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, or 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 his 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
Zephaniah 1
No Longer Giving God a Thought or a Prayer
God’s Message to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. It came during the reign of Josiah son of Amon, who was king of Judah:
2 “I’m going to make a clean sweep of the earth,
a thorough housecleaning.” God’s Decree.
3 “Men and women and animals,
including birds and fish—
Anything and everything that causes sin—will go,
but especially people.
4-6 “I’ll start with Judah
and everybody who lives in Jerusalem.
I’ll sweep the place clean of every trace
of the sex-and-religion Baal shrines and their priests.
I’ll get rid of the people who sneak up to their rooftops at night
to worship the star gods and goddesses;
Also those who continue to worship God
but cover their bases by worshiping other king-gods as well;
Not to mention those who’ve dumped God altogether,
no longer giving him a thought or offering a prayer.
7-13 “Quiet now!
Reverent silence before me, God, the Master!
Time’s up. My Judgment Day is near:
The Holy Day is all set, the invited guests made holy.
On the Holy Day, God’s Judgment Day,
I will punish the leaders and the royal sons;
I will punish those who dress up like foreign priests and priestesses,
Who introduce pagan prayers and practices;
And I’ll punish all who import pagan superstitions
that turn holy places into hellholes.
Judgment Day!” God’s Decree!
“Cries of panic from the city’s Fish Gate,
Cries of terror from the city’s Second Quarter,
sounds of great crashing from the hills!
Wail, you shopkeepers on Market Street!
Moneymaking has had its day. The god Money is dead.
On Judgment Day,
I’ll search through every closet and alley in Jerusalem.
I’ll find and punish those who are sitting it out, fat and lazy,
amusing themselves and taking it easy,
Who think, ‘God doesn’t do anything, good or bad.
He isn’t involved, so neither are we.’
But just wait. They’ll lose everything they have,
money and house and land.
They’ll build a house and never move in.
They’ll plant vineyards and never taste the wine.
A Day of Darkness at Noon
14-18 “The Great Judgment Day of God is almost here.
It’s countdown time: . . . seven, six, five, four . . .
Bitter and noisy cries on my Judgment Day,
even strong men screaming for help.
Judgment Day is payday—my anger paid out:
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of catastrophic doom,
a day of darkness at noon,
a day of black storm clouds,
a day of bloodcurdling war cries,
as forts are assaulted,
as defenses are smashed.
I’ll make things so bad they won’t know what hit them.
They’ll walk around groping like the blind.
They’ve sinned against God!
Their blood will be poured out like old dishwater,
their guts shoveled into slop buckets.
Don’t plan on buying your way out.
Your money is worthless for this.
This is the Day of God’s Judgment—my wrath!
I care about sin with fiery passion—
A fire to burn up the corrupted world,
a wildfire finish to the corrupting people.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Read: 2 Peter 1:12–21
The One Light in a Dark Time
Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. I know that I’m to die soon; the Master has made that quite clear to me. And so I am especially eager that you have all this down in black and white so that after I die, you’ll have it for ready reference.
16-18 We weren’t, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight.” We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.
19-21 We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word.
INSIGHT:
Nothing hits home for people like a straightforward, unembroidered recounting of personal testimony about how Christ has changed our lives. The blind man of John 9:25 blurted out, “One thing I know. I was blind but now I see.” His healing was unarguable. There is nothing quite like the unadorned truth of testimony—“Tell it like it is.”
The Power of Simple Words
By Randy Kilgore
We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 2 Peter 1:16
Raucous laughter marked the guests in my father's hospital room: Two old truck drivers, one former country/western singer, one craftsman, two women from neighboring farms, and me.
"...and then he got up and busted the bottle over my head," the craftsman said, finishing his story about a bar fight.
Shape my words and phrases to share Your love.
The room bursts into laughter at this now-humorous memory. Dad, struggling for breath as his laughing fought with his cancer for the air in his lungs, puffs out a reminder to everybody that “Randy is a preacher" so they need to watch what they say. Everything got quiet for about two seconds, then the whole room exploded as this news makes them laugh harder and louder.
Suddenly, about forty minutes into this visit, the craftsman clears his throat, turns to my dad, and gets serious. "No more drinking and bar fights for me, Howard. Those days are behind me. Now I have a different reason to live. I want to tell you about my Savior."
He then proceeded to do just that, over my father's surprisingly mild protests. If there's a sweeter, gentler way to present the gospel message, I've never heard it.
My dad listened and watched, and some years later believed in Jesus too.
It was a simple testimony from an old friend living a simple life, reminding me again that simple isn't naïve or stupid; it's direct and unpretentious.
Just like Jesus. And salvation.
Go and make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:19
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We never enter into the Kingdom of God by having our head questions answered, but only by commitment. The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
The Fight That Isn't Worth It - #7817
You've probably never heard of the "Pig War" between the United States and Great Britain because it's a war that almost happened. That war almost started in 1859 on the disputed San Juan Island between Canada and the State of Washington. In the midst of that tension between England and the U. S., an American settler named Lyman Cutler shot a pig who was rooting through his potato patch. Unfortunately, that pig belonged to an Englishman, Charles Griffin. That incident was just like a match to a powder keg in an already inflamed situation. For twelve years, there was serious hostility and tension between the U. S. and British authorities over a pig. Finally, General Winfield Scott brokered a peace deal. So, fortunately, the only fatality in this conflict was a pig.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Fight That Isn't Worth It."
I wonder how many churches have had a war over some things that weren't much more important than Mr. Griffin's pig. How many marriages have become battlefields because of one relatively small issue that was never resolved and allowed to grow into something much bigger? How many families have become war zones over something that started as a relatively small conflict or misunderstanding between a parent and a child? How many friendships, how many working relationships, how many churches have come unglued ultimately over something like that pig?
Our word for today from the Word of God is packed with wisdom on this issue. It's a short but important statement in Proverbs 17:14. "Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out." That's pretty good stuff isn't it? We all get fixated on how that person insulted us, the affront we suffered, the hurting words that were spoken, the wound from some incident. It's not that the hurt or the issue isn't real; the dead pig was real, but is it worth "breaching the dam" by making it into a defining issue? Can we let it go instead of letting it grow?
It's amazing how a hurt or a misunderstanding can totally destroy our sense of perspective; how it can cause us to forget the big picture and focus on one dark thing that we refuse to forgive or forget. As Jesus was preparing His disciples for His impending death, they were all caught up in a dispute over who was going to be the biggest "big shot" among them. They were so consumed by their ego and by turf issues they totally missed what was about to happen to their Master.
But that's what happens to us so often. We get derailed by some relatively small issue (Though, at the time, it seems like the biggest issue in the world to us.), and we totally miss the huge things that really matter. And we can't, or we won't, get back on the main track. That's why God tells us, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." (Ephesians 4:26) When you do, you (it says here) give "the devil a foothold" (4:27). Deal with it while it's small. 1 Peter 4:8 tells us to "love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins." Love doesn't keep score; "un-love" remembers every wound. Love lets it go; "un-love" lets it grow. Love involves a lot of overlooking instead of overreacting.
The alternative is for that "bitter root" the Bible talks about to grow into something ugly and destructive. Bitterness is like an emotional cancer, constantly growing, destroying whatever it touches. But it doesn't have to be that way if you'll forgive, if you'll overlook, if you'll love unconditionally, if you'll keep your perspective on the big picture instead of getting dragged into a "pig war" over something that isn't worth sacrificing so much for. And if something relatively small has grown into something big and ugly in some relationship of yours, would you be the one to start the healing-the restoring process-before it does more damage?
Don't let walls and wars develop over battles that, in reality, just aren't worth it, because they keep us from fighting the battles that really are.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
2 Chronicles 34 , 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. That’s not to say it’s easy for you. That IS to say, God will never call you to do what he hasn’t already done!
From “The Lucado Inspirational Reader”
2 Chronicles 34
King Josiah
1-2 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He behaved well before God. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to the left or right.
3-7 When he had been king for eight years—he was still only a teenager—he began to seek the God of David his ancestor. Four years later, the twelfth year of his reign, he set out to cleanse the neighborhood of sex-and-religion shrines, and get rid of the sacred Asherah groves and the god and goddess figurines, whether carved or cast, from Judah. He wrecked the Baal shrines, tore down the altars connected with them, and scattered the debris and ashes over the graves of those who had worshiped at them. He burned the bones of the priests on the same altars they had used when alive. He scrubbed the place clean, Judah and Jerusalem, clean inside and out. The cleanup campaign ranged outward to the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and the surrounding neighborhoods—as far north as Naphtali. Throughout Israel he demolished the altars and Asherah groves, pulverized the god and goddess figures, chopped up the neighborhood shrines into firewood. With Israel once more intact, he returned to Jerusalem.
8-13 One day in the eighteenth year of his kingship, with the cleanup of country and Temple complete, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the mayor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the historian to renovate The Temple of God. First they turned over to Hilkiah the high priest all the money collected by the Levitical security guards from Manasseh and Ephraim and the rest of Israel, and from Judah and Benjamin and the citizens of Jerusalem. It was then put into the hands of the foremen managing the work on The Temple of God who then passed it on to the workers repairing God’s Temple—the carpenters, construction workers, and masons—so they could buy the lumber and dressed stone for rebuilding the foundations the kings of Judah had allowed to fall to pieces. The workmen were honest and diligent. Their foremen were Jahath and Obadiah, the Merarite Levites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites—these managed the project. The Levites—they were all skilled musicians—were in charge of the common laborers and supervised the workers as they went from job to job. The Levites also served as accountants, managers, and security guards.
14-17 While the money that had been given for The Temple of God was being received and dispersed, Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of The Revelation of Moses. He reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve just found the Book of God’s Revelation, instructing us in God’s way—found it in The Temple!” He gave it to Shaphan, who then gave it to the king. And along with the book, he gave this report: “The job is complete—everything you ordered done is done. They took all the money that was collected in The Temple of God and handed it over to the managers and workers.”
18 And then Shaphan told the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan proceeded to read it out to the king.
19-21 When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and what’s left of Israel and Judah. Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book of God, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”
22-25 Hilkiah and those picked by the king went straight to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, who was in charge of the palace wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. The men consulted with her. In response to them she said, “God’s word, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you here, ‘God has spoken, I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods; they’ve made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses. My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.’
26-28 “And also tell the king of Judah, since he sent you to ask God for direction, God’s comment on what he read in the book: ‘Because you took seriously the doom of judgment I spoke against this place and people, and because you responded in humble repentance, tearing your robe in dismay and weeping before me, I’m taking you seriously. God’s word. I’ll take care of you; you’ll have a quiet death and be buried in peace. You won’t be around to see the doom that I’m going to bring upon this place and people.’”
The men took her message back to the king.
29-31 The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and then proceeding to The Temple of God bringing everyone in his train—priests and prophets and people ranging from the least to the greatest. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of God. The king stood by his pillar and before God solemnly committed himself to the covenant: to follow God believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to confirm with his life the entire covenant, all that was written in the book.
32 Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin commit themselves. And they did it. They committed themselves to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.
33 Josiah did a thorough job of cleaning up the pollution that had spread throughout Israelite territory and got everyone started fresh again, serving and worshiping their God. All through Josiah’s life the people kept to the straight and narrow, obediently following God, the God of their ancestors.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 26, 2016
Read: Luke 2:25–38
25-32 In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:
God, you can now release your servant;
release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
and of glory for your people Israel.
33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,
This child marks both the failure and
the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
as God reveals who they really are.
36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.
INSIGHT:
The story of Simeon, Anna, and the baby Jesus at the temple is found only in Luke’s gospel. Some scholars believe that much of this unique material could have come from Luke’s personal interaction with Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:1–2).
On Time
By Julie Ackerman Link
When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son. Galatians 4:4
Sometimes I joke that I'm going to write a book titled On Time. Those who know me smile because they know I am often late. I rationalize that my lateness is due to optimism, not to lack of trying. I optimistically cling to the faulty belief that “this time” I will be able to get more done in less time than ever before. But I can't, and I don't, so I end up having to apologize yet again for my failure to show up on time.
In contrast, God is always on time. We may think He's late, but He's not. Throughout Scripture we read about people becoming impatient with God’s timing. The Israelites waited and waited for the promised Messiah. Some gave up hope. But Simeon and Anna did not. They were in the temple daily praying and waiting (Luke 2:25–26, 37). And their faith was rewarded. They got to see the infant Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought Him to be dedicated (vv. 27–32, 38).
When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son. Galatians 4:4
When we become discouraged because God doesn't respond according to our timetable, Christmas reminds us that “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son . . . that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Gal. 4:4–5). God’s timing is always perfect, and it is worth the wait.
Heavenly Father, I confess that I become impatient and discouraged, wanting answers to prayer in my own time and on my schedule. Help me to wait patiently for Your timing in all things.
God’s timing is always right—wait patiently for Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 26, 2016
“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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 26, 2016
The Word That Terrorizes Hell - #7816
If you've flown commercially, you know you have to go through a security checkpoint before you can get to your gate. And for those security personnel who man those metal detectors and X-ray machines, there is a four-letter word they won't tolerate. Of course it's the word "bomb." I mean, you can see signs warning you not to even joke about explosives or bombs or anything. And I'm glad! The slightest hint of the possibility of a bomb has been known to literally shut down an airport for hours-I've been there when that happened. That's fine with me if they want to check that out. Nobody in an airport wants to hear the word "bomb" because of what that word represents. That's something that could destroy everything.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Word That Terrorizes Hell."
You know, there's a word like that in hell. It's a word that the devil and his forces hate because it can destroy everything they have planned. Like the signs at the airport warning people not to bring up the word bomb, the devil is doing everything he can to stop you and me from bringing up this word, because it's like a bomb in hell. He's been trying to edit that word out for a very long time-including in our word for today from the Word of God in Acts 4:17-18.
Peter and John have been proclaiming Christ in Jerusalem, and the Sanhedrin-the same people who engineered the crucifixion of Christ-want to silence his followers. The Bible says they reached this conclusion: "'To stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.' Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." There it is: the word the devil doesn't want to hear – Jesus – because of the power of that name to destroy all his plans.
So the devil tries to make that name the issue, 2,000 years ago or today. In first century Jerusalem, the authorities didn't care if the believers talked about God or the Scriptures as long as they didn't mention the name of Jesus. Not much has changed has it? It's OK to talk about God, the Bible, family values, spirituality, your church, but don't mention the name. Satan hates that name and he does everything he can to edit out the name of Jesus.
All too often we fall right into his trap. We don't want to be offensive or we don't want to turn anyone off, and a voice says, "Hey, just talk about God. That won't bother anybody." So we talk about God in our lives but we avoid the name. Christian musicians write songs that vaguely talk about "Him" but too often they avoid the name of Jesus so their music can cross over to the unbelieving world. Even Christian leaders try to avoid conflict by watering down the name.
But I love the way the first Christians responded to the pressure to edit out Jesus, "There is no other name (they said) under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Wow! The power is in the name of Jesus. Philippians 2:10 says, "...at the name of Jesus every knee will bow!" Satan knows it and Satan hates it, so he's trying to get you and me to choke on the name.
For 20 centuries Satan has been trying to censor the name of Jesus. Don't be a part of his godless crusade. Don't be ashamed of the One who died publicly on a cross for you! The people who don't care about Him, the people who hate Him aren't afraid to say His name. Why would the people who love Him be afraid to speak His name? The devil is afraid you will mention the name; you will talk about Him, because that name is a spiritual bomb that can destroy everything he's planning to do.
You'll probably hear the name of Jesus several times today spoken irreverently from the lips of people who have no love for Him, no respect for Him. How can you, for whom He died, who loved you so much; how can you be silent about His name?
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. That’s not to say it’s easy for you. That IS to say, God will never call you to do what he hasn’t already done!
From “The Lucado Inspirational Reader”
2 Chronicles 34
King Josiah
1-2 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He behaved well before God. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to the left or right.
3-7 When he had been king for eight years—he was still only a teenager—he began to seek the God of David his ancestor. Four years later, the twelfth year of his reign, he set out to cleanse the neighborhood of sex-and-religion shrines, and get rid of the sacred Asherah groves and the god and goddess figurines, whether carved or cast, from Judah. He wrecked the Baal shrines, tore down the altars connected with them, and scattered the debris and ashes over the graves of those who had worshiped at them. He burned the bones of the priests on the same altars they had used when alive. He scrubbed the place clean, Judah and Jerusalem, clean inside and out. The cleanup campaign ranged outward to the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and the surrounding neighborhoods—as far north as Naphtali. Throughout Israel he demolished the altars and Asherah groves, pulverized the god and goddess figures, chopped up the neighborhood shrines into firewood. With Israel once more intact, he returned to Jerusalem.
8-13 One day in the eighteenth year of his kingship, with the cleanup of country and Temple complete, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the mayor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the historian to renovate The Temple of God. First they turned over to Hilkiah the high priest all the money collected by the Levitical security guards from Manasseh and Ephraim and the rest of Israel, and from Judah and Benjamin and the citizens of Jerusalem. It was then put into the hands of the foremen managing the work on The Temple of God who then passed it on to the workers repairing God’s Temple—the carpenters, construction workers, and masons—so they could buy the lumber and dressed stone for rebuilding the foundations the kings of Judah had allowed to fall to pieces. The workmen were honest and diligent. Their foremen were Jahath and Obadiah, the Merarite Levites, and Zechariah and Meshullam from the Kohathites—these managed the project. The Levites—they were all skilled musicians—were in charge of the common laborers and supervised the workers as they went from job to job. The Levites also served as accountants, managers, and security guards.
14-17 While the money that had been given for The Temple of God was being received and dispersed, Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of The Revelation of Moses. He reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve just found the Book of God’s Revelation, instructing us in God’s way—found it in The Temple!” He gave it to Shaphan, who then gave it to the king. And along with the book, he gave this report: “The job is complete—everything you ordered done is done. They took all the money that was collected in The Temple of God and handed it over to the managers and workers.”
18 And then Shaphan told the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan proceeded to read it out to the king.
19-21 When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and what’s left of Israel and Judah. Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book of God, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”
22-25 Hilkiah and those picked by the king went straight to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, who was in charge of the palace wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. The men consulted with her. In response to them she said, “God’s word, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you here, ‘God has spoken, I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods; they’ve made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses. My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.’
26-28 “And also tell the king of Judah, since he sent you to ask God for direction, God’s comment on what he read in the book: ‘Because you took seriously the doom of judgment I spoke against this place and people, and because you responded in humble repentance, tearing your robe in dismay and weeping before me, I’m taking you seriously. God’s word. I’ll take care of you; you’ll have a quiet death and be buried in peace. You won’t be around to see the doom that I’m going to bring upon this place and people.’”
The men took her message back to the king.
29-31 The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and then proceeding to The Temple of God bringing everyone in his train—priests and prophets and people ranging from the least to the greatest. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of God. The king stood by his pillar and before God solemnly committed himself to the covenant: to follow God believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to confirm with his life the entire covenant, all that was written in the book.
32 Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin commit themselves. And they did it. They committed themselves to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.
33 Josiah did a thorough job of cleaning up the pollution that had spread throughout Israelite territory and got everyone started fresh again, serving and worshiping their God. All through Josiah’s life the people kept to the straight and narrow, obediently following God, the God of their ancestors.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, December 26, 2016
Read: Luke 2:25–38
25-32 In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:
God, you can now release your servant;
release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
and of glory for your people Israel.
33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,
This child marks both the failure and
the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
as God reveals who they really are.
36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.
INSIGHT:
The story of Simeon, Anna, and the baby Jesus at the temple is found only in Luke’s gospel. Some scholars believe that much of this unique material could have come from Luke’s personal interaction with Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:1–2).
On Time
By Julie Ackerman Link
When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son. Galatians 4:4
Sometimes I joke that I'm going to write a book titled On Time. Those who know me smile because they know I am often late. I rationalize that my lateness is due to optimism, not to lack of trying. I optimistically cling to the faulty belief that “this time” I will be able to get more done in less time than ever before. But I can't, and I don't, so I end up having to apologize yet again for my failure to show up on time.
In contrast, God is always on time. We may think He's late, but He's not. Throughout Scripture we read about people becoming impatient with God’s timing. The Israelites waited and waited for the promised Messiah. Some gave up hope. But Simeon and Anna did not. They were in the temple daily praying and waiting (Luke 2:25–26, 37). And their faith was rewarded. They got to see the infant Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought Him to be dedicated (vv. 27–32, 38).
When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son. Galatians 4:4
When we become discouraged because God doesn't respond according to our timetable, Christmas reminds us that “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son . . . that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Gal. 4:4–5). God’s timing is always perfect, and it is worth the wait.
Heavenly Father, I confess that I become impatient and discouraged, wanting answers to prayer in my own time and on my schedule. Help me to wait patiently for Your timing in all things.
God’s timing is always right—wait patiently for Him.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 26, 2016
“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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 26, 2016
The Word That Terrorizes Hell - #7816
If you've flown commercially, you know you have to go through a security checkpoint before you can get to your gate. And for those security personnel who man those metal detectors and X-ray machines, there is a four-letter word they won't tolerate. Of course it's the word "bomb." I mean, you can see signs warning you not to even joke about explosives or bombs or anything. And I'm glad! The slightest hint of the possibility of a bomb has been known to literally shut down an airport for hours-I've been there when that happened. That's fine with me if they want to check that out. Nobody in an airport wants to hear the word "bomb" because of what that word represents. That's something that could destroy everything.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Word That Terrorizes Hell."
You know, there's a word like that in hell. It's a word that the devil and his forces hate because it can destroy everything they have planned. Like the signs at the airport warning people not to bring up the word bomb, the devil is doing everything he can to stop you and me from bringing up this word, because it's like a bomb in hell. He's been trying to edit that word out for a very long time-including in our word for today from the Word of God in Acts 4:17-18.
Peter and John have been proclaiming Christ in Jerusalem, and the Sanhedrin-the same people who engineered the crucifixion of Christ-want to silence his followers. The Bible says they reached this conclusion: "'To stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.' Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." There it is: the word the devil doesn't want to hear – Jesus – because of the power of that name to destroy all his plans.
So the devil tries to make that name the issue, 2,000 years ago or today. In first century Jerusalem, the authorities didn't care if the believers talked about God or the Scriptures as long as they didn't mention the name of Jesus. Not much has changed has it? It's OK to talk about God, the Bible, family values, spirituality, your church, but don't mention the name. Satan hates that name and he does everything he can to edit out the name of Jesus.
All too often we fall right into his trap. We don't want to be offensive or we don't want to turn anyone off, and a voice says, "Hey, just talk about God. That won't bother anybody." So we talk about God in our lives but we avoid the name. Christian musicians write songs that vaguely talk about "Him" but too often they avoid the name of Jesus so their music can cross over to the unbelieving world. Even Christian leaders try to avoid conflict by watering down the name.
But I love the way the first Christians responded to the pressure to edit out Jesus, "There is no other name (they said) under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Wow! The power is in the name of Jesus. Philippians 2:10 says, "...at the name of Jesus every knee will bow!" Satan knows it and Satan hates it, so he's trying to get you and me to choke on the name.
For 20 centuries Satan has been trying to censor the name of Jesus. Don't be a part of his godless crusade. Don't be ashamed of the One who died publicly on a cross for you! The people who don't care about Him, the people who hate Him aren't afraid to say His name. Why would the people who love Him be afraid to speak His name? The devil is afraid you will mention the name; you will talk about Him, because that name is a spiritual bomb that can destroy everything he's planning to do.
You'll probably hear the name of Jesus several times today spoken irreverently from the lips of people who have no love for Him, no respect for Him. How can you, for whom He died, who loved you so much; how can you be silent about His name?
Sunday, December 25, 2016
2 Chronicles 33 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: Ordinary No More
It was an ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. Then the black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an angel!
The night was ordinary no more. The angel came in the night because it’s when lights are best seen and when they are most needed. It all happened in a most remarkable moment—a moment like no other. God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened and placed her most precious one in a human womb. God had come near! In the mystery of Christmas, we find its majesty. The mystery of how God became flesh, why he chose to come at all, and how much he must love his people!
From Grace for the Moment
2 Chronicles 33
King Manasseh
1-6 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country when God dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. He rebuilt the sex-and-religion shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down, he built altars and phallic images for the sex god Baal and the sex goddess Asherah and worshiped the cosmic powers, taking orders from the constellations. He built shrines to the cosmic powers and placed them in both courtyards of The Temple of God, the very Jerusalem Temple dedicated exclusively by God’s decree to God’s Name (“in Jerusalem I place my Name”). He burned his own sons in a sacrificial rite in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced witchcraft and fortunetelling. He held séances and consulted spirits from the underworld. Much evil—in God’s view a career in evil. And God was angry.
7-8 As a last straw he placed a carved image of the sex goddess Asherah that he had commissioned in The Temple of God, a flagrant and provocative violation of God’s well-known command to both David and Solomon, “In this Temple and in this city Jerusalem, my choice out of all the tribes of Israel, I place my Name—exclusively and forever.” He had promised, “Never again will I let my people Israel wander off from this land I’ve given to their ancestors. But on this condition, that they keep everything I’ve commanded in the instructions my servant Moses passed on to them.”
9-10 But Manasseh led Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem off the beaten path into practices of evil exceeding even the evil of the pagan nations that God had earlier destroyed. When God spoke to Manasseh and his people about this, they ignored him.
11-13 Then God directed the leaders of the troops of the king of Assyria to come after Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose, shackles on his feet, and took him off to Babylon. Now that he was in trouble, he went to his knees in prayer asking for help—total repentance before the God of his ancestors. As he prayed, God was touched; God listened and brought him back to Jerusalem as king. That convinced Manasseh that God was in control.
14-17 After that Manasseh rebuilt the outside defensive wall of the City of David to the west of the Gihon spring in the valley. It went from the Fish Gate and around the hill of Ophel. He also increased its height. He tightened up the defense system by posting army captains in all the fortress cities of Judah. He also did a good spring cleaning on The Temple, carting out the pagan idols and the goddess statue. He took all the altars he had set up on The Temple hill and throughout Jerusalem and dumped them outside the city. He put the Altar of God back in working order and restored worship, sacrificing Peace-Offerings and Thank-Offerings. He issued orders to the people: “You shall serve and worship God, the God of Israel.” But the people didn’t take him seriously—they used the name “God” but kept on going to the old pagan neighborhood shrines and doing the same old things.
18-19 The rest of the history of Manasseh—his prayer to his God, and the sermons the prophets personally delivered by authority of God, the God of Israel—this is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. His prayer and how God was touched by his prayer, a list of all his sins and the things he did wrong, the actual places where he built the pagan shrines, the installation of the sex-goddess Asherah sites, and the idolatrous images that he worshiped previous to his conversion—this is all described in the records of the prophets.
20 When Manasseh died, they buried him in the palace garden. His son Amon was the next king.
King Amon
21-23 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He was king for two years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he lived an evil life, just like his father Manasseh, but he never did repent to God as Manasseh repented. He just kept at it, going from one thing to another.
24-25 In the end Amon’s servants revolted and assassinated him—killed the king right in his own palace. The citizens in their turn then killed the king’s assassins. The citizens then crowned Josiah, Amon’s son, as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Read: Luke 2:8–14
An Event for Everyone
8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”
13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
INSIGHT:
The heart of the Father for those on the fringes is demonstrated by the fact that the joyous announcement of the birth of the Savior was first made to those out in a field tending sheep. The significance of the fact that God chose shepherds to be the first ones to receive the announcement can be lost on us. In Christ’s day, shepherds were ceremonially unclean and considered untrustworthy. But they were the ones God chose. The love of God knows no societal or class boundaries. Jesus came to show the love of God to everyone. When have you felt like an outcast? Did someone reach out to you? What can you do to show Jesus’s love to others?
Joy for All
By David McCasland
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Luke 2:10
On the final day of a Christian publishing conference in Singapore, 280 participants from 50 countries gathered in the outdoor plaza of a hotel for a group photo. From the second-floor balcony, the photographer took many shots from different angles before finally saying, “We’re through.” A voice from the crowd shouted with relief, “Well, joy to the world!” Immediately, someone replied by singing, “The Lord is come.” Others began to join in. Soon the entire group was singing the familiar carol in beautiful harmony. It was a moving display of unity and joy that I will never forget.
In Luke’s account of the Christmas story, an angel announced the birth of Jesus to a group of shepherds saying, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
The joy was not for a few people, but for all. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son” (John 3:16).
As we share the life-changing message of Jesus with others, we join the worldwide chorus in proclaiming “the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love.”
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”
Father, give us eyes to see people of all nations as recipients of Your grace and joy.
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 25, 2016
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham. The Highest Good, 548 L
It was an ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. Then the black sky exploded with brightness. Trees that had been shadows jumped into clarity. Sheep that had been silent became a chorus of curiosity. One minute the shepherd was dead asleep, the next he was rubbing his eyes and staring into the face of an angel!
The night was ordinary no more. The angel came in the night because it’s when lights are best seen and when they are most needed. It all happened in a most remarkable moment—a moment like no other. God became a man. Divinity arrived. Heaven opened and placed her most precious one in a human womb. God had come near! In the mystery of Christmas, we find its majesty. The mystery of how God became flesh, why he chose to come at all, and how much he must love his people!
From Grace for the Moment
2 Chronicles 33
King Manasseh
1-6 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country when God dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. He rebuilt the sex-and-religion shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down, he built altars and phallic images for the sex god Baal and the sex goddess Asherah and worshiped the cosmic powers, taking orders from the constellations. He built shrines to the cosmic powers and placed them in both courtyards of The Temple of God, the very Jerusalem Temple dedicated exclusively by God’s decree to God’s Name (“in Jerusalem I place my Name”). He burned his own sons in a sacrificial rite in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced witchcraft and fortunetelling. He held séances and consulted spirits from the underworld. Much evil—in God’s view a career in evil. And God was angry.
7-8 As a last straw he placed a carved image of the sex goddess Asherah that he had commissioned in The Temple of God, a flagrant and provocative violation of God’s well-known command to both David and Solomon, “In this Temple and in this city Jerusalem, my choice out of all the tribes of Israel, I place my Name—exclusively and forever.” He had promised, “Never again will I let my people Israel wander off from this land I’ve given to their ancestors. But on this condition, that they keep everything I’ve commanded in the instructions my servant Moses passed on to them.”
9-10 But Manasseh led Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem off the beaten path into practices of evil exceeding even the evil of the pagan nations that God had earlier destroyed. When God spoke to Manasseh and his people about this, they ignored him.
11-13 Then God directed the leaders of the troops of the king of Assyria to come after Manasseh. They put a hook in his nose, shackles on his feet, and took him off to Babylon. Now that he was in trouble, he went to his knees in prayer asking for help—total repentance before the God of his ancestors. As he prayed, God was touched; God listened and brought him back to Jerusalem as king. That convinced Manasseh that God was in control.
14-17 After that Manasseh rebuilt the outside defensive wall of the City of David to the west of the Gihon spring in the valley. It went from the Fish Gate and around the hill of Ophel. He also increased its height. He tightened up the defense system by posting army captains in all the fortress cities of Judah. He also did a good spring cleaning on The Temple, carting out the pagan idols and the goddess statue. He took all the altars he had set up on The Temple hill and throughout Jerusalem and dumped them outside the city. He put the Altar of God back in working order and restored worship, sacrificing Peace-Offerings and Thank-Offerings. He issued orders to the people: “You shall serve and worship God, the God of Israel.” But the people didn’t take him seriously—they used the name “God” but kept on going to the old pagan neighborhood shrines and doing the same old things.
18-19 The rest of the history of Manasseh—his prayer to his God, and the sermons the prophets personally delivered by authority of God, the God of Israel—this is all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. His prayer and how God was touched by his prayer, a list of all his sins and the things he did wrong, the actual places where he built the pagan shrines, the installation of the sex-goddess Asherah sites, and the idolatrous images that he worshiped previous to his conversion—this is all described in the records of the prophets.
20 When Manasseh died, they buried him in the palace garden. His son Amon was the next king.
King Amon
21-23 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He was king for two years in Jerusalem. In God’s opinion he lived an evil life, just like his father Manasseh, but he never did repent to God as Manasseh repented. He just kept at it, going from one thing to another.
24-25 In the end Amon’s servants revolted and assassinated him—killed the king right in his own palace. The citizens in their turn then killed the king’s assassins. The citizens then crowned Josiah, Amon’s son, as king.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Read: Luke 2:8–14
An Event for Everyone
8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”
13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
INSIGHT:
The heart of the Father for those on the fringes is demonstrated by the fact that the joyous announcement of the birth of the Savior was first made to those out in a field tending sheep. The significance of the fact that God chose shepherds to be the first ones to receive the announcement can be lost on us. In Christ’s day, shepherds were ceremonially unclean and considered untrustworthy. But they were the ones God chose. The love of God knows no societal or class boundaries. Jesus came to show the love of God to everyone. When have you felt like an outcast? Did someone reach out to you? What can you do to show Jesus’s love to others?
Joy for All
By David McCasland
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Luke 2:10
On the final day of a Christian publishing conference in Singapore, 280 participants from 50 countries gathered in the outdoor plaza of a hotel for a group photo. From the second-floor balcony, the photographer took many shots from different angles before finally saying, “We’re through.” A voice from the crowd shouted with relief, “Well, joy to the world!” Immediately, someone replied by singing, “The Lord is come.” Others began to join in. Soon the entire group was singing the familiar carol in beautiful harmony. It was a moving display of unity and joy that I will never forget.
In Luke’s account of the Christmas story, an angel announced the birth of Jesus to a group of shepherds saying, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10–11).
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
The joy was not for a few people, but for all. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son” (John 3:16).
As we share the life-changing message of Jesus with others, we join the worldwide chorus in proclaiming “the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love.”
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”
Father, give us eyes to see people of all nations as recipients of Your grace and joy.
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 25, 2016
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
For the past three hundred years men have been pointing out how similar Jesus Christ’s teachings are to other good teachings. We have to remember that Christianity, if it is not a supernatural miracle, is a sham. The Highest Good, 548 L
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Acts 23:16-35 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: His Kingdom Will Never End
In Bethlehem, the human being who best understood who God was and what he was doing, was a teenage girl in a smelly stable. As Mary looked into the face of the baby, she saw her son, her Lord, His majesty. She couldn’t take her eyes off him! Somehow Mary knew she was holding God. So this is he, she thought. She remembered the words of the angel. “His kingdom will never end!”
He looks like anything but a king. His cry, though strong and healthy, was still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. Majesty in the midst of mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter. God came near! And Luke 1:33 says, “His kingdom will never end!”
From Grace for the Moment
Acts 23:16-35
16-17 Paul’s nephew, his sister’s son, overheard them plotting the ambush. He went immediately to the barracks and told Paul. Paul called over one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something important to tell him.”
18 The centurion brought him to the captain and said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He said he has something urgent to tell you.”
19 The captain took him by the arm and led him aside privately. “What is it? What do you have to tell me?”
20-21 Paul’s nephew said, “The Jews have worked up a plot against Paul. They’re going to ask you to bring Paul to the council first thing in the morning on the pretext that they want to investigate the charges against him in more detail. But it’s a trick to get him out of your safekeeping so they can murder him. Right now there are more than forty men lying in ambush for him. They’ve all taken a vow to neither eat nor drink until they’ve killed him. The ambush is set—all they’re waiting for is for you to send him over.”
22 The captain dismissed the nephew with a warning: “Don’t breathe a word of this to a soul.”
23-24 The captain called up two centurions. “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go immediately to Caesarea. Also seventy cavalry and two hundred light infantry. I want them ready to march by nine o’clock tonight. And you’ll need a couple of mules for Paul and his gear. We’re going to present this man safe and sound to Governor Felix.”
25-30 Then he wrote this letter:
From Claudius Lysias, to the Most Honorable Governor Felix:
Greetings!
I rescued this man from a Jewish mob. They had seized him and were about to kill him when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. So I sent in my soldiers. Wanting to know what he had done wrong, I had him brought before their council. It turned out to be a squabble turned vicious over some of their religious differences, but nothing remotely criminal.
The next thing I knew, they had cooked up a plot to murder him. I decided that for his own safety I’d better get him out of here in a hurry. So I’m sending him to you. I’m informing his accusers that he’s now under your jurisdiction.
31-33 The soldiers, following orders, took Paul that same night to safety in Antipatris. In the morning the soldiers returned to their barracks in Jerusalem, sending Paul on to Caesarea under guard of the cavalry. The cavalry entered Caesarea and handed Paul and the letter over to the governor.
34-35 After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he came from and was told “Cilicia.” Then he said, “I’ll take up your case when your accusers show up.” He ordered him locked up for the meantime in King Herod’s official quarters.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Read: Isaiah 9:1–7
A Child Has Been Born—for Us!
But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious— the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.
2-7 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
INSIGHT:
An old song proclaims, “The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin; the light of the world is Jesus.” How can we spread Jesus’s light? Do you have guests coming for Christmas dinner? Pray that your demeanor may reflect Christ’s care and concern. Perhaps some of us may feel a need to invite to our home those who may be lonely or neglected. Others may want to serve food at a mission and talk with those who are emotionally hurting. “Let your light shine . . . that [others] may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” This will bring joy to God, to others, and to ourselves.
Christmas in Captivity
By David McCasland
On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
Rev. Martin Niemoller, a prominent German pastor, spent nearly eight years in Nazi concentration camps because he openly opposed Hitler. On Christmas Eve 1944, Niemoller spoke these words of hope to his fellow prisoners in Dachau: “My dear friends, on this Christmas . . . let us seek, in the Babe of Bethlehem, the One who came to us in order to bear with us everything that weighs heavily upon us. . . . God Himself has built a bridge from Himself to us! A dawn from on high has visited us!”
At Christmas we embrace the good news that God, in Christ, has come to us wherever we are and has bridged the gap between us. He invades our prison of darkness with His light and lifts the load of sorrow, guilt, or loneliness that weighs us down.
On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
On that bleak Christmas Eve in prison, Niemoller shared this good news: “Out of the brilliance that surrounded the shepherds a shining ray will fall into our darkness.” His words remind us of the prophet Isaiah, who prophetically said, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isa. 9:2).
No matter where today finds us, Jesus has penetrated our dark world with His joy and light!
Lord Jesus, we find hope and strength in knowing that Your light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The joy of Christmas is Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 24, 2016
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. Biblical Ethics, 111 L
In Bethlehem, the human being who best understood who God was and what he was doing, was a teenage girl in a smelly stable. As Mary looked into the face of the baby, she saw her son, her Lord, His majesty. She couldn’t take her eyes off him! Somehow Mary knew she was holding God. So this is he, she thought. She remembered the words of the angel. “His kingdom will never end!”
He looks like anything but a king. His cry, though strong and healthy, was still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. Majesty in the midst of mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter. God came near! And Luke 1:33 says, “His kingdom will never end!”
From Grace for the Moment
Acts 23:16-35
16-17 Paul’s nephew, his sister’s son, overheard them plotting the ambush. He went immediately to the barracks and told Paul. Paul called over one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something important to tell him.”
18 The centurion brought him to the captain and said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He said he has something urgent to tell you.”
19 The captain took him by the arm and led him aside privately. “What is it? What do you have to tell me?”
20-21 Paul’s nephew said, “The Jews have worked up a plot against Paul. They’re going to ask you to bring Paul to the council first thing in the morning on the pretext that they want to investigate the charges against him in more detail. But it’s a trick to get him out of your safekeeping so they can murder him. Right now there are more than forty men lying in ambush for him. They’ve all taken a vow to neither eat nor drink until they’ve killed him. The ambush is set—all they’re waiting for is for you to send him over.”
22 The captain dismissed the nephew with a warning: “Don’t breathe a word of this to a soul.”
23-24 The captain called up two centurions. “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go immediately to Caesarea. Also seventy cavalry and two hundred light infantry. I want them ready to march by nine o’clock tonight. And you’ll need a couple of mules for Paul and his gear. We’re going to present this man safe and sound to Governor Felix.”
25-30 Then he wrote this letter:
From Claudius Lysias, to the Most Honorable Governor Felix:
Greetings!
I rescued this man from a Jewish mob. They had seized him and were about to kill him when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. So I sent in my soldiers. Wanting to know what he had done wrong, I had him brought before their council. It turned out to be a squabble turned vicious over some of their religious differences, but nothing remotely criminal.
The next thing I knew, they had cooked up a plot to murder him. I decided that for his own safety I’d better get him out of here in a hurry. So I’m sending him to you. I’m informing his accusers that he’s now under your jurisdiction.
31-33 The soldiers, following orders, took Paul that same night to safety in Antipatris. In the morning the soldiers returned to their barracks in Jerusalem, sending Paul on to Caesarea under guard of the cavalry. The cavalry entered Caesarea and handed Paul and the letter over to the governor.
34-35 After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he came from and was told “Cilicia.” Then he said, “I’ll take up your case when your accusers show up.” He ordered him locked up for the meantime in King Herod’s official quarters.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Read: Isaiah 9:1–7
A Child Has Been Born—for Us!
But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious— the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.
2-7 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
will do all this.
INSIGHT:
An old song proclaims, “The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin; the light of the world is Jesus.” How can we spread Jesus’s light? Do you have guests coming for Christmas dinner? Pray that your demeanor may reflect Christ’s care and concern. Perhaps some of us may feel a need to invite to our home those who may be lonely or neglected. Others may want to serve food at a mission and talk with those who are emotionally hurting. “Let your light shine . . . that [others] may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” This will bring joy to God, to others, and to ourselves.
Christmas in Captivity
By David McCasland
On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
Rev. Martin Niemoller, a prominent German pastor, spent nearly eight years in Nazi concentration camps because he openly opposed Hitler. On Christmas Eve 1944, Niemoller spoke these words of hope to his fellow prisoners in Dachau: “My dear friends, on this Christmas . . . let us seek, in the Babe of Bethlehem, the One who came to us in order to bear with us everything that weighs heavily upon us. . . . God Himself has built a bridge from Himself to us! A dawn from on high has visited us!”
At Christmas we embrace the good news that God, in Christ, has come to us wherever we are and has bridged the gap between us. He invades our prison of darkness with His light and lifts the load of sorrow, guilt, or loneliness that weighs us down.
On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
On that bleak Christmas Eve in prison, Niemoller shared this good news: “Out of the brilliance that surrounded the shepherds a shining ray will fall into our darkness.” His words remind us of the prophet Isaiah, who prophetically said, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isa. 9:2).
No matter where today finds us, Jesus has penetrated our dark world with His joy and light!
Lord Jesus, we find hope and strength in knowing that Your light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The joy of Christmas is Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 24, 2016
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Christianity is not consistency to conscience or to convictions; Christianity is being true to Jesus Christ. Biblical Ethics, 111 L
Friday, December 23, 2016
Acts 23:1-15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: EVERY HEART A MANGER
When Christ was born, so was our hope! This is why I love Christmas. The event invites us to believe the wildest of promises! He did away with every barrier, fence, sin, bent, debt, and grave. Anything that might keep us from him was demolished.
He only awaits our word to walk through the door. Invite him in. Escort him to the seat of honor, and pull out his chair. Clear the table; clear the calendar. Call the kids and neighbors. Christmas is here. Christ is here. One request from you, and God will do again what he did then. He’ll scatter the night with everlasting light. He’ll be born in you.
Let “Silent Night” be sung! Every heart can be a manger. Every day can be a Christmas. The Christmas miracle—a yearlong celebration!
—Because of Bethlehem!
Acts 23:1-15
Before the High Council
1-3 Paul surveyed the members of the council with a steady gaze, and then said his piece: “Friends, I’ve lived with a clear conscience before God all my life, up to this very moment.” That set the Chief Priest Ananias off. He ordered his aides to slap Paul in the face. Paul shot back, “God will slap you down! What a fake you are! You sit there and judge me by the Law and then break the Law by ordering me slapped around!”
4 The aides were scandalized: “How dare you talk to God’s Chief Priest like that!”
5 Paul acted surprised. “How was I to know he was Chief Priest? He doesn’t act like a Chief Priest. You’re right, the Scripture does say, ‘Don’t speak abusively to a ruler of the people.’ Sorry.”
6 Paul, knowing some of the council was made up of Sadducees and others of Pharisees and how they hated each other, decided to exploit their antagonism: “Friends, I am a stalwart Pharisee from a long line of Pharisees. It’s because of my Pharisee convictions—the hope and resurrection of the dead—that I’ve been hauled into this court.”
7-9 The moment he said this, the council split right down the middle, Pharisees and Sadducees going at each other in heated argument. Sadducees have nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it. Pharisees believe it all. And so a huge and noisy quarrel broke out. Then some of the religion scholars on the Pharisee side shouted down the others: “We don’t find anything wrong with this man! And what if a spirit has spoken to him? Or maybe an angel? What if it turns out we’re fighting against God?”
10 That was fuel on the fire. The quarrel flamed up and became so violent the captain was afraid they would tear Paul apart, limb from limb. He ordered the soldiers to get him out of there and escort him back to the safety of the barracks.
A Plot Against Paul
11 That night the Master appeared to Paul: “It’s going to be all right. Everything is going to turn out for the best. You’ve been a good witness for me here in Jerusalem. Now you’re going to be my witness in Rome!”
12-15 Next day the Jews worked up a plot against Paul. They took a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed him. Over forty of them ritually bound themselves to this murder pact and presented themselves to the high priests and religious leaders. “We’ve bound ourselves by a solemn oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. But we need your help. Send a request from the council to the captain to bring Paul back so that you can investigate the charges in more detail. We’ll do the rest. Before he gets anywhere near you, we’ll have killed him. You won’t be involved.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 23, 2016
Read: Psalm 103:1–18
A David Psalm
1-2 O my soul, bless God.
From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
don’t forget a single blessing!
3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.
6-18 God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
INSIGHT:
In Psalm 103, David praises God for His tender mercies and steadfast love (vv. 4, 8, 11, 17). David did not want to forget the many blessings God had given him (v. 2)—forgiveness and healing (v. 3), deliverance (v. 4), provision and renewal (v. 5), and protection (v. 6). This psalm reminds us of who God is (vv. 7–9, 13, 19), what He has done with our sins (vv. 10–12), and who we are (vv. 14–16). In response, we “praise the Lord” (vv. 20–22).
What Can I Give Him?
By Marion Stroud
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
One year, those responsible for decorating their church for Christmas decided to use the theme of “Christmas lists.” Instead of decorating with the usual shiny gold and silver ornaments, they gave each person a red or green tag. On one side they were to write down the gift they would like from Jesus, and on the other they were to list the gift they would give to the One whose birth they were celebrating.
If you were to do this, what gift would you ask for and what would you offer? The Bible gives us lots of ideas. God promises to supply all our needs, so we might ask for a new job, help with financial problems, physical healing for ourselves or others, or a restored relationship. We might be wondering what our spiritual gift is that equips us for God’s service. Many of these are listed in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Or we might long to show more of the fruit of the Holy Spirit: to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind and good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled (Gal. 5:22–23).
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
The most important gift we can ever receive is God’s gift of His Son, our Savior, and with Him forgiveness, restoration, and the promise of spiritual life that begins now and lasts forever. And the most important gift we can ever give is to give Jesus our heart.
You overwhelm me with Your gifts, Lord. In return, I want to give You the very best present that I can. Please show me what You want most from me.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part. Yet what can I give Him—give Him my heart. Christina G. Rossetti
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 23, 2016
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 23, 2016
Why We Can't Sleep In Heavenly Peace - #7815
It might be the favorite song of the Christmas season; a lullaby written to the Christ Child many years ago in a little mountain village in Austria. You probably know what it is. A village pastor, desperate for some music for his Christmas Eve service since the church organ wasn't working, thanks to a mouse eating through parts of the organ! His composition didn't stay in that village. It spread from the Alps around the world, and you can't have a Christmas season without hearing it – probably multiple times. The signature song of celebrating Christmas, "Silent Night." Every verse ends with those beautiful calming words, "Sleep in heavenly peace." Nice words. Not always the way it is.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why We Can't Sleep in Heavenly Peace."
While the song is directed to the baby Jesus, the idea of having that "heavenly peace" is something for all of us. Not just to sleep in peace, but to live with peace in your heart. For many folks, that inner peace has been elusive their whole life; maybe something you know all too well. There's been no relationship, no accomplishment, no experience, not even a religion that has given you what your heart really desperately cries out for – lasting personal peace. An anchor inside that holds you steady in the most stressful, most uncertain of times.
The Bible actually describes the condition of many a human heart I think pretty graphically this way: "Like the tossing sea which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud" (Isaiah 57:20). Ever been to the ocean during a storm? You know what that looks like. Then God uses these two words to describe any heart without God in it, "There is no peace." No peace – the guilt of our mistakes, the people we've hurt, the things that have hurt us, our fears about the future, our chronic feeling of loneliness, of lostness, of meaninglessness. They make it hard to live in peace – to sleep in peace.
"Silent Night" is right when it refers to peace as being "heavenly peace." It's only heaven, it's only God that can finally bring peace to the lifelong storm in our hearts. One of the classic scriptures of Christmas suggests why we don't have God's peace and how we can. In Isaiah 9:6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Bible says: "Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." There it is. Jesus came here to be our Prince of Peace, but you can't have His peace until He's your Prince.
Jesus is supposed to be governing your life. It's nice to have Jesus as a belief, or a religion, or a security blanket. But He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We've chosen to drive our own life where we want it to go, effectively ignoring the God who made us. So Jesus may be in your church, but He's not in charge. He may be a compartment in your life, but He's not in control of your life. He may be in your head, but not in your heart.
And it's only when you put your trust in Him with all your heart that your sins are forgiven and your relationship with God finally begins. Because heaven's Prince went all the way to a cross to pay for your sins, to cancel what has kept you from God and from His peace all these years. And what will keep you from Him forever if you don't belong to Jesus. Let's get that done this Christmas, huh?
You could belong to Jesus before this day is over. You need to reach out to Him and give yourself to Him. And what better time than this season when He came here to die for you? If you're ready to move from a religion to a relationship with Jesus, if you're ready to trade the hell you deserve for the heaven you could never deserve, tell Jesus, "Lord, I'm Yours."
Our website is there to help you be sure you belong to Him. And I'd encourage you to check it out whenever you can as soon as you can. It's ANewStory.com. I'll meet you there.
Tonight you can go to sleep forgiven and safe, with the missing part of you no longer missing. You'll belong to Jesus. And you really can sleep in heavenly peace. "Merry Christmas!"
When Christ was born, so was our hope! This is why I love Christmas. The event invites us to believe the wildest of promises! He did away with every barrier, fence, sin, bent, debt, and grave. Anything that might keep us from him was demolished.
He only awaits our word to walk through the door. Invite him in. Escort him to the seat of honor, and pull out his chair. Clear the table; clear the calendar. Call the kids and neighbors. Christmas is here. Christ is here. One request from you, and God will do again what he did then. He’ll scatter the night with everlasting light. He’ll be born in you.
Let “Silent Night” be sung! Every heart can be a manger. Every day can be a Christmas. The Christmas miracle—a yearlong celebration!
—Because of Bethlehem!
Acts 23:1-15
Before the High Council
1-3 Paul surveyed the members of the council with a steady gaze, and then said his piece: “Friends, I’ve lived with a clear conscience before God all my life, up to this very moment.” That set the Chief Priest Ananias off. He ordered his aides to slap Paul in the face. Paul shot back, “God will slap you down! What a fake you are! You sit there and judge me by the Law and then break the Law by ordering me slapped around!”
4 The aides were scandalized: “How dare you talk to God’s Chief Priest like that!”
5 Paul acted surprised. “How was I to know he was Chief Priest? He doesn’t act like a Chief Priest. You’re right, the Scripture does say, ‘Don’t speak abusively to a ruler of the people.’ Sorry.”
6 Paul, knowing some of the council was made up of Sadducees and others of Pharisees and how they hated each other, decided to exploit their antagonism: “Friends, I am a stalwart Pharisee from a long line of Pharisees. It’s because of my Pharisee convictions—the hope and resurrection of the dead—that I’ve been hauled into this court.”
7-9 The moment he said this, the council split right down the middle, Pharisees and Sadducees going at each other in heated argument. Sadducees have nothing to do with a resurrection or angels or even a spirit. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it. Pharisees believe it all. And so a huge and noisy quarrel broke out. Then some of the religion scholars on the Pharisee side shouted down the others: “We don’t find anything wrong with this man! And what if a spirit has spoken to him? Or maybe an angel? What if it turns out we’re fighting against God?”
10 That was fuel on the fire. The quarrel flamed up and became so violent the captain was afraid they would tear Paul apart, limb from limb. He ordered the soldiers to get him out of there and escort him back to the safety of the barracks.
A Plot Against Paul
11 That night the Master appeared to Paul: “It’s going to be all right. Everything is going to turn out for the best. You’ve been a good witness for me here in Jerusalem. Now you’re going to be my witness in Rome!”
12-15 Next day the Jews worked up a plot against Paul. They took a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed him. Over forty of them ritually bound themselves to this murder pact and presented themselves to the high priests and religious leaders. “We’ve bound ourselves by a solemn oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. But we need your help. Send a request from the council to the captain to bring Paul back so that you can investigate the charges in more detail. We’ll do the rest. Before he gets anywhere near you, we’ll have killed him. You won’t be involved.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, December 23, 2016
Read: Psalm 103:1–18
A David Psalm
1-2 O my soul, bless God.
From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
don’t forget a single blessing!
3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
He heals your diseases—every one.
He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.
6-18 God makes everything come out right;
he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
as they follow his Covenant ways
and remember to do whatever he said.
INSIGHT:
In Psalm 103, David praises God for His tender mercies and steadfast love (vv. 4, 8, 11, 17). David did not want to forget the many blessings God had given him (v. 2)—forgiveness and healing (v. 3), deliverance (v. 4), provision and renewal (v. 5), and protection (v. 6). This psalm reminds us of who God is (vv. 7–9, 13, 19), what He has done with our sins (vv. 10–12), and who we are (vv. 14–16). In response, we “praise the Lord” (vv. 20–22).
What Can I Give Him?
By Marion Stroud
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
One year, those responsible for decorating their church for Christmas decided to use the theme of “Christmas lists.” Instead of decorating with the usual shiny gold and silver ornaments, they gave each person a red or green tag. On one side they were to write down the gift they would like from Jesus, and on the other they were to list the gift they would give to the One whose birth they were celebrating.
If you were to do this, what gift would you ask for and what would you offer? The Bible gives us lots of ideas. God promises to supply all our needs, so we might ask for a new job, help with financial problems, physical healing for ourselves or others, or a restored relationship. We might be wondering what our spiritual gift is that equips us for God’s service. Many of these are listed in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Or we might long to show more of the fruit of the Holy Spirit: to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind and good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled (Gal. 5:22–23).
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2
The most important gift we can ever receive is God’s gift of His Son, our Savior, and with Him forgiveness, restoration, and the promise of spiritual life that begins now and lasts forever. And the most important gift we can ever give is to give Jesus our heart.
You overwhelm me with Your gifts, Lord. In return, I want to give You the very best present that I can. Please show me what You want most from me.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part. Yet what can I give Him—give Him my heart. Christina G. Rossetti
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 23, 2016
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.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 23, 2016
Why We Can't Sleep In Heavenly Peace - #7815
It might be the favorite song of the Christmas season; a lullaby written to the Christ Child many years ago in a little mountain village in Austria. You probably know what it is. A village pastor, desperate for some music for his Christmas Eve service since the church organ wasn't working, thanks to a mouse eating through parts of the organ! His composition didn't stay in that village. It spread from the Alps around the world, and you can't have a Christmas season without hearing it – probably multiple times. The signature song of celebrating Christmas, "Silent Night." Every verse ends with those beautiful calming words, "Sleep in heavenly peace." Nice words. Not always the way it is.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why We Can't Sleep in Heavenly Peace."
While the song is directed to the baby Jesus, the idea of having that "heavenly peace" is something for all of us. Not just to sleep in peace, but to live with peace in your heart. For many folks, that inner peace has been elusive their whole life; maybe something you know all too well. There's been no relationship, no accomplishment, no experience, not even a religion that has given you what your heart really desperately cries out for – lasting personal peace. An anchor inside that holds you steady in the most stressful, most uncertain of times.
The Bible actually describes the condition of many a human heart I think pretty graphically this way: "Like the tossing sea which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud" (Isaiah 57:20). Ever been to the ocean during a storm? You know what that looks like. Then God uses these two words to describe any heart without God in it, "There is no peace." No peace – the guilt of our mistakes, the people we've hurt, the things that have hurt us, our fears about the future, our chronic feeling of loneliness, of lostness, of meaninglessness. They make it hard to live in peace – to sleep in peace.
"Silent Night" is right when it refers to peace as being "heavenly peace." It's only heaven, it's only God that can finally bring peace to the lifelong storm in our hearts. One of the classic scriptures of Christmas suggests why we don't have God's peace and how we can. In Isaiah 9:6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Bible says: "Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." There it is. Jesus came here to be our Prince of Peace, but you can't have His peace until He's your Prince.
Jesus is supposed to be governing your life. It's nice to have Jesus as a belief, or a religion, or a security blanket. But He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We've chosen to drive our own life where we want it to go, effectively ignoring the God who made us. So Jesus may be in your church, but He's not in charge. He may be a compartment in your life, but He's not in control of your life. He may be in your head, but not in your heart.
And it's only when you put your trust in Him with all your heart that your sins are forgiven and your relationship with God finally begins. Because heaven's Prince went all the way to a cross to pay for your sins, to cancel what has kept you from God and from His peace all these years. And what will keep you from Him forever if you don't belong to Jesus. Let's get that done this Christmas, huh?
You could belong to Jesus before this day is over. You need to reach out to Him and give yourself to Him. And what better time than this season when He came here to die for you? If you're ready to move from a religion to a relationship with Jesus, if you're ready to trade the hell you deserve for the heaven you could never deserve, tell Jesus, "Lord, I'm Yours."
Our website is there to help you be sure you belong to Him. And I'd encourage you to check it out whenever you can as soon as you can. It's ANewStory.com. I'll meet you there.
Tonight you can go to sleep forgiven and safe, with the missing part of you no longer missing. You'll belong to Jesus. And you really can sleep in heavenly peace. "Merry Christmas!"
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Nahum 3 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS
Maybe your life resembles a Bethlehem stable. Crude in some spots, smelly in others. Not much glamour. You do your best to make the best of it, but try as you might, the roof still leaks, and the winter wind still sneaks through the holes you just can’t seem to fix. You’ve shivered through your share of cold nights. And you wonder if God has a place for a person like you.
Find your answers in the Bethlehem stable. The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us. The moment Mary touched God’s face is the moment God made his case: there is no place he will not go. No place is too common. No person is too hardened. No distance is too far. There is no person he cannot reach. There is no limit to his love!
–Because of Bethlehem.
Nahum 3
Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth
1-4 Doom to Murder City—
full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence!
Horns blaring, wheels clattering,
horses rearing, chariots lurching,
Horsemen galloping,
brandishing swords and spears,
Dead bodies rotting in the street,
corpses stacked like cordwood,
Bodies in every gutter and alley,
clogging every intersection!
And whores! Whores without end!
Whore City,
Fatally seductive, you’re the Witch of Seduction,
luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells.
5-7 “I’m your enemy, Whore Nineveh—
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
I’ll strip you of your seductive silk robes
and expose you on the world stage.
I’ll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth
of who you really are and have been all along.
I’ll pelt you with dog dung
and place you on a pedestal: ‘Slut on Exhibit.’
Everyone who sees you will gag and say,
‘Nineveh’s a pigsty:
What on earth did we ever see in her?
Who would give her a second look? Ugh!’”
Past the Point of No Return
8-13 Do you think you’re superior to Egyptian Thebes,
proudly invincible on the River Nile,
Protected by the great River,
walled in by the River, secure?
Ethiopia stood guard to the south,
Egypt to the north.
Put and Libya, strong friends,
were ready to step in and help.
But you know what happened to her:
The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp,
Her babies smashed to death
in public view on the streets,
Her prize leaders auctioned off,
her celebrities put in chain gangs.
Expect the same treatment, Nineveh.
You’ll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks,
Wondering what hit you,
looking for a place to sleep it off.
All your forts are like peach trees,
the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking.
One shake of the tree and they fall
straight into hungry mouths.
Face it: Your warriors are wimps.
You’re sitting ducks.
Your borders are gaping doors, inviting
your enemies in. And who’s to stop them?
14-15 Store up water for the siege.
Shore up your defenses.
Get down to basics: Work the clay
and make bricks.
Sorry. Too late.
Enemy fire will burn you up.
Swords will cut you to pieces.
You’ll be chewed up as if by locusts.
15-17 Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate,
for you yourselves are a locust plague.
You’ve multiplied shops and shopkeepers—
more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky!
A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood
and then flying off.
Your bureaucrats are locusts,
your brokers and bankers are locusts.
Early on, they’re all at your service,
full of smiles and promises,
But later when you return with questions or complaints,
you’ll find they’ve flown off and are nowhere to be found.
18-19 King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,
in charge of caring for your people,
Are busy doing everything else but.
They’re not doing their job,
And your people are scattered and lost.
There’s no one to look after them.
You’re past the point of no return.
Your wound is fatal.
When the story of your fate gets out,
the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”
Your cruel evil has seeped
into every nook and cranny of the world.
Everyone has felt it and suffered.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 3:8–16
Suffering for Doing Good
8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.
13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.
INSIGHT:
Do you struggle at times to find the right words to talk about the good news to someone who hasn’t yet accepted it? If so, the apostle Peter offers a refreshingly flexible approach to sharing our faith. He urges us to give others a reason to ask about our hope in Christ (3:15). If we honor Christ as Lord in our hearts first, the difference it makes in us will prompt questions (v. 15). Peter envisions the kind of transformation that others will envy—in the best sense of the word. Those living under the influence of Christ will treat one another with compassion and humility (v. 8). They won't return evil for evil, or insult for insult, but rather blessings for curses (v. 9). This difference in our lives will help others open themselves up to receiving the best gift they could ever receive.
The Best Gift Ever
By Randy Kilgore
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15
At a winter retreat in northern New England, one of the men asked the question, “What was your favorite Christmas gift ever?”
One athletic man seemed eager to answer. “That’s easy,” he said, glancing at his friend next to him. “A few years back, I finished college thinking I was a sure bet to play professional football. When it didn’t happen, I was angry. Bitterness ate at me, and I shared that bitterness with anyone who tried to help me.”
The best Christmas gift is Jesus bringing peace and forgiveness to others.
“On the second Christmas—and second season without football—I went to a Christmas play at this guy’s church,” he said, gesturing toward his friend. “Not because I wanted Jesus, but just to see my niece in her Christmas pageant. It’s hard to describe what happened because it sounds silly, but right in the middle of that kids’ play, I felt like I needed to be with those shepherds and angels meeting Jesus. When that crowd finished singing ‘Silent Night,’ I just sat there weeping.
“I got my best Christmas present ever that very night,” he said, again pointing to his friend, “when this guy sent his family home without him so he could tell me how to meet Jesus.”
It was then that his friend piped up: “And that, guys, was my best Christmas present ever.”
This Christmas, may the joyful simplicity of the story of Jesus’s birth be the story we tell to others.
The best Christmas gift is Jesus bringing peace and forgiveness to others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 22, 2016
The Drawing of the Father
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him… —John 6:44
When God begins to draw me to Himself, the problem of my will comes in immediately. Will I react positively to the truth that God has revealed? Will I come to Him? To discuss or deliberate over spiritual matters when God calls is inappropriate and disrespectful to Him. When God speaks, never discuss it with anyone as if to decide what your response may be (see Galatians 1:15-16). Belief is not the result of an intellectual act, but the result of an act of my will whereby I deliberately commit myself. But will I commit, placing myself completely and absolutely on God, and be willing to act solely on what He says? If I will, I will find that I am grounded on reality as certain as God’s throne.
In preaching the gospel, always focus on the matter of the will. Belief must come from the will to believe. There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to a persuasive or powerful argument. I must deliberately step out, placing my faith in God and in His truth. And I must place no confidence in my own works, but only in God. Trusting in my own mental understanding becomes a hindrance to complete trust in God. I must be willing to ignore and leave my feelings behind. I must will to believe. But this can never be accomplished without my forceful, determined effort to separate myself from my old ways of looking at things. I must surrender myself completely to God.
Everyone has been created with the ability to reach out beyond his own grasp. But it is God who draws me, and my relationship to Him in the first place is an inner, personal one, not an intellectual one. I come into the relationship through the miracle of God and through my own will to believe. Then I begin to get an intelligent appreciation and understanding of the wonder of the transformation in my life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 22, 2016
The Hallelujah Chorus and a Hallelujah Christmas - #7814
The Christmas season isn't complete for my friend Brian if he doesn't sing in that wonderful combined choir presentation of one of the most glorious musical compositions of all time – Handel's "Messiah" – with its unforgettable "Hallelujah Chorus." For many, it's a special part of their Christmas season.
When George Friedrich Handel wrote that "Hallelujah Chorus," it was hardly a hallelujah time in his life. He was broke, indigent, and almost despondent. Then an acquaintance contacted him about writing an oratorio for a benefit concert to raise money to help some people get out of debtors' prison. In those days, if you couldn't pay your debts, you got thrown into prison. Maybe you're especially glad they don't still do that today! Well, in less than a month, Handel composed that masterpiece that would end up inspiring millions of us for centuries to come. Its first performance was life-changing for him and for many people. Because of that night of "Hallelujah Chorus" for the "Messiah," 142 prisoners went free!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hallelujah Chorus and a Hallelujah Christmas."
Here's the great news about Christmas. The Messiah is still setting prisoners free. Not the music; I mean the Messiah the music's about! In fact Jesus, the Son of God, said, "If the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed!" (John 8:36). In fact, it just might be that Jesus may do that liberating miracle for you right here in the middle of the celebration of His coming to earth. Wow!
He said that it was one of the reasons for His coming to earth in the first place. In Isaiah 61:1, which is our word for today from the Word of God, these are the prophetic words spoken about His coming: "He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."
He was talking about something much more than physical imprisonment. He was talking about the prison the whole human race lives in because of our rejection of God's rule over our life. It's a prison without walls. It's a life where we're trapped in a cycle of meaningless days that are like a gerbil running on his wheel, working hard but going nowhere. See, there's no way to know why we're here without the One who put us here. And we're on the other side of a wall from Him because of our sin; our repeated choosing of our way over His way.
We're imprisoned by our dark side, our selfishness, our anger, our hurting that we can't stop. We don't want to do it. We can't stand it, but we can't stop it. We can't get free from the guilt of what we never should have done. Or from our fear of death, our nervousness about eternity because we're not right with God. But the Liberator came that first Christmas to be born as one of us so He could die for us; so He could die for you.
The prophet Isaiah spelled out in graphic language what it took. Listen to this, "He was pierced for our transgressions, (This is God's Son.) He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him" (Isaiah 53:5).
The prison door opens when you personalize what Jesus did on the cross for you – when you tell Him, "Jesus, I understand now that You're my only hope of getting to God, my only hope of the life I was made to live, my only hope of heaven. I resign the running of my own life. I am yours from this day on."
What a wonderful time this could be; this season when we celebrate His coming to earth if you would invite Jesus to come into your life. I encourage you to do that right where you are. And just to nail down that relationship and know you're sure you belong to Him, I'd invite you to go to our website. That's actually why it's there. It's ANewStory.com. I hope you'll check it out today.
Talk about a hallelujah Christmas! Your first Christmas with Christ in your heart and finally free.
Maybe your life resembles a Bethlehem stable. Crude in some spots, smelly in others. Not much glamour. You do your best to make the best of it, but try as you might, the roof still leaks, and the winter wind still sneaks through the holes you just can’t seem to fix. You’ve shivered through your share of cold nights. And you wonder if God has a place for a person like you.
Find your answers in the Bethlehem stable. The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us. The moment Mary touched God’s face is the moment God made his case: there is no place he will not go. No place is too common. No person is too hardened. No distance is too far. There is no person he cannot reach. There is no limit to his love!
–Because of Bethlehem.
Nahum 3
Let the Nations Get Their Fill of the Ugly Truth
1-4 Doom to Murder City—
full of lies, bursting with loot, addicted to violence!
Horns blaring, wheels clattering,
horses rearing, chariots lurching,
Horsemen galloping,
brandishing swords and spears,
Dead bodies rotting in the street,
corpses stacked like cordwood,
Bodies in every gutter and alley,
clogging every intersection!
And whores! Whores without end!
Whore City,
Fatally seductive, you’re the Witch of Seduction,
luring nations to their ruin with your evil spells.
5-7 “I’m your enemy, Whore Nineveh—
I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
I’ll strip you of your seductive silk robes
and expose you on the world stage.
I’ll let the nations get their fill of the ugly truth
of who you really are and have been all along.
I’ll pelt you with dog dung
and place you on a pedestal: ‘Slut on Exhibit.’
Everyone who sees you will gag and say,
‘Nineveh’s a pigsty:
What on earth did we ever see in her?
Who would give her a second look? Ugh!’”
Past the Point of No Return
8-13 Do you think you’re superior to Egyptian Thebes,
proudly invincible on the River Nile,
Protected by the great River,
walled in by the River, secure?
Ethiopia stood guard to the south,
Egypt to the north.
Put and Libya, strong friends,
were ready to step in and help.
But you know what happened to her:
The whole city was marched off to a refugee camp,
Her babies smashed to death
in public view on the streets,
Her prize leaders auctioned off,
her celebrities put in chain gangs.
Expect the same treatment, Nineveh.
You’ll soon be staggering like a bunch of drunks,
Wondering what hit you,
looking for a place to sleep it off.
All your forts are like peach trees,
the lush peaches ripe, ready for the picking.
One shake of the tree and they fall
straight into hungry mouths.
Face it: Your warriors are wimps.
You’re sitting ducks.
Your borders are gaping doors, inviting
your enemies in. And who’s to stop them?
14-15 Store up water for the siege.
Shore up your defenses.
Get down to basics: Work the clay
and make bricks.
Sorry. Too late.
Enemy fire will burn you up.
Swords will cut you to pieces.
You’ll be chewed up as if by locusts.
15-17 Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate,
for you yourselves are a locust plague.
You’ve multiplied shops and shopkeepers—
more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky!
A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood
and then flying off.
Your bureaucrats are locusts,
your brokers and bankers are locusts.
Early on, they’re all at your service,
full of smiles and promises,
But later when you return with questions or complaints,
you’ll find they’ve flown off and are nowhere to be found.
18-19 King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders,
in charge of caring for your people,
Are busy doing everything else but.
They’re not doing their job,
And your people are scattered and lost.
There’s no one to look after them.
You’re past the point of no return.
Your wound is fatal.
When the story of your fate gets out,
the whole world will applaud and cry “Encore!”
Your cruel evil has seeped
into every nook and cranny of the world.
Everyone has felt it and suffered.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Read: 1 Peter 3:8–16
Suffering for Doing Good
8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.
13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.
INSIGHT:
Do you struggle at times to find the right words to talk about the good news to someone who hasn’t yet accepted it? If so, the apostle Peter offers a refreshingly flexible approach to sharing our faith. He urges us to give others a reason to ask about our hope in Christ (3:15). If we honor Christ as Lord in our hearts first, the difference it makes in us will prompt questions (v. 15). Peter envisions the kind of transformation that others will envy—in the best sense of the word. Those living under the influence of Christ will treat one another with compassion and humility (v. 8). They won't return evil for evil, or insult for insult, but rather blessings for curses (v. 9). This difference in our lives will help others open themselves up to receiving the best gift they could ever receive.
The Best Gift Ever
By Randy Kilgore
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15
At a winter retreat in northern New England, one of the men asked the question, “What was your favorite Christmas gift ever?”
One athletic man seemed eager to answer. “That’s easy,” he said, glancing at his friend next to him. “A few years back, I finished college thinking I was a sure bet to play professional football. When it didn’t happen, I was angry. Bitterness ate at me, and I shared that bitterness with anyone who tried to help me.”
The best Christmas gift is Jesus bringing peace and forgiveness to others.
“On the second Christmas—and second season without football—I went to a Christmas play at this guy’s church,” he said, gesturing toward his friend. “Not because I wanted Jesus, but just to see my niece in her Christmas pageant. It’s hard to describe what happened because it sounds silly, but right in the middle of that kids’ play, I felt like I needed to be with those shepherds and angels meeting Jesus. When that crowd finished singing ‘Silent Night,’ I just sat there weeping.
“I got my best Christmas present ever that very night,” he said, again pointing to his friend, “when this guy sent his family home without him so he could tell me how to meet Jesus.”
It was then that his friend piped up: “And that, guys, was my best Christmas present ever.”
This Christmas, may the joyful simplicity of the story of Jesus’s birth be the story we tell to others.
The best Christmas gift is Jesus bringing peace and forgiveness to others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 22, 2016
The Drawing of the Father
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him… —John 6:44
When God begins to draw me to Himself, the problem of my will comes in immediately. Will I react positively to the truth that God has revealed? Will I come to Him? To discuss or deliberate over spiritual matters when God calls is inappropriate and disrespectful to Him. When God speaks, never discuss it with anyone as if to decide what your response may be (see Galatians 1:15-16). Belief is not the result of an intellectual act, but the result of an act of my will whereby I deliberately commit myself. But will I commit, placing myself completely and absolutely on God, and be willing to act solely on what He says? If I will, I will find that I am grounded on reality as certain as God’s throne.
In preaching the gospel, always focus on the matter of the will. Belief must come from the will to believe. There must be a surrender of the will, not a surrender to a persuasive or powerful argument. I must deliberately step out, placing my faith in God and in His truth. And I must place no confidence in my own works, but only in God. Trusting in my own mental understanding becomes a hindrance to complete trust in God. I must be willing to ignore and leave my feelings behind. I must will to believe. But this can never be accomplished without my forceful, determined effort to separate myself from my old ways of looking at things. I must surrender myself completely to God.
Everyone has been created with the ability to reach out beyond his own grasp. But it is God who draws me, and my relationship to Him in the first place is an inner, personal one, not an intellectual one. I come into the relationship through the miracle of God and through my own will to believe. Then I begin to get an intelligent appreciation and understanding of the wonder of the transformation in my life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Defenders of the faith are inclined to be bitter until they learn to walk in the light of the Lord. When you have learned to walk in the light of the Lord, bitterness and contention are impossible. Biblical Psychology, 199 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 22, 2016
The Hallelujah Chorus and a Hallelujah Christmas - #7814
The Christmas season isn't complete for my friend Brian if he doesn't sing in that wonderful combined choir presentation of one of the most glorious musical compositions of all time – Handel's "Messiah" – with its unforgettable "Hallelujah Chorus." For many, it's a special part of their Christmas season.
When George Friedrich Handel wrote that "Hallelujah Chorus," it was hardly a hallelujah time in his life. He was broke, indigent, and almost despondent. Then an acquaintance contacted him about writing an oratorio for a benefit concert to raise money to help some people get out of debtors' prison. In those days, if you couldn't pay your debts, you got thrown into prison. Maybe you're especially glad they don't still do that today! Well, in less than a month, Handel composed that masterpiece that would end up inspiring millions of us for centuries to come. Its first performance was life-changing for him and for many people. Because of that night of "Hallelujah Chorus" for the "Messiah," 142 prisoners went free!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hallelujah Chorus and a Hallelujah Christmas."
Here's the great news about Christmas. The Messiah is still setting prisoners free. Not the music; I mean the Messiah the music's about! In fact Jesus, the Son of God, said, "If the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed!" (John 8:36). In fact, it just might be that Jesus may do that liberating miracle for you right here in the middle of the celebration of His coming to earth. Wow!
He said that it was one of the reasons for His coming to earth in the first place. In Isaiah 61:1, which is our word for today from the Word of God, these are the prophetic words spoken about His coming: "He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."
He was talking about something much more than physical imprisonment. He was talking about the prison the whole human race lives in because of our rejection of God's rule over our life. It's a prison without walls. It's a life where we're trapped in a cycle of meaningless days that are like a gerbil running on his wheel, working hard but going nowhere. See, there's no way to know why we're here without the One who put us here. And we're on the other side of a wall from Him because of our sin; our repeated choosing of our way over His way.
We're imprisoned by our dark side, our selfishness, our anger, our hurting that we can't stop. We don't want to do it. We can't stand it, but we can't stop it. We can't get free from the guilt of what we never should have done. Or from our fear of death, our nervousness about eternity because we're not right with God. But the Liberator came that first Christmas to be born as one of us so He could die for us; so He could die for you.
The prophet Isaiah spelled out in graphic language what it took. Listen to this, "He was pierced for our transgressions, (This is God's Son.) He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him" (Isaiah 53:5).
The prison door opens when you personalize what Jesus did on the cross for you – when you tell Him, "Jesus, I understand now that You're my only hope of getting to God, my only hope of the life I was made to live, my only hope of heaven. I resign the running of my own life. I am yours from this day on."
What a wonderful time this could be; this season when we celebrate His coming to earth if you would invite Jesus to come into your life. I encourage you to do that right where you are. And just to nail down that relationship and know you're sure you belong to Him, I'd invite you to go to our website. That's actually why it's there. It's ANewStory.com. I hope you'll check it out today.
Talk about a hallelujah Christmas! Your first Christmas with Christ in your heart and finally free.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Nahum 2 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: WE DIDN’T DESIGN THE HOUR
Hollywood would recast the Christmas story! Joseph’s collar is way too blue. Mary is green from inexperience. The couple’s star power doesn’t match the bill. Too obscure. Too simple. The story warrants some headliners. And what about the shepherds? Do they sing? A good public relations firm would move the birth to a big city. The Son of God deserves a royal entry. Less peasant, more pizzaz.
But we didn’t design the hour. God did. And God was content to enter the world in the presence of sleepy sheep and a wide-eyed carpenter. No spotlights, just candlelight. No crowns, just cows chewing cud. If God was willing to wrap himself in rags, then all questions about his love for you are off the table. When Christ was born, so was our hope. That is why I love Christmas!
—Because of Bethlehem!
Nahum 2
Israel’s Been to Hell and Back
The juggernaut’s coming!
Post guards, lay in supplies.
Get yourselves together,
get ready for the big battle.
2 God has restored the Pride of Jacob,
the Pride of Israel.
Israel’s lived through hard times.
He’s been to hell and back.
3-12 Weapons flash in the sun,
the soldiers splendid in battle dress,
Chariots burnished and glistening,
ready to charge,
A spiked forest of brandished spears,
lethal on the horizon.
The chariots pour into the streets.
They fill the public squares,
Flaming like torches in the sun,
like lightning darting and flashing.
The Assyrian king rallies his men,
but they stagger and stumble.
They run to the ramparts
to stem the tide, but it’s too late.
Soldiers pour through the gates.
The palace is demolished.
Soon it’s all over:
Nineveh stripped, Nineveh doomed,
Maids and slaves moaning like doves,
beating their breasts.
Nineveh is a tub
from which they’ve pulled the plug.
Cries go up, “Do something! Do something!”
but it’s too late. Nineveh’s soon empty—nothing.
Other cries come: “Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
A bonanza of plunder!
Take everything you want!”
Doom! Damnation! Desolation!
Hearts sink,
knees fold,
stomachs retch,
faces blanch.
So, what happened to the famous
and fierce Assyrian lion
And all those cute Assyrian cubs?
To the lion and lioness
Cozy with their cubs,
fierce and fearless?
To the lion who always returned from the hunt
with fresh kills for lioness and cubs,
The lion lair heaped with bloody meat,
blood and bones for the royal lion feast?
13 “Assyria, I’m your enemy,”
says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“I’ll torch your chariots. They’ll go up in smoke.
‘Lion Country’ will be strewn with carcasses.
The war business is over—you’re out of work:
You’ll have no more wars to report,
No more victories to announce.
You’re out of war work forever.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Read: Exodus 1:22–2:10
22 So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: “Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live.”
Moses
2 1-3 A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw there was something special about him and hid him. She hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile.
4-6 The baby’s older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. She opened it and saw the child—a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”
7 Then his sister was before her: “Do you want me to go and get a nursing mother from the Hebrews so she can nurse the baby for you?”
8 Pharaoh’s daughter said, “Yes. Go.” The girl went and called the child’s mother.
9 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me. I’ll pay you.” The woman took the child and nursed him.
10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, “I pulled him out of the water.”
INSIGHT:
As a result of Jochebed’s faith in God, Moses was saved. Amazingly, Jochebed was even paid by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse her own son! (Ex. 2:7–9). As the grandson of the Pharaoh, Moses was given the best education possible as well as military and administrative training that would enable him to lead many Jews out of Egypt (Acts 7:22). Pharaoh sponsored all of this. The baby in peril is now a baby of privilege. Only God could accomplish something like this!
A Personal Story
By Tim Gustafson
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. Psalm 27:10 nlt
A baby just hours old was left in a manger in a Christmas nativity outside a New York church. A young, desperate mother had wrapped him warmly and placed him where he would be discovered. If we are tempted to judge her, we can instead be thankful this baby will now have a chance in life.
This gets personal for me. As an adopted child myself, I have no idea about the circumstances surrounding my birth. But I have never felt abandoned. Of this much I am certain: I have two moms who wanted me to have a chance in life. One gave life to me; the other invested her life in me.
Share the love of Christ.
In Exodus we read about a loving mother in a desperate situation. Pharaoh had ordered the murder of all baby boys born to the Jewish people (1:22). So Moses’s mother hid him as long as she could. When Moses was three months old, she put him in a watertight basket and placed the basket in the Nile River. If the plan was to have the baby rescued by a princess, grow up in Pharaoh’s palace, and eventually deliver his people out of slavery, it worked perfectly.
When a desperate mother gives her child a chance, God can take it from there. He has a habit of doing that—in the most creative ways imaginable.
Father, today we pray for those facing desperate and lonely times. We pray especially for poor and defenseless children everywhere. Help us meet their needs as we are able.
Share the love of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Experience or God’s Revealed Truth?
We have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. —1 Corinthians 2:12
My experience is not what makes redemption real— redemption is reality. Redemption has no real meaning for me until it is worked out through my conscious life. When I am born again, the Spirit of God takes me beyond myself and my experiences, and identifies me with Jesus Christ. If I am left only with my personal experiences, I am left with something not produced by redemption. But experiences produced by redemption prove themselves by leading me beyond myself, to the point of no longer paying any attention to experiences as the basis of reality. Instead, I see that only the reality itself produced the experiences. My experiences are not worth anything unless they keep me at the Source of truth— Jesus Christ.
If you try to hold back the Holy Spirit within you, with the desire of producing more inner spiritual experiences, you will find that He will break the hold and take you again to the historic Christ. Never support an experience which does not have God as its Source and faith in God as its result. If you do, your experience is anti-Christian, no matter what visions or insights you may have had. Is Jesus Christ Lord of your experiences, or do you place your experiences above Him? Is any experience dearer to you than your Lord? You must allow Him to be Lord over you, and pay no attention to any experience over which He is not Lord. Then there will come a time when God will make you impatient with your own experience, and you can truthfully say, “I do not care what I experience— I am sure of Him!”
Be relentless and hard on yourself if you are in the habit of talking about the experiences you have had. Faith based on experience is not faith; faith based on God’s revealed truth is the only faith there is.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Shepherds, Messengers and Your Gift to Jesus - #7813
It's time to wash the bathrobes again – for the boys to wear in the Christmas pageant. Like thousands of boys at Christmastime, I, too, was drafted into being one of those shepherds. I'm not sure my bathrobe got washed any other time of the year actually. To be petty, I always thought the guys playing the wise men had a better deal. They got to wear some fancy clothes, and they had something to give to Baby Jesus when they came – I think we used to call it gold, frankenstein, and myyrh. But not us shepherds. No, no! Since the Bible doesn't describe any specific gift the shepherds brought, we came empty handed. I thought we looked a little cheap. But I've learned something since then.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shepherds, Messengers and Your Gift to Jesus."
What the shepherds gave Jesus must have meant far more to Him than any treasure a wise men could bring. It is a gift that is within your power to give but one that all too few of His followers ever offer Him.
Our Christmas word for today from the Word of God, Luke 2, beginning with verse 15. The shepherds have just gotten heaven's birth announcement from the angelic choir. They know the baby they're going looking for is "the Savior...Christ the Lord." The Bible then goes on to say: "The shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'" The shepherds, of course, found the baby in a manger as announced. And then, "when they had seen Him, they spread the word about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."
Well, there it is! There's the great gift the shepherds gave Jesus. It's the same gift He wants from you. They told people who hadn't met Jesus about the Savior they had met. They seemed to understand instinctively that when you "come and see" Jesus for yourself, then you "go and tell" about Him to people who have not seen Him. And if you belong to Jesus, my guess is that there are a number of people in your personal world who have yet to see or hear who Jesus really is.
I'll bet you can't imagine one day without Jesus. I don't want to. They've never lived one day with Jesus. They're doing life without a Savior every day. When Jesus sent someone to tell you the good news about a Savior who had come here for you, He didn't mean for you to just "go and hoard it" or "go and sit on it" – He's trusted you to go and tell it to someone you know whose eternity depends on it.
We tend to think that communicating Jesus is something that we delegate to a "pro" – a pastor, an evangelist, someone with all the training. But the plan of Jesus was evident from the day He arrived. Everyday believers – that's who is supposed to be the ones to tell about Him. Who could have been more every day than cultural rejects like shepherds? But they were the first spiritual rescuers; the first (if you want to say) evangelists to ever spread the life-saving news about the Savior. And there's only one way every unbeliever is going to have a chance at Jesus or a chance at heaven, and that's if every one of us believers becomes a rescuer. Your commitment to Jesus that you will do whatever it takes to bring some people He died for to heaven with you; that is the gift that will bring Him incredible joy.
Amsterdam 2000 was Billy Graham's great gathering of 10,000 evangelists from nearly 200 countries. That historic meeting ended with a choir of young people singing "Go Tell It on the Mountain" with a large cross behind them. Then, as 10,000 servants of Christ joined them in singing, those young people lifted that cross above their heads and carried it through that crowd of Christians and outside to a lost and dying world. That's what Jesus wants from you. "Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born" – born to die so they can live.
Hollywood would recast the Christmas story! Joseph’s collar is way too blue. Mary is green from inexperience. The couple’s star power doesn’t match the bill. Too obscure. Too simple. The story warrants some headliners. And what about the shepherds? Do they sing? A good public relations firm would move the birth to a big city. The Son of God deserves a royal entry. Less peasant, more pizzaz.
But we didn’t design the hour. God did. And God was content to enter the world in the presence of sleepy sheep and a wide-eyed carpenter. No spotlights, just candlelight. No crowns, just cows chewing cud. If God was willing to wrap himself in rags, then all questions about his love for you are off the table. When Christ was born, so was our hope. That is why I love Christmas!
—Because of Bethlehem!
Nahum 2
Israel’s Been to Hell and Back
The juggernaut’s coming!
Post guards, lay in supplies.
Get yourselves together,
get ready for the big battle.
2 God has restored the Pride of Jacob,
the Pride of Israel.
Israel’s lived through hard times.
He’s been to hell and back.
3-12 Weapons flash in the sun,
the soldiers splendid in battle dress,
Chariots burnished and glistening,
ready to charge,
A spiked forest of brandished spears,
lethal on the horizon.
The chariots pour into the streets.
They fill the public squares,
Flaming like torches in the sun,
like lightning darting and flashing.
The Assyrian king rallies his men,
but they stagger and stumble.
They run to the ramparts
to stem the tide, but it’s too late.
Soldiers pour through the gates.
The palace is demolished.
Soon it’s all over:
Nineveh stripped, Nineveh doomed,
Maids and slaves moaning like doves,
beating their breasts.
Nineveh is a tub
from which they’ve pulled the plug.
Cries go up, “Do something! Do something!”
but it’s too late. Nineveh’s soon empty—nothing.
Other cries come: “Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
A bonanza of plunder!
Take everything you want!”
Doom! Damnation! Desolation!
Hearts sink,
knees fold,
stomachs retch,
faces blanch.
So, what happened to the famous
and fierce Assyrian lion
And all those cute Assyrian cubs?
To the lion and lioness
Cozy with their cubs,
fierce and fearless?
To the lion who always returned from the hunt
with fresh kills for lioness and cubs,
The lion lair heaped with bloody meat,
blood and bones for the royal lion feast?
13 “Assyria, I’m your enemy,”
says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
“I’ll torch your chariots. They’ll go up in smoke.
‘Lion Country’ will be strewn with carcasses.
The war business is over—you’re out of work:
You’ll have no more wars to report,
No more victories to announce.
You’re out of war work forever.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Read: Exodus 1:22–2:10
22 So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: “Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live.”
Moses
2 1-3 A man from the family of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman became pregnant and had a son. She saw there was something special about him and hid him. She hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer she got a little basket-boat made of papyrus, waterproofed it with tar and pitch, and placed the child in it. Then she set it afloat in the reeds at the edge of the Nile.
4-6 The baby’s older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. She opened it and saw the child—a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”
7 Then his sister was before her: “Do you want me to go and get a nursing mother from the Hebrews so she can nurse the baby for you?”
8 Pharaoh’s daughter said, “Yes. Go.” The girl went and called the child’s mother.
9 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me. I’ll pay you.” The woman took the child and nursed him.
10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, “I pulled him out of the water.”
INSIGHT:
As a result of Jochebed’s faith in God, Moses was saved. Amazingly, Jochebed was even paid by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse her own son! (Ex. 2:7–9). As the grandson of the Pharaoh, Moses was given the best education possible as well as military and administrative training that would enable him to lead many Jews out of Egypt (Acts 7:22). Pharaoh sponsored all of this. The baby in peril is now a baby of privilege. Only God could accomplish something like this!
A Personal Story
By Tim Gustafson
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. Psalm 27:10 nlt
A baby just hours old was left in a manger in a Christmas nativity outside a New York church. A young, desperate mother had wrapped him warmly and placed him where he would be discovered. If we are tempted to judge her, we can instead be thankful this baby will now have a chance in life.
This gets personal for me. As an adopted child myself, I have no idea about the circumstances surrounding my birth. But I have never felt abandoned. Of this much I am certain: I have two moms who wanted me to have a chance in life. One gave life to me; the other invested her life in me.
Share the love of Christ.
In Exodus we read about a loving mother in a desperate situation. Pharaoh had ordered the murder of all baby boys born to the Jewish people (1:22). So Moses’s mother hid him as long as she could. When Moses was three months old, she put him in a watertight basket and placed the basket in the Nile River. If the plan was to have the baby rescued by a princess, grow up in Pharaoh’s palace, and eventually deliver his people out of slavery, it worked perfectly.
When a desperate mother gives her child a chance, God can take it from there. He has a habit of doing that—in the most creative ways imaginable.
Father, today we pray for those facing desperate and lonely times. We pray especially for poor and defenseless children everywhere. Help us meet their needs as we are able.
Share the love of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Experience or God’s Revealed Truth?
We have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. —1 Corinthians 2:12
My experience is not what makes redemption real— redemption is reality. Redemption has no real meaning for me until it is worked out through my conscious life. When I am born again, the Spirit of God takes me beyond myself and my experiences, and identifies me with Jesus Christ. If I am left only with my personal experiences, I am left with something not produced by redemption. But experiences produced by redemption prove themselves by leading me beyond myself, to the point of no longer paying any attention to experiences as the basis of reality. Instead, I see that only the reality itself produced the experiences. My experiences are not worth anything unless they keep me at the Source of truth— Jesus Christ.
If you try to hold back the Holy Spirit within you, with the desire of producing more inner spiritual experiences, you will find that He will break the hold and take you again to the historic Christ. Never support an experience which does not have God as its Source and faith in God as its result. If you do, your experience is anti-Christian, no matter what visions or insights you may have had. Is Jesus Christ Lord of your experiences, or do you place your experiences above Him? Is any experience dearer to you than your Lord? You must allow Him to be Lord over you, and pay no attention to any experience over which He is not Lord. Then there will come a time when God will make you impatient with your own experience, and you can truthfully say, “I do not care what I experience— I am sure of Him!”
Be relentless and hard on yourself if you are in the habit of talking about the experiences you have had. Faith based on experience is not faith; faith based on God’s revealed truth is the only faith there is.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Sincerity means that the appearance and the reality are exactly the same. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1449 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Shepherds, Messengers and Your Gift to Jesus - #7813
It's time to wash the bathrobes again – for the boys to wear in the Christmas pageant. Like thousands of boys at Christmastime, I, too, was drafted into being one of those shepherds. I'm not sure my bathrobe got washed any other time of the year actually. To be petty, I always thought the guys playing the wise men had a better deal. They got to wear some fancy clothes, and they had something to give to Baby Jesus when they came – I think we used to call it gold, frankenstein, and myyrh. But not us shepherds. No, no! Since the Bible doesn't describe any specific gift the shepherds brought, we came empty handed. I thought we looked a little cheap. But I've learned something since then.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shepherds, Messengers and Your Gift to Jesus."
What the shepherds gave Jesus must have meant far more to Him than any treasure a wise men could bring. It is a gift that is within your power to give but one that all too few of His followers ever offer Him.
Our Christmas word for today from the Word of God, Luke 2, beginning with verse 15. The shepherds have just gotten heaven's birth announcement from the angelic choir. They know the baby they're going looking for is "the Savior...Christ the Lord." The Bible then goes on to say: "The shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'" The shepherds, of course, found the baby in a manger as announced. And then, "when they had seen Him, they spread the word about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."
Well, there it is! There's the great gift the shepherds gave Jesus. It's the same gift He wants from you. They told people who hadn't met Jesus about the Savior they had met. They seemed to understand instinctively that when you "come and see" Jesus for yourself, then you "go and tell" about Him to people who have not seen Him. And if you belong to Jesus, my guess is that there are a number of people in your personal world who have yet to see or hear who Jesus really is.
I'll bet you can't imagine one day without Jesus. I don't want to. They've never lived one day with Jesus. They're doing life without a Savior every day. When Jesus sent someone to tell you the good news about a Savior who had come here for you, He didn't mean for you to just "go and hoard it" or "go and sit on it" – He's trusted you to go and tell it to someone you know whose eternity depends on it.
We tend to think that communicating Jesus is something that we delegate to a "pro" – a pastor, an evangelist, someone with all the training. But the plan of Jesus was evident from the day He arrived. Everyday believers – that's who is supposed to be the ones to tell about Him. Who could have been more every day than cultural rejects like shepherds? But they were the first spiritual rescuers; the first (if you want to say) evangelists to ever spread the life-saving news about the Savior. And there's only one way every unbeliever is going to have a chance at Jesus or a chance at heaven, and that's if every one of us believers becomes a rescuer. Your commitment to Jesus that you will do whatever it takes to bring some people He died for to heaven with you; that is the gift that will bring Him incredible joy.
Amsterdam 2000 was Billy Graham's great gathering of 10,000 evangelists from nearly 200 countries. That historic meeting ended with a choir of young people singing "Go Tell It on the Mountain" with a large cross behind them. Then, as 10,000 servants of Christ joined them in singing, those young people lifted that cross above their heads and carried it through that crowd of Christians and outside to a lost and dying world. That's what Jesus wants from you. "Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born" – born to die so they can live.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Nahum 1 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals
Max Lucado Daily: PURCHASED WITH A HIGH PRICE
The Christmas tree hunt is on! The preferences are different, but the desire is the same. We want the perfect Christmas tree! You search for the right one. You walk the rows. You examine them from all angles. This one is perfect!
God does the same. He has picked you! And he knows exactly where you’ll be placed. He has a barren living room in desperate need of warmth and joy. A corner of the world needs some color. He selected you with that place in mind. God made you on purpose with a purpose. He interwove calendar and character, circumstance and personality, to create the right person for the right corner of the world. And then he paid the price to take you home. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “God bought you with a high price!”
The Christmas promise is this: we have a Savior and his name is Jesus!
From Because of Bethlehem
Nahum 1
God Is Serious Business
A report on the problem of Nineveh, the way God gave Nahum of Elkosh to see it:
2-6 God is serious business.
He won’t be trifled with.
He avenges his foes.
He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging.
But God doesn’t lose his temper.
He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power.
Still, no one gets by with anything.
Sooner or later, everyone pays.
Tornadoes and hurricanes
are the wake of his passage,
Storm clouds are the dust
he shakes off his feet.
He yells at the sea: It dries up.
All the rivers run dry.
The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,
the Lebanon orchards shrivel.
Mountains quake in their roots,
hills dissolve into mud flats.
Earth shakes in fear of God.
The whole world’s in a panic.
Who can face such towering anger?
Who can stand up to this fierce rage?
His anger spills out like a river of lava,
his fury shatters boulders.
7-10 God is good,
a hiding place in tough times.
He recognizes and welcomes
anyone looking for help,
No matter how desperate the trouble.
But cozy islands of escape
He wipes right off the map.
No one gets away from God.
Why waste time conniving against God?
He’s putting an end to all such scheming.
For troublemakers, no second chances.
Like a pile of dry brush,
Soaked in oil,
they’ll go up in flames.
A Think Tank for Lies
11 Nineveh’s an anthill
of evil plots against God,
A think tank for lies
that seduce and betray.
12-13 And God has something to say about all this:
“Even though you’re on top of the world,
With all the applause and all the votes,
you’ll be mowed down flat.
“I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true,
but I won’t afflict you again.
From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck
and splitting it up for kindling.
I’m cutting you free
from the ropes of your bondage.”
14 God’s orders on Nineveh:
“You’re the end of the line.
It’s all over with Nineveh.
I’m gutting your temple.
Your gods and goddesses go in the trash.
I’m digging your grave. It’s an unmarked grave.
You’re nothing—no, you’re less than nothing!”
15 Look! Striding across the mountains—
a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace!
A holiday, Judah! Celebrate!
Worship and recommit to God!
No more worries about this enemy.
This one is history. Close the books.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Read: John 16:16–24
“In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me.”
Joy Like a River Overflowing
17-18 That stirred up a hornet’s nest of questions among the disciples: “What’s he talking about: ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? And, ‘Because I’m on my way to the Father’? What is this ‘day or so’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”
19-20 Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
21-23 “When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions.
23-24 “This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!
INSIGHT:
Just as the angel appeared in the night sky to give shepherds reason for joy, Jesus also used a dark moment to offer His disciples reason for hope on the other side of His suffering and their confusion. What they didn’t yet know would only be revealed in time. Christ’s death was a loving Father’s way of reconciling a rebel world to Himself. The despair of that night was necessary so that, three days later, a reason for hope now, and fullness of joy later, could be offered to all (v. 33).
Spreading Joy
By Julie Ackerman Link
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:10
When Janet went to teach English in a school overseas, she found the atmosphere gloomy and depressing. People did their jobs, but no one seemed happy. They didn't help or encourage one another. But Janet, grateful for all that God had done for her, expressed it in everything she did. She smiled. She was friendly. She went out of her way to help people. She hummed songs and hymns.
Little by little, as Janet shared her joy, the atmosphere at the school changed. One by one people began to smile and help each other. When a visiting administrator asked the principal why his school was so different, the principal, who was not a believer, responded, “Jesus brings joy.” Janet was filled to overflowing with the joy of the Lord and it spilled over to those around her.
Take the joy of Christmas with you every day.
The gospel of Luke tells us that God sent an angel to ordinary shepherds to deliver an extraordinary birth announcement. The angel made the surprising proclamation that the newborn baby “will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10), which indeed He did.
Since then this message has spread through the centuries to us, and now we are Christ's messengers of joy to the world. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we continue the practice of spreading the joy of Jesus as we follow His example and serve others.
How might you spread the joy of Jesus to others today?
Share your story at odb.org
Take the joy of Christmas with you every day.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
The Right Kind of Help
And I, if I am lifted up…will draw all peoples to Myself. —John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery.
When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person can get to God in any other way, then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. The theme of the world’s religion today is to serve in a pleasant, non-confrontational manner.
But our only priority must be to present Jesus Christ crucified— to lift Him up all the time (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Every belief that is not firmly rooted in the Cross of Christ will lead people astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is trusting in the reality of redemption, his words will be compelling to others. What is extremely important is for the worker’s simple relationship with Jesus Christ to be strong and growing. His usefulness to God depends on that, and that alone.
The calling of a New Testament worker is to expose sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, he cannot always be charming and friendly, but must be willing to be stern to accomplish major surgery. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful speeches. We must be willing to examine others as deeply as God has examined us. We must also be sharply intent on sensing those Scripture passages that will drive the truth home, and then not be afraid to apply them.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Those Christmas Magic Words - #7812
It was Christmastime and two-year old Timmy was sitting on his aunt's lap. He was ready to get down. His Aunt Gayle gave her usual requirement for letting him go, "You can't get down until you say the magic words." In case you've forgotten, the magic words are "pretty please with sugar and honey on the top." Right. Except for this time. Timmy turned to his aunt and he simply replied: "Unto you is born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Those Christmas Magic Words."
You know what? Those really are the magic words; especially two of them – "unto you." And that's the part so many good people have missed. Maybe you. See, Jesus is coming close to you this Christmas so you don't have to miss Him any longer, because if you miss Jesus, you'll miss heaven.
Jesus' coming was personal – it was very personal. It was unto you. You can sit in church your whole life and you can miss making Jesus personal for you. You can know all about Him, you can go to His meetings, give to His causes, agree with everything He taught, even do a lot of good things for Him and somehow you never have that moment when you grab Jesus with both hands to be your Savior from your sin. Picture those people stranded on their rooftops some years ago in that aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and that rescuer that came down the cable to save them. He was their only hope, and they grabbed him like he was. They wrapped themselves around that rescuer from above, and they held on with everything they had.
That's what you've got to do with Jesus. When did you do that? Maybe you don't remember an exact time, but if you don't know you did that, you probably didn't. You know if you've told Jesus you're pinning all your eternal hopes on Him – just like a person knows whether or not they're married. This is a conscious choice. You know if you did it or not.
Your sin is just too serious for any amount of religion to erase it. It took Jesus pouring out His life on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sin to rescue you. If there had been any other way, if any amount of goodness or religion could get you to Him, would He have ever gone through that?
He becomes your Savior when you grab Him like those hurricane victims grabbed their rescuer. Two words are all the difference. They're found in Galatians 2:20, our word for today from the Word of God. "I live my life by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Those words – "for me." Has there ever been a time when you, in your heart, stood at the foot of Jesus' cross and you said, "For me. Lord, what You did here was for Me and I'm giving me to you."
If not, you stand at risk of being in the group of church folks that Jesus described in Matthew 7:21. He said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." These people go on to talk about all the Christian things they have done and the Bible says, "then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.'" (Matthew 7:23) I don't ever want you to hear those awful words. Neither does He.
That's why you've been given this opportunity to finally make Jesus your personal Savior. For you He was born. For you He died. And now He's calling to you to come to Him. Don't miss Him. Here on the edge of celebrating His coming to earth, He will come into your life. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours from this day on. I believe You died for me and I'm giving me to You right now."
Do you want that? Do you want to be sure of it? I would just ask you to go to our website ANewStory.com. Let your new story begin there, because that's where you can find the way to be sure you belong to Jesus before this day is over.
This could be your personal Jesus-day; the day that changes everything – the day that changes your eternity.
The Christmas tree hunt is on! The preferences are different, but the desire is the same. We want the perfect Christmas tree! You search for the right one. You walk the rows. You examine them from all angles. This one is perfect!
God does the same. He has picked you! And he knows exactly where you’ll be placed. He has a barren living room in desperate need of warmth and joy. A corner of the world needs some color. He selected you with that place in mind. God made you on purpose with a purpose. He interwove calendar and character, circumstance and personality, to create the right person for the right corner of the world. And then he paid the price to take you home. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “God bought you with a high price!”
The Christmas promise is this: we have a Savior and his name is Jesus!
From Because of Bethlehem
Nahum 1
God Is Serious Business
A report on the problem of Nineveh, the way God gave Nahum of Elkosh to see it:
2-6 God is serious business.
He won’t be trifled with.
He avenges his foes.
He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging.
But God doesn’t lose his temper.
He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power.
Still, no one gets by with anything.
Sooner or later, everyone pays.
Tornadoes and hurricanes
are the wake of his passage,
Storm clouds are the dust
he shakes off his feet.
He yells at the sea: It dries up.
All the rivers run dry.
The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,
the Lebanon orchards shrivel.
Mountains quake in their roots,
hills dissolve into mud flats.
Earth shakes in fear of God.
The whole world’s in a panic.
Who can face such towering anger?
Who can stand up to this fierce rage?
His anger spills out like a river of lava,
his fury shatters boulders.
7-10 God is good,
a hiding place in tough times.
He recognizes and welcomes
anyone looking for help,
No matter how desperate the trouble.
But cozy islands of escape
He wipes right off the map.
No one gets away from God.
Why waste time conniving against God?
He’s putting an end to all such scheming.
For troublemakers, no second chances.
Like a pile of dry brush,
Soaked in oil,
they’ll go up in flames.
A Think Tank for Lies
11 Nineveh’s an anthill
of evil plots against God,
A think tank for lies
that seduce and betray.
12-13 And God has something to say about all this:
“Even though you’re on top of the world,
With all the applause and all the votes,
you’ll be mowed down flat.
“I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true,
but I won’t afflict you again.
From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck
and splitting it up for kindling.
I’m cutting you free
from the ropes of your bondage.”
14 God’s orders on Nineveh:
“You’re the end of the line.
It’s all over with Nineveh.
I’m gutting your temple.
Your gods and goddesses go in the trash.
I’m digging your grave. It’s an unmarked grave.
You’re nothing—no, you’re less than nothing!”
15 Look! Striding across the mountains—
a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace!
A holiday, Judah! Celebrate!
Worship and recommit to God!
No more worries about this enemy.
This one is history. Close the books.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Read: John 16:16–24
“In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me.”
Joy Like a River Overflowing
17-18 That stirred up a hornet’s nest of questions among the disciples: “What’s he talking about: ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? And, ‘Because I’m on my way to the Father’? What is this ‘day or so’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”
19-20 Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, “Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a day or so you’re not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me’? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
21-23 “When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there’s no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you’ll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You’ll no longer be so full of questions.
23-24 “This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!
INSIGHT:
Just as the angel appeared in the night sky to give shepherds reason for joy, Jesus also used a dark moment to offer His disciples reason for hope on the other side of His suffering and their confusion. What they didn’t yet know would only be revealed in time. Christ’s death was a loving Father’s way of reconciling a rebel world to Himself. The despair of that night was necessary so that, three days later, a reason for hope now, and fullness of joy later, could be offered to all (v. 33).
Spreading Joy
By Julie Ackerman Link
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” Luke 2:10
When Janet went to teach English in a school overseas, she found the atmosphere gloomy and depressing. People did their jobs, but no one seemed happy. They didn't help or encourage one another. But Janet, grateful for all that God had done for her, expressed it in everything she did. She smiled. She was friendly. She went out of her way to help people. She hummed songs and hymns.
Little by little, as Janet shared her joy, the atmosphere at the school changed. One by one people began to smile and help each other. When a visiting administrator asked the principal why his school was so different, the principal, who was not a believer, responded, “Jesus brings joy.” Janet was filled to overflowing with the joy of the Lord and it spilled over to those around her.
Take the joy of Christmas with you every day.
The gospel of Luke tells us that God sent an angel to ordinary shepherds to deliver an extraordinary birth announcement. The angel made the surprising proclamation that the newborn baby “will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10), which indeed He did.
Since then this message has spread through the centuries to us, and now we are Christ's messengers of joy to the world. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we continue the practice of spreading the joy of Jesus as we follow His example and serve others.
How might you spread the joy of Jesus to others today?
Share your story at odb.org
Take the joy of Christmas with you every day.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
The Right Kind of Help
And I, if I am lifted up…will draw all peoples to Myself. —John 12:32
Very few of us have any understanding of the reason why Jesus Christ died. If sympathy is all that human beings need, then the Cross of Christ is an absurdity and there is absolutely no need for it. What the world needs is not “a little bit of love,” but major surgery.
When you find yourself face to face with a person who is spiritually lost, remind yourself of Jesus Christ on the cross. If that person can get to God in any other way, then the Cross of Christ is unnecessary. If you think you are helping lost people with your sympathy and understanding, you are a traitor to Jesus Christ. You must have a right-standing relationship with Him yourself, and pour your life out in helping others in His way— not in a human way that ignores God. The theme of the world’s religion today is to serve in a pleasant, non-confrontational manner.
But our only priority must be to present Jesus Christ crucified— to lift Him up all the time (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Every belief that is not firmly rooted in the Cross of Christ will lead people astray. If the worker himself believes in Jesus Christ and is trusting in the reality of redemption, his words will be compelling to others. What is extremely important is for the worker’s simple relationship with Jesus Christ to be strong and growing. His usefulness to God depends on that, and that alone.
The calling of a New Testament worker is to expose sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior. Consequently, he cannot always be charming and friendly, but must be willing to be stern to accomplish major surgery. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful speeches. We must be willing to examine others as deeply as God has examined us. We must also be sharply intent on sensing those Scripture passages that will drive the truth home, and then not be afraid to apply them.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Those Christmas Magic Words - #7812
It was Christmastime and two-year old Timmy was sitting on his aunt's lap. He was ready to get down. His Aunt Gayle gave her usual requirement for letting him go, "You can't get down until you say the magic words." In case you've forgotten, the magic words are "pretty please with sugar and honey on the top." Right. Except for this time. Timmy turned to his aunt and he simply replied: "Unto you is born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Those Christmas Magic Words."
You know what? Those really are the magic words; especially two of them – "unto you." And that's the part so many good people have missed. Maybe you. See, Jesus is coming close to you this Christmas so you don't have to miss Him any longer, because if you miss Jesus, you'll miss heaven.
Jesus' coming was personal – it was very personal. It was unto you. You can sit in church your whole life and you can miss making Jesus personal for you. You can know all about Him, you can go to His meetings, give to His causes, agree with everything He taught, even do a lot of good things for Him and somehow you never have that moment when you grab Jesus with both hands to be your Savior from your sin. Picture those people stranded on their rooftops some years ago in that aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and that rescuer that came down the cable to save them. He was their only hope, and they grabbed him like he was. They wrapped themselves around that rescuer from above, and they held on with everything they had.
That's what you've got to do with Jesus. When did you do that? Maybe you don't remember an exact time, but if you don't know you did that, you probably didn't. You know if you've told Jesus you're pinning all your eternal hopes on Him – just like a person knows whether or not they're married. This is a conscious choice. You know if you did it or not.
Your sin is just too serious for any amount of religion to erase it. It took Jesus pouring out His life on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sin to rescue you. If there had been any other way, if any amount of goodness or religion could get you to Him, would He have ever gone through that?
He becomes your Savior when you grab Him like those hurricane victims grabbed their rescuer. Two words are all the difference. They're found in Galatians 2:20, our word for today from the Word of God. "I live my life by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Those words – "for me." Has there ever been a time when you, in your heart, stood at the foot of Jesus' cross and you said, "For me. Lord, what You did here was for Me and I'm giving me to you."
If not, you stand at risk of being in the group of church folks that Jesus described in Matthew 7:21. He said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." These people go on to talk about all the Christian things they have done and the Bible says, "then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.'" (Matthew 7:23) I don't ever want you to hear those awful words. Neither does He.
That's why you've been given this opportunity to finally make Jesus your personal Savior. For you He was born. For you He died. And now He's calling to you to come to Him. Don't miss Him. Here on the edge of celebrating His coming to earth, He will come into your life. Just tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours from this day on. I believe You died for me and I'm giving me to You right now."
Do you want that? Do you want to be sure of it? I would just ask you to go to our website ANewStory.com. Let your new story begin there, because that's where you can find the way to be sure you belong to Jesus before this day is over.
This could be your personal Jesus-day; the day that changes everything – the day that changes your eternity.
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