1-3 Be good to me, God—and now!
    I’ve run to you for dear life.
I’m hiding out under your wings
    until the hurricane blows over.
I call out to High God,
    the God who holds me together.
He sends orders from heaven and saves me,
    he humiliates those who kick me around.
God delivers generous love,
    he makes good on his word.

4 I find myself in a pride of lions
    who are wild for a taste of human flesh;
Their teeth are lances and arrows,
    their tongues are sharp daggers.

5 Soar high in the skies, O God!
    Cover the whole earth with your glory!

6 They booby-trapped my path;
    I thought I was dead and done for.
They dug a mantrap to catch me,
    and fell in headlong themselves.

7-8 I’m ready, God, so ready,
    ready from head to toe,
Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune:
    “Wake up, soul!
Wake up, harp! wake up, lute!
    Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!”

9-10 I’m thanking you, God, out loud in the streets,
    singing your praises in town and country.
The deeper your love, the higher it goes;
    every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness.

11 Soar high in the skies, O God!
    Cover the whole earth with your glory!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, December 10, 2018
Read: Isaiah 44:1–5

Proud to Be Called Israel
44 1-5 “But for now, dear servant Jacob, listen—
    yes, you, Israel, my personal choice.
God who made you has something to say to you;
    the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you.
Don’t be afraid, dear servant Jacob,
    Jeshurun, the one I chose.
For I will pour water on the thirsty ground
    and send streams coursing through the parched earth.
I will pour my Spirit into your descendants
    and my blessing on your children.
They shall sprout like grass on the prairie,
    like willows alongside creeks.
This one will say, ‘I am God’s,’
    and another will go by the name Jacob;
That one will write on his hand ‘God’s property’—
    and be proud to be called Israel.”

INSIGHT
Isaiah was the most prolific of the writing prophets, but the great size of his book is eclipsed in importance by its content. Commentator John Gill wrote: “He should rather be called an evangelist than a prophet . . . certain it is that no one writes so fully and clearly of the person, offices, grace, and kingdom of Christ; of his incarnation and birth of a virgin; of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow, as [Isaiah] does.” Isaiah’s focus on Messiah and His mission was vital to preparing the way for Christ’s coming, for it provided Israel with critical identifiers of Christ and certain hope in His promised victory.

For more on Isaiah, check out Knowing God Through Isaiah at discoveryseries.org/sb151. - Bill Crowder

“The Lord’s”
By Arthur Jackson

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16

It doesn’t take much to notice that getting “inked” is very popular these days. Some tattoos are so small that one barely notices them. Others—from athletes to actors to everyday people—have opted to cover much of their bodies with multicolored inks, words, and designs. The trend seems like it’s here to stay, a trend that netted $3 billion in revenue in 2014—and an additional $66 million for tattoo removal.

Regardless of how you may feel about tattoos, Isaiah 44 speaks metaphorically about people writing something on their hands: “The Lord’s” (v. 5). This “self-tattoo” is the climax of an entire paragraph that speaks of the Lord’s care for those He had chosen (v. 1). They could count on His help (v. 2); and their land and descendants were marked for blessing (v. 3). Two simple, powerful words, “The Lord’s,” affirmed that God’s people knew they were His possession and that He would take care of them.

Those who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ can confidently say of themselves, “The Lord’s!” We are His people, His sheep, His offspring, His inheritance, His dwelling. These are the things we cling to in the varied seasons of life. While we may have no external mark or tattoo, we can take heart that we have the witness of God’s Spirit in our hearts that we belong to Him (see Romans 8:16–17).

Father, the expressions of Your love and care are all around me and Your Spirit lives within me. Thank You!

How can the truth that you belong to God impact how you live?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 10, 2018
The Offering of the Natural
It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. —Galatians 4:22

Paul was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience. Sin is what made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.

Abraham had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac (see Genesis 21:8-14). Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). Sanctification means more than being freed from sin. It means the deliberate commitment of myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay whatever it may cost.

If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. We excuse ourselves by saying, “Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I was a child.” Then discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life for God.

God is not actively involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper and gratify it. But once we are willing to put it out in the desert and are determined to keep it under control, God will be with it. He will then provide wells and oases and fulfill all His promises for the natural (see Genesis 21:15-19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.  Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 10, 2018
Flying Too Low - #8326
Every child's dream-Disney World! Our three-year-old granddaughter had counted down her visit there for weeks. And she was absolutely giddy as she finally entered the Magic Kingdom. One ride she really wanted to try was the flying elephants. Actually, the flying Dumbos, named after that elephant with the oversize ears that enabled him to be a flying elephant! Dumbo basically just goes around and around; he's a ride for little kids...kids like me. Now when you pull the bar in your Dumbo car, it starts to go up. Not super-high, but high enough to get a nice view of a lot of things in the park. And our granddaughter began making those Dumbo circles with her uncle, and he started to pull the bar up to help the flying elephant fly. It was not to be. Our little princess would have none of this going higher business...nope! Too scary! She made it no secret that Dumbo was to fly at the lowest possible level...and stay there.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flying Too Low."

There's a whole lot of people who are just like our granddaughter with her flying elephant-not flying; settling for a low level spiritually when there's so much to see higher up. And maybe, without realizing it, you have settled into a low level of all there is to experience in the living Christ. You may not realize it because so many other believers around you are flying low, too. It seems to be like normal Christianity. It's not. Just because spiritual mediocrity is common, doesn't mean it's normal! And my guess is your heart is saying, "There's got to be more than this." Well, there is. Much more.

The writer of Hebrews gave some early Christians this challenge: "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again...Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with teaching about righteousness." God's saying, "Look, you've known Jesus much too long for you to still be living on the ABC's of the Bible. Grow up, son! Grow up, daughter! There's so much more that only spiritual grownups experience!" The challenge continues: "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity" (Hebrews 5:12-13; 6:1).

God's made you restless for more because He wants you to go for a much bigger, much bolder, much more powerful and exciting relationship with Him. He's calling you to the kind of spirit the great Apostle Paul had after thirty years of one of the greatest Christian lives ever. It's in Philippians 3, beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God. "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." In other words, "I refuse to stay at the level I am at! I'm going higher! I want to see the view!"

So what does this look like? Okay, give yourself to four "going higher" goals. First, dig deeper into God's Word than you've ever gone before. Two, pray bigger in God's throne room than you've ever prayed before; no more safe, predictable, scripted prayer. Three, open wider to God's control than you've ever opened up before. Let Him drive in areas where you've always insisted on holding that wheel. Four, tackle something bigger in God's work than you've ever risked before; say yes to a mission for Him that will make you dig deeper into Him than you've ever been before.

So go for the awesome view that's up higher. It may be safe down low, but it's boring and it's powerless. In the time you've got left, however little or much that may be, don't you want to experience all of Jesus that you can? No more settling for life where it's safe. You're going higher where the view is amazing!