Mark 11:1-18 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Majesty in the Mundane - December 22, 2021

Mary is wide awake. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can’t take her eyes off of him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. She remembers the words of the angel. “His kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:33).

He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. He is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being. 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.

Mark 11:1-18

Entering Jerusalem on a Colt

 When they were nearing Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany on Mount Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: “Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never yet been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ say, ‘The Master needs him, and will return him right away.’”

4-7 They went and found a colt tied to a door at the street corner and untied it. Some of those standing there said, “What are you doing untying that colt?” The disciples replied exactly as Jesus had instructed them, and the people let them alone. They brought the colt to Jesus, spread their coats on it, and he mounted.

8-10 The people gave him a wonderful welcome, some throwing their coats on the street, others spreading out rushes they had cut in the fields. Running ahead and following after, they were calling out,

Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!
Blessed the coming kingdom of our father David!
Hosanna in highest heaven!

11 He entered Jerusalem, then entered the Temple. He looked around, taking it all in. But by now it was late, so he went back to Bethany with the Twelve.
The Cursed Fig Tree

12-14 As they left Bethany the next day, he was hungry. Off in the distance he saw a fig tree in full leaf. He came up to it expecting to find something for breakfast, but found nothing but fig leaves. (It wasn’t yet the season for figs.) He addressed the tree: “No one is going to eat fruit from you again—ever!” And his disciples overheard him.

15-17 They arrived at Jerusalem. Immediately on entering the Temple Jesus started throwing out everyone who had set up shop there, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of the bankers and the stalls of the pigeon merchants. He didn’t let anyone even carry a basket through the Temple. And then he taught them, quoting this text:

My house was designated a house of prayer for the nations;
You’ve turned it into a hangout for thieves.

18 The high priests and religion scholars heard what was going on and plotted how they might get rid of him. They panicked, for the entire crowd was carried away by his teaching.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Today's Scripture
Colossians 2:1–5
(NIV)

I want you to know how hard I am contendingz for you and for those at Laodicea,a and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heartb and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mysteryc of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.d 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.e 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spiritf and delight to see how disciplinedg you are and how firmh your faith in Christi is.

Insight

The significance of Paul’s relationship with the believers in Jesus in Colossae is noted in his word choices: “I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea” (Colossians 2:1). The words “how hard I am contending” are a translation of helíkos, “how great” (see also James 3:5), and ag?n, a place where people assembled “to celebrate solemn games.” Figuratively, ag?n referred to the contests, fights, and races that took place there. Paul used this word in 2 Timothy 4:7, where it’s translated as “fight”: “I have fought the good fight.” Though Paul was in prison (or under house arrest), that didn’t diminish his concern for the spiritual well-being of the Colossian believers. His prayers for them were constant (Colossians 1:3, 9), and his teaching was meant to help them battle the spiritual forces that lurked among them to turn them away from the supremacy of Christ (2:8–23). By: Arthur Jackson

Virtual Presence

Though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit.
Colossians 2:5

As the novel coronavirus marched across the globe, health experts advised increased physical distance between people as a means to slow the spread. Many countries asked their citizens to self-quarantine or shelter in place. Organizations sent employees home to work remotely if they could, while others suffered a financially debilitating loss of employment. Like others, I participated in church and small-group meetings through digital platforms. As a world, we practiced new forms of togetherness despite being physically disconnected.

It isn’t just the internet that lets us maintain a sense of connection. We connect to one another as members of the body of Christ through the Spirit. Paul expressed this notion centuries ago in his letter to the Colossians. Though he hadn’t personally founded their church, he cared deeply for them and their faith. And even though Paul couldn’t be with them in person, he reminded them that he was “present with [them] in spirit” (Colossians 2:5).  

We can’t always be with those we love for financial, health, or other practical reasons, and technology can help fill that gap. Yet any form of virtual connection pales in comparison to the “togetherness” we can experience as fellow members of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). In such moments, we can, like Paul, rejoice in one another’s firmness of faith and, through prayer, encourage each other to fully “know the mystery of God, namely, Christ” (Colossians 2:2). By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced a sense of connection with other members of the body of Christ? Who needs your prayers of encouragement today?

Jesus, thank You for being with me even when no other person can be physically present. Thank You for the connection You give me to others through the Holy Spirit.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 22, 2021

The Drawing of the Father

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him… —John 6:44

When God begins to draw me to Himself, the problem of my will comes in immediately. Will I react positively to the truth that God has revealed? Will I come to Him? To discuss or deliberate over spiritual matters when God calls is inappropriate and disrespectful to Him. When God speaks, never discuss it with anyone as if to decide what your response may be (see Galatians 1:15-16). Belief is not the result of an intellectual act, but the result of an act of my will whereby I deliberately commit myself. But will I commit, placing myself completely and absolutely on God, and be willing to act solely on what He says? If I will, I will find that I am grounded on reality as certain as God’s throne.

In preaching the gospel, always focus on the matter of the will. Belief must come from the will to believe. There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to a persuasive or powerful argument. I must deliberately step out, placing my faith in God and in His truth. And I must place no confidence in my own works, but only in God. Trusting in my own mental understanding becomes a hindrance to complete trust in God. I must be willing to ignore and leave my feelings behind. I must will to believe. But this can never be accomplished without my forceful, determined effort to separate myself from my old ways of looking at things. I must surrender myself completely to God.

Everyone has been created with the ability to reach out beyond his own grasp. But it is God who draws me, and my relationship to Him in the first place is an inner, personal one, not an intellectual one. I come into the relationship through the miracle of God and through my own will to believe. Then I begin to get an intelligent appreciation and understanding of the wonder of the transformation in my life.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

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

Bible in a Year: Micah 6-7; Revelation 13

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 22, 2021

What I Found Hiding in the Christmas Story - #9118

Christmas is always kind of a love fest with our family. And they're all so good at paying attention to what people want and need, and getting the great gifts. You know? So I expect good things, and I hope what I'm giving fits the description as well this Christmas. And you know what? Sometimes, occasionally I will find a little gift that I forgot to give. No, I don't save it for next Christmas. It might be "Happy New Year" or something like that.

You know what? Before this Christmas I found a gold nugget. Yeah. Well, actually it was a gift in the Bible. It was in the Luke 2 account of Jesus' birth. That's a passage of Scripture I've traveled many a time. But there was a nugget I didn't ever find there before.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What I Found Hiding in the Christmas Story."

Here's what hit me during the Christmas celebration. In those warm but familiar words, the angel said, "Behold, I bring you good news (you know) of great joy which shall be for all people." Okay, whoa, stop right there. From the first moments of Jesus' arrival on earth, heaven made clear that the good news about Jesus wasn't just for a few people in the club. It was for "all people." "Good news for all people!"

Thirty-three years later, Jesus would give His final orders before returning to heaven that He came from that first Christmas. Our word for today from the Word of God - Mark 16:15, tells us this: "Go and tell the Good News to everybody, everywhere!" It was there when He came. It was there when He left. A mandate to get the Good News about Him to "all people." The shepherds got it. The Bible says that as soon as they saw Him, "they spread the word."

Now, fast forward 2,000 years. When a church becomes a club, made for its members, focusing on the clubhouse, collecting dues from the members, it has gone deaf to Jesus' orders. When believers don't tell the people they know about the Savior they have, the Good News dies with their silence. And the lost folks they know will die without hope.

So, the whole message that came that first Christmas, the whole command of Jesus before He left, was to be aware of the people who don't have Jesus yet. How can we continue to just focus on ourselves and have meetings and activities that are just for us, sometimes in words only we understand?

How can we be content to be the people who are in essence "in a lifeboat" that have been rescued and surrounded by people who are dying without hope? How can we be content to be the people in the lifeboat who've been rescued, surrounded by people now who are dying without hope and not turn our lifeboat around and rescue them? We can't just be the folks in the lifeboat who are singing our lifeboat songs, and going to our lifeboat committee meetings, and building a bigger and better more comfortable lifeboat for the people who are already in it. We're surrounded by dying people.

Jesus said this isn't just for the people who are already in the boat. It's for the people who are dying right now who need to be saved. And people die because the people who are already saved do nothing about the people who are dying.

And so, as we look at Christmas now, let's look at the prospect also of a brand new year. Let's commit ourselves to the commission for which Jesus came. Which wasn't to start the Jesus Club, but to start a rescue mission that would spread across the planet. As we prepare for Christmas, and think about the news that was for all people, let's put our influence, our time, our prayer, our church budgets, our church meetings, our lives, our money into that for which Jesus came - the rescuing of the dying whatever it takes.

The Great Commission of Jesus came with His birth. It was His final word before He left. Whatever the years before have been, let's make this next year, as never before, the "Year of our Lord." The year each of us fulfills our destiny, fulfills our Lord's orders to make sure the News about Jesus gets to "all the people."

Leviticus 25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The With Us God - December 21, 2021

The babe of Bethlehem. Immanuel. Remember the promise of the angel? “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23).

Immanuel. The name appears in the same Hebrew form as it did two thousand years ago. “Immanu” means “with us.” “El” refers to Elohim, or God. Not an “above us God” or a “somewhere in the neighborhood God.” He came as the “with us God.” God with us. Not “God with the rich” or “with the religious.” But God with us. All of us. Russians, Germans, Buddhists, Mormons, truck drivers and taxi drivers, librarians. God with us. Prophets weren’t enough. Apostles wouldn’t do. Angels won’t suffice. God sent more than miracles and messages. He sent himself; he sent his Son.

Leviticus 25

“The Land Will Observe a Sabbath to God”

God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you enter the land which I am going to give you, the land will observe a Sabbath to God. Sow your fields, prune your vineyards, and take in your harvests for six years. But the seventh year the land will take a Sabbath of complete and total rest, a Sabbath to God; you will not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Don’t reap what grows of itself; don’t harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land gets a year of complete and total rest. But you can eat from what the land volunteers during the Sabbath year—you and your men and women servants, your hired hands, and the foreigners who live in the country, and, of course, also your livestock and the wild animals in the land can eat from it. Whatever the land volunteers of itself can be eaten.
“The Fiftieth Year Is Your Jubilee Year”

8-12 “Count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years: Seven Sabbaths of years adds up to forty-nine years. Then sound loud blasts on the ram’s horn on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. Sound the ram’s horn all over the land. Sanctify the fiftieth year; make it a holy year. Proclaim freedom all over the land to everyone who lives in it—a Jubilee for you: Each person will go back to his family’s property and reunite with his extended family. The fiftieth year is your Jubilee year: Don’t sow; don’t reap what volunteers itself in the fields; don’t harvest the untended vines because it’s the Jubilee and a holy year for you. You’re permitted to eat from whatever volunteers itself in the fields.

13 “In this year of Jubilee everyone returns home to his family property.

14-17 “If you sell or buy property from one of your countrymen, don’t cheat him. Calculate the purchase price on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. He is obliged to set the sale price on the basis of the number of harvests remaining until the next Jubilee. The more years left, the more money; you can raise the price. But the fewer years left, the less money; decrease the price. What you are buying and selling in fact is the number of crops you’re going to harvest. Don’t cheat each other. Fear your God. I am God, your God.

18-22 “Keep my decrees and observe my laws and you will live secure in the land. The land will yield its fruit; you will have all you can eat and will live safe and secure. Do I hear you ask, ‘What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we don’t plant or harvest?’ I assure you, I will send such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant in the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and continue until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

23-24 “The land cannot be sold permanently because the land is mine and you are foreigners—you’re my tenants. You must provide for the right of redemption for any of the land that you own.

25-28 “If one of your brothers becomes poor and has to sell any of his land, his nearest relative is to come and buy back what his brother sold. If a man has no one to redeem it but he later prospers and earns enough for its redemption, he is to calculate the value since he sold it and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it; he can then go back to his own land. If he doesn’t get together enough money to repay him, what he sold remains in the possession of the buyer until the year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it will be returned and he can go back and live on his land.

29-31 “If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains the right to buy it back for a full year after the sale. At any time during that year he can redeem it. But if it is not redeemed before the full year has passed, it becomes the permanent possession of the buyer and his descendants. It is not returned in the Jubilee. However, houses in unwalled villages are treated the same as fields. They can be redeemed and have to be returned at the Jubilee.

32-34 “As to the Levitical cities, houses in the cities owned by the Levites are always subject to redemption. Levitical property is always redeemable if it is sold in a town that they hold and reverts to them in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the People of Israel. The pastures belonging to their cities may not be sold; they are their permanent possession.

35-38 “If one of your brothers becomes indigent and cannot support himself, help him, the same as you would a foreigner or a guest so that he can continue to live in your neighborhood. Don’t gouge him with interest charges; out of reverence for your God help your brother to continue to live with you in the neighborhood. Don’t take advantage of his plight by running up big interest charges on his loans, and don’t give him food for profit. I am your God who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

39-43 “If one of your brothers becomes indigent and has to sell himself to you, don’t make him work as a slave. Treat him as a hired hand or a guest among you. He will work for you until the Jubilee, after which he and his children are set free to go back to his clan and his ancestral land. Because the People of Israel are my servants whom I brought out of Egypt, they must never be sold as slaves. Don’t tyrannize them; fear your God.

44-46 “The male and female slaves which you have are to come from the surrounding nations; you are permitted to buy slaves from them. You may also buy the children of foreign workers who are living among you temporarily and from their clans which are living among you and have been born in your land. They become your property. You may will them to your children as property and make them slaves for life. But you must not tyrannize your brother Israelites.

47-53 “If a foreigner or temporary resident among you becomes rich and one of your brothers becomes poor and sells himself to the foreigner who lives among you or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, he still has the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may buy him back. An uncle or cousin or any close relative of his extended family may redeem him. Or, if he gets the money together, he can redeem himself. What happens then is that he and his owner count out the time from the year he sold himself to the year of Jubilee; the buy-back price is set according to the wages of a hired hand for that number of years. If many years remain before the Jubilee, he must pay back a larger share of his purchase price, but if only a few years remain until the Jubilee, he is to calculate his redemption price accordingly. He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year. You must make sure that his owner does not tyrannize him.

54-55 “If he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he goes free in the year of Jubilee, he and his children, because the People of Israel are my servants, my servants whom I brought out of Egypt. I am God, your God.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Today's Scripture
Psalm 119:105–112
(NIV)

Your word is a lampn for my feet,

a lighto on my path.

106 I have taken an oathp and confirmed it,

that I will follow your righteous laws.q

107 I have suffered much;

preserve my life,r Lord, according to your word.

108 Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth,s

and teach me your laws.t

109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands,u

I will not forgetv your law.

110 The wicked have set a snarew for me,

but I have not strayedx from your precepts.

111 Your statutes are my heritage forever;

they are the joy of my heart.y

112 My heart is setz on keeping your decrees

to the very end.

Insight

Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem using the twenty-two successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the lines in the first stanza (vv. 1–8) begin with the first letter Aleph; verses 9–16 begin with Beth, the second letter; and so on. This pattern is used as a device for memorizing the poem.

In our reading today (vv. 105–112), every line begins with Nun. Although the psalmist is scorned and threatened for trusting in God’s precepts, he doesn’t waver but resolves to remain fully committed to knowing and obeying God’s law. In the midst of life’s difficulties and dangers, he affirms that Scripture is his security—a lamp that illuminates God’s ways and a light that provides guidance on how to respond to the dark realities of life. The writer believes that God’s statutes will renew and strengthen him (v. 107). They’re his birthright and his joy (v. 111). By: K. T. Sim

God’s Compass

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Psalm 119:105

During World War II, Waldemar Semenov was serving as a junior engineer aboard the SS Alcoa Guide when—nearly three hundred miles off the coast of North Carolina—a German submarine surfaced and opened fire on the ship. The ship was hit, caught fire, and began to sink. Semenov and his crew lowered a lifeboat into the water and used the vessel’s compass to sail toward the shipping lanes. After three days, a patrol plane spotted their lifeboat and the USS Broome rescued the men the next day. Thanks to that compass, Semenov and twenty-six other crewmembers were saved.

The psalmist reminded God’s people that they were equipped with a compass for life—the Bible. He compared Scripture to “a lamp” (Psalm 119:105) that provides light to illuminate the path of life for those pursuing God. When the psalmist was adrift in the chaotic waters of life, he knew God could use Scripture to provide spiritual longitude and latitude and help him survive. Thus, he prayed that God would send out His light to direct him in life and bring him safely to the port of His holy presence (43:3).

As believers in Jesus, when we lose our way, God can guide us by the Holy Spirit and by the direction found in the Scriptures. May God transform our hearts and minds as we read the Bible, study it, and follow its wisdom. By:  Marvin Williams

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced a particular verse or passage as a compass for your life in recent days? When are you tempted not to follow the directions the compass of Scripture gives?

Jesus, thank You that when I’m tempted to drift away, the wisdom of Scripture helps bring me back.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 21, 2021

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.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The Bible is the only Book that gives us any indication of the true nature of sin, and where it came from. The Philosophy of Sin, 1107 R

Bible in a Year: Micah 4-5; Revelation 12

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Living Sheepishly - #9117

"It's time to get the old bathrobes out, boys. Yeah, for the church Christmas pageant." You've got to have some boys be shepherds. You know, when I think of shepherds, though, it's more than Christmas to me. It's potentially life changing. There's this picture that hangs on the wall in our living room. It's meant a lot to me in recent years. Just like an identical picture did when I was four years old. That's when my baby brother died suddenly. My grieving dad, who was not a churchgoer, decided he should take his surviving son to church somewhere.

So every Sunday he dropped me off at this one nearby church while he waited in the car, and smoked and read his Sunday paper. That church is where I first heard the name Jesus. And it's where I first saw the picture. It was my first impression of Jesus. It shows Jesus as a shepherd, leading a flock of sheep beside a stream. In His arms, there's this little lamb, looking up at the shepherd who looks lovingly at him. And I said, "That's me! I'm the lamb in Jesus' arms!" Not just then. But on the darkest day of my life.

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

Karen was the love of my life since I was 19. The only person I've done my whole adult life with. Then, on that May 16, she was suddenly gone. And I was suddenly lost. Oh, how I needed my Shepherd. And He was there. Again, I was the lamb in His arms. My one safe place. He wants to be that for you.

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from what many call "The Shepherd Psalm." It contains some of the most comforting, hope-filled words in the Bible. Psalm 23:1 and then verse 4 tell us: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want ... though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..." Wait! If the surroundings are that dark and dangerous, why will I "fear no evil? Well, He says, "because you are with me."

Suddenly, on that heartbreaking day, I was in the valley of the shadow of death. And one day I'll be walking the valley of the shadow of my own death. And while that valley may be the darkest and most devastating, there are other dark valleys that shake us to our core. There's that bad news from the doctor. The marriage that was once a dream, and now it's collapsing into a nightmare. The disaster that destroyed a lifetime of treasures. Financial disaster. A job lost - or a child, a breakup, a betrayal. We all have lonely valleys to walk through.

But here's some of the best news you'll ever hear. You don't have to walk that valley alone. Ever. "I will fear no evil; for You are with me." And the Bible says of Jesus: "He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord...and they will live securely (Micah 5:4).

The vulnerable, frightened sheep is safe in the Shepherd's arms. And it just might be He's come looking for you today right where you are. Because the Bible says we're all lost sheep. It says, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way" (Isaiah 53:6). Put another way, each of us has sinned, hijacked our life from the One who gave it to us. We are away from the Shepherd we were made for. So we'll always be lost in this life, and when we die, we'll be away from Him forever.

But the Shepherd loved you too much to leave you lost. He came to die on a cross, to pay for the sin you and I deserve to pay for. Then He walked out of His grave three days later - and He's waiting to walk into your life today. If you'll tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours."

I would love to help you get started with this life-changing relationship. Just head for our website as soon as you can. It's where a lot of people have found what they needed to begin their relationship with Jesus. It's ANewStory.com. That's the website.

Let this be the day when you make the Shepherd your shepherd, so you can say, "The Lord is my Shepherd." You'll discover what millions like me have discovered. However great the loss, Jesus is enough. And you are safe. The lamb in the loving Shepherd's arms.

Mark 10:32-52, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: The King of Creation - December 20, 2021

“So this is he,” thought Gabriel. “This is God’s gift. A Savior. He shall save the people from their sins.” Gabriel’s heart was full. He turned to Mary as she cradled her child, and he spoke. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t hear him.

“Do you know who you hold, Mary? You secure the author of grace. He who is ageless is now moments old. He who strides upon the stars now has legs too weak to walk. The hands that held the oceans are now an infant’s fist. To him who has never asked a question, you will teach the name of the wind. The source of language will learn words from you. He who has never stumbled, you will carry. He who has never hungered, you will feed. The King of creation is in your arms.”

Mark 10:32-52

Back on the road, they set out for Jerusalem. Jesus had a head start on them, and they were following, puzzled and not just a little afraid. He took the Twelve and began again to go over what to expect next. “Listen to me carefully. We’re on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Romans, who will mock and spit on him, give him the third degree, and kill him. After three days he will rise alive.”
The Highest Places of Honor

35 James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came up to him. “Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us.”

36 “What is it? I’ll see what I can do.”

37 “Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left.”

38 Jesus said, “You have no idea what you’re asking. Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I’m about to be plunged into?”

39-40 “Sure,” they said. “Why not?”

Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. There are other arrangements for that.”

41-45 When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.”

* * *

46-48 They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!”

49-50 Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.”

They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus.

51 Jesus said, “What can I do for you?”

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

52 “On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.”

In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, December 20, 2021

Today's Scripture
Luke 2:8–14
(NIV)

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

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

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peaceb to those on whom his favor rests.”

Insight

The verb translated “I bring you good news” in Luke 2:10 is euangelizo, from the same root as euangelion, the New Testament’s word for “gospel.” In its original context, it’s a word that would have carried tremendous weight, a forcefulness that we today might not notice due to overfamiliarity with it. A “gospel” proclamation was a royal announcement proclaiming that a particular king was in charge. At the time of Jesus, the Roman Empire described its own reign as good news.

In Luke 2, the heavenly choir proclaimed that a different King was really in charge and at work to restore God’s kingdom of justice and peace through the birth of Jesus Christ. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, His followers carried on the profoundly countercultural message of a different “good news” of the rule of Christ and a profoundly different kingdom than that of Rome. By: Monica La Rose

Fear Not

Do not be afraid . . . a Savior has been born to you.
Luke 2:10–11

Linus, in the Peanuts comic strip, is best known for his blue security blanket. He carries it everywhere and isn’t embarrassed at needing it for comfort. His sister Lucy especially dislikes the blanket and often tries to get rid of it. She buries it, makes it into a kite, and uses it for a science fair project. Linus too knows he should be less dependent on his blanket and lets it go from time to time, always to take it back.

In the movie A Charlie Brown Christmas, when a frustrated Charlie Brown asks, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus, with his security blanket in hand, steps center stage and quotes Luke 2:8–14. In the middle of his recitation, as he says, “Fear not,” he drops his blanket—the thing he clung to when afraid.

What is it about Christmas that reminds us we don’t need to fear? The angels that appeared to the shepherds said, “Do not be afraid . . . a Savior has been born to you” (Luke 2:10–11).

Jesus is “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). We have His very presence through His Holy Spirit, the true Comforter (John 14:16), so we don’t need to fear. We can let go of our “security blankets” and trust in Him. By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

What are you afraid of? How can the Holy Spirit’s presence help you with what troubles you?

I’m still learning, God, that You’re the greatest Comforter. Help me to let go of the things that give me false security, and please guide me to cling to You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 20, 2021

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.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R

Bible in a Year: Micah 1-3; Revelation 11

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 20, 2021

The Unstoppable Plans of God - #9116

Our ministry summer outreaches in Native America are some of our daughter's most cherished weeks of the year. But the year her first child was due in late summer, there was no way she could get the doctor's green light to travel - especially when the destination was the villages of Native Alaska. Now that's one of the amazing aspects of the first Christmas - that Mary would travel by donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in her ninth month of pregnancy. I've traveled the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem by car, not by donkey or foot as Joseph and Mary did. It's a tortuous journey through hills and mountains. It's about 90 long miles. There's no way you're going to get a loving husband to go with his very pregnant wife on a trip like that on the eve of their baby's birth, right? Wrong.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Unstoppable Plans of God."

For almost 500 years, the prophecies of God had said that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Little problem: Joseph and Mary are living 90 miles away in Nazareth. There's apparently no way you'll ever get Mary to Bethlehem when the Messiah in her womb is full term. But the plan of God says Bethlehem. What God does is absolutely amazing, and a very special encouragement for you and me this Christmas.

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from these familiar verses, Luke 2:1-4. "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world...and everyone went to his town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David."

Now the man seemingly making all this happen is the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus. History tells us that he murdered members of his own family, he actually was a mass murderer, and he instituted emperor worship. He was, in many ways, a monster. And here is little Joseph caught up in the great whirlpool of history. But it is Caesar Augustus who turns out to be the big player in this divine drama, and yet just a footnote to history. He thinks he's flexing his muscle with this universal census, but this most powerful man on earth is but an unsuspecting instrument in the hands of a sovereign God.

God will get His destiny couple to His destiny place, even if He has to move an empire to do it! The Christmas story is God's powerful statement that God's plans are unstoppable! Including His plans for you. Plans that He says in Jeremiah 29:11 are "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Now it may be that right now there appears to be no way things can turn out right. The money isn't there, your health isn't there, the relationship looks impossible, the job frustrations are mounting, the mountain isn't moving, and the answer isn't coming. It looks like there's no way for things to work out, not enough time for an answer to come.

But you belong to the God who, with the stroke of an evil man's pen, moved an empire to place His kids, Joseph and Mary, right where they were supposed to be. Yes, there was a difficult process, but God delivered them exactly where they were supposed to be. And believe me, God will get His plans for you accomplished if He has to move an empire to do it, or use even a godless instrument to do it.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Just getting Him there was a miracle! So would you relax in the strong arms of the God of Bethlehem. He will move whatever He has to move to finish what He has started in your life!

Leviticus 24 , 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

Leviticus 24

Light and Bread

God spoke to Moses: “Order the People of Israel to bring you virgin olive oil for light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. Aaron is in charge of keeping these lamps burning in front of the curtain that screens The Testimony in the Tent of Meeting from evening to morning continually before God. This is a perpetual decree down through the generations. Aaron is responsible for keeping the lamps burning continually on the Lampstand of pure gold before God.

5-9 “Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using about four quarts of flour to a loaf. Arrange them in two rows of six each on the Table of pure gold before God. Along each row spread pure incense, marking the bread as a memorial; it is a gift to God. Regularly, every Sabbath, this bread is to be set before God, a perpetual covenantal response from Israel. The bread then goes to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a Holy Place. It is their most holy share from the gifts to God. This is a perpetual decree.”

* * *

10-12 One day the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name of God and cursed. They brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They put him in custody waiting for God’s will to be revealed to them.

13-16 Then God spoke to Moses: “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. Have all those who heard him place their hands on his head; then have the entire congregation stone him. Then tell the Israelites, Anyone who curses God will be held accountable; anyone who blasphemes the Name of God must be put to death. The entire congregation must stone him. It makes no difference whether he is a foreigner or a native, if he blasphemes the Name, he will be put to death.

17-22 “Anyone who hits and kills a fellow human must be put to death. Anyone who kills someone’s animal must make it good—a life for a life. Anyone who injures his neighbor will get back the same as he gave: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. What he did to hurt that person will be done to him. Anyone who hits and kills an animal must make it good, but whoever hits and kills a fellow human will be put to death. And no double standards: the same rule goes for foreigners and natives. I am God, your God.”

23 Moses then spoke to the People of Israel. They brought the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The People of Israel followed the orders God had given Moses.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Sunday, December 19, 2021

Today's Scripture
Genesis 30:1–2 22–24
(NIV)

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children,x she became jealous of her sister.y So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God,z who has kept you from having children?”

Then God remembered Rachel;g he listened to herh and enabled her to conceive.i 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a sonj and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.”k 24 She named him Joseph,h l and said, “May the Lord add to me another son


Insight

Jacob had twelve sons from whom came twelve tribes that formed the nation of Israel—these are the simple facts. But Genesis 29 and 30 describe the complicated backstory of Israel’s genesis. Included is how scheming and striving, competition and rivalry—and prayer—factored into the making of this nation. Leah, the wife that Jacob didn’t choose (29:25), became the fruitful wife who bore him six sons (30:20)—half of the tribes! His beloved wife Rachel, though initially barren, was the mother of two of Jacob’s sons (vv. 22–23; 35:17–18). Two female servants, Bilhah (30:3–8) and Zilpah (vv. 9–13), bore him two sons each. We’re told that God heard Leah’s (v. 17) and Rachel’s (v. 22) prayers regarding childbearing. The dynamics of a very complex household included hearts crying out to God in prayer and God remembering them. By: Arthur Jackson

Remembered in Prayer

Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her.
Genesis 30:22

In the large African church, the pastor fell to his knees, praying to God. “Remember us!” As the pastor pleaded, the crowd responded, crying, “Remember us, Lord!” Watching this moment on YouTube, I was surprised that I shed tears too. The prayer was recorded months earlier. Yet it recalled childhood times when I heard our family’s pastor make the same plea to God. “Remember us, Lord!”

Hearing that prayer as a child, I’d wrongly assumed that God sometimes forgets about us. But God is all-knowing (Psalm 147:5; 1 John 3:20), He always sees us (Psalm 33:13–15), and He loves us beyond measure (Ephesians 3:17–19).

Even more, as we see in the Hebrew word zakar, meaning “remember,” when God “remembers” us, He acts for us. Zakar also means to act on a person’s behalf. Thus, when God “remembered” Noah and “all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark,” He then “sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded” (Genesis 8:1). When God “remembered” barren Rachel, He “listened to her and enabled her to conceive. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son” (30:22–23).

What a great plea of trust to ask God in prayer to remember us! He’ll decide how He answers. We can pray knowing, however, that our humble request asks God to move. By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

In what area of your life do you need God to remember you? How willing are you to pray with such intent and purpose?

Dear heavenly Father, grow my understanding of Your remembrance of me. Then, where I need You to act, please remember me.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 19, 2021
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.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. Approved Unto God, 10 R

Bible in a Year: Jonah 1-4; Revelation 10

Leviticus 23, 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

Leviticus 23

The Feasts

 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of God which you are to decree as sacred assemblies.

3 “Work six days. The seventh day is a Sabbath, a day of total and complete rest, a sacred assembly. Don’t do any work. Wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to God.

4 “These are the appointed feasts of God, the sacred assemblies which you are to announce at the times set for them:

5 “God’s Passover, beginning at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month.

6-8 “God’s Feast of Unraised Bread, on the fifteenth day of this same month. You are to eat unraised bread for seven days. Hold a sacred assembly on the first day; don’t do any regular work. Offer Fire-Gifts to God for seven days. On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly; don’t do any regular work.”

9-14 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, When you arrive at the land that I am giving you and reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain that you harvest. He will wave the sheaf before God for acceptance on your behalf; on the morning after Sabbath, the priest will wave it. On the same day that you wave the sheaf, offer a year-old male lamb without defect for a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God and with it the Grain-Offering of four quarts of fine flour mixed with oil—a Fire-Gift to God, a pleasing fragrance—and also a Drink-Offering of a quart of wine. Don’t eat any bread or roasted or fresh grain until you have presented this offering to your God. This is a perpetual decree for all your generations to come, wherever you live.

15-21 “Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath when you brought the sheaf as a Wave-Offering, fifty days until the morning of the seventh Sabbath. Then present a new Grain-Offering to God. Bring from wherever you are living two loaves of bread made from four quarts of fine flour and baked with yeast as a Wave-Offering of the first ripe grain to God. In addition to the bread, offer seven yearling male lambs without defect, plus one bull and two rams. They will be a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God together with their Grain-Offerings and Drink-Offerings—offered as Fire-Gifts, a pleasing fragrance to God. Offer one male goat for an Absolution-Offering and two yearling lambs for a Peace-Offering. The priest will wave the two lambs before God as a Wave-Offering, together with the bread of the first ripe grain. They are sacred offerings to God for the priest. Proclaim the day as a sacred assembly. Don’t do any ordinary work. It is a perpetual decree wherever you live down through your generations.

22 “When you reap the harvest of your land, don’t reap the corners of your field or gather the gleanings. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners. I am God, your God.”

23-25 God said to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, On the first day of the seventh month, set aside a day of rest, a sacred assembly—mark it with loud blasts on the ram’s horn. Don’t do any ordinary work. Offer a Fire-Gift to God.”

26-32 God said to Moses: “The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly, fast, and offer a Fire-Gift to God. Don’t work on that day because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for you before your God. Anyone who doesn’t fast on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who works on that day. Don’t do any work that day—none. This is a perpetual decree for all the generations to come, wherever you happen to be living. It is a Sabbath of complete and total rest, a fast day. Observe your Sabbath from the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”

33-36 God said to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, God’s Feast of Booths begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. It lasts seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; don’t do any ordinary work. Offer Fire-Gifts to God for seven days. On the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and offer a gift to God. It is a solemn convocation. Don’t do any ordinary work.

37-38 “These are the appointed feasts of God which you will decree as sacred assemblies for presenting Fire-Gifts to God: the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, Grain-Offerings, sacrifices, and Drink-Offerings assigned to each day. These are in addition to offerings for God’s Sabbaths and also in addition to other gifts connected with whatever you have vowed and all the Freewill-Offerings you give to God.

39-43 “So, summing up: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have brought your crops in from your fields, celebrate the Feast of God for seven days. The first day is a complete rest and the eighth day is a complete rest. On the first day, pick the best fruit from the best trees; take fronds of palm trees and branches of leafy trees and from willows by the brook and celebrate in the presence of your God for seven days—yes, for seven full days celebrate it as a festival to God. Every year from now on, celebrate it in the seventh month. Live in booths for seven days—every son and daughter of Israel is to move into booths so that your descendants will know that I made the People of Israel live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am God, your God.”

44 Moses posted the calendar for the annual appointed feasts of God which Israel was to celebrate.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, December 18, 2021

Today's Scripture
2 Timothy 4:1–8
(NIV)

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead,r and in view of his appearings and his kingdom, I give you this charge:t 2 Preachu the word;v be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebukew and encouragex—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.y Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.z 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.a 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship,b do the work of an evangelist,c discharge all the duties of your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering,d and the time for my departure is near.e 7 I have fought the good fight,f I have finished the race,g I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for meh the crown of righteousness,i which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that dayj—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Insight

In 2 Timothy 3, Paul warned Timothy about people who “[have] a form of godliness” but completely oppose God’s truth (v. 5). At the conclusion of chapter 3, he pointed to the crucial value of Timothy’s faith in Christ and then wrote: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (vv. 16–17). This was essential for Timothy to understand in his role as a servant of God. Timothy was to “correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (4:2), countering the false teachers who say what “itching ears want to hear” (v. 3). In other words, Timothy was never to seek the approval of others by telling them what they wanted to hear. He must share only God’s truth—the truth the Scriptures clearly teach. By: Tim Gustafson

Well Done!

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7

The school where my son Brian coaches football lost the state title game in a hard-fought battle. Their opponent was undefeated over the past two years. I sent Brian a text to commiserate with him and received a terse reply: “Kids battled!”

No coach shamed the players after the game. No one shouted at them for their mishaps or bad decisions along the way. No, the coaches showered the young players with praise for what could be praised.

Along the same vein, it’s good to know that believers in Jesus will not hear harsh words of condemnation from Him. When Christ comes and we stand before Him, He won’t shame us. He’ll see what we’ve done as we’ve followed Him (2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 6:8). I think He’ll say something like, “You battled! Well done!” The apostle Paul testified that he had “fought the good fight” and looked forward to being welcomed by God (2 Timothy 4:7–8).

Life is a relentless struggle with a fierce, unyielding foe devoted to our destruction. He will resist every effort we make to be like Jesus and to love others. There’ll be a few good wins and some heartbreaking losses—God knows—but there will be no eternal condemnation for those in Jesus (Romans 8:1). If we stand before Him in the merits of God’s Son, each one will “receive [his] praise” from God (1 Corinthians 4:5). By:  David H. Roper

Reflect & Pray

Does the thought of standing before God fill you with dread or delight? What would make the difference?

Thank You, God, for the promise that because I have Jesus as my Savior, I’ll never be condemned.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 18, 2021

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.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

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

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Bible in a Year: Obadiah; Revelation 9
 

Mark 10:1-31 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Immanuel - December 17, 2021

Imagine with me this conversation between God and Satan:

“Immanuel? God with us?” Satan spoke in a tone of disbelief. “The plan is bizarre. You don’t know what it is like on Earth! It’s evil.” “It’s mine,” proclaimed the King. “And I will reclaim what is mine. I will become flesh.” Satan stood speechless.

And God spoke, “I love my children. Love does not take away the beloved’s freedom, but love does take away fear. And Immanuel will leave behind a tribe of fearless children. They will not fear you; they will not fear your hell. I will take away all sin. I will take away death. And without sin and death you will have no power.”

Around and around in a circle, Satan paced, finally stopping to ask, “Why would you do this?” The Father’s voice was deep and soft. “Because I love them.”

Mark 10:1-31

Divorce

From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?”

3 Jesus said, “What did Moses command?”

4 They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.”

5-9 Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”

10-12 When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.”

* * *

13-16 The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.
To Enter God’s Kingdom

17 As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”

18-19 Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”

20 He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”

21 Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”

22 The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

23-25 Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”

26 That got their attention. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked.

27 Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”

28 Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and followed you.”

29-31 Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, December 17, 2021
Today's Scripture
Psalm 31:12–24
(NIV)

I am forgotten as though I were dead;x

I have become like broken pottery.

13 For I hear many whispering,y

“Terror on every side!”z

They conspire against mea

and plot to take my life.b

14 But I trustc in you, Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

15 My timesd are in your hands;

deliver me from the hands of my enemies,

from those who pursue me.

16 Let your face shinee on your servant;

save me in your unfailing love.f

17 Let me not be put to shame,g Lord,

for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

and be silenth in the realm of the dead.

18 Let their lying lipsi be silenced,

for with pride and contempt

they speak arrogantlyj against the righteous.

19 How abundant are the good thingsk

that you have stored up for those who fear you,

that you bestow in the sight of all,l

on those who take refugem in you.

20 In the sheltern of your presence you hideo them

from all human intrigues;p

you keep them safe in your dwelling

from accusing tongues.

21 Praise be to the Lord,q

for he showed me the wonders of his lover

when I was in a city under siege.s

22 In my alarmt I said,

“I am cut offu from your sight!”

Yet you heard my cryv for mercy

when I called to you for help.

23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people!w

The Lord preserves those who are true to him,x

but the proud he pays backy in full.

24 Be strong and take heart,z

all you who hope in the Lord.

Insight

In Psalm 31, David describes himself as broken pottery (v. 12)—an apt picture of humanity, for we’re frail vessels easily broken. We see this portrayal of humans as pottery and God as the Potter throughout Scripture (Psalm 2:9; Romans 9:21; Revelation 2:27). In Jeremiah 18:1–10, we read of the Potter’s ability to create, preserve, tear down, and reshape people and nations (see also Isaiah 41:25; 45:9). Yet as Isaiah declares, “You, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” (64:8). God as our Creator longs to preserve and restore His people (Psalm 31:23–24). By: Alyson Kieda

Beautifully Broken

I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.
Psalm 31:12

Our bus finally arrived at our much-anticipated destination—an archaeological dig in Israel where we would actually do some excavation work of our own. The site’s director explained that anything we might unearth had been untouched for thousands of years. Digging up broken shards of pottery, we felt as though we were touching history. After an extended time, we were led to a workstation where those broken pieces—from huge vases shattered long, long ago—were being put back together.    

The picture was crystal clear. Those artisans reconstructing centuries-old broken pottery were a beautiful representation of the God who loves to fix broken things. In Psalm 31:12, David wrote, “I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.” Though no occasion is given for the writing of this psalm, David’s life difficulties often found voice in his laments—just like this one. The song describes him as being broken down by danger, enemies, and despair.

So, where did he turn for help? In verse 16, David cries out to God, “Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.”

The God who was the object of David’s trust is the same One who still fixes broken things today. All He asks is that we call out to Him and trust in His unfailing love. By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray

What areas of brokenness have you experienced? How has God helped you through those difficult times?

God of my help, I thank You for all the times I’ve fallen and been broken—times when You’ve put me back together.

For further study, read Understanding the Bible: The Wisdom Books.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 17, 2021
Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies

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

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

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

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances.  Not Knowing Whither, 900 L

Bible in a Year: Amos 7-9; Revelation 8

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 17, 2021

The Closer They Get, The Better You Look - #9115

It takes a real romantic klutz to ruin himself with four girls at one time. (It was me.) Oh, I did a pretty good job of that when I was in high school. See, it was Christmastime, and I decided I wanted to write kind of a romantic masterpiece on the back of the Christmas card to a girl named Wendy. The problem was that I actually was interested in three other girls too.

And after I finished writing that masterpiece, I said, "You know, this is so good, I think I'll put it on a card that's for all of the other girls too." Well, only I did change the name on them. It was okay as long as they didn't get together and compare notes. And they're all over the city. That ain't going to happen. Right?

Well, who could have guessed that those girls would decide to get together for a slumber party the day after Christmas, and bring their Christmas cards and compare them! Hello, Roasted Romeo!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Closer They Get, The Better You Look."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Samuel 12. In my Bible heading it says Samuel's Farewell Speech. This great leader for God is now about to turn over the leadership of Israel as their last judge to their first king, King Saul. And he says this very daring statement in his farewell speech, standing in front of these people who have known him for years. He says, "Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right."

Well, they replied, "'You have not cheated or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from anyone's hand.' And Samuel said to them, 'The Lord is witness against you, and also His anointed is witness to this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.' And they said, 'He is witness.'" This is an incredible exchange, and the issue here was integrity. Samuel says, "Now, you've watched my life. You've watched my ministry. I want you now to testify against me and tell me any inconsistencies that you have seen." Wow!

Samuel didn't get up and say he had integrity. He lived in such a way that he could ask those who knew him to actually testify against him, and they couldn't. If all the people around him compared notes, they couldn't find any inconsistencies or deceit or question marks. No, I didn't fare so well that day those girls compared notes. You know, that day after Christmas? But we should live in such a way that we have no fear of being found out, no fear of discovery, no fear of investigation or scrutiny.

There's such tremendous freedom in living by three words: Nothing to hide. What does your family think of your integrity - the people who know you best? Do you talk one set of values and live another at home? Those you work with, those you serve with at church, those who see you make decisions or handle money or treat people? Do they see a consistency between the public you and the private you? What if you said to them, "Go ahead; testify against me." Would they say, "We have found nothing"? Wow!

Live your life in such a way that you have no fear of scrutiny, discovery, people comparing stories. If you tell the truth and do all the things as Jesus would do them, the light will only show your authenticity like it did Samuel's. It can be said of those who live without secrets and without deception, "The closer people get, the better you look."

Leviticus 21 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: We Know He Came - December 16, 2021

Spiritual beings populate the stories of Scripture. Angels singing. Demons infecting. Heavenly hosts fighting. Ignore the armies of God and you ignore the heart of Scripture. Ever since the snake tempted Eve in Eden, we’ve known there is more to this world than meets the eye.

We know less than we desire about these beings. Their strategies and plans we can only imagine. If Satan could preempt Christ in the cradle, there’d be no Christ on the cross. Don’t you think he tried?

The conflict was, no doubt, far grander and more dramatic than anything we can fictionalize. But while we can only imagine if such a war occurred, we can be sure of this: we know who won. Because we know he came.

Leviticus 21

Holy Priests

God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron. Tell them, A priest must not ritually contaminate himself by touching the dead, except for close relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband; for these he may make himself ritually unclean, but he must not contaminate himself with the dead who are only related to him by marriage and thus profane himself.

5-6 “Priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or gash their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because their job is to present the gifts of God, the food of their God, they are to be holy.

7-8 “Because a priest is holy to his God he must not marry a woman who has been a harlot or a cult prostitute or a divorced woman. Make sure he is holy because he serves the food of your God. Treat him as holy because I, God, who make you holy, am holy.

9 “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself in prostitution, she disgraces her father. She must be burned at the stake.

10-12 “The high priest, the one among his brothers who has received the anointing oil poured on his head and been ordained to wear the priestly vestments, must not let his hair go wild and tangled nor wear ragged and torn clothes. He must not enter a room where there is a dead body. He must not ritually contaminate himself, even for his father or mother; and he must neither abandon nor desecrate the Sanctuary of his God because of the dedication of the anointing oil which is upon him. I am God.

13-15 “He is to marry a young virgin, not a widow, not a divorcee, not a cult prostitute—he is only to marry a virgin from his own people. He must not defile his descendants among his people because I am God who makes him holy.”

16-23 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron, None of your descendants, in any generation to come, who has a defect of any kind may present as an offering the food of his God. That means anyone who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed, crippled in foot or hand, hunchbacked or dwarfed, who has anything wrong with his eyes, who has running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to offer gifts to God; he has a defect and so must not offer the food of his God. He may eat the food of his God, both the most holy and the holy, but because of his defect he must not go near the curtain or approach the Altar. It would desecrate my Sanctuary. I am God who makes them holy.”

24 Moses delivered this message to Aaron, his sons, and to all the People of Israel.

* * *

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, December 16, 2021

Today's Scripture
Galatians 3:26–4:7
(NIV)

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of Godm through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christn have clothed yourselves with Christ.o 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free,p nor is there male and female,q for you are all one in Christ Jesus.r 29 If you belong to Christ,s then you are Abraham’s seed,t and heirsu according to the promise.v

4 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slaveryw under the elemental spiritual forcesa of the world.x 4 But when the set time had fully come,y God sent his Son,z born of a woman,a born under the law,b 5 to redeemc those under the law, that we might receive adoptiond to sonship.b e 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Sonf into our hearts,g the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,c Father.”h 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Insight

Paul isn’t abolishing all ethnic, economic, or gender distinctions in the church (Galatians 3:28). Rather, in speaking of our salvation, Paul says God treats everyone on the same basis: All have sinned—“we are all prisoners of sin” (3:22 nlt; see Romans 3:23). Everyone needs to repent (Acts 2:38; 3:19). We’re all saved in the same way—by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). “In Christ Jesus [we] are all children of God through faith” (Galatians 3:26). In Jesus, God embraces us equally (1 Corinthians 12:13; Colossians 3:11). While we enter God’s family by being “born again” (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3, 23), Paul uses the concept of adoption to describe our standing in the family so we can immediately claim our status and enjoy our full privileges as His children—“God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:7). We’re “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). By: K. T. Sim

What Are You?

In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
Galatians 3:26

When I walked into the ice cream shop with my five-year-old biracial son, the man behind the counter glanced at me and stared at my child. “What are you?”

His question and harsh tone triggered the all-too-familiar anger and heartache I’d experienced growing up as a Mexican-American who didn’t fit stereotypes. Pulling Xavier closer, I turned toward my Black husband as he entered the store. With eyes narrowed, the store clerk completed our order in silence.

I prayed silently for the man as my son listed the flavors of ice cream he wanted to try. Repenting of my bitterness, I asked God to give me a spirit of forgiveness. With my light-but-not-white complexion, I’d been the target of similar glares accompanying that same question over the years. I’d struggled with insecurities and feelings of worthlessness until I began learning how to embrace my identity as God’s beloved daughter.

The apostle Paul declares that believers in Jesus are “all children of God through faith,” equally valued and beautifully diverse. We’re intimately connected and intentionally designed to work together (Galatians 3:26–29). When God sent His Son to redeem us, we became family through His blood shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins (4:4–7). As God’s image-bearers, our worth cannot be determined by the opinions, expectations, or biases of others.

What are we? We’re children of God. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

When have you doubted your value as a person due to the opinions, expectations, or biases of others? How does knowing all God’s children are His image-bearers help you love those who are different from you?

Father God, please help me to see myself and others through Your eyes. Help me love with Your heart as I come into contact with people who are different from me

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Wrestling Before God

Take up the whole armor of God…praying always… —Ephesians 6:13,18

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

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

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances.  Not Knowing Whither, 900 L

Bible in a Year: Amos 4-6; Revelation 7

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 16, 2021

Today's Storm, Tomorrow's Strengths - #9114

Besides all the other upheaval of 2020, it was like a record year for hurricanes. They went through the entire English alphabet of names, then they started on the Greek alphabet! It's reminiscent of those two massive hurricanes that hit within days of each other. Remember? Harvey swamped Texas. Irma devastated Florida.

First, they talked about rescue - saving lives. Then came the long slog they call recovery. Weeks. Months. Years. But the aftermath of Florida's previous monster hurricane, Hurricane Andrew, actually yielded some unforeseen good from the storm. Andrew's killer winds revealed fatal weaknesses in a lot of their buildings and the need for much stronger building codes. As a result, Hurricane Irma, with all her punishing gusts, couldn't do the damage Andrew had done.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Today's Storm, Tomorrow's Strengths"

From that tale of two hurricanes, a tale of many storm-ravaged lives emerges. From the devastation of one storm came a new strength to withstand future storms. That's what's happened in many a life that's torn up by one of life's Category 5 storms. Heartbreaking losses. A life-altering medical hit. A shipwrecked relationship. Maybe a family crisis. Or, as in my life, the loss of the one you love deeply.

For many, from the rubble of that storm came something stronger than ever before. And you know what that is? It's called hope! A defiant hope! Yes, life-storms do damage. But they also expose where there are weak spots - in my character, my relationship with God, in my family, my marriage, in our parenting. Weak spots that are there because of past wounds maybe that we've never dealt with.

Often, a major life-storm means a major life-loss of some kind: your health, your income, your future plans, your marriage, your loved one. And that loss leaves a gaping hole. I'm not sure that hole ever goes away. But after the storm, you have a choice. Let your loss, and the hole that it leaves, define your life from now on. Well, goodbye hope. Or begin to rebuild your life around that hole. And to rebuild your life ON what you've learned from that loss. Now that's a blueprint for hope.

That's the perspective in our word for today from the Word of God in Romans 5:3-5. It shows the constructive possibilities from a destructive event. "We can rejoice, too," it says, "when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment, for we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love."

Great athletes have served their time in the weight room usually, pushing hard to increase their bench press. And lifting more than they've ever lifted before? Well, it hurts. There's pain. But coaches want to see you in that weight room. Because the pain of lifting more than you've ever lifted before will make you stronger than you've ever been before. More powerful, more confident, more valuable, more useful to God than you've ever been before because you've been in God's weight room.

No, you can't stop the storm, you can't stop its effects. But you can choose to not retreat but to rebuild. Working with God on the vulnerabilities that the storm revealed. Rebuilding stronger than ever before. Ready for whatever storms may come.

Or, in the Bible's words: "In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).

Mark 9:30-50 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A Lord to Lead You - December 15, 2021

“There has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The Greek word used in this verse is Kyrios. It signifies one who rightfully holds a position of authority. Jesus was born with this title. He has a lawful right to rule over every sphere, star, galaxy, and gulf. He is the Lord of legislators, liberators, light bearers, and laborers. He bears the signet of the highest office and wears the insignia of “Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9).

Congress doesn’t run the world. Cancer doesn’t control your destiny. Death doesn’t have the last word. The faceless hand of fate isn’t directing history. The Lord Jesus is. You have a Lord to lead you.

Mark 9:30-50

 Leaving there, they went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know their whereabouts, for he wanted to teach his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him. Three days after his murder, he will rise, alive.” They didn’t know what he was talking about, but were afraid to ask him about it.
So You Want First Place?

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?”

34 The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest.

35 He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.”

36-37 He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.”

* * *

38 John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

39-41 Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath slam me. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

42 “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

43-48 “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

49-50 “Everyone’s going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you’ll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 12:12–21
(NIV)

Unity and Diversity in the Body

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body,t so it is with Christ.u 13 For we were all baptizedv byc one Spiritw so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or freex—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.y 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.z

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placeda the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.b 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.c

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

Insight

In Paul’s first New Testament letter to the Corinthians, he describes two ways his readers have been overlooking the body of Christ. First, they were ignoring the significance of sharing bread and wine in remembrance of His shed blood and broken body (1 Corinthians 11:29). In the process, they were also failing to live for the good of one another. Paul went on to explain that the Holy Spirit had gifted them to work together, just as members of our human bodies help and depend on each other (12:12–27). Paul sees his readers as members of the body of Christ brought together to share the heart of love he describes in chapter 13. By: Mart DeHaan

I Am His Hands

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!”
1 Corinthians 12:21

Jia Haixia lost his sight in the year 2000. His friend Jia Wenqi lost his arms as a child. But they’ve found a way around their disabilities. “I am his hands and he is my eyes,” Haixia says. Together, they’re transforming their village in China.

Since 2002 the friends have been on a mission to regenerate a wasteland near their home. Each day Haixia climbs on Wenqi’s back to cross a river to the site. Wenqi then “hands” Haixia a shovel with his foot, before Haixia places a pail on a pole between Wenqi’s cheek and shoulder. And as one digs and the other waters, the two plant trees—more than 10,000 so far. “Working together, we don’t feel disabled at all,” Haixia says. “We’re a team.”

The apostle Paul likens the church to a body, each part needing the other to function. If the church were all eyes, there’d be no hearing; if all ears, there’d be no sense of smell (1 Corinthians 12:14–17). “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ ” Paul says (v. 21). Each of us plays a role in the church based on our spiritual gifts (vv. 7–11, 18). Like Jia Haixia and Jia Wenqi, when we combine our strengths, we can bring change to the world.

Two men combining their abilities to regenerate a wasteland. What a picture of the church in action! By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray

Based on your spiritual gifts, what part do you play in the body of Christ? How are you joining with others to fulfill His mission?

Holy Spirit, thank You for giving me spiritual gifts and arranging me in a body where I’m needed.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
“Approved to God”

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15

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

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

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t.  Conformed to His Image, 357 R

Bible in a Year: Amos 1-3; Revelation 6

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Beyond the Backyard - #9113

Pierre lived in a pretty small world most of the time. But that's okay, he was our parrot. We had him in this cage in the kitchen so he would be around people a lot. By day his cage was uncovered. By night it was covered, just like the bird people said to do. Since I was usually the first one up in the morning, I was the one who lifted the blanket that covered him at night.

For a while, I just opened the side that allowed him to see what was going on in the kitchen, and then it dawned on me that I was leaving the back side of his cage covered. That was the side that faced outside the house, and it gave Pierre a view of the neighborhood beyond our kitchen. So once I lifted that side of the cover, there was no way he was going to be stuck just looking in the kitchen. No, he immediately turned around! He looked out the window at that strange world out there.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Beyond the Backyard."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 24:14. It's a peek at the exciting plans of God before Jesus Christ returns. It says this: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come." God's people are going to be involved in the great gospel explosion; the miracle spread of the good news about Jesus to millions and probably billions who have never heard, and it very well could be happening in our day or beginning to.

The problem is Jesus said that many of His potential warriors would be asleep in the middle of it. In verse 12, just before this, He says, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love" - and He's talking about His followers - "the love of most will grow cold." Oh, great! They're going to be all tied up in their small world - their cage; missing the big world that God wants to show them at the most decisive time in human history.

Think about the times you and I have been chosen to live in. Lost people have never been more ready for Jesus. Oh, they may not know much about Him; they may be living pretty lost lives. But the things that have made them lost have made them ready: the uncertainty, the stress, the relationship failures. They've made people realize that they need something outside themselves, but they don't know what it is. And then God's people, I don't think they've ever been more restless. There's this feeling, maybe you know what it is. I have it. That there's got to be something more, more powerful, more significant in our lives, that we could make a greater difference than we've made until now .

And then the reaching of the world has never been more possible, and the return of Christ has never been closer. Man, it's time to make a difference! What a time! It could be that like our parrot, we've been looking inward most of the time: my needs, my family, my job, my church, my little world. A lot of churches are mired in their own backyard with petty issues, committee meetings, building campaigns.

We're at an incredible moment of opportunity, but the missionary force from the United States has dropped dramatically in just a short period of time. Hundreds of missionaries are stranded in the United States because it's taking them years to raise their support. Partly because we're spending our money on ourselves instead of on this world that Jesus died for.

Right now I believe Jesus is lifting the cover off the cage of those of us who have been mired in our own little world. He's saying, "Hey, would you look outside this little window? There's a world of billions of people I died for; most of whom have no one to tell them." And did you know that every day 150,000 people go into eternity ready or not? Probably not. And today they will, and tomorrow they will, and the day after that they will. Jesus said, "The fields are ready for harvest; look at the fields."

Isn't it time you begin to invest the best of your energy, the best of your money, your gifts, your influence in the cause for which your Savior sacrificed everything? These are days we need to be working together.

There's a whole world out there. Don't keep staring at the little world just around you. Remember what the Bible says, "God so loved the world." He wants you to love it too.