Deuteronomy 5, and devotions

 

Max Lucado Daily: Anything But a King

In Bethlehem, the human being who best understood who God was and what He was doing, was a teenage girl in a smelly stable. As Mary looked into the face of the baby, her son, her Lord, His majesty—she couldn’t take her eyes off Him. Somehow Mary knew she was holding God. So this is He. And she remembered the words of the angel when he said, “His kingdom will never end!”

He looked like anything but a King. His cry, though strong and healthy, was still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter. God came near! Luke 1:33 says, “His kingdom will never end!” May you be a part of it.

From In the Manger

Deuteronomy 5

Ten Commandments for the Covenant Community

Moses called all the people of Israel together and said, “Listen carefully, Israel. Hear the decrees and regulations I am giving you today, so you may learn them and obey them!

2 “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai.[a] 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today. 4 At the mountain the Lord spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire. 5 I stood as an intermediary between you and the Lord, for you were afraid of the fire and did not want to approach the mountain. He spoke to me, and I passed his words on to you. This is what he said:

6 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

7 “You must not have any other god but me.

8 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 9 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 10 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those[b] who love me and obey my commands.

11 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

16 “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

17 “You must not murder.

18 “You must not commit adultery.

19 “You must not steal.

20 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

21 “You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not covet your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

22 “The Lord spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

23 “But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me. 24 They said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! 25 But now, why should we risk death again? If the Lord our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire. 26 Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? 27 Go yourself and listen to what the Lord our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’

28 “The Lord heard the request you made to me. And he said, ‘I have heard what the people said to you, and they are right. 29 Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. 30 Go and tell them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you stand here with me so I can give you all my commands, decrees, and regulations. You must teach them to the people so they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.’”

32 So Moses told the people, “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following his instructions in every detail. 33 Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, December 22, 2014

Read: Philippians 2:5-11

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God,[a]

    he did not think of equality with God

    as something to cling to.

7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges[b];

    he took the humble position of a slave[c]

    and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form,[d]

8     he humbled himself in obedience to God

    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor

    and gave him the name above all other names,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

Footnotes:

2:6 Or Being in the form of God.

2:7a Greek he emptied himself.

2:7b Or the form of a slave.

2:7c Some English translations put this phrase in verse 8.

Insight

Philippians 2:5-11 is perhaps the greatest declaration of Christ’s deity and humanity in the Bible. In His incarnation, Jesus did not replace His deity with humanity, but added humanity to His deity; He did not cease to be God, but surrendered the independent use of His divine powers and the right to manifest His own glory as God. Before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed that the Father would restore to Him the glory He had with the Father “before the world was” (John 17:5). Jesus’ prayer was answered when the Father “highly exalted Him and [gave] Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

Remember The Wrapping

By Joe Stowell

[Jesus] made Himself of no reputation . . . coming in the likeness of men. —Philippians 2:7

At our house some Christmas events are the same each year. Among them is my wife Martie’s appeal to the kids and grandkids as they attack their gifts: “Save the paper, we can use it next year!” Martie loves to give nice gifts, but she also appreciates the wrapping. Presentation is part of the beauty of the gift.

It makes me think of the wrapping Christ chose when He came as a redemptive gift to rescue us from our sinful selves. Jesus could have wrapped Himself in a mind-boggling show of power, lighting up the sky with His presence in a celestial show of glory. Instead, in a beautiful reversal of Genesis 1:26, He chose to wrap Himself “in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7).

So why is this wrapping so important? Because, being like us, He is no stranger to our struggles. He experienced deep loneliness and the betrayal of a dear friend. He was publicly shamed, misunderstood, and falsely accused. In short, He feels our pain. As a result, the writer of Hebrews tells us that we can “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

When you think of the gift of Jesus this Christmas, remember to keep the “wrapping” in mind!

Lord, thank You for wrapping Yourself in our

likeness! Remind us that You understand our

struggles and that we can confidently take advantage

of the mercy and grace You offer to make us victorious.

Don’t disregard the wrapping of the best Christmas gift of all.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, December 22, 2014

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.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, December 22, 2014

The Loneliest Christmas - #7291

When my son was in college I think his favorite Christmas song was "I'll be Home for Christmas." That might be every college student's favorite song. He started counting the days, the hours, and the minutes until it was time to go home. But none of our kids have ever experienced anything like what my wife calls her loneliest Christmas.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Loneliest Christmas."

My wife was a college student in Chicago, and things were really hard for her family back home that year. Dad was a farmer, and the drought was really wiping him out financially. There was no money for her to go home that Christmas. You can imagine how she felt as her friends one by one said goodbye and headed out for their family Christmas at home. Eventually my wife was one of only about a dozen students left on the whole campus and none of them were people she really knew. Those were two very long weeks for a young woman who was used to mom and dad and grandma and grandpa, and sister and friends; all celebrating Christmas together. Actually, she still tears up when she thinks about it. It really hurts when it's Christmas and you're not home!

In a sense, many people have never really been home for Christmas-spiritually home that is. Oh we all have a homing instinct; this deep-down sense that there's something missing in our soul and we won't be home until we find it. The search for that missing piece of us takes us from relationship to relationship, from experience to experience, conquest after conquest, and that search inevitably leaves us still wondering where home is – for our heart.

Our word for today from the Word of God is from Colossians 1:16, one of my favorite verses in the Bible; six words that say it all. Speaking of Jesus Christ, it says: "All things were..." And here are the six words, "...created by Him and for Him." You and I were created by Jesus. We were created for Jesus. And we're going to have a hole in our heart until we have Jesus.

There was an article in Newsweek that said our lifestyle had "yielded only deeper hungers and lonelier nights." Wow! Well, God's Book reveals to us a startling fact that no person on earth can ever satisfy our sense of loneliness. It's cosmic loneliness. We're away from God, and He's the only One who has the lasting love that we were made for. We're like my wife that lonely Christmas at college. Our heart is aching for home! Can you feel it? And God didn't leave us; we left Him.

In the words of the Bible, "All of us have wandered away like sheep. Each of us has turned to his own way." That's maybe why the middle letter of sin is "I". We've basically said to God, "Hey, You run the universe. I'll run me, thank you." And that rebellion has cost us the one relationship that we can't live without and we dare not die without.

Then comes Christmas. There's nothing we can do to erase the sin that keeps us from God, to be able to one day be with Him forever in heaven. So God sent His own Son into the world to pay the death penalty that sin requires. And God explains His motive this way, "God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." You see, to believe in Him is to tell God you're pinning all your hopes on Jesus to forgive your sin and to give you eternal life. Because only the One who died for your sin can forgive it. And only the One who walked out of His grave can give you eternal life.

A little boy was lost on a street corner in New York, and this policeman said, "Can you tell me your address or your phone number?" And the boy couldn't remember. Finally the little boy said, "But, Sir, there's a big church next to my house, and there's a big cross on the top. And if you can get me to the cross, I can find my way home." So can you.

If you can get yourself this Christmas to the cross where Jesus died for you, you can finally be home in that relationship with the One you were made by and made for. I would love to help you make that discovery and secure your relationship with Jesus and a place in heaven this very day. Would you go to our website? That's what it's all there for – ANewStory.com. Let your new story begin this Christmas season.

Give yourself to Jesus, and you'll be home where your heart has wanted to be for so long-home for Christmas; home forever.

Nehemiah 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ON YOUR KNEES - December 20, 2024

A small cathedral outside Bethlehem marks the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Behind a high altar in the church is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps. You can enter the main edifice and admire the ancient church. You can also enter the quiet cave, where a star embedded in the floor recognizes the birth of the King. There’s one stipulation, however. You have to stoop. The door is so low you can’t enter standing up.

The same is true of the Christ. You know, you can see the world standing tall, but to witness the Savior, you have to get on your knees. So at the birth of Jesus, while the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring, the meek were kneeling. They were kneeling before the One only the meek will see. They were kneeling in front of Jesus!

In the Manger

Nehemiah 3

The high priest Eliashib and his fellow priests were up and at it: They went to work on the Sheep Gate; they repaired it and hung its doors, continuing on as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel. The men of Jericho worked alongside them; and next to them, Zaccur son of Imri.

3–5  The Fish Gate was built by the Hassenaah brothers; they repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, worked; next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel; next to him Zadok son of Baana; and next to him the Tekoites (except for their nobles, who wouldn’t work with their master and refused to get their hands dirty with such work).

6–8  The Jeshanah Gate was rebuilt by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah; they repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. Melatiah the Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronothite, and the men of Gibeon and Mizpah, which was under the rule of the governor from across the Euphrates, worked alongside them. Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the goldsmiths’ guild worked next to him, and next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers. They rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

9–10  The next section was worked on by Rephaiah son of Hur, mayor of a half-district of Jerusalem. Next to him Jedaiah son of Harumaph rebuilt the front of his house; Hattush son of Hashabneiah worked next to him.

11–12  Malkijah son of Harim and Hasshub son of Pahath-Moab rebuilt another section that included the Tower of Furnaces. Working next to him was Shallum son of Hallohesh, mayor of the other half-district of Jerusalem, along with his daughters.

13  The Valley Gate was rebuilt by Hanun and villagers of Zanoah; they repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. They went on to repair 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

14  The Dung Gate itself was rebuilt by Malkijah son of Recab, the mayor of the district of Beth Hakkerem; he repaired it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars.

15  The Fountain Gate was rebuilt by Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, mayor of the Mizpah district; he repaired it, roofed it, hung its doors, and installed its bolts and bars. He also rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Siloam at the King’s Garden as far as the steps that go down from the City of David.

16  After him came Nehemiah son of Azbuk, mayor of half the district of Beth Zur. He worked from just in front of the Tomb of David as far as the Pool and the House of Heroes.

17–18  Levites under Rehum son of Bani were next in line. Alongside them, Hashabiah, mayor of half the district of Keilah, represented his district in the rebuilding. Next to him their brothers continued the rebuilding under Binnui son of Henadad, mayor of the other half-district of Keilah.

19–23  The section from in front of the Ascent to the Armory as far as the Angle was rebuilt by Ezer son of Jeshua, the mayor of Mizpah. From the Angle to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest was done by Baruch son of Zabbai. Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, took it from the door of Eliashib’s house to the end of Eliashib’s house. Priests from the neighborhood went on from there. Ben-jamin and Hasshub worked on the wall in front of their house, and Azariah son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, did the work alongside his house.

24–27  The section from the house of Azariah to the Angle at the Corner was rebuilt by Binnui son of Henadad. Palal son of Uzai worked opposite the Angle and the tower that projects from the Upper Palace of the king near the Court of the Guard. Next to him Pedaiah son of Parosh and The Temple support staff who lived on the hill of Ophel worked up to the point opposite the Water Gate eastward and the projecting tower. The men of Tekoa did the section from the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel.

28–30  Above the Horse Gate the priests worked, each priest repairing the wall in front of his own house. After them Zadok son of Immer rebuilt in front of his house and after him Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate; then Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph; then Meshullam son of Berekiah rebuilt the wall in front of his storage shed.

31–32  Malkijah the goldsmith repaired the wall as far as the house of The Temple support staff and merchants, up to the Inspection Gate, and the Upper Room at the Corner. The goldsmiths and the merchants made the repairs between the Upper Room at the Corner and the Sheep Gate.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, December 20, 2024

by Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 40:1-8

“Comfort, oh comfort my people,”

says your God.

“Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem,

but also make it very clear

That she has served her sentence,

that her sin is taken care of—forgiven!

She’s been punished enough and more than enough,

and now it’s over and done with.”

3–5  Thunder in the desert!

“Prepare for God’s arrival!

Make the road straight and smooth,

a highway fit for our God.

Fill in the valleys,

level off the hills,

Smooth out the ruts,

clear out the rocks.

Then God’s bright glory will shine

and everyone will see it.

Yes. Just as God has said.”

6–8  A voice says, “Shout!”

I said, “What shall I shout?”

“These people are nothing but grass,

their love fragile as wildflowers.

The grass withers, the wildflowers fade,

if God so much as puffs on them.

Aren’t these people just so much grass?

True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,

but our God’s Word stands firm and forever.”

Today's Insights

We tend to make the phrase “the Word of God” (see Isaiah 40:8) into a synonym for Scripture itself. And it’s true that the Bible is an integral and vital way in which God reveals Himself to us. Ultimately, however, the greater revealer of God is a living and enduring person: Jesus. Isaiah 40:1-11 has a strong messianic message as it describes this eternal Word in whom we trust. This is who Isaiah is pointing to—the Word made flesh as revealed in John 1 (see especially vv. 1, 14). The words of God given to us in the pages of the Bible point to the Word of God (Jesus) spoken of in John 1.

The Truth Never Changes

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:8

When he was younger, my son Xavier and I read a fictional children’s story about a boy who rebelled against his teacher by referring to a pen by a made-up name. The student convinced his fellow fifth graders to use the new name he created for pens. News about the boy’s replacement word spread through the whole town. Eventually, people across the country changed the way they referred to pens, simply because others accepted one boy’s made-up reality as a universal truth.

Throughout history, flawed human beings have embraced ever-changing versions of truth or personal preferred realities to suit their desires. However, the Bible points to one truth, the one true God, and one way to salvation—the Messiah—through whom “the glory of the Lord will be revealed” (Isaiah 40:5). The prophet Isaiah affirmed that people, like all created things, are temporal, fallible, and unreliable (vv. 6-7). He said, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (v. 8).

Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah provides a dependable foundation, a safe refuge, and a secured hope. We can trust God’s Word because Jesus Himself is the Word (John 1:1). Jesus is the Truth who never changes.

Reflect & Pray

When have you been tempted to reject what the Bible says simply because others accepted another view as truth? How does knowing Jesus is the Word and the fulfillment of all God’s promises comfort you?

Dear Jesus, please help me live in a way that shows I believe the Bible is the truth that never changes.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, December 20, 2024

The Right Lines of Work

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. — John 12:32

Very few of us have any understanding of why Jesus Christ died. It wasn’t out of sympathy. If sympathy is all that human beings require, then Christ’s cross was a farce; there was no need for it. But the cross was necessary. What the world needs isn’t just a little bit of love, as so many preach today; it’s a surgical operation.

When you are face–to–face with a soul in spiritual difficulty, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If the soul you’re counseling can get to God by some path other than the cross, then the cross is unnecessary. If you’re holding out your own sympathy as that other path, you’re a traitor to Jesus Christ. You have to keep your soul rightly related to God and pour out for others in the way he has designated, not in the human way of sympathy and understanding. The dominant note in spiritual guidance today is amiable religiosity; we have to avoid this, or we ignore God and his gospel.

The one thing New Testament workers have to do is exhibit Jesus Christ crucified, to lift him up all the time. Any doctrine that isn’t embedded in the cross will lead astray. When we believe in Jesus Christ and base our message on the reality of redemption, the people we talk to will inevitably be concerned by what we say. The thing that remains and deepens is the worker’s simple relationship to Jesus Christ. Our usefulness to God depends on that and that alone.

God’s workers can’t be poetic; we have to be surgical. Our calling is to uncover sin and reveal Jesus Christ as savior, not to give beautiful discourses. We have to go deep when we preach to others, as deep as God has gone with us. We have to be discerning in sensing which Scriptures will bring the truth straight home to another soul, and then apply them fearlessly.

Micah 1-3; Revelation 11

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally.

The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, December 20, 2024

Amazing Grace, Amazing Christmas - #9900

There are lots of people digging into their family tree these days. In fact, we've done some of our own. A lot of digging around to find out where your roots are. You know, where my grandfather came from and my great grandfather, and which king or famous person I'm descended from. Of course I would be descended from someone famous, right?

Some people do find out that they are related to royalty, and then other people find out some embarrassment in their family tree - the old horse thief, you know, that they'd rather not talk about. For 2,000 years God has been developing and protecting a line for His Son to come through, and there are in that family tree some eyebrow raisers.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Amazing Grace, Amazing Christmas."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God, comes right out of the Christmas Story, is found in Matthew 1. Now, you may or may not be aware of the fact that the Christmas Story begins actually with a genealogy - a list of Jesus' family tree. God's been preparing this line for the Messiah; it's this most special family tree in the history of planet earth. He goes down a long list of names that starts here with Abraham, works its way down, and I'll just read a couple of them to you.

"Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth," etc. You probably don't want to hear a whole lot more of that. But all of a sudden you stop and your eye goes back and you say, "Rahab? What's she doing in Jesus' family tree?" Now, in most of this genealogy only the father is mentioned. It's only in rare cases where God wants to make a special point of it that He includes the mother. Why Rahab?

Now, if you remember your Old Testament a little bit, some years before, the Israelites were preparing to conquer the land of Canaan. God sent in a couple of spies and they went to the city of Jericho and they found one home where they were taken in to hide, and it turned out it was the home of Rahab - the prostitute. She turned out to be the prostitute who gave herself to the Jewish God for the rest of her life.

But these aren't the kind of people you talk about in your family tree; these are the ones you cover up. This is scandalous. This isn't the king! And yet God makes it a point to include her. You see, there's a hidden message here in the Christmas Story. A message that Jesus is for people who know they need forgiving and who know that God's grace has no limits. God doesn't use the word deserve when it comes to salvation. None of us deserves to be in His family tree. It's not just Rahab that's a surprise; what is Ron Hutchcraft doing in God's family? What are you doing in His family?

We're sinners who must always find grace to be "Amazing grace - how sweet the sound." The hymn says, "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me...a sinner condemned, unclean." I hope today you still find God's grace amazing, and that you haven't been around so long that you think you belong in God's family because you deserve it. There is no one listening today who can not be forgiven by Him. Rahab was. And there is no person who doesn't still need His amazing grace today.

But maybe you've never experienced that grace for yourself. Oh, you've heard that song a lot of times - Amazing Grace. It says, "I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see." But today, this Christmas season, how appropriate. The God who will forgive all those who come to Him, holds out His hand to you and says, "Grab My hand." His Son died to pay the penalty that you deserve. And God can be a forgiver because of the death of His Son on a cross. And, because His Son walked out of His grave under His own power, what began in a manger ended on a cross, and culminated with a resurrection and becomes personal for you when you let this Jesus be the forgiver of your sins.

That's the day you're welcomed into His family. Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I want the Savior you came to be, to be my Savior. You came into the world at Christmas. Come into my life this Christmas season."

And, go to our website and find out there how you can be sure you belong to Him - ANewStory.com. Because the story of Rahab tells us this Christmas that there is no one who He will not welcome into the family of God.

Nehemiah 2, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: THE IMPOSSIBLE OCCURRED - December 19, 2024

The noise and the bustle began earlier than usual in the village. The owner of the inn had awakened earlier than most in the town. After all, the inn was full. All the beds were taken.

One’s imagination is kindled thinking about the conversation of the innkeeper and his family. At the breakfast table, did anyone mention the arrival of the young couple the night before? Did anyone comment on the pregnancy of the girl on the donkey? There was nothing that novel about them. They were, quite possibly, one of several families turned away that night.

No, it was doubtful that anyone mentioned the couple’s arrival. They were too busy. The morning’s chores had to be done. There was too much to do to imagine that the impossible had occurred. God had entered the world as a baby.

Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Classics of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope

Nehemiah 2

It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king. At the hour for serving wine I brought it in and gave it to the king. I had never been hangdog in his presence before, so he asked me, “Why the long face? You’re not sick are you? Or are you depressed?”

2–3  That made me all the more agitated. I said, “Long live the king! And why shouldn’t I be depressed when the city, the city where all my family is buried, is in ruins and the city gates have been reduced to cinders?”

4–5  The king then asked me, “So what do you want?”

Praying under my breath to the God-of-Heaven, I said, “If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it.”

6  The king, with the queen sitting alongside him, said, “How long will your work take and when would you expect to return?”

I gave him a time, and the king gave his approval to send me.

7–8  Then I said, “If it please the king, provide me with letters to the governors across the Euphrates that authorize my travel through to Judah; and also an order to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, to supply me with timber for the beams of The Temple fortress, the wall of the city, and the house where I’ll be living.”

8–9  The generous hand of my God was with me in this and the king gave them to me. When I met the governors across The River (the Euphrates) I showed them the king’s letters. The king even sent along a cavalry escort.

10  When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very upset, angry that anyone would come to look after the interests of the People of Israel.

“Come—Let’s Build the Wall of Jerusalem”

11–12  And so I arrived in Jerusalem. After I had been there three days, I got up in the middle of the night, I and a few men who were with me. I hadn’t told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with us was the one I was riding.

13–16  Under cover of night I went past the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Fountain to the Dung Gate looking over the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken through and whose gates had been burned up. I then crossed to the Fountain Gate and headed for the King’s Pool but there wasn’t enough room for the donkey I was riding to get through. So I went up the valley in the dark continuing my inspection of the wall. I came back in through the Valley Gate. The local officials had no idea where I’d gone or what I was doing—I hadn’t breathed a word to the Jews, priests, nobles, local officials, or anyone else who would be working on the job.

17–18  Then I gave them my report: “Face it: we’re in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come—let’s build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer.” I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up.

They said, “We’re with you. Let’s get started.” They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work.

19  When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they laughed at us, mocking, “Ha! What do you think you’re doing? Do you think you can cross the king?”

20  I shot back, “The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We’re his servants and we’re going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it. You get no say in this—Jerusalem’s none of your business!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, December 19, 2024

by Kenneth Petersen

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Genesis 1:1-10

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

3–5  God spoke: “Light!”

And light appeared.

God saw that light was good

and separated light from dark.

God named the light Day,

he named the dark Night.

It was evening, it was morning—

Day One.

6–8  God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;

separate water from water!”

God made sky.

He separated the water under sky

from the water above sky.

And there it was:

he named sky the Heavens;

It was evening, it was morning—

Day Two.

9–10  God spoke: “Separate!

Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;

Land, appear!”

And there it was.

God named the land Earth.

He named the pooled water Ocean.

God saw that it was good.

Today's Insights

The word genesis means “origin” or “beginnings.” The book of Genesis is about beginnings: the beginning of the world, of God’s chosen people, and of His plan to save us. It begins: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1). The gospel of John has a similar opening: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (1:1-2). These verses reveal much about the world’s origin: The Word (Jesus) was with God in the beginning—and is God. Not only was Jesus with the Father and Spirit from the very beginning, He gave life and created all things (1:3; Genesis 1:2). In Genesis 1:3, God speaks light into the world; in John 1:4, we read that Jesus is “the light” (see also 8:12).

God’s View of Us

And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:10

It was 1968, and America was mired in a war with Vietnam, racial violence was exploding in cities, and two public figures had been assassinated. A year before, fire had taken the lives of three astronauts on the launchpad, and the idea of going to the moon seemed like a pipe dream. Nonetheless, Apollo 8 managed to launch a few days before Christmas.

It became the first manned mission to orbit the moon. The flight crew, Borman, Anders, and Lovell—all men of faith—broadcast a Christmas Eve message: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). At the time, it was the most watched TV event in the world, and millions shared the God’s-eye view of Earth in a now iconic photo. Frank Borman finished the reading: “And God saw that it was good” (v. 10).

Thank you for being a faithful reader of Our Daily Bread devotions. If you would like to help others connect with God’s Word all across the globe, please consider partnering with us this holiday season.

Sometimes it’s hard to look at ourselves, all the hardships we’re mired in, and see anything that’s good. But we might return to the story of creation and see God’s view of us: “In the image of God he created them” (v. 27). Let’s pair that with another divine-eye view: “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). Today, remember that God created you, sees the good despite the sin, and loves the you He created.

Reflect & Pray

What hardships and sins are you mired in today? What does it mean that you're created in the image of God?

Dear God, I'm struggling these days. Please help me to see what You see in me—You’re the God’s-eye view.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, December 19, 2024

What to Concentrate On

I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. — Matthew 10:34

Never be sympathetic with the soul whose situation makes you conclude that God is hard. God is more tender than we can imagine. Occasionally, he asks us to be the hard ones so that he can be the tender one. Sometimes toughness is what’s needed, especially when you’re dealing with souls who can’t get through to God because they have some secret thing they’re refusing to give up. They might admit it’s wrong, but secretly they think, “I no more intend to give that up than to fly.” It’s impossible to deal sympathetically with someone like this. We have to dig down to the source of their resistance, until they respond with antagonism and resentment to our message. People want God’s blessing, but they can’t stand anything that cuts straight to the quick.

If God has had his way with you, the message you’ll deliver as his servant will be one of merciless insistence on a single point that gets right at the root of the problem. Otherwise, there will be no healing. You have to drive home the message until the person has no choice but to apply it individually. Try to get at people where they are, until they realize what they lack. Then erect the standard of Jesus Christ for their lives. If they reply, “We can never live like that!” tell them, “Jesus Christ says you must.” They will wonder how it’s possible. The only way is with a new Spirit, which Jesus promised to all who ask. Guide them to Luke 11:13: “How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

There must be a sense of need in your listener before your message will be of use. Millions of people are happy without God. If people were happy and moral before Jesus came, why did he come? Because that kind of happiness and peace is on a wrong level. Jesus Christ came to send a sword through every kind of peace that isn’t based on a personal relationship with him.

Jonah 1-4; Revelation 10

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally.

The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Your Journey Leads to Bethlehem - #9899

There's just no better time to have a baby boy than Christmastime. My parents did, we did. Not my wife and me! That would really be a Christmas miracle! No, it was our son and daughter-in-law.

And our family was able to say, with the ancient prophecy of Jesus' coming, "to us a child is born; to us a son is given" (Isaiah 9:6). And what a baby boy he was, charging into the world at ten pounds, ten ounces!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Journey Leads to Bethlehem."

The parents decided to hold off on announcing Christmas-boy's name until he was born, so we didn't know. And they gave him a strong Bible name for a first name. But it was his middle name that melted me into a puddle. It's my brother's name - the one who died suddenly when I was only four years old; the baby who brought Jesus to our family.

I was a baby boy born at Christmastime, too, but into a family who knew little or nothing about Jesus. I never heard about Him. In our little second-floor apartment on the south side of Chicago, there was, as in the Christmas story, "no room" for Jesus. There was room for gambling and arguing and drinking, but we were spiritually nowhere.

Then came the night my only sibling, my baby brother, was rushed to the hospital, and he never came home. My dad's heart broke. And in his grief, he decided he should take his four-year-old son to church. Oh, he didn't go in; he just stayed in the car and read his Sunday paper and smoked his cigarette. One Sunday I came bounding out of that church, and I said, "Daddy, today I accepted Jesus into my heart." I don't think he had any idea what I was talking about, but the following Christmas Eve he got it. That night my father went to church there and he came out with Jesus in his heart, too. My mom soon followed. And Jesus became the center of our life in that little apartment, and I got a brand new mommy and daddy all because of a baby who died.

As I understand the Bible, my little brother's in heaven. But his mom and dad and brother were headed for a different destination. He was the only one in our family who was ready to die. My whole family believed then, and believes now, that my baby brother was sent by God to lead us to Jesus. And over the years, it has been my privilege to be there as many thousands of folks have found the same Jesus that changed my family and changed our eternities forever.

Because of that baby, because of the mission he accomplished, all my children belong to Jesus. And so do all their children who have now welcomed Jesus into their heart as I did. One of my children was right then, the father of a brand new, hours-old baby boy. The baby I looked at across the hospital room. The baby who bears the name of the baby God used to give me Jesus.

I can't answer all those hard questions about why God allows suffering and pain in the world. But I can tell you how God used the seemingly "senseless" death of a baby to help me, my family and ultimately countless others be in heaven someday.

We experienced the truth of that wonderful word from God's Word, our word for today from John 1:12. "He came unto His own. His own did not receive Him, but to as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name." Born into His family because of the baby who was born in Bethlehem, and in our case, the baby who was born that led us to Him.

I wonder if you've ever had that birthday? I mean that spiritual birthday. I wonder if you've ever come to know Jesus? He's brought you down a journey; brought you down a road that has brought you to listen to the radio and come to this point this day because this is the day He is ready to come into your heart. If you hear Him knocking, open the door.

Go to our website. I would love to be a part of helping you begin your relationship with Him. That's what it's there for, it's ANewStory.com.

You know, Christmas really is all about a Baby who came to die so we could live. And I will never stop thanking Him that He saw that lost little family in a second floor apartment on the south side of Chicago and sent a missionary - my brother - who never spoke a word to give us Jesus.

Nehemiah 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: QUESTIONS FOR JOSEPH - December 18, 2024

You’ll find knotholes and snapshots and “I wonders” in every chapter of the Bible about every person. But nothing stirs so many questions as does the birth of Jesus Christ. Characters appear and disappear before we can ask them anything. I’ve got some questions. I’ve got questions for Joseph.

Did you and Jesus arm wrestle? Did he ever let you win? Did you ever look up from your prayers and see Jesus listening? What ever happened to the wise men? What ever happened to you?

We don’t know. We don’t know what happened to Joseph. With the exception of a short scene with twelve-year-old Jesus in Jerusalem, he never reappears. The rest of his life is left to speculation, and we are left with our questions. But of all my questions, my first would be about Bethlehem. What was Joseph thinking while Jesus was being born?

Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Classics of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope

Nehemiah 1

 The memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

It was the month of Kislev in the twentieth year. At the time I was in the palace complex at Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, had just arrived from Judah with some fellow Jews. I asked them about the conditions among the Jews there who had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem.

3  They told me, “The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city gates are still cinders.”

4  When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven.

5–6  I said, “God, God-of-Heaven, the great and awesome God, loyal to his covenant and faithful to those who love him and obey his commands: Look at me, listen to me. Pay attention to this prayer of your servant that I’m praying day and night in intercession for your servants, the People of Israel, confessing the sins of the People of Israel. And I’m including myself, I and my ancestors, among those who have sinned against you.

7–9  “We’ve treated you like dirt: We haven’t done what you told us, haven’t followed your commands, and haven’t respected the decisions you gave to Moses your servant. All the same, remember the warning you posted to your servant Moses: ‘If you betray me, I’ll scatter you to the four winds, but if you come back to me and do what I tell you, I’ll gather up all these scattered peoples from wherever they ended up and put them back in the place I chose to mark with my Name.’

10–11  “Well, there they are—your servants, your people whom you so powerfully and impressively redeemed. O Master, listen to me, listen to your servant’s prayer—and yes, to all your servants who delight in honoring you—and make me successful today so that I get what I want from the king.”

I was cupbearer to the king.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

by Tom Felten

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Deuteronomy 18:15-18

God, your God, is going to raise up a prophet for you. God will raise him up from among your kinsmen, a prophet like me. Listen obediently to him. This is what you asked God, your God, for at Horeb on the day you were all gathered at the mountain and said, “We can’t hear any more from God, our God; we can’t stand seeing any more fire. We’ll die!”

17–19  And God said to me, “They’re right; they’ve spoken the truth. I’ll raise up for them a prophet like you from their kinsmen. I’ll tell him what to say and he will pass on to them everything I command him.

Today's Insights

Two months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive God’s laws (Exodus 19:16-25). Trembling in fear after God revealed Himself in thunder, lightning, billowing smoke, and a violent shaking of the whole mountain (vv. 16-18), the Israelites asked Him not to speak to them directly, but through Moses, lest they be destroyed by His holiness (20:18-19). Forty years later, Moses prophesied that God would provide a prophet—a mediator who would make known to them God’s words (Deuteronomy 18:15-20). God commanded His people not to imitate the detestable occultic practices of the pagan nations; specifically, not to consult with sorcerers, diviners, witches, spiritists, and mediums (vv. 9-14). They were to listen only to the “prophet like [Moses]” (v. 15) that God would send. This prophet would be far greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6). Jesus, the “new Moses,” is the sole mediator between God and humanity (Acts 3:22-23; 1 Timothy 2:5).

Who We Listen To

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you . . . . You must listen to him. Deuteronomy 18:15

“I’ve got to declare an emergency. My pilot’s deceased.” Doug White nervously uttered those words to the control tower monitoring his flight. Minutes after takeoff, the pilot of the private plane Doug’s family had chartered suddenly passed away. Doug stepped into the cockpit with just three-month’s training in flying less sophisticated aircraft. He then carefully listened to controllers at a local airport who talked him through landing the plane. Later, Doug said, “[They] saved my family from an almost certain fiery death.”

We have one who alone can help us navigate the challenges in life. Moses, speaking to the Israelites, said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you . . . . You must listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). This promise pointed to a succession of prophets God provided for His people, but it also spoke of the Messiah. Both Peter and Stephen would later state that this ultimate prophet was Jesus (Acts 3:19-22; 7:37, 51-56). He alone came to tell us the loving and wise instructions of God (Deuteronomy 18:18).

During Christ’s life, God the Father said, “This is my Son . . . . Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7). To live wisely and avoid crashing and burning in this life, let’s listen to Jesus as He speaks through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. Listening to Him makes all the difference.

Reflect & Pray

Why is it sometimes challenging to hear Christ’s voice in this world? How can you better follow His wise and loving words today?

Dear Jesus, please help me hear and obey Your voice.

For further study, read Unknown Caller: Recognizing Jesus and the Kingdom

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

The Test of Loyalty

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. — Romans 8:28

Only the loyal soul believes that God engineers circumstances. We take enormous liberties with our circumstances, treating the things that happen as if they’d been engineered by human beings. We say we believe God is in control, but we don’t really. If we did, we’d be faithful to him in every circumstance; we’d have just one loyalty, and that would be to our Lord.

Most of us tend to go about our lives thinking we’re in control. Then, suddenly, God comes in and breaks up our circumstances, and we have the shocking realization that he was in control all along and that we’ve been disloyal to him by not recognizing it. We didn’t see the special thing he was trying to create with our circumstances, and now the thing is gone, never to be repeated all the days of our life; the test of loyalty always comes in this way. We have to learn that if we will worship God in difficult times, he will show us that he can alter our circumstances in two seconds flat, whenever he chooses.

Loyalty to Jesus Christ is what we stumble over today. We will be loyal to work, to service, to anything else; just don’t ask us to be loyal to Jesus Christ. Many Christians are intensely impatient of talk about loyalty to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more emphatically by Christian workers than by the world. God is turned into a machine for generating blessings, and Jesus into a worker among workers.

The idea we should have isn’t that we work for God but that we are so loyal to him that he can work through us. God wants to use us as he used his own Son. When Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8), he meant “witnesses who satisfy me in any circumstance I put you in, witnesses I am counting on for extreme service, with no complaining on your part and no explanation on mine.”

Obadiah; Revelation 9

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. 

The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

God's Knockout Punch at Christmas - #9898

Every day the people who broadcast the news to us have to decide what's going to be big news and what's going to be little news. The big news they talk about first. And the little news may not get mentioned at all.

Unfortunately, there are often disasters that occur every day, and they may or may not be big news. Most disasters produce casualties, but casualties are sort of little news. That means people just got hurt. Then there are fatalities. And when there are fatalities, well, sadly, that makes it big news - somebody was killed. The fatality factor seems to propel news to page one. The story of Christmas has a casualty in it, a fatality and a champion.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Knockout Punch at Christmas."

Now, I know you thought this was about Christmas and it is. But we're suddenly going to be in the Garden of Eden for a minute with our word for today from the Word of God which is in Genesis 3:15. The great tragedy; perhaps the greatest tragedy of history has just taken place as Adam and Eve have chosen to disobey God. Sin has entered a perfect world, and God is already talking about the solution.

He speaks to the serpent, who is the Devil, and says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. He (that's her offspring) will crush your head and you (that's the serpent) will strike his heel." Did you know that Christmas began in the Garden of Eden? The answer for sin began at the moment sin entered the world. Because God says here there will come a man ultimately descended from Adam and Eve - from the very people who perpetrated sin in the world - a man will come who will crush the serpent.

Notice the verbs here. It says the serpent, Satan, will strike the heel of the Messiah who will come. Satan's going to be able to hurt the Redeemer. That happened at the cross. But it was canceled three days later when Jesus Christ walked out of His grave. But notice what the Redeemer is going to do to the serpent - crush his head. That's the difference between a casualty and a fatality. When the Redeemer comes, Satan will receive a death blow He says.

You need to know that the Devil, for all of his interference in your life right now, is a dead man. Colossians 2:15 says "Christ disarmed the powers and the authorities, and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." If you're in Christ, if you belong to Jesus, the most the Devil can do is to wound you. You may be a casualty, but thank God you will never be a fatality. Satan tried over and over again to wipe out the Messianic line - the family from which Jesus would come. And then he tried to wipe out all the babies that were the age of baby Jesus. It didn't work. He's beaten!

Why would you ever let the Devil or his people beat you or intimidate you? God has entered human history in person. Everywhere Jesus went the forces of darkness surrendered. Everywhere Jesus goes now through your life, those forces of darkness still surrender.

So, Christmas isn't just a warm and fuzzy little story about a baby in a stable and a star. In the battle for human lives; in the battle you're facing today, Christmas is God's knockout punch.

Revelation 16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE DECISION OF DISCIPLESHIP - December 17, 2024

Jesus’ earthly father is a small-town carpenter who lives in Nazareth. Now why Joseph? A major part of the answer lies in his reputation, and he gives it up for Jesus. Nazareth viewed Joseph as we might view an elder, deacon, or Bible class teacher. Now what? His fiancée is blemished, tainted; he is righteous, godly. The law says stone her. Love says forgive her. And Joseph is caught in the middle.

Then comes the angel’s announcement: she carries the Son of God in her womb. But who would believe it? Joseph makes his decision. “Joseph…took to him his wife, and did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn Son” (Matthew 1:24-25 NKJV). He swapped his Torah studies for a pregnant fiancée and an illegitimate son and made the big decision of discipleship. He placed God’s plan ahead of his own.

Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Classics of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope

Revelation 16

Pouring Out the Seven Disasters

1  16 I heard a shout of command from the Temple to the Seven Angels: “Begin! Pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on earth!”

2  The first Angel stepped up and poured his bowl out on earth: Loathsome, stinking sores erupted on all who had taken the mark of the Beast and worshiped its image.

3  The second Angel poured his bowl on the sea: The sea coagulated into blood, and everything in it died.

4–7  The third Angel poured his bowl on rivers and springs: The waters turned to blood. I heard the Angel of Waters say,

Righteous you are, and your judgments are righteous,

The Is, The Was, The Holy.

They poured out the blood of saints and prophets

so you’ve given them blood to drink—

they’ve gotten what they deserve!

Just then I heard the Altar chime in,

Yes, O God, the Sovereign-Strong!

Your judgments are true and just!

8–9  The fourth Angel poured his bowl on the sun: Fire blazed from the sun and scorched men and women. Burned and blistered, they cursed God’s Name, the God behind these disasters. They refused to repent, refused to honor God.

10–11  The fifth Angel poured his bowl on the throne of the Beast: Its kingdom fell into sudden eclipse. Mad with pain, men and women bit and chewed their tongues, cursed the God-of-Heaven for their torment and sores, and refused to repent and change their ways.

12–14  The sixth Angel poured his bowl on the great Euphrates River: It dried up to nothing. The dry riverbed became a fine roadbed for the kings from the East. From the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet I saw three foul demons crawl out—they looked like frogs. These are demon spirits performing signs. They’re after the kings of the whole world to get them gathered for battle on the Great Day of God, the Sovereign-Strong.

15  “Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You’re blessed if, awake and dressed, you’re ready for me. Too bad if you’re found running through the streets, naked and ashamed.”

16  The frog-demons gathered the kings together at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

17–21  The seventh Angel poured his bowl into the air: From the Throne in the Temple came a shout, “Done!” followed by lightning flashes and shouts, thunder crashes and a colossal earthquake—a huge and devastating earthquake, never an earthquake like it since time began. The Great City split three ways, the cities of the nations toppled to ruin. Great Babylon had to drink the wine of God’s raging anger—God remembered to give her the cup! Every island fled and not a mountain was to be found. Hailstones weighing a ton plummeted, crushing and smashing men and women as they cursed God for the hail, the epic disaster of hail.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

by Marvin Williams

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Matthew 1:18-25

The Birth of Jesus

18–19  The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

20–23  While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;

They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

24–25  Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

Today's Insights

Matthew clearly states that Mary was pregnant “before [she and Joseph] came together” (1:18). Joseph would have considered this apparent violation of their engagement to be the same as adultery, which carried the death penalty (Leviticus 20:10). That Joseph, who was “faithful to the law” (Matthew 1:19), planned to divorce Mary discreetly reveals his gracious character. Just as important, he believed what the angel told him (v. 24) and married Mary. This exposed them both to public ridicule. When Jesus later returned to “his hometown” to carry out His ministry, the people wondered, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? . . . Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” (13:54-55). But He was more than just “the carpenter’s son.” He was the Messiah.

Jesus Our Rescuer

You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

What began as a normal cable car ride across a Pakistani valley turned into a frightful ordeal. Shortly after the ride began, two supporting cables snapped, leaving eight passengers—including school children—suspended hundreds of feet in the air. The situation sparked an arduous twelve-hour rescue operation by the Pakistani military, who used ziplines, helicopters, and more to rescue the passengers.

Those well-trained rescuers are to be commended, but their work pales in comparison to the eternal work of Jesus, whose mission was to save and rescue us from sin and death. Prior to Christ’s birth, an angel instructed Joseph to take Mary home because her pregnancy was from “the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18, 20). Joseph was also told to name his son Jesus, because He would “save his people from their sins” (v. 21). Yet, while this name was common in the first century, only this child was qualified to be the Savior (Luke 2:30-32). Christ came at the right time to seal and secure the eternal salvation of all who repent and believe in Him.

We were all trapped in the cable car of sin and death, suspended over the valley of eternal separation from God. But in His love and grace, Jesus came to rescue us and bring us safely home to our heavenly Father. Praise Him!

Reflect & Pray

What significant mission would Mary’s baby have? What does the rescue Jesus secured mean to you?

Dear Jesus, please help me to rejoice in the reality that though I once was lost, I can now be found because of Your grace.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Redemption Creates the Need It Satisfies

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness. — 1 Corinthians 2:14

The gospel of God creates a sense of needing the gospel. Paul says, “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled”—to whom? To those who behave immorally? No—“to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). By “unbelievers,” Paul means those who haven’t had the life of God created in them through personal redemption. As redemption creates the life of God in a human soul, it also creates the things belonging to that life, including a sense of needing the Lord. It is God who creates the need of which no human being is conscious until God manifests himself; nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of redemption: it both creates and satisfies.

The majority of people have no sense of needing the gospel because they have morality and self–sufficiency well within their grasp. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). This is true, but God can’t give until we ask, and we won’t ask if we don’t feel a need. It isn’t that God withholds; this is simply how he has constituted things on the basis of the redemption. Through our asking, God sets a process in motion by which he creates what doesn’t exist until we ask. The inner reality of redemption is that it creates all the time.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). We preach our own experiences, and people are interested, but no sense of need is awakened. But when Jesus Christ is lifted up, the Spirit of God will create a conscious need of him. Behind the preaching of the gospel is the creative redemption of God at work in people’s souls. Personal testimony is never what saves: “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life” (John 6:63).

Amos 7-9; Revelation 8

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

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

Disciples Indeed, 388 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

The Only Feedback That Matters - #9897

I remember that time when our son got a new haircut and a pretty noticeably different hair style. Not something real radical, but it was different. Needless to say, he was a little unsure of how he looked the first day after he had the makeover. At least he was used to the old style; he knew how to feel about it. We tried to reassure him. We gave him our parent's opinion about how he looked, but of course, what does our opinion matter...right?

So, he went off to school looking for feedback, and he returned all smiles that afternoon. Yeah, well guess who had liked it. Several girls - the right girls - had noticed and they had complimented him on his new hair style. It didn't matter what anybody else said, whether they liked it or not, he decided whose feedback really mattered to him. You know, that's actually a good thing to decide.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Only Feedback That Matters."

Now, there are a lot of choices more significant, of course, than a change of hair style. And we usually evaluate our decisions and our performance based on how well we please the audience that really matters to us. Right? My son wanted to make sure the girls liked his hair style; he decided what audience he needed to please. It's sort of like a boy who wants to know if his Dad likes what he did, or an athlete who has decided that above all else he just wants to please his coach. "What does the coach think of my performance?"

When you decide to follow Jesus Christ with your life, you've decided whom you want to please. You've said by following Christ, "I've decided my bottom line is this: 'Is Jesus happy with it?'" It's as if all the significant people in your life are sitting in this circle. Just imagine them in a room and they're waiting for you to make whatever life decision you're dealing with right now. Members of your family are there, maybe your pastor is there, some of your key friends, some coworkers, maybe your boss is there, or your teachers, a professor, and Jesus is in that circle.

And then you announce the choice you've made. Whose smile are you looking for? Whose smile lets you know you did the right thing? My son decided that the approval of certain girls would determine the rightness of his hair style choice. Well, the smile you should be looking for in that circle is the smile of Jesus.

So, how do you judge whether He's pleased or not? I mean, He isn't visibly there. Well, our word for today from the Word of God - you thought we'd never get there. We just did. Colossians 3:15 says this: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." Now, the word rule there actually means be the umpire; be the deciding factor in your life. "The peace of God." See, if God is smiling, He will show His pleasure by giving you this supernatural sense of His peace deep inside; this stubborn confidence; a poise that's there even if everyone else in the circle is frowning.

Oh, you may still have doubts, but when you're alone in His presence - it's just you and Him - you'll just know that you've done the right thing. That peace, that sense of rightness, okay-ness, will be there in the midst of the confusion. Live for that green light of God's peace. Believe that peace deep down in your soul. It will stand the test of the worst of storms.

Over and over in our family, when one or the other of us has been faced with a major life choice, we've given each other the advice that sometimes we tend to forget, "Go with the peace." After all, Jesus' smile expressed through the inner peace He gives you, is the only feedback that really matters.

Ezra 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: MAKE ROOM - December 16, 2024

Some of the saddest words on earth are, “We don’t have room for you.” Jesus knew the sounds 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” (John 14:2). We make room for him in our hearts, and Jesus makes room for us in his house.

Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Classics of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope

Ezra 10

Ezra Takes Charge

1  10 Ezra wept, prostrate in front of The Temple of God. As he prayed and confessed, a huge number of the men, women, and children of Israel gathered around him. All the people were now weeping as if their hearts would break.

2–3  Shecaniah son of Jehiel of the family of Elam, acting as spokesman, said to Ezra: “We betrayed our God by marrying foreign wives from the people around here. But all is not lost; there is still hope for Israel. Let’s make a covenant right now with our God, agreeing to get rid of all these wives and their children, just as my master and those who honor God’s commandment are saying. It’s what The Revelation says, so let’s do it.

4  “Now get up, Ezra. Take charge—we’re behind you. Don’t back down.”

5  So Ezra stood up and had the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel solemnly swear to do what Shecaniah proposed. And they did it.

6  Then Ezra left the plaza in front of The Temple of God and went to the home of Jehohanan son of Eliashib where he stayed, still fasting from food and drink, continuing his mourning over the betrayal by the exiles.

7–8  A notice was then sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem ordering all the exiles to meet in Jerusalem. Anyone who failed to show up in three days, in compliance with the ruling of the leaders and elders, would have all his possessions confiscated and be thrown out of the congregation of the returned exiles.

9  All the men of Judah and Ben-jamin met in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. They all sat down in the plaza in front of The Temple of God. Because of the business before them, and aggravated by the buckets of rain coming down on them, they were restless, uneasy, and anxious.

10–11  Ezra the priest stood up and spoke: “You’ve broken trust. You’ve married foreign wives. You’ve piled guilt on Israel. Now make your confession to God, the God of your ancestors, and do what he wants you to do: Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”

12  The whole congregation responded with a shout, “Yes, we’ll do it—just the way you said it!”

13–14  They also said, “But look, do you see how many people there are out here? And it’s the rainy season; you can’t expect us to stand out here soaking wet until this is done—why, it will take days! A lot of us are deeply involved in this transgression. Let our leaders act on behalf of the whole congregation. Have everybody who lives in cities and who has married a foreign wife come at an appointed time, accompanied by the elders and judges of each city. We’ll keep at this until the hot anger of our God over this thing is turned away.”

15–17  Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this. So the exiles went ahead with the plan. Ezra the priest picked men who were family heads, each one by name. They sat down together on the first day of the tenth month to pursue the matter. By the first day of the first month they had finished dealing with every man who had married a foreign wife.

18–19  Among the families of priests, the following were found to have married foreign wives:

The family of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. They all promised to divorce their wives and sealed it with a handshake. For their guilt they brought a ram from the flock as a Compensation-Offering.

20  The family of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.

21  The family of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.

22  The family of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

23  From the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah—that is, Kelita—Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

24  From the singers: Eliashib.

From the temple security guards: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.

25  And from the other Israelites:

The family of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah, and Benaiah.

26  The family of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.

27  The family of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.

28  The family of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.

29  The family of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.

30  The family of Pahath-Moab: Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.

31–32  The family of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Ben-jamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.

33  The family of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.

34–37  The family of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu.

38–42  The family of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Macnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.

43  The family of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.

44  All these had married foreign wives and some had also had children by them.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, December 16, 2024

by Kirsten Holmberg

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

1 Thessalonians 5:4-11

But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.

9–11  God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.

Today's Insights

To encourage believers in Jesus who were suffering because of their faith, Paul reminded them of the blessed hope of His imminent return (1 Thessalonians 1:3, 10; 3:13; 4:13-17; 5:1-10). Twice, he instructed them to “encourage one another” (4:18; 5:11). The Greek word translated “encourage” (parakaleo) means “to come alongside”; “to give one the strength and courage to get up and get going again.” It’s like giving a much-needed push to a child’s swing to get it moving. The apostle John used parakletos to refer to the Holy Spirit, who comes alongside us to be our “Advocate” (John 14:26). It’s difficult to find an equivalent to this Greek word, so it’s translated in several different ways to describe the Spirit: “Helper,” “Counselor,” “Comforter,” “Companion,” or “Friend.” These are all apt descriptions of coming alongside to encourage.

Encouragement in Christ

Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

An Indiana schoolteacher suggested that her students write notes of encouragement and inspiration for their peers. Days later, when a school tragedy occurred in a different part of the country, their notes buoyed the spirits of their fellow students as they dealt with the resulting fear and pain that something could happen to them too.

Encouragement and mutual concern were also on Paul’s mind when he wrote to the believers at Thessalonica. They had lost friends, and Paul instructed them to hope in Jesus’ promised return to bring their loved ones to life again (1 Thessalonians 4:14). While they didn’t know when that would occur, he reminded them that as believers they needn’t wait in fear of God’s judgment when He returned (5:9). Instead, they could wait with confidence in their future life with Him and meanwhile “encourage one another and build each other up” (v. 11).

When we experience painful losses or senseless tragedies, it’s easy to be overcome with fear and sadness. Yet Paul’s words are helpful to us today, just as when they were written. Let’s wait in hopeful expectation that Christ will restore all things. And meanwhile, we can encourage each other—with written notes, spoken words, acts of service, or a simple hug.

Reflect & Pray

How have you been encouraged by others? How can you encourage someone today?

Risen Jesus, despite my hurts in a messed-up world, please help me to wait on You with hope and faith and to encourage those around me until You come again.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, December 16, 2024

Wrestling before God

Put on the full armor of God. . . And always keep on praying. — Ephesians 6:13,18

You have to wrestle against the things that prevent you from getting to God, and you have to wrestle in prayer for other souls. But never say that you wrestle with God in prayer; this idea is scripturally unfounded. Attempt to wrestle with God, and you will be crippled for the rest of your life.

“He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched”

(Genesis 32:25). If God comes into your life in some way you don’t like, and you try, as Jacob did, to wrestle with him, you compel God to put your hip out of joint. You should wrestle; God doesn’t want you to hobble along weakly in his ways. Just make sure you’re wrestling the right things. Be someone who wrestles before God for other souls and against those things that would keep you from him, and you will be more than a conqueror through him (Romans 8:37).

Wrestling before God in prayer prevails in his kingdom, so long as the one praying is complete in Christ. If you ask me to pray for you and I’m not complete, my prayer counts for nothing. But if I’m complete in him, my prayer always prevails. I have to put on the full armor of God before I pray; prayer is effective only when there is completeness.

Always distinguish between God’s order and his permissive will. God’s order is unchangeable; the things he allows by his permissive will are what we have to wrestle against. God uses his permissive will providentially to turn us into his sons and daughters. Our reaction to the things he permits is what enables us to get at his order. He asks us to meet these things head–on, not to be like jellyfish, floating along and saying, “Oh, well, it’s the Lord’s will.” Beware of drifting lazily before God instead of putting up a glorious fight so that you may lay hold of his strength.

Amos 4-6; Revelation 7

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Crises reveal character. When we are put to the test the hidden resources of our character are revealed exactly. 

Disciples Indeed, 393 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, December 16, 2024

Christmas - A Time for Outsiders - #9896

Well, for several years in a row our town was pretty lucky. We had a winning football team every year in high school. And every year the parents had a dinner in the team's honor, and everybody came. I mean, even people who had nothing to do with the football season suddenly showed up: the politicians, the board members, a variety of seemingly unconnected dignitaries. Oh, I'm sure they were there to honor the players.

But do you suppose they might have come for another reason? Hey, listen. We all like to be associated with winners, right? You have to ask yourself, "Who would be there if this team hadn't won a game?" Well, if you like to be associated with winners, there's something very unsettling about the Christmas Story.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Christmas - A Time for Outsiders."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 2:8-9, where we find the cast of the Christmas Story and how revealing it is concerning God's kind of people. Familiar words, "There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them."

Now, if you know much about the shepherds of that day, you might want to say, "The angel of the Lord appeared to THEM?" It's almost like there's a question mark there, "To the shepherds? They're the first ones to know?" See, these were like the lowlifes of Judea at that time. They weren't even allowed to go in the temple. They were the classic outsiders.

And it is to them God announces the birth of Christ, and He goes beyond that. In verse 20 of Luke 2, it says, "The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen." These guys turn out to be God's first ambassadors, the first evangelists. And think about the wise men; they were Gentiles. And in that Jewish culture they were considered outcasts - Gentile slime. But some of them were the first worshipers of Jesus.

It's pretty clear from the coming of Christ where His heart is, and where ours should be. Jesus goes with those that we call losers. He said in His first sermon in Luke 4, He was there for the poor, and the prisoners, and the blind, etc. It goes against our whole natural bent, though. I want to be with the power people. Jesus says, "Go to the powerless." "I want to spend time with those who make me look good." Jesus says, "Go to those who might diminish your reputation but who need you." "I want to be with those who can help me in some way, you know?" Jesus says, "Go to those who have nothing to give." Wow!

Look around you this Christmas season. Who's the outsider in your world, the reject, the left out person, the poor, the powerless, but they're within your reach? Go to some people Jesus would go to. They're all around us. From God's perspective, we're all like those shepherds - spiritually dirty, and smelly, and unattractive.

I can tell you this, Jesus knows how it feels to be an outsider. Oh yeah, He does. Yeah, the Bible says He was rejected by men. All the people who should have been there for Him ultimately seemed to abandon Him. And the Bible says, "He was a man of sorrows." And He ultimately ended up hanging alone on a cross, because He came to bring us inside the greatest love in the universe, because we were cut off from the God that loves us and the God that made us. He didn't cut himself off from us; we did it by running our own life and hijacking our life from Him and putting up a wall between us and Him.

And Jesus came here and became the ultimate outsider so we could become the ultimate insider; to be actually welcomed into the family of Almighty God. But it took Jesus' blood on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. It started in a manger, but it was what happened on that cross that tore down the wall.

And today He waits this Christmas season to welcome you into the family of God. Why don't you tell Him today, "Jesus, I love you for loving me the way you did. I am Yours beginning today." Could there be a better time to do it? Our website will help you know exactly how to begin that relationship. Please check it out - ANewStory.com.

Aren't you glad that Christmas is for losers like you and me? Let's be sure that we go to the people that Jesus came to on that first Christmas.