Max Lucado Daily: Imagine a Perfect World
Try this. Imagine a perfect world. Whatever that means to you. Imagine it. Does that mean peace? Then envision absolute tranquility. Does a perfect world imply joy? Then create your highest happiness. Will a perfect world have love? Ponder a place where love has no bounds. Whatever heaven means to you, imagine it. Get it firmly fixed in your mind. Delight in it. Dream about it. Long for it.
And then smile as the Father reminds you from the apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” No one… no one has come close. Think of all the songs about heaven; all the artists’ portrayals; all the lessons preached; poems written; and chapters drafted. When it comes to describing heaven, we are all happy failures!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Deuteronomy 11
“You must love the Lord your God and always obey his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. 2 Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the Lord your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm. 3 They didn’t see the miraculous signs and wonders he performed in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land. 4 They didn’t see what the Lord did to the armies of Egypt and to their horses and chariots—how he drowned them in the Red Sea[a] as they were chasing you. He destroyed them, and they have not recovered to this very day!
5 “Your children didn’t see how the Lord cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here. 6 They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab, a descendant of Reuben) when the earth opened its mouth in the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households and tents and every living thing that belonged to them. 7 But you have seen the Lord perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!
The Blessings of Obedience
8 “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey! 10 For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain— 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!
13 “If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.
16 “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you.
18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.
22 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him. 23 Then the Lord will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land. 24 Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.[b] 25 No one will be able to stand against you, for the Lord your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as he promised, wherever you go in the whole land.
26 “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! 27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. 28 But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.
29 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 (These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley,[c] near the town of Gilgal, not far from the oaks of Moreh.) 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take that land and are living in it, 32 you must be careful to obey all the decrees and regulations I am giving you today.
11:4 Hebrew sea of reeds.
11:24 Hebrew to the western sea.
11:30 Hebrew the Arabah.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Read: Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
2 He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
4 Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
5 You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
Footnotes:
23:4 Or the dark valley of death.
Insight
Today’s familiar and beloved psalm has brought comfort and hope to many. And well it should. This psalm celebrates all that the Good Shepherd does for His sheep. The greatest benefit comes in the last verse: We will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (v.6). God does so much to provide for and care for His sheep. However, there is an implicit idea in this text that should not be overlooked: Sheep follow their shepherd. The blessings and comfort of this psalm do not come to sheep that do not follow the Shepherd. As Jesus reminds us, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).
He Leads Me
By David C. Egner
He leads me beside the still waters. —Psalm 23:2
In Istanbul, Turkey, in 2005, one sheep jumped off a cliff and then nearly 1,500 others followed! In the end, about one-third of them died. Not knowing which way to go, sheep mindlessly follow other members of the flock.
No better word picture than sheep can be found to illustrate our need for a trustworthy leader. We are all, Isaiah wrote, like sheep (Isa. 53:6). We tend to go our own way, yet we desperately need the sure direction of a shepherd.
Psalm 23 describes the trustworthiness of our Good Shepherd. He cares for us (v.1); He provides for our physical needs (v.2); He shows us how to live holy lives (v.3); He restores us, comforts us, heals us, and bountifully blesses us (vv.3-5); and He will not abandon us (v.6).
What a comfort to know that God gently but firmly leads us! He does so through the urging of the Holy Spirit, the reading of His Word, and through prayer. God is the reliable leader we need.
In acknowledgment of our dependence on the Lord, we can say with the psalmist, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”
Like sheep that sometimes wander from the flock
In tangled paths of life to lose their way,
I need my Shepherd’s hand and watchful eye
To keep me always, lest I go astray. —Sanders
The Lamb who died to save us is the Shepherd who lives to guide us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
“And Every Virtue We Possess”
…All my springs are in you. —Psalm 87:7
Our Lord never “patches up” our natural virtues, that is, our natural traits, qualities, or characteristics. He completely remakes a person on the inside— “…put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24). In other words, see that your natural human life is putting on all that is in keeping with the new life. The life God places within us develops its own new virtues, not the virtues of the seed of Adam, but of Jesus Christ. Once God has begun the process of sanctification in your life, watch and see how God causes your confidence in your own natural virtues and power to wither away. He will continue until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus. Thank God if you are going through this drying-up experience!
The sign that God is at work in us is that He is destroying our confidence in the natural virtues, because they are not promises of what we are going to be, but only a wasted reminder of what God created man to be. We want to cling to our natural virtues, while all the time God is trying to get us in contact with the life of Jesus Christ— a life that can never be described in terms of natural virtues. It is the saddest thing to see people who are trying to serve God depending on that which the grace of God never gave them. They are depending solely on what they have by virtue of heredity. God does not take our natural virtues and transform them, because our natural virtues could never even come close to what Jesus Christ wants. No natural love, no natural patience, no natural purity can ever come up to His demands. But as we bring every part of our natural bodily life into harmony with the new life God has placed within us, He will exhibit in us the virtues that were characteristic of the Lord Jesus.
And every virtue we possess
Is His alone.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
THE GREAT TRASH TRAGEDY - #7297
I had just finished up a great conference in Canada, and Michael, our Field Director was there with me. We were walking back to our hotel to pack up and leave. I was really tired and pre-occupied when he handed me this envelope. I noticed a phone message written on it, and I distinctly remember Michael saying something when he handed it to me, but I was concentrating on that message that been written on the envelope. I looked at who it was and I said to myself, "Oh, I already made that call." And since I was finished with the message, after I got in my room I threw the envelope away.
We got back to our office, somebody said, "Where is the check from the folks in Canada?" They were referring to the check for our ministry from the weekend. I said, "Michael has it." When they asked Michael, he said, "No, I gave it to Ron." "You did?" You guessed it. It was in the envelope I threw away. I don't think I have ever thrown away a check in my life. Well, they stopped payment and they re-issued it. But I was treated for acute embarrassment. See, I didn't know what the envelope was worth, so I just threw it away.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Great Trash Tragedy."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Leviticus 26:12-13. It's an important passage for a lot of us who don't realize how valuable we are. See, the people here, the ancient Jews, had been mistreated in Egypt, they'd been used, they'd been hurt, and they'd been belittled. And they started to believe that's what they were worth. Does that sound familiar at all?
Well, here's what God said to them, and maybe to you. "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt so you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bonds of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high." And here's what God says about whose they are and who you are: "My people, no longer slaves, walking with your head held high."
See, they were out of Egypt, but Egypt wasn't out of them. They were out of bondage, but the bondage wasn't out of them. God was telling them what royalty they really were, that it was about time they started living like the treasure they were. Maybe that's what God is trying to tell you. You've been making the same mistake about your worth that I did with that valuable envelope; you think it's trash. You're not worth much.
Maybe you've felt like a loser, a reject, a victim. So you've been throwing yourself away, and there are a lot of ways to do that. You can throw yourself away academically by not trying, not working very hard at work, by getting sexually involved, maybe throwing yourself away chemically or alcoholically. You could be trashing yourself by what you do for pleasure, what you listen to, or watch, by putting yourself down, by settling for bad relationships. Maybe you've even thought about suicide. It could be you just don't try because you don't think you're worth it.
You're wrong. You are God's handmade creation. His people, no longer a slave; head held high. You're making a mistake that breaks the heart of your Creator. You believe you are trash because some people treated you like trash. No, you are who your Creator says you are. You were created by God. You are loved by God. You're purchased by God through the death of His Son. You belong to God if you've given yourself to Him. You are not trash!
I looked at a valuable envelope. I thought it was trash; I threw it away. I was wrong. It was worth a lot. Maybe some people have looked at you and thought you weren't worth much, and they treated you like trash. Well, they didn't know who you are. But you need to know, whether they know or not. Don't break God's heart any more by throwing away what He thinks is worth so much He would die for you. He would die for the very wrong things you have done, for every rebellion against Him in your life. You were worth the life of Christ, His Son.
This day, why don't you step into His love and your worth by opening your heart to Him? I'd love to help you do that. And I can if you'll visit our website ANewStory.com. Let me meet you at ANewStory.com so you can live like the treasure Jesus says you are.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Monday, December 29, 2014
Luke 4:1-30 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God’s Never Failing Love
God will not let you go. The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you! He tattooed your name on the palm of his hand. His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore. You never leave his mind, escape his sight, flee his thoughts. You need not win his love. You already have it. He sees the worst of you and loves you still. Your sins of tomorrow and failings of the future will not surprise him; he sees them now. Every day and deed of your life has passed before his eyes and been calculated in his decision.
He knows you better than you know you and has reached this verdict: he loves you still! No discovery will disillusion him. No rebellion will dissuade him. He loves you with an everlasting love. God’s love– never failing, never ending.
From Lucado Inspirational Reader
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,[a] 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’[b]”
5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’[c]”
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
11 And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[d]”
12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[e]”
13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.[f]”
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.
25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”
28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.
Footnotes:
4:1 Some manuscripts read into the wilderness.
4:4 Deut 8:3.
4:8 Deut 6:13.
4:10-11 Ps 91:11-12.
4:12 Deut 6:16.
4:18-19 Or and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Isa 61:1-2 (Greek version); 58:6.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 29, 2014
Read: John 11:21-35
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him.
30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,[b] and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept.
Footnotes:
11:25 Some manuscripts do not include and the life.
11:33 Or he was angry in his spirit.
Insight
Martha, often maligned for her attitude in Luke 10:38-42, displays great faith in today’s passage. Not only does she believe that Jesus has a special relationship with the Father (John 11:22), she also affirms her confidence that Jesus is, in fact, the Son of God (v.27).
Delay May Not Mean Denial
By Marion Stroud
When [Jesus] heard that [Lazarus] was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. —John 11:6
My sons’ birthdays are in December. When they were small, Angus quickly learned that if he didn’t receive a longed-for toy for his birthday at the beginning of the month, it might be in his Christmas stocking. And if David didn’t receive his gift for Christmas, it might appear for his birthday 4 days later. Delay didn’t necessarily mean denial.
It was natural for Martha and Mary to send for Jesus when Lazarus became seriously ill (John 11:1-3). Perhaps they looked anxiously along the road for signs of His arrival, but Jesus didn’t come. The funeral service had been over for 4 days when Jesus finally walked into town (v.17).
Martha was blunt. “If You had been here,” she said, “my brother would not have died” (v.21). Then her faith flickered into certainty, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You” (v.22). I wonder what she expected. Lazarus was dead, and she was wary about opening the tomb. And yet at a word from Jesus, Lazarus’ spirit returned to his decaying body (vv.41-44). Jesus had bypassed simply healing His sick friend, in order to perform the far greater miracle of bringing him back to life.
Waiting for God’s timing may also give us a greater miracle than we had hoped for.
My Savior hears me when I pray,
Upon His Word I calmly rest;
In His own time, in His own way,
I know He’ll give me what is best. —Hewitt
Time spent waiting on God is never wasted.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 29, 2014
Deserter or Disciple?
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. —John 6:66
When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must “walk in the light” of that vision (1 John 1:7). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t “walk in the light” of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the “heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, “Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?” You have to “walk in the light” of the vision that has been given to you. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the “heavenly vision,” do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— “…for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.
Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 29, 2014
One Stone at a Time - #7296
We were sitting in the living room of a Native American family who were among the few Jesus-followers in their entire tribe. That's not uncommon. And Mom was telling us about how Jesus entered their family. Her grandmother had been a priestess in the tribal religion until she discovered what she called "the black book" and discovered the love of Jesus Christ. She was the first Jesus-follower in her family. And the village leaders didn't like it at all. In fact, when people decided to follow Jesus in that tribe, they expelled them from the village. So, suddenly, their family had no home.
They moved into a tiny building outside the village. But grandpa wanted to build a house big enough for his family. Well, every day his job took him across the fields to work. And every day he brought something home with him – a large stone to build a house with. And that turned out to be the house that Mom grew up in.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Stone at a Time."
Our word for today from the Word of God shows the architect's blueprint on how to build a home, or a family. Deuteronomy 11:18-21. God says this, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds. And tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children; talking about them when you sit at home, and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your forefathers as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."
Now, I think these instructions put parenting within our reach; they make it manageable. It says basically, take advantage of each day's natural opportunities to build the right stuff into your kids. You notice days are mentioned three times here? It reminds me of that man who built his home one stone at a time.
There's a lot of fear in parenting today, and you can see some reasons why. Look, we're facing a world outside the door that is very hostile to the things that we value as parents. You hear horror stories about other people's kids, and you worry about all the things your kids might be doing or could do someday. You know what? Fear makes you play defense as a parent, and that drives your kids crazy. In fact, it could drive them away from the very things you're trying to teach them. Because the things you fear the most, you can actually make them happen by parenting fearfully.
But this biblical pattern allows a mom or dad to relax a little; to be more confident. You build into your kids in the informal, unstructured times in each new day. Sitting around, traveling somewhere, in the early moments of the day, in those shutting down moments of the day. So you build a positive Monday with your son or daughter. And then you put next to it a good Tuesday, and then a Wednesday. And then you put a good Thursday next to that, and so on.
You say, "Well, does my son or daughter feel loved today?" Have I praised them today? Have I prayed with them today about something? Have I given them all of me exclusively at least once today, even if only a short time? Have I kept my eyes open for a natural, teachable moment today?"
I think we've got something to learn from a Native American father two generations ago. He knew he couldn't build a home quickly. He just added a little bit to it each day. Well, that's the way we should all build our homes and our family. Add one more stone today, again tomorrow, and then again the day after that.
One day we'll be able to stand back and admire what God and you built together one stone – one day – at a time.
God will not let you go. The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you! He tattooed your name on the palm of his hand. His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore. You never leave his mind, escape his sight, flee his thoughts. You need not win his love. You already have it. He sees the worst of you and loves you still. Your sins of tomorrow and failings of the future will not surprise him; he sees them now. Every day and deed of your life has passed before his eyes and been calculated in his decision.
He knows you better than you know you and has reached this verdict: he loves you still! No discovery will disillusion him. No rebellion will dissuade him. He loves you with an everlasting love. God’s love– never failing, never ending.
From Lucado Inspirational Reader
Luke 4:1-30
The Temptation of JesusThen Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,[a] 2 where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
3 Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’[b]”
5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’[c]”
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10 For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you.
11 And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[d]”
12 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[e]”
13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.[f]”
20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.
25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”
28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.
Footnotes:
4:1 Some manuscripts read into the wilderness.
4:4 Deut 8:3.
4:8 Deut 6:13.
4:10-11 Ps 91:11-12.
4:12 Deut 6:16.
4:18-19 Or and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Isa 61:1-2 (Greek version); 58:6.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 29, 2014
Read: John 11:21-35
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[a] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him.
30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,[b] and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept.
Footnotes:
11:25 Some manuscripts do not include and the life.
11:33 Or he was angry in his spirit.
Insight
Martha, often maligned for her attitude in Luke 10:38-42, displays great faith in today’s passage. Not only does she believe that Jesus has a special relationship with the Father (John 11:22), she also affirms her confidence that Jesus is, in fact, the Son of God (v.27).
Delay May Not Mean Denial
By Marion Stroud
When [Jesus] heard that [Lazarus] was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. —John 11:6
My sons’ birthdays are in December. When they were small, Angus quickly learned that if he didn’t receive a longed-for toy for his birthday at the beginning of the month, it might be in his Christmas stocking. And if David didn’t receive his gift for Christmas, it might appear for his birthday 4 days later. Delay didn’t necessarily mean denial.
It was natural for Martha and Mary to send for Jesus when Lazarus became seriously ill (John 11:1-3). Perhaps they looked anxiously along the road for signs of His arrival, but Jesus didn’t come. The funeral service had been over for 4 days when Jesus finally walked into town (v.17).
Martha was blunt. “If You had been here,” she said, “my brother would not have died” (v.21). Then her faith flickered into certainty, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You” (v.22). I wonder what she expected. Lazarus was dead, and she was wary about opening the tomb. And yet at a word from Jesus, Lazarus’ spirit returned to his decaying body (vv.41-44). Jesus had bypassed simply healing His sick friend, in order to perform the far greater miracle of bringing him back to life.
Waiting for God’s timing may also give us a greater miracle than we had hoped for.
My Savior hears me when I pray,
Upon His Word I calmly rest;
In His own time, in His own way,
I know He’ll give me what is best. —Hewitt
Time spent waiting on God is never wasted.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 29, 2014
Deserter or Disciple?
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. —John 6:66
When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must “walk in the light” of that vision (1 John 1:7). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t “walk in the light” of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the “heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, “Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?” You have to “walk in the light” of the vision that has been given to you. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the “heavenly vision,” do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— “…for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.
Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 29, 2014
One Stone at a Time - #7296
We were sitting in the living room of a Native American family who were among the few Jesus-followers in their entire tribe. That's not uncommon. And Mom was telling us about how Jesus entered their family. Her grandmother had been a priestess in the tribal religion until she discovered what she called "the black book" and discovered the love of Jesus Christ. She was the first Jesus-follower in her family. And the village leaders didn't like it at all. In fact, when people decided to follow Jesus in that tribe, they expelled them from the village. So, suddenly, their family had no home.
They moved into a tiny building outside the village. But grandpa wanted to build a house big enough for his family. Well, every day his job took him across the fields to work. And every day he brought something home with him – a large stone to build a house with. And that turned out to be the house that Mom grew up in.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Stone at a Time."
Our word for today from the Word of God shows the architect's blueprint on how to build a home, or a family. Deuteronomy 11:18-21. God says this, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds. And tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children; talking about them when you sit at home, and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your forefathers as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."
Now, I think these instructions put parenting within our reach; they make it manageable. It says basically, take advantage of each day's natural opportunities to build the right stuff into your kids. You notice days are mentioned three times here? It reminds me of that man who built his home one stone at a time.
There's a lot of fear in parenting today, and you can see some reasons why. Look, we're facing a world outside the door that is very hostile to the things that we value as parents. You hear horror stories about other people's kids, and you worry about all the things your kids might be doing or could do someday. You know what? Fear makes you play defense as a parent, and that drives your kids crazy. In fact, it could drive them away from the very things you're trying to teach them. Because the things you fear the most, you can actually make them happen by parenting fearfully.
But this biblical pattern allows a mom or dad to relax a little; to be more confident. You build into your kids in the informal, unstructured times in each new day. Sitting around, traveling somewhere, in the early moments of the day, in those shutting down moments of the day. So you build a positive Monday with your son or daughter. And then you put next to it a good Tuesday, and then a Wednesday. And then you put a good Thursday next to that, and so on.
You say, "Well, does my son or daughter feel loved today?" Have I praised them today? Have I prayed with them today about something? Have I given them all of me exclusively at least once today, even if only a short time? Have I kept my eyes open for a natural, teachable moment today?"
I think we've got something to learn from a Native American father two generations ago. He knew he couldn't build a home quickly. He just added a little bit to it each day. Well, that's the way we should all build our homes and our family. Add one more stone today, again tomorrow, and then again the day after that.
One day we'll be able to stand back and admire what God and you built together one stone – one day – at a time.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Deuteronomy 10 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado: Jesus is the Gift
Little Carol with the pigtails, freckles, and shiny back shoes. Don’t let her sweet description fool you. She broke my heart! On the day of the great gift exchange in my fourth-grade class, I ripped the wrapping paper off the box to find—stationery. Stationery! Brown envelopes and folded note cards with a picture of a cowboy lassoing a horse. What ten-year-old boy uses stationery? There’s a term for this kind of gift: obligatory!
I know we shouldn’t complain, but don’t you detect a lack of originality? And when a person gives a genuine gift, don’t you cherish the presence of a gift just for you? Have you ever received such a gift? Yes, you have. You’ve been given a perfect personal gift. One just for you. God says to anyone who’ll listen: ”There has been born for you…a Savior…. ” Jesus is the gift!
“There has been born for you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11”
From GRACE
Deuteronomy 10
A New Copy of the Covenant
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. Also make a wooden Ark—a sacred chest to store them in. Come up to me on the mountain, 2 and I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the ones you smashed. Then place the tablets in the Ark.’
3 “So I made an Ark of acacia wood and cut two stone tablets like the first two. Then I went up the mountain with the tablets in my hand. 4 Once again the Lord wrote the Ten Commandments[e] on the tablets and gave them to me. They were the same words the Lord had spoken to you from the heart of the fire on the day you were assembled at the foot of the mountain. 5 Then I turned and came down the mountain and placed the tablets in the Ark of the Covenant, which I had made, just as the Lord commanded me. And the tablets are still there in the Ark.”
6 (The people of Israel set out from the wells of the people of Jaakan[f] and traveled to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried. His son Eleazar ministered as high priest in his place. 7 Then they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from there to Jotbathah, a land with many brooks and streams. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to stand before the Lord as his ministers, and to pronounce blessings in his name. These are their duties to this day. 9 That is why the Levites have no share of property or possession of land among the other Israelite tribes. The Lord himself is their special possession, as the Lord your God told them.)
10 “As for me, I stayed on the mountain in the Lord’s presence for forty days and nights, as I had done the first time. And once again the Lord listened to my pleas and agreed not to destroy you. 11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and resume the journey, and lead the people to the land I swore to give to their ancestors, so they may take possession of it.’
A Call to Love and Obedience
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. 13 And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.
14 “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. 15 Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. 16 Therefore, change your hearts[g] and stop being stubborn.
17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. 18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. 19 So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone. 21 He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes. 22 When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!
10:4 Hebrew the ten words.
10:6 Or set out from Beeroth of Bene-jaakan.
10:16 Hebrew circumcise the foreskin of your hearts.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Read: Romans 8:31-39
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes:
8:36 Ps 44:22.
8:38 Greek nor rulers.
Insight
In today’s reading, Paul affirms the security the believer has in Christ (vv.31-35). God protects us (v.31), saves us (v.32), and no longer condemns us (vv.33-34). He also assures us that we are safe, secure, and victorious in Christ’s great love (vv.35,37,39). No wonder Paul triumphantly declares, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (v.37).
Is Jesus Still Here?
By David C. McCasland
[Nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38-39
Ted Robertson’s home in Colorado was one of more than 500 destroyed by the Black Forest Fire in June 2013. When he was allowed to return and sift through the ash and rubble, he was hoping to find a precious family heirloom made by his wife—a tiny ceramic figurine of baby Jesus about the size of a postage stamp. As he searched the charred remains of their home, he kept wondering, “Is the baby Jesus still here?”
When our lives are rocked by disappointment and loss, we may wonder if Jesus is still here with us. The Bible’s answer is a resounding Yes! “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).
In a corner of what used to be his garage, Ted Robertson discovered the burned remnants of a nativity scene and there he found the baby Jesus figurine undamaged by the flames. He told KRDO NewsChannel 13, “[We’ve] gone from apprehension to hope . . . that we’re going to recover some parts of our life that we thought were lost.”
Is Jesus still here? He is indeed, and that is the everlasting wonder of Christmas.
When all around me is darkness
And earthly joys have flown,
My Savior whispers His promise
Never to leave me alone. —Anon.
If you know Jesus, you’ll never walk alone.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 28, 2014
…unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3
These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives. If we trust in our own abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. When God through His sovereignty brings us into new situations, we should immediately make sure that our natural life submits to the spiritual, obeying the orders of the Spirit of God. Just because we have responded properly in the past is no guarantee that we will do so again. The response of the natural to the spiritual should be continuous conversion, but this is where we so often refuse to be obedient. No matter what our situation is, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered. But we must “put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24). God holds us accountable every time we refuse to convert ourselves, and He sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us.
To refuse to be continuously converted puts a stumbling block in the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, “I won’t submit.” We deify our independence and self-will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.
Little Carol with the pigtails, freckles, and shiny back shoes. Don’t let her sweet description fool you. She broke my heart! On the day of the great gift exchange in my fourth-grade class, I ripped the wrapping paper off the box to find—stationery. Stationery! Brown envelopes and folded note cards with a picture of a cowboy lassoing a horse. What ten-year-old boy uses stationery? There’s a term for this kind of gift: obligatory!
I know we shouldn’t complain, but don’t you detect a lack of originality? And when a person gives a genuine gift, don’t you cherish the presence of a gift just for you? Have you ever received such a gift? Yes, you have. You’ve been given a perfect personal gift. One just for you. God says to anyone who’ll listen: ”There has been born for you…a Savior…. ” Jesus is the gift!
“There has been born for you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11”
From GRACE
Deuteronomy 10
A New Copy of the Covenant
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. Also make a wooden Ark—a sacred chest to store them in. Come up to me on the mountain, 2 and I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the ones you smashed. Then place the tablets in the Ark.’
3 “So I made an Ark of acacia wood and cut two stone tablets like the first two. Then I went up the mountain with the tablets in my hand. 4 Once again the Lord wrote the Ten Commandments[e] on the tablets and gave them to me. They were the same words the Lord had spoken to you from the heart of the fire on the day you were assembled at the foot of the mountain. 5 Then I turned and came down the mountain and placed the tablets in the Ark of the Covenant, which I had made, just as the Lord commanded me. And the tablets are still there in the Ark.”
6 (The people of Israel set out from the wells of the people of Jaakan[f] and traveled to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried. His son Eleazar ministered as high priest in his place. 7 Then they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from there to Jotbathah, a land with many brooks and streams. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to stand before the Lord as his ministers, and to pronounce blessings in his name. These are their duties to this day. 9 That is why the Levites have no share of property or possession of land among the other Israelite tribes. The Lord himself is their special possession, as the Lord your God told them.)
10 “As for me, I stayed on the mountain in the Lord’s presence for forty days and nights, as I had done the first time. And once again the Lord listened to my pleas and agreed not to destroy you. 11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and resume the journey, and lead the people to the land I swore to give to their ancestors, so they may take possession of it.’
A Call to Love and Obedience
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. 13 And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.
14 “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. 15 Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. 16 Therefore, change your hearts[g] and stop being stubborn.
17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. 18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. 19 So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone. 21 He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes. 22 When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!
10:4 Hebrew the ten words.
10:6 Or set out from Beeroth of Bene-jaakan.
10:16 Hebrew circumcise the foreskin of your hearts.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Read: Romans 8:31-39
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes:
8:36 Ps 44:22.
8:38 Greek nor rulers.
Insight
In today’s reading, Paul affirms the security the believer has in Christ (vv.31-35). God protects us (v.31), saves us (v.32), and no longer condemns us (vv.33-34). He also assures us that we are safe, secure, and victorious in Christ’s great love (vv.35,37,39). No wonder Paul triumphantly declares, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (v.37).
Is Jesus Still Here?
By David C. McCasland
[Nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38-39
Ted Robertson’s home in Colorado was one of more than 500 destroyed by the Black Forest Fire in June 2013. When he was allowed to return and sift through the ash and rubble, he was hoping to find a precious family heirloom made by his wife—a tiny ceramic figurine of baby Jesus about the size of a postage stamp. As he searched the charred remains of their home, he kept wondering, “Is the baby Jesus still here?”
When our lives are rocked by disappointment and loss, we may wonder if Jesus is still here with us. The Bible’s answer is a resounding Yes! “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come . . . shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).
In a corner of what used to be his garage, Ted Robertson discovered the burned remnants of a nativity scene and there he found the baby Jesus figurine undamaged by the flames. He told KRDO NewsChannel 13, “[We’ve] gone from apprehension to hope . . . that we’re going to recover some parts of our life that we thought were lost.”
Is Jesus still here? He is indeed, and that is the everlasting wonder of Christmas.
When all around me is darkness
And earthly joys have flown,
My Savior whispers His promise
Never to leave me alone. —Anon.
If you know Jesus, you’ll never walk alone.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 28, 2014
…unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3
These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives. If we trust in our own abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. When God through His sovereignty brings us into new situations, we should immediately make sure that our natural life submits to the spiritual, obeying the orders of the Spirit of God. Just because we have responded properly in the past is no guarantee that we will do so again. The response of the natural to the spiritual should be continuous conversion, but this is where we so often refuse to be obedient. No matter what our situation is, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered. But we must “put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24). God holds us accountable every time we refuse to convert ourselves, and He sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us.
To refuse to be continuously converted puts a stumbling block in the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, “I won’t submit.” We deify our independence and self-will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Deuteronomy 9 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Divine Warnings
Warnings. Red lights in life that signal us of impending danger. They exist in all parts of life. Sirens scream as a marriage starts to sour; alarms blare when a faith weakens.
We usually know when trouble is just around the corner. Christians who've fallen away felt the fire waning long before it went out. Unwanted pregnancies or explosions of anger are usually the result of a history of ignoring warnings about an impending fire.
Are your senses numb? Are your eyes trained to turn and roll when they should pause and observe? One-night stands. Dust-covered Bibles. Careless choice of companions. Denial of Christ.
Proverbs 19:27 says, "Cease listening to [My] instruction and you will stray from the words of knowledge."
Divine warnings. Inspired by God; tested by time. Heed them and safety is yours to enjoy!
From God Came Near
Deuteronomy 9
The Consequences of Rebelling against God
Hear, O Israel! You are about to cross the Jordan today, to go in and dispossess nations larger and mightier than you, great cities, fortified to the heavens, 2 a strong and tall people, the offspring of the Anakim, whom you know. You have heard it said of them, “Who can stand up to the Anakim?” 3 Know then today that the Lord your God is the one who crosses over before you as a devouring fire; he will defeat them and subdue them before you, so that you may dispossess and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
4 When the Lord your God thrusts them out before you, do not say to yourself, “It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to occupy this land”; it is rather because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to occupy their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to fulfill the promise that the Lord made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
6 Know, then, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; you have been rebellious against the Lord from the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place.
8 Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets written with the finger of God; on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken to you at the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 At the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, “Get up, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have been quick to turn from the way that I commanded them; they have cast an image for themselves.” 13 Furthermore the Lord said to me, “I have seen that this people is indeed a stubborn people. 14 Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and more numerous than they.”
15 So I turned and went down from the mountain, while the mountain was ablaze; the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 Then I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God, by casting for yourselves an image of a calf; you had been quick to turn from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed, provoking the Lord by doing what was evil in his sight. 19 For I was afraid that the anger that the Lord bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you. But the Lord listened to me that time also. 20 The Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him, but I interceded also on behalf of Aaron at that same time. 21 Then I took the sinful thing you had made, the calf, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was reduced to dust; and I threw the dust of it into the stream that runs down the mountain.
22 At Taberah also, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and occupy the land that I have given you,” you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, neither trusting him nor obeying him. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord as long as he has[c] known you.
25 Throughout the forty days and forty nights that I lay prostrate before the Lord when the Lord intended to destroy you, 26 I prayed to the Lord and said, “Lord God, do not destroy the people who are your very own possession, whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; pay no attention to the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin, 28 otherwise the land from which you have brought us might say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to let them die in the wilderness.’ 29 For they are the people of your very own possession, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Read: Matthew 2:13-21
The Escape to Egypt
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
The Massacre of the Infants
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[b] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[c] 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
The Return from Egypt
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[d] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
Footnotes:
Matthew 2:14 Gk he
Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
Matthew 2:21 Gk he
Insight
Today’s passage is both a harrowing and a comforting account of early events in Jesus’ life. Verse 15 reminds us that the threat to His life and His family’s hasty escape to Egypt were within God’s plan.
Out Of Egypt
By Dave Branon
Take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt. —Matthew 2:13
One year when our family was traveling through Ohio on the way to Grandma’s house, we arrived in Columbus just as a tornado warning was issued. Suddenly everything changed as we feared that our children might be in danger.
I mention that story to help us imagine what it was like for Joseph’s family as he, Mary, and their young child traveled to Egypt. Herod, not a tornado, threatened them as he sought to kill their little boy. Imagine how frightening it was for them, knowing that “Herod [sought] the young Child to destroy Him” (Matt. 2:13).
We usually take a more idyllic view of Christmastime—lowing cattle and kneeling shepherds in a peaceful scene. But there was no peace for Jesus’ family as they sought to escape Herod’s horror. Only when an angel told them it was safe did the family go out of Egypt and back home to Nazareth (vv.20-23).
Consider the awe we should feel for the incarnation. Jesus, who enjoyed the majesty of heaven in partnership with the Father, set it all aside to be born in poverty, to face many dangers, and to be crucified for us. Coming out of Egypt is one thing, but leaving heaven for us—that’s the grand and amazing part of this story!
Jesus our Savior left heaven above,
Coming to earth as a Servant with love;
Laying aside all His glory He came,
Bringing salvation through faith in His name. —Hess
Jesus came to earth for us so we could go to heaven with Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Where the Battle is Won or Lost
"If you will return, O Israel," says the Lord… —Jeremiah 4:1
Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.
I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.
In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.
Warnings. Red lights in life that signal us of impending danger. They exist in all parts of life. Sirens scream as a marriage starts to sour; alarms blare when a faith weakens.
We usually know when trouble is just around the corner. Christians who've fallen away felt the fire waning long before it went out. Unwanted pregnancies or explosions of anger are usually the result of a history of ignoring warnings about an impending fire.
Are your senses numb? Are your eyes trained to turn and roll when they should pause and observe? One-night stands. Dust-covered Bibles. Careless choice of companions. Denial of Christ.
Proverbs 19:27 says, "Cease listening to [My] instruction and you will stray from the words of knowledge."
Divine warnings. Inspired by God; tested by time. Heed them and safety is yours to enjoy!
From God Came Near
Deuteronomy 9
The Consequences of Rebelling against God
Hear, O Israel! You are about to cross the Jordan today, to go in and dispossess nations larger and mightier than you, great cities, fortified to the heavens, 2 a strong and tall people, the offspring of the Anakim, whom you know. You have heard it said of them, “Who can stand up to the Anakim?” 3 Know then today that the Lord your God is the one who crosses over before you as a devouring fire; he will defeat them and subdue them before you, so that you may dispossess and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
4 When the Lord your God thrusts them out before you, do not say to yourself, “It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to occupy this land”; it is rather because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to occupy their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to fulfill the promise that the Lord made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
6 Know, then, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; you have been rebellious against the Lord from the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place.
8 Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets written with the finger of God; on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken to you at the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 At the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, “Get up, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have been quick to turn from the way that I commanded them; they have cast an image for themselves.” 13 Furthermore the Lord said to me, “I have seen that this people is indeed a stubborn people. 14 Let me alone that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and more numerous than they.”
15 So I turned and went down from the mountain, while the mountain was ablaze; the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 Then I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God, by casting for yourselves an image of a calf; you had been quick to turn from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin you had committed, provoking the Lord by doing what was evil in his sight. 19 For I was afraid that the anger that the Lord bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you. But the Lord listened to me that time also. 20 The Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him, but I interceded also on behalf of Aaron at that same time. 21 Then I took the sinful thing you had made, the calf, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly, until it was reduced to dust; and I threw the dust of it into the stream that runs down the mountain.
22 At Taberah also, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and occupy the land that I have given you,” you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, neither trusting him nor obeying him. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord as long as he has[c] known you.
25 Throughout the forty days and forty nights that I lay prostrate before the Lord when the Lord intended to destroy you, 26 I prayed to the Lord and said, “Lord God, do not destroy the people who are your very own possession, whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; pay no attention to the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin, 28 otherwise the land from which you have brought us might say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to let them die in the wilderness.’ 29 For they are the people of your very own possession, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Read: Matthew 2:13-21
The Escape to Egypt
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
The Massacre of the Infants
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[b] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[c] 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
The Return from Egypt
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[d] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
Footnotes:
Matthew 2:14 Gk he
Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
Matthew 2:21 Gk he
Insight
Today’s passage is both a harrowing and a comforting account of early events in Jesus’ life. Verse 15 reminds us that the threat to His life and His family’s hasty escape to Egypt were within God’s plan.
Out Of Egypt
By Dave Branon
Take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt. —Matthew 2:13
One year when our family was traveling through Ohio on the way to Grandma’s house, we arrived in Columbus just as a tornado warning was issued. Suddenly everything changed as we feared that our children might be in danger.
I mention that story to help us imagine what it was like for Joseph’s family as he, Mary, and their young child traveled to Egypt. Herod, not a tornado, threatened them as he sought to kill their little boy. Imagine how frightening it was for them, knowing that “Herod [sought] the young Child to destroy Him” (Matt. 2:13).
We usually take a more idyllic view of Christmastime—lowing cattle and kneeling shepherds in a peaceful scene. But there was no peace for Jesus’ family as they sought to escape Herod’s horror. Only when an angel told them it was safe did the family go out of Egypt and back home to Nazareth (vv.20-23).
Consider the awe we should feel for the incarnation. Jesus, who enjoyed the majesty of heaven in partnership with the Father, set it all aside to be born in poverty, to face many dangers, and to be crucified for us. Coming out of Egypt is one thing, but leaving heaven for us—that’s the grand and amazing part of this story!
Jesus our Savior left heaven above,
Coming to earth as a Servant with love;
Laying aside all His glory He came,
Bringing salvation through faith in His name. —Hess
Jesus came to earth for us so we could go to heaven with Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Where the Battle is Won or Lost
"If you will return, O Israel," says the Lord… —Jeremiah 4:1
Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.
I should never say, “I will wait until I get into difficult circumstances and then I’ll put God to the test.” Trying to do that will not work. I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity, disaster, and defeat before the world are as sure as the laws of God. The reason the battle is lost is that I fight it first in the external world. Get alone with God, do battle before Him, and settle the matter once and for all.
In dealing with other people, our stance should always be to drive them toward making a decision of their will. That is how surrendering to God begins. Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point— a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory.
Friday, December 26, 2014
Deuteronomy 8 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: The Secret of Forgiveness
You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you. Is it still hard to consider the thought of forgiving the one who hurt you? If so, go one more time to the room. Watch Jesus as he goes from disciple to disciple. Can you see him? Can you hear the water splash? Can you hear him shuffle on the floor to the next person? Keep that image.
John 13:12 says, "When he had finished washing their feet. . ." Please note, he finished washing their feet. That means he left no one out. Why is that important? Because that means he washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. That's not to say it was easy for Jesus, and that's not to say it's easy for you. It IS to say, God will never call you to do what he hasn't already done!
From Inspirational Reader
Deuteronomy 8
A Warning Not to Forget God in Prosperity
This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.[a] 4 The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10 You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.
11 Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. 12 When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous[b] snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, 16 and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. 17 Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. 19 If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 26, 2014
Read: John 1:1-14
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b]
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[d] full of grace and truth.
Footnotes:
John 1:4 Or 3 through him. And without him not one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In him was life
John 1:9 Or He was the true light that enlightens everyone coming into the world
John 1:11 Or to his own home
John 1:14 Or the Father’s only Son
Insight
John’s writings focus on the theme of light. Here, in the prologue of his gospel, John identifies Jesus as “the Light” to whom he bears witness (v.7). While also picturing Jesus as the Word (v.1) and the Creator (v.10), the portrayal of Jesus as the “Light of the world” seems to be foremost in John’s mind (John 8:12; 9:5). He is the Light who has come to live among us.
In The Neighborhood
By Joe Stowell
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. —John 1:14
It was the buzz of our neighborhood. A famous professional football player had moved in just two houses down from where we lived. We had seen him on television and read about his great skills on the field, but we never thought he would choose to reside in our neighborhood. Initially, our expectations were that we would welcome him into the neighborhood and we would all become great friends. But his life was obviously far too busy for any of us to get to know him personally.
Imagine this: Jesus—the Lord of the universe and Creator of all things—chose to dwell among us! He left heaven and came to this earth. As John says, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). Jesus chose to become intimately involved with all who will come to Him. And, even more significant, for those of us who have received His redeeming love, the Holy Spirit has now set up residence in our hearts to comfort, counsel, convict, lead, and teach us.
When you think of the Babe in the manger, remember how special it is that He not only moved into our “neighborhood,” but that He did it so He could bless us with the intimate privileges of His residence within us.
Lord, I’m amazed that You, the greatest One of all,
would take up residence within us! Help us to
treasure the gift of Your presence as our ultimate joy.
Draw us to Yourself to enjoy intimacy with You.
Take advantage of the gift of God’s presence.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 26, 2014
“Walk in the Light”
If we walk in the light as He is in the light…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. —1 John 1:7
To mistake freedom from sin only on the conscious level of our lives for complete deliverance from sin by the atonement through the Cross of Christ is a great error. No one fully knows what sin is until he is born again. Sin is what Jesus Christ faced at Calvary. The evidence that I have been delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me. For a person to really know what sin is requires the full work and deep touch of the atonement of Jesus Christ, that is, the imparting of His absolute perfection.
The Holy Spirit applies or administers the work of the atonement to us in the deep unconscious realm as well as in the conscious realm. And it is not until we truly perceive the unrivaled power of the Spirit in us that we understand the meaning of 1 John 1:7 , which says, “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” This verse does not refer only to conscious sin, but also to the tremendously profound understanding of sin which only the Holy Spirit in me can accomplish.
I must “walk in the light as He is in the light…”— not in the light of my own conscience, but in God’s light. If I will walk there, with nothing held back or hidden, then this amazing truth is revealed to me: “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses [me] from all sin” so that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke in me. On the conscious level it produces a keen, sorrowful knowledge of what sin really is. The love of God working in me causes me to hate, with the Holy Spirit’s hatred for sin, anything that is not in keeping with God’s holiness. To “walk in the light” means that everything that is of the darkness actually drives me closer to the center of the light.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 26, 2014
A SHAREHOLDER IN THE SACRIFICE - #7295
I'm making a list of great books someone needs to write. One is called "How to Motivate Kids to Work". I'd have bought that one when the kids were growing up. I have to be fair to our guys, they pitched in a lot. But sometimes I could have used a book like that.
They worked very hard in school all week, and they got good grades; keeping a very busy schedule. Come Saturday – the day Dad tries to rally the troops to get it all done at home – they don't want to be rallied. They would say, "Dad, I work all week. I need some rest time. I don't feel like it." Of course then I would want to say to them, "You think all those things might be true of me? I'm going out; I'd like for you to help me." So I did.
And frequently, you know what? I found a boy beside me when I did go out there. We were both tired, we were both busy, we were both not feeling like it, but I started doing the job and it seemed like they were willing to follow once they saw me doing it. It's no big deal, but the principle is. There are few things as motivating as someone else's sacrifice.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Shareholder in the Sacrifice."
Christmas is ultimately the story of people sacrificing. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 1:26. It's about one of those sacrifices. "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." We know that the angel went on to tell her that she would be, in verse 31, "...with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus."
Finally, in verse 38 Mary says, "I am the Lord's servant." We read those words and maybe we don't understand what was at stake here. Mary is betrothed; she's engaged to Joseph. She is now going to have to go to him and say, "I am pregnant." In a world in which that could have meant capital punishment for her, is he going to believe she had been impregnated, so to speak, by the Holy Spirit with this baby?
Mary is risking the most important thing in her life – the man she's about to marry. She says, "I'll do it. I am the Lord's servant." Joseph risked his reputation to be with Mary. The Wise Men dropped their work to go seek out Jesus. All of that is minor compared to the sacrifice that was made by the Son of God himself.
Philippians 2 says, "Though He was in the very nature God, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant made in human likeness and finally became obedient to death; even death on a cross." Then it says, "You have the same mind He had."
Maybe this Christmas season has found you committed to Jesus, loving Jesus, but are you hanging on tightly to this one precious part of you? Maybe it's a person who is very important to you, maybe too important. And though you wouldn't say it openly you're going to have that person no matter what Jesus thinks. Or is it something you own? "Lord, you can have me as long as I can have this house, or this car, or this job, or this income." Maybe it's a position or a reputation or staying in your comfort zone, or a pet sin that you've had tightly clenched in your hand even this Christmas season.
Sacrifice is really what Christmas is all about. Mary risked it, Joseph risked it, and Jesus risked it. How can you and I keep hanging onto our little treasure? Why should God make all the sacrifices for Christmas? Is the servant (that's you or me) better than the Master (that's Him)? It's time to be a shareholder in the sacrifice.
This Christmas open your hands as Mary did – not knowing where it would take her; not knowing what it would cost, but knowing the God she loved, "I am the Lord's servant."
You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you. Is it still hard to consider the thought of forgiving the one who hurt you? If so, go one more time to the room. Watch Jesus as he goes from disciple to disciple. Can you see him? Can you hear the water splash? Can you hear him shuffle on the floor to the next person? Keep that image.
John 13:12 says, "When he had finished washing their feet. . ." Please note, he finished washing their feet. That means he left no one out. Why is that important? Because that means he washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. That's not to say it was easy for Jesus, and that's not to say it's easy for you. It IS to say, God will never call you to do what he hasn't already done!
From Inspirational Reader
Deuteronomy 8
A Warning Not to Forget God in Prosperity
This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.[a] 4 The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10 You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.
11 Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. 12 When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous[b] snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, 16 and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. 17 Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. 19 If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 26, 2014
Read: John 1:1-14
The Word Became Flesh
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b]
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[d] full of grace and truth.
Footnotes:
John 1:4 Or 3 through him. And without him not one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In him was life
John 1:9 Or He was the true light that enlightens everyone coming into the world
John 1:11 Or to his own home
John 1:14 Or the Father’s only Son
Insight
John’s writings focus on the theme of light. Here, in the prologue of his gospel, John identifies Jesus as “the Light” to whom he bears witness (v.7). While also picturing Jesus as the Word (v.1) and the Creator (v.10), the portrayal of Jesus as the “Light of the world” seems to be foremost in John’s mind (John 8:12; 9:5). He is the Light who has come to live among us.
In The Neighborhood
By Joe Stowell
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. —John 1:14
It was the buzz of our neighborhood. A famous professional football player had moved in just two houses down from where we lived. We had seen him on television and read about his great skills on the field, but we never thought he would choose to reside in our neighborhood. Initially, our expectations were that we would welcome him into the neighborhood and we would all become great friends. But his life was obviously far too busy for any of us to get to know him personally.
Imagine this: Jesus—the Lord of the universe and Creator of all things—chose to dwell among us! He left heaven and came to this earth. As John says, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). Jesus chose to become intimately involved with all who will come to Him. And, even more significant, for those of us who have received His redeeming love, the Holy Spirit has now set up residence in our hearts to comfort, counsel, convict, lead, and teach us.
When you think of the Babe in the manger, remember how special it is that He not only moved into our “neighborhood,” but that He did it so He could bless us with the intimate privileges of His residence within us.
Lord, I’m amazed that You, the greatest One of all,
would take up residence within us! Help us to
treasure the gift of Your presence as our ultimate joy.
Draw us to Yourself to enjoy intimacy with You.
Take advantage of the gift of God’s presence.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 26, 2014
“Walk in the Light”
If we walk in the light as He is in the light…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. —1 John 1:7
To mistake freedom from sin only on the conscious level of our lives for complete deliverance from sin by the atonement through the Cross of Christ is a great error. No one fully knows what sin is until he is born again. Sin is what Jesus Christ faced at Calvary. The evidence that I have been delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me. For a person to really know what sin is requires the full work and deep touch of the atonement of Jesus Christ, that is, the imparting of His absolute perfection.
The Holy Spirit applies or administers the work of the atonement to us in the deep unconscious realm as well as in the conscious realm. And it is not until we truly perceive the unrivaled power of the Spirit in us that we understand the meaning of 1 John 1:7 , which says, “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” This verse does not refer only to conscious sin, but also to the tremendously profound understanding of sin which only the Holy Spirit in me can accomplish.
I must “walk in the light as He is in the light…”— not in the light of my own conscience, but in God’s light. If I will walk there, with nothing held back or hidden, then this amazing truth is revealed to me: “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses [me] from all sin” so that God Almighty can see nothing to rebuke in me. On the conscious level it produces a keen, sorrowful knowledge of what sin really is. The love of God working in me causes me to hate, with the Holy Spirit’s hatred for sin, anything that is not in keeping with God’s holiness. To “walk in the light” means that everything that is of the darkness actually drives me closer to the center of the light.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 26, 2014
A SHAREHOLDER IN THE SACRIFICE - #7295
I'm making a list of great books someone needs to write. One is called "How to Motivate Kids to Work". I'd have bought that one when the kids were growing up. I have to be fair to our guys, they pitched in a lot. But sometimes I could have used a book like that.
They worked very hard in school all week, and they got good grades; keeping a very busy schedule. Come Saturday – the day Dad tries to rally the troops to get it all done at home – they don't want to be rallied. They would say, "Dad, I work all week. I need some rest time. I don't feel like it." Of course then I would want to say to them, "You think all those things might be true of me? I'm going out; I'd like for you to help me." So I did.
And frequently, you know what? I found a boy beside me when I did go out there. We were both tired, we were both busy, we were both not feeling like it, but I started doing the job and it seemed like they were willing to follow once they saw me doing it. It's no big deal, but the principle is. There are few things as motivating as someone else's sacrifice.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Shareholder in the Sacrifice."
Christmas is ultimately the story of people sacrificing. Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 1:26. It's about one of those sacrifices. "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." We know that the angel went on to tell her that she would be, in verse 31, "...with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus."
Finally, in verse 38 Mary says, "I am the Lord's servant." We read those words and maybe we don't understand what was at stake here. Mary is betrothed; she's engaged to Joseph. She is now going to have to go to him and say, "I am pregnant." In a world in which that could have meant capital punishment for her, is he going to believe she had been impregnated, so to speak, by the Holy Spirit with this baby?
Mary is risking the most important thing in her life – the man she's about to marry. She says, "I'll do it. I am the Lord's servant." Joseph risked his reputation to be with Mary. The Wise Men dropped their work to go seek out Jesus. All of that is minor compared to the sacrifice that was made by the Son of God himself.
Philippians 2 says, "Though He was in the very nature God, He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant made in human likeness and finally became obedient to death; even death on a cross." Then it says, "You have the same mind He had."
Maybe this Christmas season has found you committed to Jesus, loving Jesus, but are you hanging on tightly to this one precious part of you? Maybe it's a person who is very important to you, maybe too important. And though you wouldn't say it openly you're going to have that person no matter what Jesus thinks. Or is it something you own? "Lord, you can have me as long as I can have this house, or this car, or this job, or this income." Maybe it's a position or a reputation or staying in your comfort zone, or a pet sin that you've had tightly clenched in your hand even this Christmas season.
Sacrifice is really what Christmas is all about. Mary risked it, Joseph risked it, and Jesus risked it. How can you and I keep hanging onto our little treasure? Why should God make all the sacrifices for Christmas? Is the servant (that's you or me) better than the Master (that's Him)? It's time to be a shareholder in the sacrifice.
This Christmas open your hands as Mary did – not knowing where it would take her; not knowing what it would cost, but knowing the God she loved, "I am the Lord's servant."
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Luke 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Come and Behold Him
The world was different this week. We forgot our compulsion with winning, wooing, and warring. We looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem. More than in any other season, His name was on our lips. And the result? For a few precious hours our heavenly yearnings intermeshed and we became a chorus. “Come and behold Him” we sang, stirring even the sleepiest of shepherds and pointing them toward the Christ-child. Immanuel. He is with us. God came near.
In a few hours lights will come down and trees will be thrown out. Soon December’s generosity will become January’s payments and the magic will begin to fade. I want to savor the spirit just a bit more. To pray that those who beheld Him today will look for Him next August. How much more could He do if we thought of Him every day!
From In the Manger
Luke 3
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler[a] over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler[b] over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!
5 The valleys will be filled,
and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
and the rough places made smooth.
6 And then all people will see
the salvation sent from God.’”[c]
7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”
10 The crowds asked, “What should we do?”
11 John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”
12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.”
14 “What should we do?” asked some soldiers.
John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”
15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with[d] water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.[e] 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” 18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.
19 John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee,[f] for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. 20 So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.
The Baptism of Jesus
21 One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.[g]”
The Ancestors of Jesus
23 Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry.
Jesus was known as the son of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Heli.
24 Heli was the son of Matthat.
Matthat was the son of Levi.
Levi was the son of Melki.
Melki was the son of Jannai.
Jannai was the son of Joseph.
25 Joseph was the son of Mattathias.
Mattathias was the son of Amos.
Amos was the son of Nahum.
Nahum was the son of Esli.
Esli was the son of Naggai.
26 Naggai was the son of Maath.
Maath was the son of Mattathias.
Mattathias was the son of Semein.
Semein was the son of Josech.
Josech was the son of Joda.
27 Joda was the son of Joanan.
Joanan was the son of Rhesa.
Rhesa was the son of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the son of Neri.
28 Neri was the son of Melki.
Melki was the son of Addi.
Addi was the son of Cosam.
Cosam was the son of Elmadam.
Elmadam was the son of Er.
29 Er was the son of Joshua.
Joshua was the son of Eliezer.
Eliezer was the son of Jorim.
Jorim was the son of Matthat.
Matthat was the son of Levi.
30 Levi was the son of Simeon.
Simeon was the son of Judah.
Judah was the son of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Jonam.
Jonam was the son of Eliakim.
31 Eliakim was the son of Melea.
Melea was the son of Menna.
Menna was the son of Mattatha.
Mattatha was the son of Nathan.
Nathan was the son of David.
32 David was the son of Jesse.
Jesse was the son of Obed.
Obed was the son of Boaz.
Boaz was the son of Salmon.[h]
Salmon was the son of Nahshon.
33 Nahshon was the son of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the son of Admin.
Admin was the son of Arni.[i]
Arni was the son of Hezron.
Hezron was the son of Perez.
Perez was the son of Judah.
34 Judah was the son of Jacob.
Jacob was the son of Isaac.
Isaac was the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the son of Terah.
Terah was the son of Nahor.
35 Nahor was the son of Serug.
Serug was the son of Reu.
Reu was the son of Peleg.
Peleg was the son of Eber.
Eber was the son of Shelah.
36 Shelah was the son of Cainan.
Cainan was the son of Arphaxad.
Arphaxad was the son of Shem.
Shem was the son of Noah.
Noah was the son of Lamech.
37 Lamech was the son of Methuselah.
Methuselah was the son of Enoch.
Enoch was the son of Jared.
Jared was the son of Mahalalel.
Mahalalel was the son of Kenan.
38 Kenan was the son of Enosh.[j]
Enosh was the son of Seth.
Seth was the son of Adam.
Adam was the son of God.
Footnotes:
3:1a Greek Herod was tetrarch. Herod Antipas was a son of King Herod.
3:1b Greek tetrarch; also in 3:1c.
3:4-6 Isa 40:3-5 (Greek version).
3:16a Or in.
3:16b Or in the Holy Spirit and in fire.
3:19 Greek Herod the tetrarch.
3:22 Some manuscripts read my Son, and today I have become your Father.
3:32 Greek Sala, a variant spelling of Salmon; also in 3:32b. See Ruth 4:20-21.
3:33 Some manuscripts read Amminadab was the son of Aram. Arni and Aram are alternate spellings of Ram. See 1 Chr 2:9-10.
3:38 Greek Enos, a variant spelling of Enosh; also in 3:38b. See Gen 5:6.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Read: Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Insight
The role of shepherd is one of the oldest occupations named in the Bible (Gen. 4:2). Shepherds were deemed irreligious and irreverent, because in taking their flock into the wilderness to find pasture, they could not perform their religious duties at the temple. And being in contact with animals (and dead sheep), they were considered “unclean.” That God would announce the birth of the Savior of the world to a group of shepherds is consistent with Jesus’ mission to save the poor and exalt the lowly (Luke 1:51-53; 4:18). It is interesting that Jesus is both the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and the Good Shepherd (10:11).
The Smells Of The Stable
By Randy Kilgore
They shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, “God with us.” —Matthew 1:23
A stable? What a place to give birth to the Messiah! The smells and sounds of a barnyard were our Savior’s first human experience. Like other babies, He may even have cried at the sounds of the animals and the strangers parading around His temporary crib.
If so, they would have been the first of many tears. Jesus would come to know human loss and sorrow, the doubts his brothers and family had about Him, and the pain His mother experienced as she saw Him tortured and killed.
All these hardships—and so much more—awaited the baby trying to sleep that first night. Yet from His very first moments, Jesus was “God with us” (Matt. 1:23), and He knew what it meant to be human. This would continue for over three decades, ending at His death on the cross.
Because of His love for you and me, Jesus became fully human. And being human allows Him to identify with us. Never again can we say that no one understands us. Jesus does.
May the Light that entered the world that night cast its brilliance into the deepest corners of our souls this Christmas, giving us the peace on Earth of which the angels spoke so long ago.
Father, help our hearts to know the
love of Christ and to honor Him
with our unyielding devotion in
this and every season. We love You.
Jesus understands.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 25, 2014
His Birth and Our New Birth
"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
His Birth in History. “…that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of— He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate— God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent— the appearance of God in human form.
His Birth in Me. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.
God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 25, 2014
THE CHRISTMAS INVITATION - #7294
It was the biggest event of the year in the little town of Cornwall; the annual Christmas pageant, starring many of the people of the town. When it came time for casting the various parts, every parent was pushing for their son or daughter to be included. On audition day, it didn't take long to match every part with just the right person.
But then there was Harold. The little guy really wanted a part, but well because of his learning disabilities, the directors kind of kept passing him over. But Harold just kept popping up again, asking for a part. Finally, the directors gave in and they gave him what they judged to be a no-risk part-the innkeeper who comes to the door and tells Mary and Joseph the inn is full. It was a part with only one simple line. Little did they know that the stage had been set for the most memorable Christmas pageant the town had ever seen.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Christmas Invitation."
The night of the pageant, you had to get there early just to get a seat. Backstage, the shepherds were putting on their bathrobes, the angels were adjusting their halos, everyone was reviewing their lines, and the directors were going over Harold's line with him one more time, "Now, remember, Harold ... 'I'm sorry, we have no room.'" Slowly, but surely, Harold repeated his line, "I'm sorry, we have no room."
The men of the church built a set that portrayed Bethlehem in the background, a manger on the right, and an inn on the left. As Act One neared its end, a weary Mary and Joseph trudged up to the inn door, desperately looking for shelter. Joseph knocked on the inn door and nothing happened. Backstage the front rows could hear the director whispering, "Now, Harold, now!" The set began to shake! Harold was struggling to get the door open. And then, standing there in his bathrobe, Harold listened as Joseph begged for a room again for his pregnant wife.
Harold said nothing. Again, the backstage whisper, "I'm sorry, we have no room." Another long pause. And finally, Harold struggled through his line, "I'm sorry, we have no room." Then he slowly closed the door. It was as Mary and Joseph began to turn away that the totally unforgettable moment came, the moment no one would ever forget. Suddenly the set started shaking again; Harold again struggling to get the door open. The stunned director's trying to get to him, and he can't get to him in time. Harold opened the door, ran after the departing Mary and Joseph, and loud enough for people in the basement to hear, Harold said, "Wait! Wait! You can have my room!"
You know what? Little Harold understood exactly what Christmas means. Luke 2:7, our word for today from the Word of God, says, "There was no room for them in the inn." But Harold understood that when the Son of God is at your door, you have to make room for Him, which might be something you have never done. Oh, you've done Christian things, you've gone to Christian meetings, you've believed Christian beliefs, and you've developed a Christian image, but could it be you've never really opened the door of your heart to the Savior who died for you, who is once again this Christmas knocking on the door of your heart. Your heart is empty because Jesus still isn't there.
I can't think of a better day to change that; to finally give yourself to the One who gave Himself for you. You can open the door by praying a prayer something like this right where you are, "Jesus, I've been running my life. I resign. I believe when You died on that cross You were paying the death penalty for the sinning I have done, and right now I'm giving that up and I'm dropping it to grab You. I'm putting my total trust in You to forgive my sin and take me to heaven, because You're alive and I'm Yours."
Are you ready to begin that relationship? I hope you'll go to our website, ANewStory.com. We've got the kind of information that will help you begin and be sure you have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This Christmas season - is the time we celebrate His coming to earth, and coming to rescue you. What a great time to give Him what He came for; to give Him you today. Merry Christmas!
The world was different this week. We forgot our compulsion with winning, wooing, and warring. We looked outward toward the star of Bethlehem. More than in any other season, His name was on our lips. And the result? For a few precious hours our heavenly yearnings intermeshed and we became a chorus. “Come and behold Him” we sang, stirring even the sleepiest of shepherds and pointing them toward the Christ-child. Immanuel. He is with us. God came near.
In a few hours lights will come down and trees will be thrown out. Soon December’s generosity will become January’s payments and the magic will begin to fade. I want to savor the spirit just a bit more. To pray that those who beheld Him today will look for Him next August. How much more could He do if we thought of Him every day!
From In the Manger
Luke 3
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler[a] over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler[b] over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!
5 The valleys will be filled,
and the mountains and hills made level.
The curves will be straightened,
and the rough places made smooth.
6 And then all people will see
the salvation sent from God.’”[c]
7 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”
10 The crowds asked, “What should we do?”
11 John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”
12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.”
14 “What should we do?” asked some soldiers.
John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”
15 Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. 16 John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with[d] water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.[e] 17 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” 18 John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.
19 John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee,[f] for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. 20 So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.
The Baptism of Jesus
21 One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.[g]”
The Ancestors of Jesus
23 Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry.
Jesus was known as the son of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Heli.
24 Heli was the son of Matthat.
Matthat was the son of Levi.
Levi was the son of Melki.
Melki was the son of Jannai.
Jannai was the son of Joseph.
25 Joseph was the son of Mattathias.
Mattathias was the son of Amos.
Amos was the son of Nahum.
Nahum was the son of Esli.
Esli was the son of Naggai.
26 Naggai was the son of Maath.
Maath was the son of Mattathias.
Mattathias was the son of Semein.
Semein was the son of Josech.
Josech was the son of Joda.
27 Joda was the son of Joanan.
Joanan was the son of Rhesa.
Rhesa was the son of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the son of Neri.
28 Neri was the son of Melki.
Melki was the son of Addi.
Addi was the son of Cosam.
Cosam was the son of Elmadam.
Elmadam was the son of Er.
29 Er was the son of Joshua.
Joshua was the son of Eliezer.
Eliezer was the son of Jorim.
Jorim was the son of Matthat.
Matthat was the son of Levi.
30 Levi was the son of Simeon.
Simeon was the son of Judah.
Judah was the son of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Jonam.
Jonam was the son of Eliakim.
31 Eliakim was the son of Melea.
Melea was the son of Menna.
Menna was the son of Mattatha.
Mattatha was the son of Nathan.
Nathan was the son of David.
32 David was the son of Jesse.
Jesse was the son of Obed.
Obed was the son of Boaz.
Boaz was the son of Salmon.[h]
Salmon was the son of Nahshon.
33 Nahshon was the son of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the son of Admin.
Admin was the son of Arni.[i]
Arni was the son of Hezron.
Hezron was the son of Perez.
Perez was the son of Judah.
34 Judah was the son of Jacob.
Jacob was the son of Isaac.
Isaac was the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the son of Terah.
Terah was the son of Nahor.
35 Nahor was the son of Serug.
Serug was the son of Reu.
Reu was the son of Peleg.
Peleg was the son of Eber.
Eber was the son of Shelah.
36 Shelah was the son of Cainan.
Cainan was the son of Arphaxad.
Arphaxad was the son of Shem.
Shem was the son of Noah.
Noah was the son of Lamech.
37 Lamech was the son of Methuselah.
Methuselah was the son of Enoch.
Enoch was the son of Jared.
Jared was the son of Mahalalel.
Mahalalel was the son of Kenan.
38 Kenan was the son of Enosh.[j]
Enosh was the son of Seth.
Seth was the son of Adam.
Adam was the son of God.
Footnotes:
3:1a Greek Herod was tetrarch. Herod Antipas was a son of King Herod.
3:1b Greek tetrarch; also in 3:1c.
3:4-6 Isa 40:3-5 (Greek version).
3:16a Or in.
3:16b Or in the Holy Spirit and in fire.
3:19 Greek Herod the tetrarch.
3:22 Some manuscripts read my Son, and today I have become your Father.
3:32 Greek Sala, a variant spelling of Salmon; also in 3:32b. See Ruth 4:20-21.
3:33 Some manuscripts read Amminadab was the son of Aram. Arni and Aram are alternate spellings of Ram. See 1 Chr 2:9-10.
3:38 Greek Enos, a variant spelling of Enosh; also in 3:38b. See Gen 5:6.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Read: Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Insight
The role of shepherd is one of the oldest occupations named in the Bible (Gen. 4:2). Shepherds were deemed irreligious and irreverent, because in taking their flock into the wilderness to find pasture, they could not perform their religious duties at the temple. And being in contact with animals (and dead sheep), they were considered “unclean.” That God would announce the birth of the Savior of the world to a group of shepherds is consistent with Jesus’ mission to save the poor and exalt the lowly (Luke 1:51-53; 4:18). It is interesting that Jesus is both the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and the Good Shepherd (10:11).
The Smells Of The Stable
By Randy Kilgore
They shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, “God with us.” —Matthew 1:23
A stable? What a place to give birth to the Messiah! The smells and sounds of a barnyard were our Savior’s first human experience. Like other babies, He may even have cried at the sounds of the animals and the strangers parading around His temporary crib.
If so, they would have been the first of many tears. Jesus would come to know human loss and sorrow, the doubts his brothers and family had about Him, and the pain His mother experienced as she saw Him tortured and killed.
All these hardships—and so much more—awaited the baby trying to sleep that first night. Yet from His very first moments, Jesus was “God with us” (Matt. 1:23), and He knew what it meant to be human. This would continue for over three decades, ending at His death on the cross.
Because of His love for you and me, Jesus became fully human. And being human allows Him to identify with us. Never again can we say that no one understands us. Jesus does.
May the Light that entered the world that night cast its brilliance into the deepest corners of our souls this Christmas, giving us the peace on Earth of which the angels spoke so long ago.
Father, help our hearts to know the
love of Christ and to honor Him
with our unyielding devotion in
this and every season. We love You.
Jesus understands.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 25, 2014
His Birth and Our New Birth
"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
His Birth in History. “…that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He did not emerge out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being the human race can boast of— He is a Being for whom the human race can take no credit at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate— God coming into human flesh from outside it. His life is the highest and the holiest entering through the most humble of doors. Our Lord’s birth was an advent— the appearance of God in human form.
His Birth in Me. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). Just as our Lord came into human history from outside it, He must also come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God? I cannot enter the realm of the kingdom of God unless I am born again from above by a birth totally unlike physical birth. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). This is not a command, but a fact based on the authority of God. The evidence of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that “Christ is formed” in me. And once “Christ is formed” in me, His nature immediately begins to work through me.
God Evident in the Flesh. This is what is made so profoundly possible for you and for me through the redemption of man by Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 25, 2014
THE CHRISTMAS INVITATION - #7294
It was the biggest event of the year in the little town of Cornwall; the annual Christmas pageant, starring many of the people of the town. When it came time for casting the various parts, every parent was pushing for their son or daughter to be included. On audition day, it didn't take long to match every part with just the right person.
But then there was Harold. The little guy really wanted a part, but well because of his learning disabilities, the directors kind of kept passing him over. But Harold just kept popping up again, asking for a part. Finally, the directors gave in and they gave him what they judged to be a no-risk part-the innkeeper who comes to the door and tells Mary and Joseph the inn is full. It was a part with only one simple line. Little did they know that the stage had been set for the most memorable Christmas pageant the town had ever seen.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Christmas Invitation."
The night of the pageant, you had to get there early just to get a seat. Backstage, the shepherds were putting on their bathrobes, the angels were adjusting their halos, everyone was reviewing their lines, and the directors were going over Harold's line with him one more time, "Now, remember, Harold ... 'I'm sorry, we have no room.'" Slowly, but surely, Harold repeated his line, "I'm sorry, we have no room."
The men of the church built a set that portrayed Bethlehem in the background, a manger on the right, and an inn on the left. As Act One neared its end, a weary Mary and Joseph trudged up to the inn door, desperately looking for shelter. Joseph knocked on the inn door and nothing happened. Backstage the front rows could hear the director whispering, "Now, Harold, now!" The set began to shake! Harold was struggling to get the door open. And then, standing there in his bathrobe, Harold listened as Joseph begged for a room again for his pregnant wife.
Harold said nothing. Again, the backstage whisper, "I'm sorry, we have no room." Another long pause. And finally, Harold struggled through his line, "I'm sorry, we have no room." Then he slowly closed the door. It was as Mary and Joseph began to turn away that the totally unforgettable moment came, the moment no one would ever forget. Suddenly the set started shaking again; Harold again struggling to get the door open. The stunned director's trying to get to him, and he can't get to him in time. Harold opened the door, ran after the departing Mary and Joseph, and loud enough for people in the basement to hear, Harold said, "Wait! Wait! You can have my room!"
You know what? Little Harold understood exactly what Christmas means. Luke 2:7, our word for today from the Word of God, says, "There was no room for them in the inn." But Harold understood that when the Son of God is at your door, you have to make room for Him, which might be something you have never done. Oh, you've done Christian things, you've gone to Christian meetings, you've believed Christian beliefs, and you've developed a Christian image, but could it be you've never really opened the door of your heart to the Savior who died for you, who is once again this Christmas knocking on the door of your heart. Your heart is empty because Jesus still isn't there.
I can't think of a better day to change that; to finally give yourself to the One who gave Himself for you. You can open the door by praying a prayer something like this right where you are, "Jesus, I've been running my life. I resign. I believe when You died on that cross You were paying the death penalty for the sinning I have done, and right now I'm giving that up and I'm dropping it to grab You. I'm putting my total trust in You to forgive my sin and take me to heaven, because You're alive and I'm Yours."
Are you ready to begin that relationship? I hope you'll go to our website, ANewStory.com. We've got the kind of information that will help you begin and be sure you have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This Christmas season - is the time we celebrate His coming to earth, and coming to rescue you. What a great time to give Him what He came for; to give Him you today. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Deuteronomy 7 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: God Sent a Savior
Christmas cards. Punctuated promises. On this special day, can I share words from my favorite Christmas cards?
“He became like us, so we could become like Him.”
“Angels still sing and the star still beckons.”
“God has given a Son to us. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)
And my favorite…
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.”
Merry Christmas everybody!
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 7
The Privilege of Holiness
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. 2 When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy[d] them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, 4 for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. 6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. 11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.
12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!
16 “You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you. 17 Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ 18 But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. 19 Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. 20 And then the Lord your God will send terror[e] to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!
21 “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. 23 But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.
25 “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.
7:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 7:26.
7:20 Often rendered the hornet. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Read: Ephesians 2:13-19
But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
A Temple for the Lord
19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
Insight
Unity is a common theme in the New Testament writings of Paul. Jesus has brought us peace with God and therefore we should also be at peace with each other. In Ephesians 2, Paul talks about peace between Jew and Gentile. Despite the centuries-old separation of the two groups, God in Christ Jesus has “broken down the middle wall of separation” (v.14). In the temple there was a wall beyond which Gentiles could not pass; it formed the boundary of “the court of the Gentiles.” However, Jesus has removed the barriers between God and us and between us and others. Now we all are “members of the household of God” (v.19).
Lasting Peace
By David C. McCasland
He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. —Ephesians 2:14
On Christmas Eve 1914, during the First World War, the guns fell silent along a 30-mile stretch of the Western Front. Soldiers peered cautiously over the tops of trenches while a few emerged to repair their positions and bury the dead. As darkness fell, some German troops set out lanterns and sang Christmas carols. Men on the British side applauded and shouted greetings.
The next day, German, French, and British troops met in no man’s land to shake hands, share food, and exchange gifts. It was a brief respite from war that soon ended when the artillery and machine guns roared to life again. But no one who experienced “The Christmas Truce,” as it became known, would ever forget how it felt and how it fueled their longing for lasting peace.
In Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah we read, “His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). By His death on the cross, Jesus removed the “no man’s land” between us and God. “For He Himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14).
In Jesus we can find lasting peace with God and harmony with each other. This is the life-changing message of Christmas!
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!” —Wesley
Only in Christ can true peace be realized.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
The Hidden Life
…your life is hidden with Christ in God. —Colossians 3:3
The Spirit of God testifies to and confirms the simple, but almighty, security of the life that “is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul continually brought this out in his New Testament letters. We talk as if living a sanctified life were the most uncertain and insecure thing we could do. Yet it is the most secure thing possible, because it has Almighty God in and behind it. The most dangerous and unsure thing is to try to live without God. For one who is born again, it is easier to live in a right-standing relationship with God than it is to go wrong, provided we heed God’s warnings and “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7).
When we think of being delivered from sin, being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and “walk[ing] in the light,” we picture the peak of a great mountain. We see it as very high and wonderful, but we say, “Oh, I could never live up there!” However, when we do get there through God’s grace, we find it is not a mountain peak at all, but a plateau with plenty of room to live and to grow. “You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36).
When you really see Jesus, I defy you to doubt Him. If you see Him when He says, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27), I defy you to worry. It is virtually impossible to doubt when He is there. Every time you are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to you. “My peace I give to you…” (John 14:27)— a peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers you completely, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. “…your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
BARE FEET, BOOTS AND A MAN IN BLUE - #7293
Like most Americans, I just about O.D. on the news. No matter what it's about! It could be news about elections, or some economic problem, or eruptions in the Middle East. It's all important, but it's not exactly in the "joy to the world" category.
So I absolutely loved the feel-good story out of New York City that went viral across Facebook a couple of years ago. It was about the friendly policeman and the freezing homeless man. And it had "Christmas Story" written all over it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bare Feet, Boots and a Man In Blue."
In case you missed it, a young police officer on patrol in Times Square, came upon a homeless man, who was sitting there barefoot on the sidewalk. It was one of those "two pair of socks" night for the officer and even then his feet were freezing. He couldn't imagine a man sitting there barefoot all night. So the man in blue went inside a nearby store and bought the homeless man a $100 pair of boots with his own money. When he gave those boots to that barefoot man, well, you can only imagine the joy.
It would have been one of life's invisible acts of kindness except for a tourist who was there with a cell phone camera. She was so moved with what she was watching, she snapped the picture, which has now been seen by millions of people. Maybe because it was the Christmas season, that poignant scene triggered a flashback to something my personal Hero did over and over again. It's one of the many things that makes me love Him. That would be Jesus.
The incident I remember took place when Jesus was entering a town, surrounded by crowds that were really anxious to see Him. The Bible says there was a blind beggar who had heard that "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." Much to the aggravation of the people around Jesus, he started shouting loudly, "Jesus, have mercy on me!"
A lot of annoyed people there told him in no uncertain terms to shut up. Or "shutteth up" (if that sounds more Biblical to you). So he just shouted louder, the man did. The blind man was a growing nuisance. He was an embarrassment. After all, they had a "celebrity" in town. Then two little words that tell me so much about Jesus, and they are our word for today from the Word of God. Two words: Luke 18:40; "Jesus stopped". Nobody else stopped, but Jesus did. Not for the mayor. Not for the millionaires. Not for the ministers, but for the miserable. The guy everyone else walked by or walked over. That's who Jesus stops everything for. And the first thing that blind man ever saw was the face of Jesus. Because Jesus did what only He could do; He gave that man his sight.
The Bible's filled with stories of people nobody would stop for except Jesus. Marginalized people like blind Bartimaeus. Obnoxious people like Zacchaeus, the tax collector. Condemned people like the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Even the hardened criminal on the cross next to Jesus, in His agony Jesus answered that thief's cry for mercy and guaranteed him heaven.
For 2,000 years, Jesus has been stopping for the lonely, the losers, the lost. And letting them know that someone knows their name. Someone hears their cry. Someone really loves them. And it's God's one and only Son. He sees me; He sees a world lost in sin, away from God, headed for an awful eternity. And He does what no one else could do. What no religion could ever do. He pays for my sins with His blood. In the words of the Bible, "He was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten so that we might have peace; He was lashed and we were healed!" (Isaiah 53:5).
You know, Jesus stopped for me when my soul was destitute, when my soul was doomed. Like the hymn says, "Once I was lost, but now I am found. I was blind, but now I see." You know, He might be passing your way today. He knows your name. He knows your scars. He knows your sin, and He died for it. He's reaching your direction. Would you grab His hand today to begin your personal relationship with the man who loved you enough to die for you?
If you want to know how; if I could possibly help you, please check out our website ANewStory.com and let Jesus do for you what only He can do.
Christmas cards. Punctuated promises. On this special day, can I share words from my favorite Christmas cards?
“He became like us, so we could become like Him.”
“Angels still sing and the star still beckons.”
“God has given a Son to us. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6)
And my favorite…
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.”
Merry Christmas everybody!
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 7
The Privilege of Holiness
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. 2 When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy[d] them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, 4 for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. 6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. 11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.
12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!
16 “You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you. 17 Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ 18 But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. 19 Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. 20 And then the Lord your God will send terror[e] to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!
21 “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. 23 But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.
25 “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.
7:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 7:26.
7:20 Often rendered the hornet. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Read: Ephesians 2:13-19
But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
A Temple for the Lord
19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
Insight
Unity is a common theme in the New Testament writings of Paul. Jesus has brought us peace with God and therefore we should also be at peace with each other. In Ephesians 2, Paul talks about peace between Jew and Gentile. Despite the centuries-old separation of the two groups, God in Christ Jesus has “broken down the middle wall of separation” (v.14). In the temple there was a wall beyond which Gentiles could not pass; it formed the boundary of “the court of the Gentiles.” However, Jesus has removed the barriers between God and us and between us and others. Now we all are “members of the household of God” (v.19).
Lasting Peace
By David C. McCasland
He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. —Ephesians 2:14
On Christmas Eve 1914, during the First World War, the guns fell silent along a 30-mile stretch of the Western Front. Soldiers peered cautiously over the tops of trenches while a few emerged to repair their positions and bury the dead. As darkness fell, some German troops set out lanterns and sang Christmas carols. Men on the British side applauded and shouted greetings.
The next day, German, French, and British troops met in no man’s land to shake hands, share food, and exchange gifts. It was a brief respite from war that soon ended when the artillery and machine guns roared to life again. But no one who experienced “The Christmas Truce,” as it became known, would ever forget how it felt and how it fueled their longing for lasting peace.
In Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah we read, “His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). By His death on the cross, Jesus removed the “no man’s land” between us and God. “For He Himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14).
In Jesus we can find lasting peace with God and harmony with each other. This is the life-changing message of Christmas!
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!” —Wesley
Only in Christ can true peace be realized.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
The Hidden Life
…your life is hidden with Christ in God. —Colossians 3:3
The Spirit of God testifies to and confirms the simple, but almighty, security of the life that “is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul continually brought this out in his New Testament letters. We talk as if living a sanctified life were the most uncertain and insecure thing we could do. Yet it is the most secure thing possible, because it has Almighty God in and behind it. The most dangerous and unsure thing is to try to live without God. For one who is born again, it is easier to live in a right-standing relationship with God than it is to go wrong, provided we heed God’s warnings and “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7).
When we think of being delivered from sin, being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and “walk[ing] in the light,” we picture the peak of a great mountain. We see it as very high and wonderful, but we say, “Oh, I could never live up there!” However, when we do get there through God’s grace, we find it is not a mountain peak at all, but a plateau with plenty of room to live and to grow. “You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36).
When you really see Jesus, I defy you to doubt Him. If you see Him when He says, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:27), I defy you to worry. It is virtually impossible to doubt when He is there. Every time you are in personal contact with Jesus, His words are real to you. “My peace I give to you…” (John 14:27)— a peace which brings an unconstrained confidence and covers you completely, from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. “…your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and the peace of Jesus Christ that cannot be disturbed has been imparted to you.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
BARE FEET, BOOTS AND A MAN IN BLUE - #7293
Like most Americans, I just about O.D. on the news. No matter what it's about! It could be news about elections, or some economic problem, or eruptions in the Middle East. It's all important, but it's not exactly in the "joy to the world" category.
So I absolutely loved the feel-good story out of New York City that went viral across Facebook a couple of years ago. It was about the friendly policeman and the freezing homeless man. And it had "Christmas Story" written all over it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bare Feet, Boots and a Man In Blue."
In case you missed it, a young police officer on patrol in Times Square, came upon a homeless man, who was sitting there barefoot on the sidewalk. It was one of those "two pair of socks" night for the officer and even then his feet were freezing. He couldn't imagine a man sitting there barefoot all night. So the man in blue went inside a nearby store and bought the homeless man a $100 pair of boots with his own money. When he gave those boots to that barefoot man, well, you can only imagine the joy.
It would have been one of life's invisible acts of kindness except for a tourist who was there with a cell phone camera. She was so moved with what she was watching, she snapped the picture, which has now been seen by millions of people. Maybe because it was the Christmas season, that poignant scene triggered a flashback to something my personal Hero did over and over again. It's one of the many things that makes me love Him. That would be Jesus.
The incident I remember took place when Jesus was entering a town, surrounded by crowds that were really anxious to see Him. The Bible says there was a blind beggar who had heard that "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." Much to the aggravation of the people around Jesus, he started shouting loudly, "Jesus, have mercy on me!"
A lot of annoyed people there told him in no uncertain terms to shut up. Or "shutteth up" (if that sounds more Biblical to you). So he just shouted louder, the man did. The blind man was a growing nuisance. He was an embarrassment. After all, they had a "celebrity" in town. Then two little words that tell me so much about Jesus, and they are our word for today from the Word of God. Two words: Luke 18:40; "Jesus stopped". Nobody else stopped, but Jesus did. Not for the mayor. Not for the millionaires. Not for the ministers, but for the miserable. The guy everyone else walked by or walked over. That's who Jesus stops everything for. And the first thing that blind man ever saw was the face of Jesus. Because Jesus did what only He could do; He gave that man his sight.
The Bible's filled with stories of people nobody would stop for except Jesus. Marginalized people like blind Bartimaeus. Obnoxious people like Zacchaeus, the tax collector. Condemned people like the woman caught in the very act of adultery. Even the hardened criminal on the cross next to Jesus, in His agony Jesus answered that thief's cry for mercy and guaranteed him heaven.
For 2,000 years, Jesus has been stopping for the lonely, the losers, the lost. And letting them know that someone knows their name. Someone hears their cry. Someone really loves them. And it's God's one and only Son. He sees me; He sees a world lost in sin, away from God, headed for an awful eternity. And He does what no one else could do. What no religion could ever do. He pays for my sins with His blood. In the words of the Bible, "He was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was beaten so that we might have peace; He was lashed and we were healed!" (Isaiah 53:5).
You know, Jesus stopped for me when my soul was destitute, when my soul was doomed. Like the hymn says, "Once I was lost, but now I am found. I was blind, but now I see." You know, He might be passing your way today. He knows your name. He knows your scars. He knows your sin, and He died for it. He's reaching your direction. Would you grab His hand today to begin your personal relationship with the man who loved you enough to die for you?
If you want to know how; if I could possibly help you, please check out our website ANewStory.com and let Jesus do for you what only He can do.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Deuteronomy 6 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: More Than a Christmas Story
The virgin birth is more, much more, than a Christmas story. It's a story of how close Christ will come to you! The first stop on His itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep inside Mary for an answer. Better still-look deep within yourself.
"Christ in you, the hope of glory!" the scripture says (Col. 1:27). Christ grew in Mary until He had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem. And every day you live will be a Christmas. Deliver Christ into the world…your world.
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 6
A Call for Wholehearted Commitment
“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[c] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 13 You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.
14 “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, 15 for the Lord your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth. 16 You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah. 17 You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 19 You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord said you would.
20 “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’
21 “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. 22 The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. 23 He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors. 24 And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. 25 For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Read: 2 Corinthians 9:10-15
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity[a] in you.
11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 12 So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem[b] will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.
13 As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 14 And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. 15 Thank God for this gift[c] too wonderful for words!
Footnotes:
9:10 Greek righteousness.
9:12 Greek of God’s holy people.
9:15 Greek his gift.
Insight
Today’s passage celebrates all that God has given us. He supplies the sower with seed and bread for food (v.10), and He blesses us so we can be generous to others (v.11). Our proper response is thanksgiving to God (v.15) and gratitude that we are able to share with others because of His gifts to us (v.13).
What Really Matters
By Bill Crowder
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! —2 Corinthians 9:15
When our children were living at home, one of our most meaningful Christmas morning traditions was very simple. We would gather our family around the Christmas tree where, in sight of the gifts we were receiving from one another, we would read the Christmas story together. It was a gentle reminder that the reason we give gifts is not because the Magi brought gifts to the Christ-child. Rather, our gifts of love for one another were a reflection of God’s infinitely greater Gift of love to us.
As we rehearsed the familiar story of angels, shepherds, and the manger scene, it was our hope that the magnitude of what God had done that first Christmas would overshadow our best attempts at displaying our love for each other.
Nothing could ever match the gift God has given us in His Son, a reality which echoes in Paul’s words to the church at Corinth, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).
Clearly, God’s willingness to send His Son to be our rescue is a gift that words cannot fully comprehend. This is the gift that we celebrate at Christmas—for Christ Himself is truly what matters most.
’Twas a humble birthplace, but O how much
God gave to us that day;
From the manger bed what a path has led,
What a perfect, holy way! —Neidlinger
Jesus Himself is the greatest Christmas gift ever given.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Sharing in the Atonement
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
The gospel of Jesus Christ always forces a decision of our will. Have I accepted God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ? Do I have even the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want to be identified with His death— to be completely dead to all interest in sin, worldliness, and self? Do I long to be so closely identified with Jesus that I am of no value for anything except Him and His purposes? The great privilege of discipleship is that I can commit myself under the banner of His Cross, and that means death to sin. You must get alone with Jesus and either decide to tell Him that you do not want sin to die out in you, or that at any cost you want to be identified with His death. When you act in confident faith in what our Lord did on the cross, a supernatural identification with His death takes place immediately. And you will come to know through a higher knowledge that your old life was “crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). The proof that your old life is dead, having been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you now enables you to obey the voice of Jesus Christ.
Every once in a while our Lord gives us a glimpse of what we would be like if it were not for Him. This is a confirmation of what He said— “…without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). That is why the underlying foundation of Christianity is personal, passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus. We mistake the joy of our first introduction into God’s kingdom as His purpose for getting us there. Yet God’s purpose in getting us into His kingdom is that we may realize all that identification with Jesus Christ means.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
God's Christmas Go-fer - #7292
What do you think of when I say the word "Go-fer"? Well, if you live in the country, you probably think of a little animal that keeps disappearing into holes. If you work in an office and I say, "Go-fer", you're thinking of the person who keeps getting stuck running all the menial errands, maybe you – that's the go-fer spelled a little differently. That's "go-fer", like go for this and go for that." Now, usually a human go-fer is someone who has the least authority, right, the least seniority. Can you imagine having say the president or the boss of the company be the company go-fer?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Christmas Go-fer."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 2; very familiar words. "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. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born."
You can't fully understand the cosmic events that are taking place as Joseph goes from Nazareth to Bethlehem unless you understand the prophecy God made about the birth of His Son. About five hundred years before, recorded in Micah 5:2, God says, "But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old from ancient times." Simply, the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem. That was the plan.
Excuse me, but we have a problem here! The mother and father are in Nazareth. It's about ninety miles away. It's nearing the time for the baby to be born. There's no conceivable way you're going to get Joseph to take Mary ninety miles on a rugged road to Bethlehem. But God's plan says it's going to be Bethlehem. How are we going to do this?
Enter now the most powerful man in the world. History knows him to have been a butcher. Caesar Augustus – he took orders from no one; murdered members of his own family. But God needs to get Joseph to Bethlehem, so get this – he moves the world's most pagan, most powerful man to decree new taxes. Joseph is forced to go to Bethlehem. He doesn't want to leave Mary alone; he takes her. And Caesar becomes God's Christmas go-fer, just doing His errands to make His promises happen. That's great isn't it? Okay, so what?
A couple of encouragements for you about the Christmas gifts from the Christmas Story. Number one, God can use anybody to accomplish His plans for His kids. Maybe right now there's a person who seems to be an obstacle, an opponent. Wouldn't it be something? See, they could become God's instrument to move you where you need to be. Oh, that person, he thinks he's in charge. So did Caesar Augustus. God's in charge.
Secondly, God will move whatever He has to, to keep His promises to you. If He has to move an entire empire to make the promise come true, He'll do it. He did! And surely He can move what needs to be dealt with in your life. If God can use the Emperor of Rome as His personal go-fer, then nothing is going to stop His plans for you.
The virgin birth is more, much more, than a Christmas story. It's a story of how close Christ will come to you! The first stop on His itinerary was a womb. Where will God go to touch the world? Look deep inside Mary for an answer. Better still-look deep within yourself.
"Christ in you, the hope of glory!" the scripture says (Col. 1:27). Christ grew in Mary until He had to come out. Christ will grow in you until the same occurs. He will come out in your speech, in your actions, in your decisions. Every place you live will be a Bethlehem. And every day you live will be a Christmas. Deliver Christ into the world…your world.
From In the Manger
Deuteronomy 6
A Call for Wholehearted Commitment
“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, 2 and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. 3 Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[c] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 13 You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.
14 “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, 15 for the Lord your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth. 16 You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah. 17 You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 19 You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord said you would.
20 “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’
21 “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. 22 The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. 23 He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors. 24 And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. 25 For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Read: 2 Corinthians 9:10-15
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity[a] in you.
11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 12 So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem[b] will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.
13 As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 14 And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. 15 Thank God for this gift[c] too wonderful for words!
Footnotes:
9:10 Greek righteousness.
9:12 Greek of God’s holy people.
9:15 Greek his gift.
Insight
Today’s passage celebrates all that God has given us. He supplies the sower with seed and bread for food (v.10), and He blesses us so we can be generous to others (v.11). Our proper response is thanksgiving to God (v.15) and gratitude that we are able to share with others because of His gifts to us (v.13).
What Really Matters
By Bill Crowder
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! —2 Corinthians 9:15
When our children were living at home, one of our most meaningful Christmas morning traditions was very simple. We would gather our family around the Christmas tree where, in sight of the gifts we were receiving from one another, we would read the Christmas story together. It was a gentle reminder that the reason we give gifts is not because the Magi brought gifts to the Christ-child. Rather, our gifts of love for one another were a reflection of God’s infinitely greater Gift of love to us.
As we rehearsed the familiar story of angels, shepherds, and the manger scene, it was our hope that the magnitude of what God had done that first Christmas would overshadow our best attempts at displaying our love for each other.
Nothing could ever match the gift God has given us in His Son, a reality which echoes in Paul’s words to the church at Corinth, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).
Clearly, God’s willingness to send His Son to be our rescue is a gift that words cannot fully comprehend. This is the gift that we celebrate at Christmas—for Christ Himself is truly what matters most.
’Twas a humble birthplace, but O how much
God gave to us that day;
From the manger bed what a path has led,
What a perfect, holy way! —Neidlinger
Jesus Himself is the greatest Christmas gift ever given.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Sharing in the Atonement
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… —Galatians 6:14
The gospel of Jesus Christ always forces a decision of our will. Have I accepted God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ? Do I have even the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want to be identified with His death— to be completely dead to all interest in sin, worldliness, and self? Do I long to be so closely identified with Jesus that I am of no value for anything except Him and His purposes? The great privilege of discipleship is that I can commit myself under the banner of His Cross, and that means death to sin. You must get alone with Jesus and either decide to tell Him that you do not want sin to die out in you, or that at any cost you want to be identified with His death. When you act in confident faith in what our Lord did on the cross, a supernatural identification with His death takes place immediately. And you will come to know through a higher knowledge that your old life was “crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). The proof that your old life is dead, having been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you now enables you to obey the voice of Jesus Christ.
Every once in a while our Lord gives us a glimpse of what we would be like if it were not for Him. This is a confirmation of what He said— “…without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). That is why the underlying foundation of Christianity is personal, passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus. We mistake the joy of our first introduction into God’s kingdom as His purpose for getting us there. Yet God’s purpose in getting us into His kingdom is that we may realize all that identification with Jesus Christ means.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
God's Christmas Go-fer - #7292
What do you think of when I say the word "Go-fer"? Well, if you live in the country, you probably think of a little animal that keeps disappearing into holes. If you work in an office and I say, "Go-fer", you're thinking of the person who keeps getting stuck running all the menial errands, maybe you – that's the go-fer spelled a little differently. That's "go-fer", like go for this and go for that." Now, usually a human go-fer is someone who has the least authority, right, the least seniority. Can you imagine having say the president or the boss of the company be the company go-fer?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "God's Christmas Go-fer."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 2; very familiar words. "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. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born."
You can't fully understand the cosmic events that are taking place as Joseph goes from Nazareth to Bethlehem unless you understand the prophecy God made about the birth of His Son. About five hundred years before, recorded in Micah 5:2, God says, "But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel whose origins are from of old from ancient times." Simply, the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem. That was the plan.
Excuse me, but we have a problem here! The mother and father are in Nazareth. It's about ninety miles away. It's nearing the time for the baby to be born. There's no conceivable way you're going to get Joseph to take Mary ninety miles on a rugged road to Bethlehem. But God's plan says it's going to be Bethlehem. How are we going to do this?
Enter now the most powerful man in the world. History knows him to have been a butcher. Caesar Augustus – he took orders from no one; murdered members of his own family. But God needs to get Joseph to Bethlehem, so get this – he moves the world's most pagan, most powerful man to decree new taxes. Joseph is forced to go to Bethlehem. He doesn't want to leave Mary alone; he takes her. And Caesar becomes God's Christmas go-fer, just doing His errands to make His promises happen. That's great isn't it? Okay, so what?
A couple of encouragements for you about the Christmas gifts from the Christmas Story. Number one, God can use anybody to accomplish His plans for His kids. Maybe right now there's a person who seems to be an obstacle, an opponent. Wouldn't it be something? See, they could become God's instrument to move you where you need to be. Oh, that person, he thinks he's in charge. So did Caesar Augustus. God's in charge.
Secondly, God will move whatever He has to, to keep His promises to you. If He has to move an entire empire to make the promise come true, He'll do it. He did! And surely He can move what needs to be dealt with in your life. If God can use the Emperor of Rome as His personal go-fer, then nothing is going to stop His plans for you.
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