Max Lucado Daily: His Kingdom Will Never End
His kingdom will never end. Luke 1:33
In Bethlehem, the human being who best understood who God was and what he was doing, is the teenage girl in the smelly stable.
As Mary looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty—she can’t take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God.
So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel. “His kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:33)
He looks like anything but a king. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby.
Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.
God came near!
Luke 2:25-52
The Prophecy of Simeon
At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”
The Prophecy of Anna
36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four.[a] She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.
39 When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.
Jesus Speaks with the Teachers
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. 42 When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. 43 After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, 44 because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.
45 When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. 46 Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
48 His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”
49 “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”[b] 50 But they didn’t understand what he meant.
51 Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.
52 Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.
Footnotes:
2:37 Or She had been a widow for eighty-four years.
2:49 Or “Didn’t you realize that I should be involved with my Father’s affairs?”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Read: Hebrews 9:11-22
Christ Is the Perfect Sacrifice
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.[a] He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds[b] so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.
16 Now when someone leaves a will,[c] it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead.[d] 17 The will goes into effect only after the person’s death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.
18 That is why even the first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal. 19 For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats,[e] along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. 20 Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.”[f] 21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. 22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Footnotes:
9:11 Some manuscripts read that are about to come.
9:14 Greek from dead works.
9:16a Or covenant; also in 9:17.
9:16b Or Now when someone makes a covenant, it is necessary to ratify it with the death of a sacrifice.
9:19 Some manuscripts do not include and goats.
9:20 Exod 24:8.
Just The Right Time
By Julie Ackerman Link
Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come. —Hebrews 9:11
The conductor stood on the podium, his eyes scanning the choir and orchestra. The singers arranged the music in their folders, found a comfortable position for standing, and held the folder where they could see the conductor just over the top. Orchestra members positioned their music on the stand, found a comfortable position in their seats, and then sat still. The conductor waited and watched until everyone was ready. Then, with a downbeat of his baton, the sounds of Handel’s “Overture to Messiah” filled the cathedral.
With the sound swirling around me, I felt I was immersed in Christmas—when God, at just the right moment, signaled the downbeat and set in motion an overture that started with the birth of the Messiah, the “High Priest of the good things to come” (Heb. 9:11).
Every Christmas, as we celebrate Christ’s first coming with glorious music, I’m reminded that God’s people, like choir and orchestra members, are getting ready for the next downbeat of the conductor when Christ will come again. On that day, we will participate with Him in the final movement of God’s symphony of redemption—making all things new (Rev. 21:5). In anticipation, we need to keep our eyes on the conductor and make sure we are ready.
Sound the soul-inspiring anthem,
Angel hosts, your harps attune;
Earth’s long night is almost over,
Christ is coming—coming soon! —Macomber
The advent of Christ celebrates His birth and anticipates His return.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Experience or God’s Revealed Truth?
We have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. —1 Corinthians 2:12
My experience is not what makes redemption real— redemption is reality. Redemption has no real meaning for me until it is worked out through my conscious life. When I am born again, the Spirit of God takes me beyond myself and my experiences, and identifies me with Jesus Christ. If I am left only with my personal experiences, I am left with something not produced by redemption. But experiences produced by redemption prove themselves by leading me beyond myself, to the point of no longer paying any attention to experiences as the basis of reality. Instead, I see that only the reality itself produced the experiences. My experiences are not worth anything unless they keep me at the Source of truth— Jesus Christ.
If you try to hold back the Holy Spirit within you, with the desire of producing more inner spiritual experiences, you will find that He will break the hold and take you again to the historic Christ. Never support an experience which does not have God as its Source and faith in God as its result. If you do, your experience is anti-Christian, no matter what visions or insights you may have had. Is Jesus Christ Lord of your experiences, or do you place your experiences above Him? Is any experience dearer to you than your Lord? You must allow Him to be Lord over you, and pay no attention to any experience over which He is not Lord. Then there will come a time when God will make you impatient with your own experience, and you can truthfully say, “I do not care what I experience— I am sure of Him!”
Be relentless and hard on yourself if you are in the habit of talking about the experiences you have had. Faith based on experience is not faith; faith based on God’s revealed truth is the only faith there is.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Deuteronomy 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: No Room
Some of the saddest words on earth are “We don’t have room for you.” Jesus knew the sound of those words. He was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said, “We don’t have room for you” (Luke 2:7).
And when he was hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection? “We don’t have room for you in our world.”
Even today Jesus is given the same treatment. He goes from heart to heart, asking if he might enter. Every so often, he’s welcomed. Someone throws open the door of his or her heart and invites him to stay. And to that person Jesus gives this great promise, “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:2).
What a delightful promise he makes us! We make room for him in our hearts….And he makes room for us in his house!
From Grace for the Moment
Deuteronomy 4
Moses Urges Israel to Obey
“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.
3 “You saw for yourself what the Lord did to you at Baal-peor. There the Lord your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. 4 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you.
5 “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
9 “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. 10 Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai,[e] where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’
11 “You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness. 12 And the Lord spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice. 13 He proclaimed his covenant—the Ten Commandments[f]—which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets. 14 It was at that time that the Lord commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
A Warning against Idolatry
15 “But be very careful! You did not see the Lord’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai. 16 So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman, 17 an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky, 18 a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea. 19 And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth. 20 Remember that the Lord rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.
21 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. 22 You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river. 23 So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this. 24 The Lord your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.
25 “In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and will arouse his anger.
26 “Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed. 27 For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive. 28 There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.
30 “In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.
There Is Only One God
32 “Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before? 33 Has any nation ever heard the voice of God[g] speaking from fire—as you did—and survived? 34 Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.
35 “He showed you these things so you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power. 38 He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.
39 “So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other. 40 If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
Eastern Cities of Refuge
41 Then Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River. 42 Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, could flee there to live in safety. 43 These were the cities: Bezer on the wilderness plateau for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
Introduction to Moses’ Second Address
44 This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites. 45 These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt, 46 and as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan River. (This land was formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, who ruled from Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people when they came up from Egypt. 47 Israel took possession of his land and that of King Og of Bashan—the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 So Israel conquered the entire area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge all the way to Mount Sirion,[h] also called Mount Hermon. 49 And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea,[i] below the slopes of Pisgah.)
4:10 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai; also in 4:15.
4:13 Hebrew the ten words.
4:33 Or voice of a god.
4:48 As in Syriac version (see also 3:9); Hebrew reads Mount Sion.
4:49 Hebrew took the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the sea of the Arabah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Read: John 14:12-21
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, obey[a] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[b] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.[c] 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
Footnotes:
14:15 Other manuscripts read you will obey; still others read you should obey.
14:16 Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor. Greek reads Paraclete; also in 14:26.
14:17 Some manuscripts read and is in you.
Insight
In today’s passage, Jesus tells His small group of followers that whoever believes in Him will do the same, and even greater, works than He did (v.12). Jesus’ work was to call people to repentance and relationship with the Father. As one example of this, the apostle Peter preached a sermon that moved 3,000 people to repentance! (Acts 2).
In Jesus’ Name
By Dennis Fisher
Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. —John 16:24
One of my favorite collections of photos is of a family dinner. Preserved in an album are images of Dad, his sons and their wives, and his grandchildren in a time of thanks-giving and intercession.
Dad had suffered a series of strokes and was not as verbal as usual. But during that time of prayer, I heard him say with heartfelt conviction: “We pray in Jesus’ name!” About a year later, Dad passed from this world into the presence of the One in whose name he placed such trust.
Jesus taught us to pray in His name. The night before He was crucified, He gave a promise to His disciples: “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). But the promise of asking in Jesus’ name is not a blank check that we might get anything to fulfill our personal whims.
Earlier that evening, Jesus taught that He answers requests made in His name so that He will bring glory to the Father (John 14:13). And later that night, Jesus Himself prayed in anguish, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39).
As we pray, we yield to God’s wisdom, love, and sovereignty, and we confidently ask “in Jesus’ name.”
Father in heaven, help us worry less about
what we can get from You and more about
what we can learn from You. As Your followers
said, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).
Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 20, 2014
The Right Kind of Help
And I, if I am lifted up…will draw all peoples to Myself. —John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery.
When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person can get to God in any other way, then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. The theme of the world’s religion today is to serve in a pleasant, non-confrontational manner.
But our only priority must be to present Jesus Christ crucified— to lift Him up all the time (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Every belief that is not firmly rooted in the Cross of Christ will lead people astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is trusting in the reality of redemption, his words will be compelling to others. What is extremely important is for the worker’s simple relationship with Jesus Christ to be strong and growing. His usefulness to God depends on that, and that alone.
The calling of a New Testament worker is to expose sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, he cannot always be charming and friendly, but must be willing to be stern to accomplish major surgery. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful speeches. We must be willing to examine others as deeply as God has examined us. We must also be sharply intent on sensing those Scripture passages that will drive the truth home, and then not be afraid to apply them.
Some of the saddest words on earth are “We don’t have room for you.” Jesus knew the sound of those words. He was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said, “We don’t have room for you” (Luke 2:7).
And when he was hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection? “We don’t have room for you in our world.”
Even today Jesus is given the same treatment. He goes from heart to heart, asking if he might enter. Every so often, he’s welcomed. Someone throws open the door of his or her heart and invites him to stay. And to that person Jesus gives this great promise, “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:2).
What a delightful promise he makes us! We make room for him in our hearts….And he makes room for us in his house!
From Grace for the Moment
Deuteronomy 4
Moses Urges Israel to Obey
“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.
3 “You saw for yourself what the Lord did to you at Baal-peor. There the Lord your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. 4 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you.
5 “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
9 “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. 10 Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai,[e] where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’
11 “You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness. 12 And the Lord spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice. 13 He proclaimed his covenant—the Ten Commandments[f]—which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets. 14 It was at that time that the Lord commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
A Warning against Idolatry
15 “But be very careful! You did not see the Lord’s form on the day he spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai. 16 So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman, 17 an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky, 18 a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea. 19 And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth. 20 Remember that the Lord rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.
21 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you. He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. 22 You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not. Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river. 23 So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. Do not make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this. 24 The Lord your God is a devouring fire; he is a jealous God.
25 “In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and will arouse his anger.
26 “Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed. 27 For the Lord will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you will survive. 28 There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.
30 “In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors.
There Is Only One God
32 “Now search all of history, from the time God created people on the earth until now, and search from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before? 33 Has any nation ever heard the voice of God[g] speaking from fire—as you did—and survived? 34 Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.
35 “He showed you these things so you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other. 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven so he could instruct you. He let you see his great fire here on earth so he could speak to you from it. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, he chose to bless their descendants, and he personally brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power. 38 He drove out nations far greater than you, so he could bring you in and give you their land as your special possession, as it is today.
39 “So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other. 40 If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
Eastern Cities of Refuge
41 Then Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River. 42 Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, could flee there to live in safety. 43 These were the cities: Bezer on the wilderness plateau for the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad; Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
Introduction to Moses’ Second Address
44 This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the Israelites. 45 These are the laws, decrees, and regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they left Egypt, 46 and as they camped in the valley near Beth-peor east of the Jordan River. (This land was formerly occupied by the Amorites under King Sihon, who ruled from Heshbon. But Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people when they came up from Egypt. 47 Israel took possession of his land and that of King Og of Bashan—the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 So Israel conquered the entire area from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon Gorge all the way to Mount Sirion,[h] also called Mount Hermon. 49 And they conquered the eastern bank of the Jordan River as far south as the Dead Sea,[i] below the slopes of Pisgah.)
4:10 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai; also in 4:15.
4:13 Hebrew the ten words.
4:33 Or voice of a god.
4:48 As in Syriac version (see also 3:9); Hebrew reads Mount Sion.
4:49 Hebrew took the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the sea of the Arabah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Read: John 14:12-21
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, obey[a] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[b] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.[c] 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
Footnotes:
14:15 Other manuscripts read you will obey; still others read you should obey.
14:16 Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Counselor. Greek reads Paraclete; also in 14:26.
14:17 Some manuscripts read and is in you.
Insight
In today’s passage, Jesus tells His small group of followers that whoever believes in Him will do the same, and even greater, works than He did (v.12). Jesus’ work was to call people to repentance and relationship with the Father. As one example of this, the apostle Peter preached a sermon that moved 3,000 people to repentance! (Acts 2).
In Jesus’ Name
By Dennis Fisher
Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. —John 16:24
One of my favorite collections of photos is of a family dinner. Preserved in an album are images of Dad, his sons and their wives, and his grandchildren in a time of thanks-giving and intercession.
Dad had suffered a series of strokes and was not as verbal as usual. But during that time of prayer, I heard him say with heartfelt conviction: “We pray in Jesus’ name!” About a year later, Dad passed from this world into the presence of the One in whose name he placed such trust.
Jesus taught us to pray in His name. The night before He was crucified, He gave a promise to His disciples: “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). But the promise of asking in Jesus’ name is not a blank check that we might get anything to fulfill our personal whims.
Earlier that evening, Jesus taught that He answers requests made in His name so that He will bring glory to the Father (John 14:13). And later that night, Jesus Himself prayed in anguish, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39).
As we pray, we yield to God’s wisdom, love, and sovereignty, and we confidently ask “in Jesus’ name.”
Father in heaven, help us worry less about
what we can get from You and more about
what we can learn from You. As Your followers
said, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).
Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 20, 2014
The Right Kind of Help
And I, if I am lifted up…will draw all peoples to Myself. —John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery.
When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person can get to God in any other way, then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. The theme of the world’s religion today is to serve in a pleasant, non-confrontational manner.
But our only priority must be to present Jesus Christ crucified— to lift Him up all the time (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Every belief that is not firmly rooted in the Cross of Christ will lead people astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is trusting in the reality of redemption, his words will be compelling to others. What is extremely important is for the worker’s simple relationship with Jesus Christ to be strong and growing. His usefulness to God depends on that, and that alone.
The calling of a New Testament worker is to expose sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, he cannot always be charming and friendly, but must be willing to be stern to accomplish major surgery. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful speeches. We must be willing to examine others as deeply as God has examined us. We must also be sharply intent on sensing those Scripture passages that will drive the truth home, and then not be afraid to apply them.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Deuteronomy 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: No Room in the Inn
Some of the saddest words on earth are “We don’t have room for you.” Jesus knew the sound of those words. He was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said,“We don’t have room for you.” And when He hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection? “We don’t have room for you in this world.”
Today Jesus is given the same treatment. He goes from heart to heart, asking if He might enter. Every so often, He’s welcomed. Someone throws open the door of his or her heart and invites Him to stay. And to that person Jesus gives this great promise, “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (Jn. 14:2). We make room for Him in our hearts, and Jesus makes room for us in His house!
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 3
Victory over Og of Bashan
“Next we turned and headed for the land of Bashan, where King Og and his entire army attacked us at Edrei. 2 But the Lord told me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, and I will give you all his land. Treat him just as you treated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.’
3 “So the Lord our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived. 4 We conquered all sixty of his towns—the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our conquest. 5 These towns were all fortified with high walls and barred gates. We also took many unwalled villages at the same time. 6 We completely destroyed[a] the kingdom of Bashan, just as we had destroyed King Sihon of Heshbon. We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered—men, women, and children alike. 7 But we kept all the livestock for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns.
8 “So we took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River—all the way from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon. 9 (Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and the Amorites call it Senir.) 10 We had now conquered all the cities on the plateau and all Gilead and Bashan, as far as the towns of Salecah and Edrei, which were part of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 11 (King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide.[b] It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
Land Division East of the Jordan
12 “When we took possession of this land, I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory beyond Aroer along the Arnon Gorge, plus half of the hill country of Gilead with its towns. 13 Then I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan—Og’s former kingdom—to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (This entire Argob region of Bashan used to be known as the land of the Rephaites. 14 Jair, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the whole Argob region in Bashan, all the way to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. Jair renamed this region after himself, calling it the Towns of Jair,[c] as it is still known today.) 15 I gave Gilead to the clan of Makir. 16 But I also gave part of Gilead to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The area I gave them extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge in the south to the Jabbok River on the Ammonite frontier. 17 They also received the Jordan Valley, all the way from the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea,[d] with the Jordan River serving as the western boundary. To the east were the slopes of Pisgah.
18 “At that time I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of the Jordan: ‘Although the Lord your God has given you this land as your property, all your fighting men must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed and ready to assist them. 19 Your wives, children, and numerous livestock, however, may stay behind in the towns I have given you. 20 When the Lord has given security to the rest of the Israelites, as he has to you, and when they occupy the land the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan River, then you may all return here to the land I have given you.’
Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land
21 “At that time I gave Joshua this charge: ‘You have seen for yourself everything the Lord your God has done to these two kings. He will do the same to all the kingdoms on the west side of the Jordan. 22 Do not be afraid of the nations there, for the Lord your God will fight for you.’
23 “At that time I pleaded with the Lord and said, 24 ‘O Sovereign Lord, you have only begun to show your greatness and the strength of your hand to me, your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do? 25 Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’
26 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ he declared. ‘Speak of it no more. 27 But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River. 28 Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.’ 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth-peor.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 19, 2014
Read: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Paul’s Gratitude for God’s Mercy
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, 13 even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.
15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.
Insight
Though Paul’s words to Timothy in today’s reading are not one of the traditional biblical texts we read at Christmas, they definitely have application for this season. In verse 15 we read: “Christ Jesus came into the world.” This is a reference not only to Christ’s coming but also to His purpose for coming. Why was He born in human flesh? Paul answers that question by adding, “to save sinners.” Jesus’ coming was a mission of rescue for a race that desperately needed a Savior.
The Heart Of Christmas
By David C. McCasland
The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. —1 Timothy 1:14
Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol was released on December 19, 1843, and has never been out of print. It tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy, sour, stingy man who says, “Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas,’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding!” Yet, one Christmas Eve, Scrooge is radically changed into a generous and happy man. With great humor and insight, Dickens’ book captures the universal longing for inner peace.
As a young man, the apostle Paul opposed Jesus and His followers with a vengeful spirit. He “made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3). But one day he encountered the risen Christ, and his life became a different story (9:1-16).
In a letter to Timothy, his son in the faith, Paul described that life-changing event by saying, even though he was “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . . the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:13-14).
Jesus was born into our world and gave His life so that we can be forgiven and transformed through faith in Him. This is the heart of Christmas!
Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
That hath made heaven and earth of naught,
And with His blood mankind hath bought. —English carol
A change in behavior begins with Jesus changing our heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 19, 2014
The Focus Of Our Message
I did not come to bring peace but a sword. —Matthew 10:34
Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One. If a person cannot go to God, it is because he has something secret which he does not intend to give up— he may admit his sin, but would no more give up that thing than he could fly under his own power. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with people like that. We must reach down deep in their lives to the root of the problem, which will cause hostility and resentment toward the message. People want the blessing of God, but they can’t stand something that pierces right through to the heart of the matter.
If you are sensitive to God’s way, your message as His servant will be merciless and insistent, cutting to the very root. Otherwise, there will be no healing. We must drive the message home so forcefully that a person cannot possibly hide, but must apply its truth. Deal with people where they are, until they begin to realize their true need. Then hold high the standard of Jesus for their lives. Their response may be, “We can never be that.” Then drive it home with, “Jesus Christ says you must.” “But how can we be?” “You can’t, unless you have a new Spirit” (see Luke 11:13).
There must be a sense of need created before your message is of any use. Thousands of people in this world profess to be happy without God. But if we could be truly happy and moral without Jesus, then why did He come? He came because that kind of happiness and peace is only superficial. Jesus Christ came to “bring…a sword” through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 19, 2014
THE BABY AND ROARING CAMP - #7290
The short story writer, Bret Hart, gives us a story out of the Old West about a town called Roaring Camp. I think it's a story that brings the miracle of Christmas into very sharp focus into our lives today and I want to share it with you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Baby and Roaring Camp."
Roaring Camp was probably the most lawless town in the Old West. It was a mining town and populated almost entirely, therefore, by miners. No sheriff, no marshal, very difficult to survive, so every man was sort of a law unto himself. It was like a 24-hour town, roaring and rocking and brawling and shooting all night long. There was murder. There was theft. There was assault, and they were never punished. It was just a wild place to live.
Now, very few women, of course, could survive in a place like that. There was a woman named Ole Sal who was sort of like everybody's woman, and Sal had a baby. And Sal died in childbirth. So the miners were left in this grimy old mining town with a baby to raise. They took the baby into one of the cabins and put it in a little crate and lined it with some oily clothes. And that's where they put the baby.
Very quickly they said, "You know, this isn't right. We can't keep him in this." So they sent one of the miners off to Sacramento, and he came back with this beautiful cradle. They put the baby in that. Suddenly somehow that oily cloth didn't look right in that beautiful rosewood cradle. So they sent another miner out to Sacramento, and he came back with some beautiful lace cloth and lined it with this elegant material.
Then they came into the cabin and looked around and said, "Look at this dirty floor. It never looked so bad before, but now with this beautiful cradle here it looks terrible." So they scrubbed the floor. Well, that created another problem. When the floor was clean, it showed how dirty the walls were and the roof.
So, all the miners pitched in, and pretty soon this cabin began to shine. A couple of others began to clean their cabin because they realized how dirty it was after they'd seen the cabin the baby was in. Then the baby had to sleep, so that meant there were quiet hours. Yes, in Roaring Camp! No one could believe it! There were nap times when you had to be quiet; night time when you had to be quiet. And all of a sudden Roaring Camp wasn't roaring so much any more.
As the baby began to grow, he needed a place to walk and to crawl. So, you know what? They took him down to the mine entrance each day. Now that's a dirty place. So guess what they did? They planted a garden at the entrance to the mine. In fact, word had it that they were starting to sell mirrors down at Sutter's Store; then some shirts and some shaving equipment, and even a suit or two. See, the baby had come to Roaring Camp, and the baby changed everything.
Two thousand years ago the world was a roaring camp. It was a place where baby girls were thought to be so valueless they were placed in jars and left on the street corner to die. It was a place where every other person in Rome was a slave, where babies were slaughtered, where murder was sport. But then the baby came and made all the difference.
You know, there's a roaring camp inside of all of us; and we still live in a Roaring Camp world. And in us is selfishness, and bitterness, anger, loneliness, scars, self-destructive instincts. But the baby comes and the baby can change everything; the baby who was born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.
The promise of the Jesus who came that Christmas is our word for today from the Word of God in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not like the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." This Jesus re-makes families, re-makes relationships, and rebuilds broken lives. You don't have to live in the madness of Roaring Camp any longer, because of the baby - the Savior, Christ the Lord.
If you want help in finding Him, would you go to our website ANewStory.com so this could be Day 1, Page 1 of your new story? Yes, the baby has come, and the baby will change everything.
Let Him change you this Christmas!
Some of the saddest words on earth are “We don’t have room for you.” Jesus knew the sound of those words. He was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said,“We don’t have room for you.” And when He hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection? “We don’t have room for you in this world.”
Today Jesus is given the same treatment. He goes from heart to heart, asking if He might enter. Every so often, He’s welcomed. Someone throws open the door of his or her heart and invites Him to stay. And to that person Jesus gives this great promise, “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (Jn. 14:2). We make room for Him in our hearts, and Jesus makes room for us in His house!
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 3
Victory over Og of Bashan
“Next we turned and headed for the land of Bashan, where King Og and his entire army attacked us at Edrei. 2 But the Lord told me, ‘Do not be afraid of him, for I have given you victory over Og and his entire army, and I will give you all his land. Treat him just as you treated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.’
3 “So the Lord our God handed King Og and all his people over to us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived. 4 We conquered all sixty of his towns—the entire Argob region in his kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our conquest. 5 These towns were all fortified with high walls and barred gates. We also took many unwalled villages at the same time. 6 We completely destroyed[a] the kingdom of Bashan, just as we had destroyed King Sihon of Heshbon. We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered—men, women, and children alike. 7 But we kept all the livestock for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns.
8 “So we took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River—all the way from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon. 9 (Mount Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonians, and the Amorites call it Senir.) 10 We had now conquered all the cities on the plateau and all Gilead and Bashan, as far as the towns of Salecah and Edrei, which were part of Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 11 (King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide.[b] It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)
Land Division East of the Jordan
12 “When we took possession of this land, I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory beyond Aroer along the Arnon Gorge, plus half of the hill country of Gilead with its towns. 13 Then I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan—Og’s former kingdom—to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (This entire Argob region of Bashan used to be known as the land of the Rephaites. 14 Jair, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the whole Argob region in Bashan, all the way to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. Jair renamed this region after himself, calling it the Towns of Jair,[c] as it is still known today.) 15 I gave Gilead to the clan of Makir. 16 But I also gave part of Gilead to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The area I gave them extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge in the south to the Jabbok River on the Ammonite frontier. 17 They also received the Jordan Valley, all the way from the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea,[d] with the Jordan River serving as the western boundary. To the east were the slopes of Pisgah.
18 “At that time I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of the Jordan: ‘Although the Lord your God has given you this land as your property, all your fighting men must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed and ready to assist them. 19 Your wives, children, and numerous livestock, however, may stay behind in the towns I have given you. 20 When the Lord has given security to the rest of the Israelites, as he has to you, and when they occupy the land the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan River, then you may all return here to the land I have given you.’
Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land
21 “At that time I gave Joshua this charge: ‘You have seen for yourself everything the Lord your God has done to these two kings. He will do the same to all the kingdoms on the west side of the Jordan. 22 Do not be afraid of the nations there, for the Lord your God will fight for you.’
23 “At that time I pleaded with the Lord and said, 24 ‘O Sovereign Lord, you have only begun to show your greatness and the strength of your hand to me, your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do? 25 Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’
26 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ he declared. ‘Speak of it no more. 27 But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River. 28 Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.’ 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth-peor.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 19, 2014
Read: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Paul’s Gratitude for God’s Mercy
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, 13 even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.
15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.
Insight
Though Paul’s words to Timothy in today’s reading are not one of the traditional biblical texts we read at Christmas, they definitely have application for this season. In verse 15 we read: “Christ Jesus came into the world.” This is a reference not only to Christ’s coming but also to His purpose for coming. Why was He born in human flesh? Paul answers that question by adding, “to save sinners.” Jesus’ coming was a mission of rescue for a race that desperately needed a Savior.
The Heart Of Christmas
By David C. McCasland
The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. —1 Timothy 1:14
Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol was released on December 19, 1843, and has never been out of print. It tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy, sour, stingy man who says, “Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas,’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding!” Yet, one Christmas Eve, Scrooge is radically changed into a generous and happy man. With great humor and insight, Dickens’ book captures the universal longing for inner peace.
As a young man, the apostle Paul opposed Jesus and His followers with a vengeful spirit. He “made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3). But one day he encountered the risen Christ, and his life became a different story (9:1-16).
In a letter to Timothy, his son in the faith, Paul described that life-changing event by saying, even though he was “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . . the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 1:13-14).
Jesus was born into our world and gave His life so that we can be forgiven and transformed through faith in Him. This is the heart of Christmas!
Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
That hath made heaven and earth of naught,
And with His blood mankind hath bought. —English carol
A change in behavior begins with Jesus changing our heart.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 19, 2014
The Focus Of Our Message
I did not come to bring peace but a sword. —Matthew 10:34
Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One. If a person cannot go to God, it is because he has something secret which he does not intend to give up— he may admit his sin, but would no more give up that thing than he could fly under his own power. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with people like that. We must reach down deep in their lives to the root of the problem, which will cause hostility and resentment toward the message. People want the blessing of God, but they can’t stand something that pierces right through to the heart of the matter.
If you are sensitive to God’s way, your message as His servant will be merciless and insistent, cutting to the very root. Otherwise, there will be no healing. We must drive the message home so forcefully that a person cannot possibly hide, but must apply its truth. Deal with people where they are, until they begin to realize their true need. Then hold high the standard of Jesus for their lives. Their response may be, “We can never be that.” Then drive it home with, “Jesus Christ says you must.” “But how can we be?” “You can’t, unless you have a new Spirit” (see Luke 11:13).
There must be a sense of need created before your message is of any use. Thousands of people in this world profess to be happy without God. But if we could be truly happy and moral without Jesus, then why did He come? He came because that kind of happiness and peace is only superficial. Jesus Christ came to “bring…a sword” through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 19, 2014
THE BABY AND ROARING CAMP - #7290
The short story writer, Bret Hart, gives us a story out of the Old West about a town called Roaring Camp. I think it's a story that brings the miracle of Christmas into very sharp focus into our lives today and I want to share it with you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Baby and Roaring Camp."
Roaring Camp was probably the most lawless town in the Old West. It was a mining town and populated almost entirely, therefore, by miners. No sheriff, no marshal, very difficult to survive, so every man was sort of a law unto himself. It was like a 24-hour town, roaring and rocking and brawling and shooting all night long. There was murder. There was theft. There was assault, and they were never punished. It was just a wild place to live.
Now, very few women, of course, could survive in a place like that. There was a woman named Ole Sal who was sort of like everybody's woman, and Sal had a baby. And Sal died in childbirth. So the miners were left in this grimy old mining town with a baby to raise. They took the baby into one of the cabins and put it in a little crate and lined it with some oily clothes. And that's where they put the baby.
Very quickly they said, "You know, this isn't right. We can't keep him in this." So they sent one of the miners off to Sacramento, and he came back with this beautiful cradle. They put the baby in that. Suddenly somehow that oily cloth didn't look right in that beautiful rosewood cradle. So they sent another miner out to Sacramento, and he came back with some beautiful lace cloth and lined it with this elegant material.
Then they came into the cabin and looked around and said, "Look at this dirty floor. It never looked so bad before, but now with this beautiful cradle here it looks terrible." So they scrubbed the floor. Well, that created another problem. When the floor was clean, it showed how dirty the walls were and the roof.
So, all the miners pitched in, and pretty soon this cabin began to shine. A couple of others began to clean their cabin because they realized how dirty it was after they'd seen the cabin the baby was in. Then the baby had to sleep, so that meant there were quiet hours. Yes, in Roaring Camp! No one could believe it! There were nap times when you had to be quiet; night time when you had to be quiet. And all of a sudden Roaring Camp wasn't roaring so much any more.
As the baby began to grow, he needed a place to walk and to crawl. So, you know what? They took him down to the mine entrance each day. Now that's a dirty place. So guess what they did? They planted a garden at the entrance to the mine. In fact, word had it that they were starting to sell mirrors down at Sutter's Store; then some shirts and some shaving equipment, and even a suit or two. See, the baby had come to Roaring Camp, and the baby changed everything.
Two thousand years ago the world was a roaring camp. It was a place where baby girls were thought to be so valueless they were placed in jars and left on the street corner to die. It was a place where every other person in Rome was a slave, where babies were slaughtered, where murder was sport. But then the baby came and made all the difference.
You know, there's a roaring camp inside of all of us; and we still live in a Roaring Camp world. And in us is selfishness, and bitterness, anger, loneliness, scars, self-destructive instincts. But the baby comes and the baby can change everything; the baby who was born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago.
The promise of the Jesus who came that Christmas is our word for today from the Word of God in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not like the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." This Jesus re-makes families, re-makes relationships, and rebuilds broken lives. You don't have to live in the madness of Roaring Camp any longer, because of the baby - the Savior, Christ the Lord.
If you want help in finding Him, would you go to our website ANewStory.com so this could be Day 1, Page 1 of your new story? Yes, the baby has come, and the baby will change everything.
Let Him change you this Christmas!
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Luke 2:1-24 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: A Sacred Delight
Scripture says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9)
No man had more reason to be miserable than Jesus—yet no one was more joyful. He was ridiculed. Those who didn’t ridicule Him, wanted favors. He was accused of a crime he had never committed. Witnesses were hired to lie. They crucified him. He left as He came—penniless.
He should have been miserable and bitter. But He wasn’t. He was joyful! He possessed a joy that possessed Him. I call it a sacred delight. Sacred because it’s not of the earth, delight because it is just that: the joy of God. And it is within reach—in the person of Jesus. He offers it to you, my friend…a sacred delight!
From In the Manger
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.”[a] 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”[b]
Footnotes:
2:23 Exod 13:2.
2:24 Lev 12:8.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Read: 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 23:15-18
Saul Becomes Jealous of David
After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. 2 From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home. 3 And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. 4 Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt.
15 One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him. 16 Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.” 18 So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord. Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.
Insight
The deep friendship between David and Jonathan withstood the test of time and circumstances, evidenced when Jonathan went against his father, King Saul (1 Sam. 20), endangering his own life in order to save David (v.33). Although Jonathan was the crown prince, he encouraged David by assuring his safety and affirming that he would be the next king (23:17). After Jonathan died in battle (31:1-6), David honored him with the “Song of the Bow,” which was to be remembered by the people of Judah (2 Sam. 1:18-27).
My Friends And I
By Poh Fang Chia
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. —1 Samuel 18:3
John Chrysostom (347–407), archbishop of Constantinople, said this about friendship: “Such is friendship, that through it we love places and seasons; for as . . . flowers drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even to the places where they dwell.”
Jonathan and David illustrate the sweetness of a true friendship. The Bible records an intimate and immediate bond between them (1 Sam. 18:1). They kept their friendship alive by demonstrating their loyalty to each other (18:3; 20:16, 42; 23:18), as well as nurturing it by expressions of concern. Jonathan gave gifts to David (18:4) and watched out for him through many difficulties (19:1-2; 20:12-13).
In 1 Samuel 23:16, we see the highest moment of their friendship. When David was a fugitive on the run from Jonathan’s father, “Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.” Friends help you find strength in God during the low points of life.
In a world where most relationships are about what we can get, let us be the type of friends who focus on what we can give. Jesus, our perfect Friend, demonstrated for us that “greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Thank You, Lord, for the friends You’ve given me to
love me in spite of my failures and weaknesses. Let
me treat them as You treated Your friends. Bind us
together in You and enable us to help one another.
The glory of life is to love, not to be loved; to give, not to get; to serve, not to be served.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Test of Faithfulness
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God… —Romans 8:28
It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 18, 2014
THE GREATEST GIFT A PARENT CAN GIVE A CHILD - #7289
The Christmas season always involves these big shopping decisions, "What should we get for the kids?" Well, our children over the years were always helpful enough to provide us with a list. Now it's kids and grandkids. And now it's our grandchildren that really have great lists.
My wife and I have our own list of what we think our children and grandchildren need. For example, young boys need clothes but they don't get very excited about them under the Christmas tree. Right? They don't want clothes as Christmas presents. So we've got their list, we've got our list, and then there's a third factor: what we can afford, and that is pretty decisive. That's when I wish my childhood fantasies about Santa really were the way that gifts get under the tree, but then, sadly I know better.
If we put all this information in a spreadsheet it would probably make our lives easier. I don't know if I have any advice that will make your Christmas gift selections easier, but I can help you remember what your child really needs.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Greatest Gift a Parent Can Give a Child."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God in Malachi 2, and I'll begin reading at verse 13. God says, "You flood the Lord's altar with tears, you weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, 'Why?' It is because the Lord is acting as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth."
Now, the Old Testament prophet seems to be saying here that godly children come from a mom and dad who are keeping their marriage commitments to one another, who really love each other. The greatest gift you can give your child is to love their father or to love their mother. There's a tragic tendency in marriage that happens when we are not getting along as well as we should with our spouse. And that's to shift our love over to the children. We focus on the children instead of loving each other and that's not the way it was meant to be. A child is meant to be covered with the overflow of his parent's love for each other.
I remember when my wife and I were kind of kissing in the kitchen one time and our youngest was pretty little. All of a sudden he was pounding on his high chair, laughing, giggling, applauding. I don't know how well you kiss to laughter and applause. I don't do too well with that. But it's almost as if he was saying, "Go to it, Mom and Dad!" He was cheering for our love.
A child's security is rooted in knowing that the love from which he came is still going strong. So the Bible says, "Guard yourself in spirit." Look at what may have crept into your spirit to put out the fire recently. Have you neglected your time together? Have you forgotten some of the good in that person you married because you've become so conscious of the frustrations? Have you let romance be crowded out by routine? Maybe there are unresolved issues that could be helped if you could love enough to seek counsel together. Maybe you've even allowed someone or something else to claim some of the affection you promised exclusively to your partner.
The most important list you could make for the holiday season is the list of things you can do to strengthen your marriage, because the children are watching. God is watching. A Mom and Dad in love...that is the greatest gift you could give your child.
Scripture says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9)
No man had more reason to be miserable than Jesus—yet no one was more joyful. He was ridiculed. Those who didn’t ridicule Him, wanted favors. He was accused of a crime he had never committed. Witnesses were hired to lie. They crucified him. He left as He came—penniless.
He should have been miserable and bitter. But He wasn’t. He was joyful! He possessed a joy that possessed Him. I call it a sacred delight. Sacred because it’s not of the earth, delight because it is just that: the joy of God. And it is within reach—in the person of Jesus. He offers it to you, my friend…a sacred delight!
From In the Manger
Luke 2:1-24
The Birth of JesusAt that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.”[a] 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”[b]
Footnotes:
2:23 Exod 13:2.
2:24 Lev 12:8.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Read: 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 23:15-18
Saul Becomes Jealous of David
After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond between them, for Jonathan loved David. 2 From that day on Saul kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home. 3 And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. 4 Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt.
15 One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him. 16 Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.” 18 So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord. Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.
Insight
The deep friendship between David and Jonathan withstood the test of time and circumstances, evidenced when Jonathan went against his father, King Saul (1 Sam. 20), endangering his own life in order to save David (v.33). Although Jonathan was the crown prince, he encouraged David by assuring his safety and affirming that he would be the next king (23:17). After Jonathan died in battle (31:1-6), David honored him with the “Song of the Bow,” which was to be remembered by the people of Judah (2 Sam. 1:18-27).
My Friends And I
By Poh Fang Chia
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. —1 Samuel 18:3
John Chrysostom (347–407), archbishop of Constantinople, said this about friendship: “Such is friendship, that through it we love places and seasons; for as . . . flowers drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even to the places where they dwell.”
Jonathan and David illustrate the sweetness of a true friendship. The Bible records an intimate and immediate bond between them (1 Sam. 18:1). They kept their friendship alive by demonstrating their loyalty to each other (18:3; 20:16, 42; 23:18), as well as nurturing it by expressions of concern. Jonathan gave gifts to David (18:4) and watched out for him through many difficulties (19:1-2; 20:12-13).
In 1 Samuel 23:16, we see the highest moment of their friendship. When David was a fugitive on the run from Jonathan’s father, “Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.” Friends help you find strength in God during the low points of life.
In a world where most relationships are about what we can get, let us be the type of friends who focus on what we can give. Jesus, our perfect Friend, demonstrated for us that “greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Thank You, Lord, for the friends You’ve given me to
love me in spite of my failures and weaknesses. Let
me treat them as You treated Your friends. Bind us
together in You and enable us to help one another.
The glory of life is to love, not to be loved; to give, not to get; to serve, not to be served.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Test of Faithfulness
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God… —Romans 8:28
It is only a faithful person who truly believes that God sovereignly controls his circumstances. We take our circumstances for granted, saying God is in control, but not really believing it. We act as if the things that happen were completely controlled by people. To be faithful in every circumstance means that we have only one loyalty, or object of our faith— the Lord Jesus Christ. God may cause our circumstances to suddenly fall apart, which may bring the realization of our unfaithfulness to Him for not recognizing that He had ordained the situation. We never saw what He was trying to accomplish, and that exact event will never be repeated in our life. This is where the test of our faithfulness comes. If we will just learn to worship God even during the difficult circumstances, He will change them for the better very quickly if He so chooses.
Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don’t ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.
The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsibilities on us. He expects no complaining on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 18, 2014
THE GREATEST GIFT A PARENT CAN GIVE A CHILD - #7289
The Christmas season always involves these big shopping decisions, "What should we get for the kids?" Well, our children over the years were always helpful enough to provide us with a list. Now it's kids and grandkids. And now it's our grandchildren that really have great lists.
My wife and I have our own list of what we think our children and grandchildren need. For example, young boys need clothes but they don't get very excited about them under the Christmas tree. Right? They don't want clothes as Christmas presents. So we've got their list, we've got our list, and then there's a third factor: what we can afford, and that is pretty decisive. That's when I wish my childhood fantasies about Santa really were the way that gifts get under the tree, but then, sadly I know better.
If we put all this information in a spreadsheet it would probably make our lives easier. I don't know if I have any advice that will make your Christmas gift selections easier, but I can help you remember what your child really needs.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Greatest Gift a Parent Can Give a Child."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God in Malachi 2, and I'll begin reading at verse 13. God says, "You flood the Lord's altar with tears, you weep and wail because He no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, 'Why?' It is because the Lord is acting as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth."
Now, the Old Testament prophet seems to be saying here that godly children come from a mom and dad who are keeping their marriage commitments to one another, who really love each other. The greatest gift you can give your child is to love their father or to love their mother. There's a tragic tendency in marriage that happens when we are not getting along as well as we should with our spouse. And that's to shift our love over to the children. We focus on the children instead of loving each other and that's not the way it was meant to be. A child is meant to be covered with the overflow of his parent's love for each other.
I remember when my wife and I were kind of kissing in the kitchen one time and our youngest was pretty little. All of a sudden he was pounding on his high chair, laughing, giggling, applauding. I don't know how well you kiss to laughter and applause. I don't do too well with that. But it's almost as if he was saying, "Go to it, Mom and Dad!" He was cheering for our love.
A child's security is rooted in knowing that the love from which he came is still going strong. So the Bible says, "Guard yourself in spirit." Look at what may have crept into your spirit to put out the fire recently. Have you neglected your time together? Have you forgotten some of the good in that person you married because you've become so conscious of the frustrations? Have you let romance be crowded out by routine? Maybe there are unresolved issues that could be helped if you could love enough to seek counsel together. Maybe you've even allowed someone or something else to claim some of the affection you promised exclusively to your partner.
The most important list you could make for the holiday season is the list of things you can do to strengthen your marriage, because the children are watching. God is watching. A Mom and Dad in love...that is the greatest gift you could give your child.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Deuteronomy 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Be Ready
John 1:14 says, "The Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness." He lived among us. He donned the costliest of robes: a human body. He became a friend of the sinner and brother of the poor. He touched their sores and felt their tears and paid for their mistakes. And to all of us frightened ones, He shared the same message: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. . .I will come again and receive you to Myself." (Jn. 14:1)
And how do we respond? Some pretend He doesn't exist. Others hear Him, but don't believe Him. But then, a few decide to give it a try. And when He calls your name, be ready. Look up. He will reach down and take you home…when Christ comes!
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 2
Remembering Israel’s Wanderings
“Then we turned around and headed back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea,[f] just as the Lord had instructed me, and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time.
2 “Then at last the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north. 4 Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. 5 Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land. 6 If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’
8 “So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber.
“Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab, 9 the Lord warned us, ‘Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”
10 (A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants. 11 Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites. 12 In earlier times the Horites had lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the descendants of Esau, just as Israel drove out the people of Canaan when the Lord gave Israel their land.)
13 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said to us, ‘Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.’ So we crossed the brook.
14 “Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the Lord had vowed would happen. 15 The Lord struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community.
16 “When all the men of fighting age had died, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar 19 and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”
20 (That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land. 22 He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day. 23 A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete[g] invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)
24 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said, ‘Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land. 25 Beginning today I will make people throughout the earth terrified because of you. When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear.’”
Victory over Sihon of Heshbon
26 Moses continued, “From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace:
27 ‘Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side. 28 Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land. 29 The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’
30 “But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the Lord your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done.
31 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.’
32 “Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz. 33 But the Lord our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people. 34 We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed[h] everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared. 35 We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked.
36 “The Lord our God also helped us conquer Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and the town in the gorge, and the whole area as far as Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us. 37 However, we avoided the land of the Ammonites all along the Jabbok River and the towns in the hill country—all the places the Lord our God had commanded us to leave alone.
2:1 Hebrew sea of reeds.
2:23 Hebrew from Caphtor.
2:34 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Read: John 15:9-17
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Insight
Two ideas appear repeatedly in today’s passage: love and obedience. The two are related, and it is important to understand their order and priority. In verse 9, Jesus reminds His disciples that He has loved them. In verse 10, He tells them that obedience to His commands is the way to respond to that love. God’s love for us is the first and primary part of our relationship with Him, and obedience—which leads to bearing fruit—is our response.
A Work In Progress
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 3:18
Pablo Casals was considered to be the preeminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century. When he was still playing his cello in the middle of his tenth decade of life, a young reporter asked, “Mr. Casals, you are 95 years old and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice 6 hours a day?”
Mr. Casals answered, “Because I think I’m making progress.”
What a great attitude! As believers in Christ, we should never be satisfied to think we have reached some self-proclaimed pinnacle of spiritual success, but rather continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Jesus reminds us in John 15:16 that He chose us to “go and bear fruit.” The result of healthy growth is continuing to bear spiritual fruit throughout our lives. Our Lord promises: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit” (v.5).
In a steady and faithful progression to become more and more like the One we love and serve, we can be confident that He who began “a good work” in us will continue it until it is finally finished on the day when He returns (Phil. 1:6).
Closer yet I’d cling, my Savior,
You’re the all-sufficient Vine;
You alone can make me fruitful,
Blessed source of strength divine. —Bosch
God’s unseen work in our hearts produces fruit in our lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
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).
Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
I'm Dreaming of a Right Christmas - #7288
In some ways I'm glad the three little Hutchcrafts aren't little any more. When they were, the day before Christmas always meant assembling some "easy to assemble" toy. I hate those words! It wasn't easy to assemble. Oh, and the day after, oh that's nice. It usually meant fixing what was not easy to assemble in the first place. It seems like the day after Christmas there was always something was broken. Actually, there's some fixing that needs to happen before Christmas.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I'm Dreaming of a Right Christmas."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 2, right out of the Christmas Story, verses 13 and 14. You'll probably recognize these verses. "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angels praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.'" Do you see what the result of Jesus' coming was supposed to be? There's a celebration in heaven announcing that there will be peace on earth.
So, let's take a look at your relationships. Is there a relationship where the word "peace" does not apply this Christmas? You thinking of anybody? A broken relationship or breaking relationship? Maybe there's someone who has hurt you or you've hurt, someone who's left you, betrayed you, or turned on you? It could be a person who has talked about you or disappointed you. Or maybe there's a relationship where you were the hurter and they're feeling alienated by you.
Christmas is coming. And in this dark corner of your life right now there's no peace in that part of earth for you. Wouldn't this be a good time to fix what's broken? I mean, it will never get smaller than it is now. It will never be easier to fix than it is now. It's only going to get worse. Right now, this is the season when hearts are soft, when people's guard is down. If you're ever going to be able to put it together, this will be it. Would you take the healing initiative; the peace initiative? Write that letter if that's what it takes to ask for the walls to come down. Make that phone call to that person. Send them an appreciation gift and attach your bridge-building note to it.
Admit the mistakes if there have been any mistakes on your part. Would you be willing to admit them? Do it now. Go for that new beginning and say, "Let's start a new volume in our relationship; end of Volume 1; page 1 of Volume 2." Here's the alternative in Hebrews 12:15, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." How does that happen? Well, "If any bitter root grows up among you, it will cause trouble and defile many." And that bitter root might be growing inside of you right now, and it's causing trouble. It's going to affect other people, and you will miss the grace of God because God's grace and your bitterness cannot co-exist in the same heart.
Listen! Start this battle for forgiving on your knees, for healing. You find that on your knees, and then you deal with any of it that is your fault. And then look for the needs behind the deeds of that person who has hurt you. They probably hurt you because they've been hurt. Look at them as a bleeding person, not just as someone who caused you to bleed.
And then go to the place where you can find forgiveness, and that is the cross of Jesus Christ, where the great forgiver forgave you. The Bible says in Colossians 3:13, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." They may or may not respond, but you do what's right.
Very possibly this could be the beginning of a new and better chapter in your life this Christmas season. Especially if you've come to the awareness that you have never experienced for yourself the forgiveness that Jesus came to give you; to establish a peace relationship between you and the God you're now separated from. Because He died to pay for every wrong thing we've ever done. When He said, "Father, forgive them" on that cross, He was forgiving you. Have you ever gone to your knees and said, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I can't think of a better time than the Christmas season, when He came for us.
Look, if you want to know more about how to do that, go to our website ANewStory.com. I hope you can enjoy the peace of knowing that this Christmas is going be a right Christmas.
John 1:14 says, "The Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness." He lived among us. He donned the costliest of robes: a human body. He became a friend of the sinner and brother of the poor. He touched their sores and felt their tears and paid for their mistakes. And to all of us frightened ones, He shared the same message: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. . .I will come again and receive you to Myself." (Jn. 14:1)
And how do we respond? Some pretend He doesn't exist. Others hear Him, but don't believe Him. But then, a few decide to give it a try. And when He calls your name, be ready. Look up. He will reach down and take you home…when Christ comes!
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 2
Remembering Israel’s Wanderings
“Then we turned around and headed back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea,[f] just as the Lord had instructed me, and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time.
2 “Then at last the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north. 4 Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. 5 Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land. 6 If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’
8 “So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber.
“Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab, 9 the Lord warned us, ‘Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”
10 (A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants. 11 Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites. 12 In earlier times the Horites had lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the descendants of Esau, just as Israel drove out the people of Canaan when the Lord gave Israel their land.)
13 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said to us, ‘Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.’ So we crossed the brook.
14 “Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the Lord had vowed would happen. 15 The Lord struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community.
16 “When all the men of fighting age had died, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar 19 and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”
20 (That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land. 22 He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day. 23 A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete[g] invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)
24 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said, ‘Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land. 25 Beginning today I will make people throughout the earth terrified because of you. When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear.’”
Victory over Sihon of Heshbon
26 Moses continued, “From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace:
27 ‘Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side. 28 Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land. 29 The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’
30 “But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the Lord your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done.
31 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.’
32 “Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz. 33 But the Lord our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people. 34 We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed[h] everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared. 35 We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked.
36 “The Lord our God also helped us conquer Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and the town in the gorge, and the whole area as far as Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us. 37 However, we avoided the land of the Ammonites all along the Jabbok River and the towns in the hill country—all the places the Lord our God had commanded us to leave alone.
2:1 Hebrew sea of reeds.
2:23 Hebrew from Caphtor.
2:34 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Read: John 15:9-17
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Insight
Two ideas appear repeatedly in today’s passage: love and obedience. The two are related, and it is important to understand their order and priority. In verse 9, Jesus reminds His disciples that He has loved them. In verse 10, He tells them that obedience to His commands is the way to respond to that love. God’s love for us is the first and primary part of our relationship with Him, and obedience—which leads to bearing fruit—is our response.
A Work In Progress
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 3:18
Pablo Casals was considered to be the preeminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century. When he was still playing his cello in the middle of his tenth decade of life, a young reporter asked, “Mr. Casals, you are 95 years old and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice 6 hours a day?”
Mr. Casals answered, “Because I think I’m making progress.”
What a great attitude! As believers in Christ, we should never be satisfied to think we have reached some self-proclaimed pinnacle of spiritual success, but rather continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Jesus reminds us in John 15:16 that He chose us to “go and bear fruit.” The result of healthy growth is continuing to bear spiritual fruit throughout our lives. Our Lord promises: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit” (v.5).
In a steady and faithful progression to become more and more like the One we love and serve, we can be confident that He who began “a good work” in us will continue it until it is finally finished on the day when He returns (Phil. 1:6).
Closer yet I’d cling, my Savior,
You’re the all-sufficient Vine;
You alone can make me fruitful,
Blessed source of strength divine. —Bosch
God’s unseen work in our hearts produces fruit in our lives.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
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).
Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
I'm Dreaming of a Right Christmas - #7288
In some ways I'm glad the three little Hutchcrafts aren't little any more. When they were, the day before Christmas always meant assembling some "easy to assemble" toy. I hate those words! It wasn't easy to assemble. Oh, and the day after, oh that's nice. It usually meant fixing what was not easy to assemble in the first place. It seems like the day after Christmas there was always something was broken. Actually, there's some fixing that needs to happen before Christmas.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I'm Dreaming of a Right Christmas."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 2, right out of the Christmas Story, verses 13 and 14. You'll probably recognize these verses. "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angels praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.'" Do you see what the result of Jesus' coming was supposed to be? There's a celebration in heaven announcing that there will be peace on earth.
So, let's take a look at your relationships. Is there a relationship where the word "peace" does not apply this Christmas? You thinking of anybody? A broken relationship or breaking relationship? Maybe there's someone who has hurt you or you've hurt, someone who's left you, betrayed you, or turned on you? It could be a person who has talked about you or disappointed you. Or maybe there's a relationship where you were the hurter and they're feeling alienated by you.
Christmas is coming. And in this dark corner of your life right now there's no peace in that part of earth for you. Wouldn't this be a good time to fix what's broken? I mean, it will never get smaller than it is now. It will never be easier to fix than it is now. It's only going to get worse. Right now, this is the season when hearts are soft, when people's guard is down. If you're ever going to be able to put it together, this will be it. Would you take the healing initiative; the peace initiative? Write that letter if that's what it takes to ask for the walls to come down. Make that phone call to that person. Send them an appreciation gift and attach your bridge-building note to it.
Admit the mistakes if there have been any mistakes on your part. Would you be willing to admit them? Do it now. Go for that new beginning and say, "Let's start a new volume in our relationship; end of Volume 1; page 1 of Volume 2." Here's the alternative in Hebrews 12:15, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God." How does that happen? Well, "If any bitter root grows up among you, it will cause trouble and defile many." And that bitter root might be growing inside of you right now, and it's causing trouble. It's going to affect other people, and you will miss the grace of God because God's grace and your bitterness cannot co-exist in the same heart.
Listen! Start this battle for forgiving on your knees, for healing. You find that on your knees, and then you deal with any of it that is your fault. And then look for the needs behind the deeds of that person who has hurt you. They probably hurt you because they've been hurt. Look at them as a bleeding person, not just as someone who caused you to bleed.
And then go to the place where you can find forgiveness, and that is the cross of Jesus Christ, where the great forgiver forgave you. The Bible says in Colossians 3:13, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." They may or may not respond, but you do what's right.
Very possibly this could be the beginning of a new and better chapter in your life this Christmas season. Especially if you've come to the awareness that you have never experienced for yourself the forgiveness that Jesus came to give you; to establish a peace relationship between you and the God you're now separated from. Because He died to pay for every wrong thing we've ever done. When He said, "Father, forgive them" on that cross, He was forgiving you. Have you ever gone to your knees and said, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I can't think of a better time than the Christmas season, when He came for us.
Look, if you want to know more about how to do that, go to our website ANewStory.com. I hope you can enjoy the peace of knowing that this Christmas is going be a right Christmas.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Deuteronomy 1, 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
Deuteronomy 1
Introduction to Moses’ First Address
These are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley[a] near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.
2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai[b] to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. 3 But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month,[c] Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say. 4 This took place after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth.
5 While the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses carefully explained the Lord’s instructions as follows.
The Command to Leave Sinai
6 “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills,[d] the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’”
Moses Appoints Leaders from Each Tribe
9 Moses continued, “At that time I told you, ‘You are too great a burden for me to carry all by myself. 10 The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars! 11 And may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised! 12 But you are such a heavy load to carry! How can I deal with all your problems and bickering? 13 Choose some well-respected men from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’
14 “Then you responded, ‘Your plan is a good one.’ 15 So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten.
16 “At that time I instructed the judges, ‘You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions 17 and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.’
18 “At that time I gave you instructions about everything you were to do.
Scouts Explore the Land
19 “Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea, 20 I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’
22 “But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’
23 “This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes. 24 They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’
Israel’s Rebellion against the Lord
26 “But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go in. 27 You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’
29 “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! 30 The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31 And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’
32 “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, 33 who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
34 “When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, 35 ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’
37 “And the Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, not even you will enter the Promised Land! 38 Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession of it. 39 I will give the land to your little ones—your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it. 40 As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[e]’
41 “Then you confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.
42 “But the Lord told me to tell you, ‘Do not attack, for I am not with you. If you go ahead on your own, you will be crushed by your enemies.’
43 “This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the Lord’s command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight. 44 But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but he refused to listen. 46 So you stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.
1:1 Hebrew the Arabah; also in 1:7.
1:2 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai; also in 1:6, 19.
1:3 Hebrew In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in January or February.
1:7 Hebrew the Shephelah.
1:40 Hebrew sea of reeds.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Read: Luke 2:6-14
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
Insight
Luke’s telling of the birth of Christ includes the shepherds, who lived apart from society in their lowly occupation, and the angels, who announced to those shepherds the arrival of the Messiah (vv.9-14). From the humble to the heavenly, the contrast of shepherds and angels pictures the journey of the Son who came from the highest place to be the Lamb of God.
A Ukrainian Christmas
By Bill Crowder
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! —Luke 2:14
The people of Ukraine include many wonderful elements in their observance of Christmas. Sometimes wisps of hay are placed on the dinner table as a reminder of the Bethlehem manger. Another portion of their celebration echoes the events of the night when the Savior entered the world. A Christmas prayer is offered and then the father in the household offers the greeting, “Christ is born!” The family then responds, “Let us glorify Him!”
These words draw my mind to the appearance of the angels in the sky over Bethlehem on the night Christ was born. The angel of the Lord declared, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The heavenly host responded, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (v.14).
Those twin messages give such depth of meaning to this wonderful time of year. The Savior has come bringing forgiveness and hope—and He is deserving of all the worship we can give Him.
May all who know the wonder of His gift of eternal life join with the voices of that angelic host declaring, “Glory to God in the highest!”
With th’angelic hosts proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!” —Wesley
The spectacular glory of God’s love for us was revealed in the coming of Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
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.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
The Rebuilder's Dream - #7287
The sign said Antique Auto Show, so my wife and I decided that we'd take fifteen minutes and stop at this car dealership and look at the antique autos. Really we were interested in seeing the ones that, you know, like went back to the 50s and 60s. There was this one, sleek, black '66 Mustang that had a flawless exterior, a rich interior, the hood was open so you could look at the horsepower underneath.
There, sitting on the engine block, was a thick book of photos. Now, it wasn't the guy's children or grandchildren. It was his car. And at the beginning of this photo album there were before pictures of the car. Let me tell you, it was trash when he started. The first pictures were of this rusted, wrecked, banged-up Mustang. It must have been what he bought. And as you looked through the book, step by step you could see the car was slowly being transformed. It took months, maybe years for the owner to give patient attention to get this beautiful classic. When the owner saw that wreck, he saw more than a wreck. He saw something that others didn't see.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Rebuilder's Dream."
Well, let's go to our word for today from the Word of God in Judges 6. God is looking for a general for His troops, someone who will be a mighty commander and beat the Midianites who have intimidated and terrorized the Israelites for years. And He speaks to Gideon in verse 11, "The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak where Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, He said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'"
Verse 14 says, "The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?' 'But Lord,' Gideon asked, 'how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.' The Lord answered, 'I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.'"
Okay, here is Gideon. He's hiding in a pit. He doesn't look like a mighty warrior at all. And God comes along and says, "Mighty warrior!" This is no mighty warrior. But God didn't see what Gideon was. He saw what he could be and what He intended to make him. Same thing happened with Peter. Jesus said, "Peter, you're going to be a rock when I'm done with you." I imagine when people heard this they said, "Peter? He's a flake! Not a rock." But, see, when he came to Jesus he was sort of a flake. He was always up and down and inconsistent. But Jesus saw the rock He was going to make him.
He looks at you the way that Mustang owner saw that banged-up car. He sees the value in you more than you do. He knows the person He created you to be. In God's words, "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works He prepared in advance for you to do." And His photo album shows where you were and His step-by-step rebuilding.
See, if you believe how God sees you, then there are some important changes in how life should look to you. First, when you're down about who you are, look back at the old pictures. Look what you used to be. You're becoming something aren't you?
Second, when you're down on yourself, realize you're not finished yet. The rebuilder is in the process. The Bible says in Philippians 1:6, "He who has begun a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." And third, when you're dealing with other people, look for and encourage the person God is building in them. Be part of His rebuilding project in their life. Tell people what they could be. Tell them the good you see in them – the potential.
And fourth, if you're a parent, don't get hung up on what your child is now. Look at what he or she could be and tell them what they could be. You, your friends, your mate, your children, they're all in the rebuilding program of Jesus Christ. Life looks different when we see our self and others through His eyes. He sees what we can be. Patiently and step-by-step, the Master is building you into a classic.
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
Deuteronomy 1
Introduction to Moses’ First Address
These are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley[a] near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.
2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai[b] to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. 3 But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month,[c] Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say. 4 This took place after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth.
5 While the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses carefully explained the Lord’s instructions as follows.
The Command to Leave Sinai
6 “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills,[d] the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’”
Moses Appoints Leaders from Each Tribe
9 Moses continued, “At that time I told you, ‘You are too great a burden for me to carry all by myself. 10 The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars! 11 And may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised! 12 But you are such a heavy load to carry! How can I deal with all your problems and bickering? 13 Choose some well-respected men from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’
14 “Then you responded, ‘Your plan is a good one.’ 15 So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten.
16 “At that time I instructed the judges, ‘You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions 17 and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.’
18 “At that time I gave you instructions about everything you were to do.
Scouts Explore the Land
19 “Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea, 20 I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’
22 “But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’
23 “This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes. 24 They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’
Israel’s Rebellion against the Lord
26 “But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go in. 27 You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’
29 “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! 30 The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31 And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’
32 “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, 33 who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
34 “When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, 35 ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’
37 “And the Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, not even you will enter the Promised Land! 38 Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession of it. 39 I will give the land to your little ones—your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it. 40 As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[e]’
41 “Then you confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.
42 “But the Lord told me to tell you, ‘Do not attack, for I am not with you. If you go ahead on your own, you will be crushed by your enemies.’
43 “This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the Lord’s command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight. 44 But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but he refused to listen. 46 So you stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.
1:1 Hebrew the Arabah; also in 1:7.
1:2 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai; also in 1:6, 19.
1:3 Hebrew In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in January or February.
1:7 Hebrew the Shephelah.
1:40 Hebrew sea of reeds.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Read: Luke 2:6-14
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
Insight
Luke’s telling of the birth of Christ includes the shepherds, who lived apart from society in their lowly occupation, and the angels, who announced to those shepherds the arrival of the Messiah (vv.9-14). From the humble to the heavenly, the contrast of shepherds and angels pictures the journey of the Son who came from the highest place to be the Lamb of God.
A Ukrainian Christmas
By Bill Crowder
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! —Luke 2:14
The people of Ukraine include many wonderful elements in their observance of Christmas. Sometimes wisps of hay are placed on the dinner table as a reminder of the Bethlehem manger. Another portion of their celebration echoes the events of the night when the Savior entered the world. A Christmas prayer is offered and then the father in the household offers the greeting, “Christ is born!” The family then responds, “Let us glorify Him!”
These words draw my mind to the appearance of the angels in the sky over Bethlehem on the night Christ was born. The angel of the Lord declared, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The heavenly host responded, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (v.14).
Those twin messages give such depth of meaning to this wonderful time of year. The Savior has come bringing forgiveness and hope—and He is deserving of all the worship we can give Him.
May all who know the wonder of His gift of eternal life join with the voices of that angelic host declaring, “Glory to God in the highest!”
With th’angelic hosts proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!” —Wesley
The spectacular glory of God’s love for us was revealed in the coming of Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
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.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
The Rebuilder's Dream - #7287
The sign said Antique Auto Show, so my wife and I decided that we'd take fifteen minutes and stop at this car dealership and look at the antique autos. Really we were interested in seeing the ones that, you know, like went back to the 50s and 60s. There was this one, sleek, black '66 Mustang that had a flawless exterior, a rich interior, the hood was open so you could look at the horsepower underneath.
There, sitting on the engine block, was a thick book of photos. Now, it wasn't the guy's children or grandchildren. It was his car. And at the beginning of this photo album there were before pictures of the car. Let me tell you, it was trash when he started. The first pictures were of this rusted, wrecked, banged-up Mustang. It must have been what he bought. And as you looked through the book, step by step you could see the car was slowly being transformed. It took months, maybe years for the owner to give patient attention to get this beautiful classic. When the owner saw that wreck, he saw more than a wreck. He saw something that others didn't see.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Rebuilder's Dream."
Well, let's go to our word for today from the Word of God in Judges 6. God is looking for a general for His troops, someone who will be a mighty commander and beat the Midianites who have intimidated and terrorized the Israelites for years. And He speaks to Gideon in verse 11, "The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak where Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, He said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'"
Verse 14 says, "The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?' 'But Lord,' Gideon asked, 'how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.' The Lord answered, 'I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.'"
Okay, here is Gideon. He's hiding in a pit. He doesn't look like a mighty warrior at all. And God comes along and says, "Mighty warrior!" This is no mighty warrior. But God didn't see what Gideon was. He saw what he could be and what He intended to make him. Same thing happened with Peter. Jesus said, "Peter, you're going to be a rock when I'm done with you." I imagine when people heard this they said, "Peter? He's a flake! Not a rock." But, see, when he came to Jesus he was sort of a flake. He was always up and down and inconsistent. But Jesus saw the rock He was going to make him.
He looks at you the way that Mustang owner saw that banged-up car. He sees the value in you more than you do. He knows the person He created you to be. In God's words, "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works He prepared in advance for you to do." And His photo album shows where you were and His step-by-step rebuilding.
See, if you believe how God sees you, then there are some important changes in how life should look to you. First, when you're down about who you are, look back at the old pictures. Look what you used to be. You're becoming something aren't you?
Second, when you're down on yourself, realize you're not finished yet. The rebuilder is in the process. The Bible says in Philippians 1:6, "He who has begun a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." And third, when you're dealing with other people, look for and encourage the person God is building in them. Be part of His rebuilding project in their life. Tell people what they could be. Tell them the good you see in them – the potential.
And fourth, if you're a parent, don't get hung up on what your child is now. Look at what he or she could be and tell them what they could be. You, your friends, your mate, your children, they're all in the rebuilding program of Jesus Christ. Life looks different when we see our self and others through His eyes. He sees what we can be. Patiently and step-by-step, the Master is building you into a classic.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Luke 1:57-80, 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
Luke 1:57-80
The Birth of John the Baptist
When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. 58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” 62 So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. 66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
Zechariah’s Prophecy
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:
68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior[a]
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
76 “And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,[b]
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”
80 John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
Footnotes:
1:69 Greek has raised up a horn of salvation for us.
1:78 Or the Morning Light from Heaven is about to visit us.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 15, 2014
Read: Deuteronomy 4:1-9
Moses Urges Israel to Obey
“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.
3 “You saw for yourself what the Lord did to you at Baal-peor. There the Lord your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. 4 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you.
5 “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
9 “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.
Insight
In today’s passage, Moses reminded the people of Israel that—unlike the nations around them—they were the only ones privileged to have intimate fellowship with God (v.7) and the only nation given God’s law (v.8). If they faithfully obeyed His law, God would make them a great and wise people (vv.6,8-9).
Story Stewards
By Julie Ackerman Link
Take heed . . . lest you forget the things your eyes have seen . . . . And teach them to your children and your grandchildren. —Deuteronomy 4:9
Many people take great care to make sure their resources are used well after they die. They set up trusts, write wills, and establish foundations to guarantee that their assets will continue to be used for a good purpose after their life on earth is done. We call this good stewardship.
Equally important, however, is being good stewards of our life story. God commanded the Israelites not only to teach their children His laws but also to make sure they knew their family history. It was the responsibility of parents and grandparents to make sure their children knew the stories of how God had worked in their behalf (Deut. 4:1-14).
God has given each of us a unique story. His plan for our lives is individualized. Do others know what you believe and why? Do they know the story of how you came to faith and how God has worked in your life to strengthen your faith? Do they know how God has shown Himself faithful and has helped you through doubts and disappointments?
The faithfulness of God is a story that we have the privilege to pass on. Record it in some way and share it. Be a good steward of the story that God is telling through you.
How great, O God, Your acts of love!
Your saving deeds would now proclaim
That generations yet to come
May set their hope in Your great name. —D. DeHaan
A life lived for God leaves a lasting legacy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 15, 2014
“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.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 15, 2014
A Basketful of Earth - #7286
Ellis Island was the first piece of America that millions of immigrants ever saw – ever touched. Perhaps it was that way for somebody in your family. Ellis Island was the point of entry for all the immigrants coming through New York; a little island in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
When you visit the island you see this long, granite wall with thousands of names of immigrants who passed through there. When the boat landed, they would step off carrying all their belongs in a basket and enter this long, red brick building. The inside of that building is cavernous. It echoes on the inside. Can't you just kind of hear it and see it in your mind; this rich mixture of voices and languages?
Actually, Ellis Island was, you know, like just a waiting station. They weren't going to live on that island. Out of all those thousands who came there, not one ever set up a house on Ellis Island. They weren't going to be there for very long.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Basketful of Earth."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God, in 1 Peter 1, beginning at verse 1. Peter writes to, "God's elect, strangers in the world." Now, remembering that image of believers, in verse 17 he says, "Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear." In 1 Peter 2:11 he continues, "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires."
Peter is saying, "Hey, this isn't home." It's like that old hymn, "This world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue." See, we're all immigrants according to the Bible. Earth is our Ellis Island. We've got maybe seventy years here; seventy years that are just the preparation for billions of years. But the quality of the billions of years is determined by how we live the seventy or whatever.
Now, here's a question. If we're just immigrants passing through earth, why are we saving up so much stuff here on our Ellis Island? In Luke 12, Jesus addresses this issue of accumulating earth stuff. He says in verse 22, "Do not worry about your life or what you will eat or about your body what you will wear." Then he says some radical stuff in verse 24, "Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn. Yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds?"
He's saying that for your security you don't need this big, stored-up reserve somewhere. But, of course, that's the opposite of everything we've been taught about security. But here's biblical security. "Your Father knows you have need of these things. Sell your possessions; give to the poor. Provide purses for yourself that will not wear out; a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near or no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
There's no storeroom, no pile of earth stuff. No, you send it on ahead to the place where you're going to live forever. You don't move it all into the hotel. You send it on to home. Don't accumulate it in the place that you're just visiting. We're all guilty of the sin of accumulating. We kind of keep building our earth kingdom, those earth reserves, what the earth calls security.
One day I wonder if Jesus is going to come back and say, "What are you doing holding onto all of that; tying up all of that? I had a world to reach." He calls us to live simply on this immigrant island, and to pour everything else into causes that will last forever.
Give to that for which He gave everything He had. Look, do you want a bank full in heaven, or just a basketful of earth?
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
Luke 1:57-80
The Birth of John the Baptist
When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. 58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” 62 So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. 66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
Zechariah’s Prophecy
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:
68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior[a]
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
76 “And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,[b]
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”
80 John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
Footnotes:
1:69 Greek has raised up a horn of salvation for us.
1:78 Or the Morning Light from Heaven is about to visit us.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 15, 2014
Read: Deuteronomy 4:1-9
Moses Urges Israel to Obey
“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.
3 “You saw for yourself what the Lord did to you at Baal-peor. There the Lord your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. 4 But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you.
5 “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 6 Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ 7 For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? 8 And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?
9 “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.
Insight
In today’s passage, Moses reminded the people of Israel that—unlike the nations around them—they were the only ones privileged to have intimate fellowship with God (v.7) and the only nation given God’s law (v.8). If they faithfully obeyed His law, God would make them a great and wise people (vv.6,8-9).
Story Stewards
By Julie Ackerman Link
Take heed . . . lest you forget the things your eyes have seen . . . . And teach them to your children and your grandchildren. —Deuteronomy 4:9
Many people take great care to make sure their resources are used well after they die. They set up trusts, write wills, and establish foundations to guarantee that their assets will continue to be used for a good purpose after their life on earth is done. We call this good stewardship.
Equally important, however, is being good stewards of our life story. God commanded the Israelites not only to teach their children His laws but also to make sure they knew their family history. It was the responsibility of parents and grandparents to make sure their children knew the stories of how God had worked in their behalf (Deut. 4:1-14).
God has given each of us a unique story. His plan for our lives is individualized. Do others know what you believe and why? Do they know the story of how you came to faith and how God has worked in your life to strengthen your faith? Do they know how God has shown Himself faithful and has helped you through doubts and disappointments?
The faithfulness of God is a story that we have the privilege to pass on. Record it in some way and share it. Be a good steward of the story that God is telling through you.
How great, O God, Your acts of love!
Your saving deeds would now proclaim
That generations yet to come
May set their hope in Your great name. —D. DeHaan
A life lived for God leaves a lasting legacy.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 15, 2014
“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.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 15, 2014
A Basketful of Earth - #7286
Ellis Island was the first piece of America that millions of immigrants ever saw – ever touched. Perhaps it was that way for somebody in your family. Ellis Island was the point of entry for all the immigrants coming through New York; a little island in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
When you visit the island you see this long, granite wall with thousands of names of immigrants who passed through there. When the boat landed, they would step off carrying all their belongs in a basket and enter this long, red brick building. The inside of that building is cavernous. It echoes on the inside. Can't you just kind of hear it and see it in your mind; this rich mixture of voices and languages?
Actually, Ellis Island was, you know, like just a waiting station. They weren't going to live on that island. Out of all those thousands who came there, not one ever set up a house on Ellis Island. They weren't going to be there for very long.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Basketful of Earth."
Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God, in 1 Peter 1, beginning at verse 1. Peter writes to, "God's elect, strangers in the world." Now, remembering that image of believers, in verse 17 he says, "Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear." In 1 Peter 2:11 he continues, "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires."
Peter is saying, "Hey, this isn't home." It's like that old hymn, "This world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue." See, we're all immigrants according to the Bible. Earth is our Ellis Island. We've got maybe seventy years here; seventy years that are just the preparation for billions of years. But the quality of the billions of years is determined by how we live the seventy or whatever.
Now, here's a question. If we're just immigrants passing through earth, why are we saving up so much stuff here on our Ellis Island? In Luke 12, Jesus addresses this issue of accumulating earth stuff. He says in verse 22, "Do not worry about your life or what you will eat or about your body what you will wear." Then he says some radical stuff in verse 24, "Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn. Yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds?"
He's saying that for your security you don't need this big, stored-up reserve somewhere. But, of course, that's the opposite of everything we've been taught about security. But here's biblical security. "Your Father knows you have need of these things. Sell your possessions; give to the poor. Provide purses for yourself that will not wear out; a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near or no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
There's no storeroom, no pile of earth stuff. No, you send it on ahead to the place where you're going to live forever. You don't move it all into the hotel. You send it on to home. Don't accumulate it in the place that you're just visiting. We're all guilty of the sin of accumulating. We kind of keep building our earth kingdom, those earth reserves, what the earth calls security.
One day I wonder if Jesus is going to come back and say, "What are you doing holding onto all of that; tying up all of that? I had a world to reach." He calls us to live simply on this immigrant island, and to pour everything else into causes that will last forever.
Give to that for which He gave everything He had. Look, do you want a bank full in heaven, or just a basketful of earth?
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