Luke 22:47-71, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A PEOPLE TO POPULATE HEAVEN

God has high plans for you and me.  He is recruiting for himself a people who will populate heaven.  It will be perfect.  Perfect in splendor.  Perfect in righteousness.  One word describes heaven:  perfect!  One word describes us:  imperfect!  So what does God do?  Abandon us?  Start over?  He could.  But he loves us too much to do that.

Will he populate heaven with rebellious, self-centered citizens?  If so, would heaven be heaven?  Colossians 1:19 says, “God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ.”  All the love of God was in Jesus.  All the strength of God was in Jesus.  All the compassion and power and devotion of God were, for a time, in the earthly body of a carpenter. What started in the Bethlehem cradle culminated on the Jerusalem cross!  And God did it all to take us home to heaven.

Read more Because of Bethlehem








Luke 22:47-71

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a crowd showed up, Judas, the one from the Twelve, in the lead. He came right up to Jesus to kiss him. Jesus said, “Judas, you would betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

49-50 When those with him saw what was happening, they said, “Master, shall we fight?” One of them took a swing at the Chief Priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.

51 Jesus said, “Let them be. Even in this.” Then, touching the servant’s ear, he healed him.

52-53 Jesus spoke to those who had come—high priests, Temple police, religion leaders: “What is this, jumping me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I’ve been with you in the Temple and you’ve not so much as lifted a hand against me. But do it your way—it’s a dark night, a dark hour.”

A Rooster Crowed
54-56 Arresting Jesus, they marched him off and took him into the house of the Chief Priest. Peter followed, but at a safe distance. In the middle of the courtyard some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm. One of the serving maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, “This man was with him!”

57 He denied it, “Woman, I don’t even know him.”

58 A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, “You’re one of them.”

But Peter denied it: “Man, I am not.”

59 About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really adamant: “He’s got to have been with him! He’s got ‘Galilean’ written all over him.”

60-62 Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed. Just then, the Master turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered what the Master had said to him: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.

Slapping Him Around
63-65 The men in charge of Jesus began poking fun at him, slapping him around. They put a blindfold on him and taunted, “Who hit you that time?” They were having a grand time with him.

66-67 When it was morning, the religious leaders of the people and the high priests and scholars all got together and brought him before their High Council. They said, “Are you the Messiah?”

67-69 He answered, “If I said yes, you wouldn’t believe me. If I asked what you meant by your question, you wouldn’t answer me. So here’s what I have to say: From here on the Son of Man takes his place at God’s right hand, the place of power.”

70 They all said, “So you admit your claim to be the Son of God?”

“You’re the ones who keep saying it,” he said.

71 But they had made up their minds, “Why do we need any more evidence? We’ve all heard him as good as say it himself.”

The Message (MSG)

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Read: Lamentations 3:1–3, 13–24

God Locked Me Up in Deep Darkness
3 1-3 I’m the man who has seen trouble,
    trouble coming from the lash of God’s anger.
He took me by the hand and walked me
    into pitch-black darkness.
Yes, he’s given me the back of his hand
    over and over and over again.

He shot me in the stomach
    with arrows from his quiver.
Everyone took me for a joke,
    made me the butt of their mocking ballads.
He forced rotten, stinking food down my throat,
    bloated me with vile drinks.

16-18 He ground my face into the gravel.
    He pounded me into the mud.
I gave up on life altogether.
    I’ve forgotten what the good life is like.
I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished.
    God is a lost cause.”

It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God
19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
    the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
    the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
    and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left.

INSIGHT
The book of Lamentations expresses the grief of Jerusalem following the 587 bc invasion of Babylon. With her walls broken, her children exiled, and survivors living in the rubble of better times, it bares the soul of a once-proud people.

In its original Hebrew language, the book is composed of five chapters of carefully constructed poems. Its finely polished composition provides literary relief to the overwhelming confusion of a nation that has lost control of its own emotions and destiny. The only hope left is in the belief that above the clouds of this dark night of a nation’s soul, there is a God who has in the past shown that His mercies and love will never end. - Mart DeHaan

The “Hope for a Baby” Tree
By Elisa Morgan

His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22–23

After wrapping the tree with clear twinkle lights, I tied pink and blue bows on its branches and christened it our “Hope for a Baby” Christmas tree. My husband and I had been waiting for a baby through adoption for more than four years. Surely by Christmas!

Every morning I stopped at the tree and prayed, reminding myself of God’s faithfulness. On December 21 we received the news: no baby by Christmas. Devastated, I paused by the tree that had become a symbol of God’s provision. Was God still faithful? Was I doing something wrong?

At times, God’s apparent withholding results from His loving discipline. And other times God lovingly delays to renew our trust. In Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah describes God’s correction of Israel. The pain is palpable: “He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver” (3:13). Through it all, Jeremiah also expresses ultimate trust in God’s faithfulness: “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (vv. 22–23).

I left the tree standing well beyond Christmas and continued my morning prayer. At last, on Easter weekend, we received our baby girl. God is always faithful, though not necessarily on our timeline nor always according to our desires.

My children are now in their thirties, but each year I set up a miniature version of the tree, reminding myself and others to hope in God’s faithfulness.

Dear God, help me trust You today even when I can’t see what You are doing. You are faithful.

The best reason for hope is God’s faithfulness.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Intercessory Prayer
…men always ought to pray and not lose heart. —Luke 18:1

You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to “fill up…[with] what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Colossians 1:24), and this is precisely why there are so few intercessors. People describe intercession by saying, “It is putting yourself in someone else’s place.” That is not true! Intercession is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.

As an intercessor, be careful not to seek too much information from God regarding the situation you are praying about, because you may be overwhelmed. If you know too much, more than God has ordained for you to know, you can’t pray; the circumstances of the people become so overpowering that you are no longer able to get to the underlying truth.

Our work is to be in such close contact with God that we may have His mind about everything, but we shirk that responsibility by substituting doing for interceding. And yet intercession is the only thing that has no drawbacks, because it keeps our relationship completely open with God.

What we must avoid in intercession is praying for someone to be simply “patched up.” We must pray that person completely through into contact with the very life of God. Think of the number of people God has brought across our path, only to see us drop them! When we pray on the basis of redemption, God creates something He can create in no other way than through intercessory prayer.

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
Thursday, December 13, 2018

Hope in Five Words - #8329

Narnia was a mythical land, created by C. S. Lewis, where the animals talk and where four children experience a series of incredible adventures. The seven-part series, The Chronicles of Narnia, have long fascinated children and adults alike. (I'm one of them.) And then came Disney's movie version of the first Narnia story, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," and it was a blockbuster. In the story, the wardrobe is the closet through which the children discover Narnia. The witch is the evil ruler of the land. She's creating an endless winter where it says it was "always winter but never Christmas." And the lion is Aslan, the great son of the Emperor from across the sea. He is, in C. S. Lewis' imagery, the Christ-figure of Narnia. As the children begin to experience the icy and dangerous world that Narnia has become under that evil ruler, one of the animals announces that there is hope on the horizon. Hope turns out to be five words: "Aslan is on the move." Indeed, he was, and Narnia would soon be set free.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope in Five Words."

Five words may explain the strange stirring that you've been feeling in your heart lately. Five words may mean hope for you. Those five words? "Jesus is on the move." The One of whom the Bible says: "The Lion of the tribe of Judah...has triumphed" (Revelation 5:5). He may very well be on the move in your personal world and in your heart.

What He's moving to do is pictured in our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 3, beginning with verse 7. God is speaking to Moses from an amazing burning bush in the wilderness. He says, "I have seen the misery of My people, I have heard them crying out, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them. So now, go. I am sending you."

When Jesus starts moving, He's on a rescue mission. In fact, the name God told Mary and Joseph to give Him that first Christmas, Jesus, literally means "Jehovah rescues." Every time we say "Jesus," we're saying why He came - to rescue. In Moses' day, God was coming down to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt. Today, God comes down to rescue people from the bleakness and the bondages of a life lived outside of His purposes; the kind of "my way" living that the Bible calls sin.

Sin robs this life of its meaning and joy, and it condemns us to the death penalty of an awful eternity. Jesus came like the rescuers who went into the fallen towers of the World Trade Center that dark September 11th. He risked His life to save us from a deadly situation from which we could never save ourselves. He gave His life, and He's on the move right now, and He's got rescue on His mind.

If you've given yourself to the Savior who died for you, He's asking you to join Him in His rescue mission. Your heart's been restless to make a greater difference, and that's why you feel restless. He's moving to rescue people you know from a hopeless, "always winter" life and from an awful, Christless eternity. He's calling your name and saying, as He did to Moses, "Go! I am sending you." That's why He put you where you are - to rescue. Don't miss the destiny you were made for.

Maybe there's never been a time you grabbed Jesus to be your spiritual Rescuer. He's coming close to you today so you can. Your hope of finding the purpose you were made for, your hope of experiencing God's awesome love, your hope of changing your eternal address to heaven is five words: "Jesus is on the move." That stirring - that tug in your heart you fee l- that's Jesus. He's ready for you to come to Him. And you don't come when you're ready; you come when He's ready. When He's moving in your heart, there are, according to the Bible, two choices. Either open your heart or harden your heart to Him.

Please, open your heart to Him. Tell Him, "Lord Jesus, I know what You did on the cross is my only hope. I'm ready to turn the running of my life over to You as my Rescuer from my sin." I'd love to help you know how you can belong to Jesus before this day is over. That's why our website. Go there please - ANewStory.com. Because Jesus is on the move...in your heart.

Luke 22:24-46, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE HEART OF THE HUMAN PROBLEM

The sinful nature is the stubborn, self-centered attitude that says, “My way or the highway.” The sinful nature is all about self: pleasing self, promoting self, preserving self.  I have a sin nature!  So do you.  Under the right circumstances you will do the wrong thing.  You’ll try not to, but you will.  You have a sin nature.  You were born with it.

The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart! Christmas commemorates the day and the way God saved us from ourselves.  The angel speaking to Mary in Matthew 1:21 says, “. . .you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  Each of us entered the world with a sin nature. God entered the world to take it away!

Read more Because of Bethlehem

Luke 22:24-46
Get Ready for Trouble
24-26 Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: “Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It’s not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant.

27-30 “Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You’d rather eat and be served, right? But I’ve taken my place among you as the one who serves. And you’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. Now I confer on you the royal authority my Father conferred on me so you can eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and be strengthened as you take up responsibilities among the congregations of God’s people.

31-32 “Simon, stay on your toes. Satan has tried his best to separate all of you from me, like chaff from wheat. Simon, I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through the time of testing, turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.”

33 Peter said, “Master, I’m ready for anything with you. I’d go to jail for you. I’d die for you!”

34 Jesus said, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Peter, but before the rooster crows you will have three times denied that you know me.”

35 Then Jesus said, “When I sent you out and told you to travel light, to take only the bare necessities, did you get along all right?”

“Certainly,” they said, “we got along just fine.”

36-37 He said, “This is different. Get ready for trouble. Look to what you’ll need; there are difficult times ahead. Pawn your coat and get a sword. What was written in Scripture, ‘He was lumped in with the criminals,’ gets its final meaning in me. Everything written about me is now coming to a conclusion.”

38 They said, “Look, Master, two swords!”

But he said, “Enough of that; no more sword talk!”

A Dark Night
39-40 Leaving there, he went, as he so often did, to Mount Olives. The disciples followed him. When they arrived at the place, he said, “Pray that you don’t give in to temptation.”

41-44 He pulled away from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, “Father, remove this cup from me. But please, not what I want. What do you want?” At once an angel from heaven was at his side, strengthening him. He prayed on all the harder. Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face.

45-46 He got up from prayer, went back to the disciples and found them asleep, drugged by grief. He said, “What business do you have sleeping? Get up. Pray so you won’t give in to temptation.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Read: Romans 7:14–25

I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.

17-20 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

NSIGHT
In Romans 7:14–25, Paul candidly shares his personal spiritual struggles as well as his deep confidence in Christ for help and hope (7:25). Romans 8 then unpacks that help and hope. The hopeful promise of “no condemnation” (8:1) is supported by the most extensive treatment of the Holy Spirit’s helping ministry (vv. 5–27) found anywhere in the Scriptures (outside of John 14–16). Paul’s confidence in Christ’s help and hope are not theoretical—they are provided by the indwelling Holy Spirit (8:11). - Bill Crowder

The “No-Secret” Secret
By Randy Kilgore

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15

A coworker confessed to me that he didn’t think he was “Jesus material.” I listened as he described what he called his “comfortable, narcissistic” life, and how it didn’t satisfy him. “But here’s my problem, I’ve been trying to be good, even caring, but it isn’t working. It seems that the very things I want to do, I can’t do, and the things I want to stop doing, I just keep doing.”

“What’s your secret?” he asked me in complete sincerity. “My secret,” I answered, “is that there is no secret. I’m as powerless to live up to God’s standards as you are, which is why we need Jesus.”

I pulled out a Bible and showed him “his” quote as the apostle Paul expressed it in Romans 7:15. Paul’s words of frustration often resonate with both pre-Christians and Christians who find themselves trying to be good enough to deserve God but falling short. Maybe it resonates with you. If so, Paul’s declaration that Christ is the author of our salvation and its resulting changes (7:25–8:2) should thrill you. Jesus has already done the work to free us from the very things that have us so puzzled with ourselves!

The barrier between us and God, the barrier of sin, has been removed without any work on our part. Salvation—and the changes made by the Holy Spirit in the process of our growth—is what God desires for all. He knocks on the door of our souls. Answer His knock today. It’s no secret that He’s the answer!

See christianuniversity.org/NT225 for more study on the book of Romans.

Without Jesus, salvation and spiritual growth are both gifts beyond our reach.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Personality
…that they may be one just as We are one… —John 17:22

Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our Creator.

Personality is the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man, just as individuality is the characteristic of the outer, natural man. Our Lord can never be described in terms of individuality and independence, but only in terms of His total Person— “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). Personality merges, and you only reach your true identity once you are merged with another person. When love or the Spirit of God come upon a person, he is transformed. He will then no longer insist on maintaining his individuality. Our Lord never referred to a person’s individuality or his isolated position, but spoke in terms of the total person— “…that they may be one just as We are one….” Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately. Jesus Christ brings freedom to your total person, and even your individuality is transformed. The transformation is brought about by love— personal devotion to Jesus. Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The sympathy which is reverent with what it cannot understand is worth its weight in gold.  Baffled to Fight Better, 69 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
It's Show Time! - #8328

We had been working on our college production for our Junior-Senior Banquet for months. It was an original musical drama, written and directed by my roommate and me, based on the book of Esther. The orchestra had rehearsed night after night, the chorus had rehearsed, the actors, the light crew, the sound crew; we had prepared as much as we could. The night before, we had the dress rehearsal. But all those months of preparation and practice came down to one evening-the night of the big performance, and it was show time!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "It's Show Time!"

All our work, all our experiences over all those months were to get us ready for the moment that really mattered; the real performance that would affect many people's lives. The practices with no audience watching actually helped us to do it right when there was a large audience watching. It may be you're in rehearsal right now. Yeah, God is sending or allowing you to go through some things right now that really are your preparation for some important assignments ahead...which means that what you're going through isn't random. It isn't meaningless. It has great meaning, but you can't see that now. But many will see it when it's finally "show time."

It happened to David. In our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Samuel 17, beginning with verse 34, young David is persuading the king that he can go out and defeat the enemy giant, Goliath, even though he is only a shepherd boy and all the professional soldiers have retreated. He says, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who has delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

David had experienced God's power in battles that he fought when no one was watching. What he learned there (because he did it right in practice) enabled him to win a decisive victory for the Lord when the nation was watching! I can't help but think of something Lisa Beamer said in an interview. Her husband, Todd, had died trying to stop the hijackers of Flight 93 on that September 11th. Lisa was thrust into the national spotlight, where she winsomely represented her faith and her hope in Jesus Christ. She said, though, that it was her struggle with the death of her father years earlier that had prepared her for this larger moment, where she then impacted millions of lives.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose life included some very high highs and some very low lows, said, "Through the ups and downs of success, we become better people, and as better people, God can call us to bigger jobs." Maybe that's what God is doing in your life right now. He's preparing you for bigger things, for opportunities you can't imagine right now that will impact many lives. That's the reason for the things you're going through right now.

But now, you're in practice where there aren't many people watching, where the load is heavy, and where the temptations are many. And now is the time you've just got to be faithful. You must be opening yourself up to God's working as you never have before. Or maybe it's "show time" right now, a major crunch time when it's your time to show what a mighty God you serve. Why? So you can hear the applause of heaven!

Psalm 142 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE GOD?

Would you like to see God?  Take a look at Jesus!  Hebrews 1:3 says, “Jesus radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.”  In John 14:9, Jesus himself said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”  Anyone who has seen me weep has seen the Father weep.  Anyone who has seen me laugh as seen the Father laugh.  Anyone who has seen me determined has seen the Father determined.

Everything changes when we see the face of God.  He came with tears too.  He knows the burden of a broken heart.  He knows the sorrow life can bring.  He could have come as a shining light or a voice in the clouds, but he came as a person.  Does God understand you?  Look into God’s face and be assured.  Find the answer in Bethlehem.

Read more Because of Bethlehem

Psalm 142

A David Prayer—When He Was in the Cave
142 1-2 I cry out loudly to God,
    loudly I plead with God for mercy.
I spill out all my complaints before him,
    and spell out my troubles in detail:

3-7 “As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away,
    you know how I’m feeling,
Know the danger I’m in,
    the traps hidden in my path.
Look right, look left—
    there’s not a soul who cares what happens!
I’m up against it, with no exit—
    bereft, left alone.
I cry out, God, call out:
    ‘You’re my last chance, my only hope for life!’
Oh listen, please listen;
    I’ve never been this low.
Rescue me from those who are hunting me down;
    I’m no match for them.
Get me out of this dungeon
    so I can thank you in public.
Your people will form a circle around me
    and you’ll bring me showers of blessing!”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Read: Matthew 13:53–58

When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise, get such ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “We’ve known him since he was a kid; he’s the carpenter’s son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?” They got their noses all out of joint.

58 But Jesus said, “A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family.” He didn’t do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference.

INSIGHT
Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, the one promised in the Old Testament who would rescue God’s people and rule them justly. The word Messiah (from the Greek messias) is found only twice in the New Testament—John 1:41 and 4:25. John is careful to translate this word for his readers: “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ)” (1:41). The word Christ (christos) means “anointed.” It’s the New Testament equivalent of Messiah and is found multiple times, beginning in Matthew 1:1: “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah (christos) the son of David, the son of Abraham.” The composite picture of the Messiah/the Christ is that He is Jesus, the God-man, the King who has been raised from death and exalted to the right hand of God (Acts 2:32–36). - Arthur Jackson

Expect the Messiah
By Patricia Raybon

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary?” Matthew 13:55

The repairman looked young—too young to fix our problem, a car that wouldn’t start. “He’s just a kid,” my husband, Dan, whispered to me, showing his doubt. His disbelief in the young man sounded like the grumbling in Nazareth where citizens doubted who Jesus was.

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” they asked (Matthew 13:55) when Jesus taught in the synagogue. Scoffing, they were surprised to hear that someone they knew was healing and teaching, and asked, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” (v. 54). Instead of trusting in Jesus, they were offended by the authority He displayed (vv. 15, 58).

In this same way, we may struggle to trust in our Savior’s wisdom and power, especially in the familiar and ordinary details of our daily lives. Failing to expect His help, we may miss out on the wonder of His life transforming our own (v. 58).

As Dan found, the help he needed stood right in front of him. Finally agreeing to accept the young man’s aid, my husband allowed him to look at our old car’s battery. By switching just one bolt, the mechanic had the car running in seconds—engine humming and lights ablaze. “It lit up like Christmas,” Dan said.

So too may we expect and experience the Messiah bringing fresh light, life, and help into our daily journey with Him.

When I doubt You, Lord, help my unbelief.

What are some practical ways you can remind yourself or others that God is in control and He is able?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Individuality
Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…" —Matthew 16:24

Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.

The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, “I can’t believe,” it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, “I will not surrender,” or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24). It is your individuality that refuses to “be reconciled to your brother” (Matthew 5:24). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. “…let him deny himself…”— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
When Your Shopping Is Over - #8327

Christmas shopping is really fun for a while. But after a few stressful trips to the mall, after spending more time looking for a parking place than you do in the store, after battling the crowds and trying to find a store that still has what you're looking for, well Christmas shopping starts to lose some of its glitter. But then there's that golden moment when you walk in the house with your last installment of shopping bags, you collapse in the recliner, and you declare in a loud, triumphant voice, "I'm done with my shopping!" What a feeling!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Your Shopping is Over."

Some of us spend our whole life shopping. Not for presents, but for peace. For something that will fill that hole in our heart. And sooner or later, most of us realize that we're looking for something spiritual. Many writers have observed that America today is actually a nation of spiritual seekers, and maybe you're one of them. If so, you're shopping in the right store. The only real meaning and the only real peace is going to be found in something spiritual.

But maybe you're like a lot of people who have been better at seeking than finding. You've shopped for spiritual reality in a variety of places: different churches, maybe different religions, maybe some New Age spirituality, or some self-improvement programs, or a variety of spiritual experiences. You tired of shopping? Would you like to be able to say, "My shopping is over!" Then there's a pathway to fulfillment in our word for today from the Word of God right in the Christmas story.

The Magi, usually known as the "three wise men," represent all of us spiritual seekers in the story of that first Christmas. Matthew 2:1, "they traveled many miles to Jerusalem, following what they believed to be a guiding star. After consulting with the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was...They saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts."

These guys had been searching for a long time. So have you maybe. Their searching finally ended at the feet of Jesus. So will yours. No, it's not Christianity that will satisfy a seeking heart, not a church, not a denomination. It's Jesus. Why? The Bible simply explains in Colossians 1:16, "All things were created by Him and for Him." That includes you and me. You can never find inner peace and your restlessness can never end until you belong to the One you were made for.

Because we've taken over the life that was supposed to be His, well, we're separated from that anchor relationship. But Jesus came to Bethlehem ultimately to die on Skull Hill. He died on that cross to carry all the guilt and all the hell of all your sin so you could finally come home to the love you've been looking for your whole life.

And this Christmas season would be a great time for you to finally say, "My shopping is done!" If you want the search to end, why don't you tell Jesus that you're giving yourself to Him with all the faith you've got. You could literally do that right where you are. You don't have to be in church; no stained glass. Just you and Jesus.

If you want to begin your personal relationship with Him, I especially would like to invite you to our website. In fact, I hope you can check it out right after this if possible. It's ANewStory.com. And I'll tell you why. It really is there for someone like you who's at the edge of actually belonging to the One who loves you the most. A lot of people have gone there and they've found the help they needed in nailing down a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

What a time to get that done. ANewStory.com - find your way there today. Then you know what? If you tell Jesus, "I'm yours," in the words of the song, you know where you can be? You can finally be "home for Christmas."

Psalm 57, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: QUESTIONS FOR MARY

A friend of mine asked her students to make a list of questions, they would like to ask Mary. Here are some responses: “What was Jesus’ first word?” “Did he ever get sick?”  “Did Jesus ever misbehave?” They’re all legitimate questions.

The fact that we can ask them raises a greater one.  Why did God go so far?  Why did He become a human being?  A chief reason?  He wants you to know that he gets you. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, He understands how you feel and has faced what you face.  Jesus has been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin!  (Hebrews 4:15-16).  So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give.  “Take the mercy, accept the help!” Because of Bethlehem, you can boldly go to him!

Read more Because of Bethlehem

Psalm 57

A David Psalm, When He Hid in a Cave from Saul
57 1-3 Be good to me, God—and now!
    I’ve run to you for dear life.
I’m hiding out under your wings
    until the hurricane blows over.
I call out to High God,
    the God who holds me together.
He sends orders from heaven and saves me,
    he humiliates those who kick me around.
God delivers generous love,
    he makes good on his word.

4 I find myself in a pride of lions
    who are wild for a taste of human flesh;
Their teeth are lances and arrows,
    their tongues are sharp daggers.

5 Soar high in the skies, O God!
    Cover the whole earth with your glory!

6 They booby-trapped my path;
    I thought I was dead and done for.
They dug a mantrap to catch me,
    and fell in headlong themselves.

7-8 I’m ready, God, so ready,
    ready from head to toe,
Ready to sing, ready to raise a tune:
    “Wake up, soul!
Wake up, harp! wake up, lute!
    Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!”

9-10 I’m thanking you, God, out loud in the streets,
    singing your praises in town and country.
The deeper your love, the higher it goes;
    every cloud is a flag to your faithfulness.

11 Soar high in the skies, O God!
    Cover the whole earth with your glory!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Monday, December 10, 2018
Read: Isaiah 44:1–5

Proud to Be Called Israel
44 1-5 “But for now, dear servant Jacob, listen—
    yes, you, Israel, my personal choice.
God who made you has something to say to you;
    the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you.
Don’t be afraid, dear servant Jacob,
    Jeshurun, the one I chose.
For I will pour water on the thirsty ground
    and send streams coursing through the parched earth.
I will pour my Spirit into your descendants
    and my blessing on your children.
They shall sprout like grass on the prairie,
    like willows alongside creeks.
This one will say, ‘I am God’s,’
    and another will go by the name Jacob;
That one will write on his hand ‘God’s property’—
    and be proud to be called Israel.”

INSIGHT
Isaiah was the most prolific of the writing prophets, but the great size of his book is eclipsed in importance by its content. Commentator John Gill wrote: “He should rather be called an evangelist than a prophet . . . certain it is that no one writes so fully and clearly of the person, offices, grace, and kingdom of Christ; of his incarnation and birth of a virgin; of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow, as [Isaiah] does.” Isaiah’s focus on Messiah and His mission was vital to preparing the way for Christ’s coming, for it provided Israel with critical identifiers of Christ and certain hope in His promised victory.

For more on Isaiah, check out Knowing God Through Isaiah at discoveryseries.org/sb151. - Bill Crowder

“The Lord’s”
By Arthur Jackson

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16

It doesn’t take much to notice that getting “inked” is very popular these days. Some tattoos are so small that one barely notices them. Others—from athletes to actors to everyday people—have opted to cover much of their bodies with multicolored inks, words, and designs. The trend seems like it’s here to stay, a trend that netted $3 billion in revenue in 2014—and an additional $66 million for tattoo removal.

Regardless of how you may feel about tattoos, Isaiah 44 speaks metaphorically about people writing something on their hands: “The Lord’s” (v. 5). This “self-tattoo” is the climax of an entire paragraph that speaks of the Lord’s care for those He had chosen (v. 1). They could count on His help (v. 2); and their land and descendants were marked for blessing (v. 3). Two simple, powerful words, “The Lord’s,” affirmed that God’s people knew they were His possession and that He would take care of them.

Those who come to God through faith in Jesus Christ can confidently say of themselves, “The Lord’s!” We are His people, His sheep, His offspring, His inheritance, His dwelling. These are the things we cling to in the varied seasons of life. While we may have no external mark or tattoo, we can take heart that we have the witness of God’s Spirit in our hearts that we belong to Him (see Romans 8:16–17).

Father, the expressions of Your love and care are all around me and Your Spirit lives within me. Thank You!

How can the truth that you belong to God impact how you live?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, December 10, 2018
The Offering of the Natural
It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. —Galatians 4:22

Paul was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience. Sin is what made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.

Abraham had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac (see Genesis 21:8-14). Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). Sanctification means more than being freed from sin. It means the deliberate commitment of myself to the God of my salvation, and being willing to pay whatever it may cost.

If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will resist and defy the life of the Son of God in us and will produce continual turmoil. This is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves physically, morally, or mentally. We excuse ourselves by saying, “Well, I wasn’t taught to be disciplined when I was a child.” Then discipline yourself now! If you don’t, you will ruin your entire personal life for God.

God is not actively involved with our natural life as long as we continue to pamper and gratify it. But once we are willing to put it out in the desert and are determined to keep it under control, God will be with it. He will then provide wells and oases and fulfill all His promises for the natural (see Genesis 21:15-19).

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.  Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1459 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, December 10, 2018
Flying Too Low - #8326
Every child's dream-Disney World! Our three-year-old granddaughter had counted down her visit there for weeks. And she was absolutely giddy as she finally entered the Magic Kingdom. One ride she really wanted to try was the flying elephants. Actually, the flying Dumbos, named after that elephant with the oversize ears that enabled him to be a flying elephant! Dumbo basically just goes around and around; he's a ride for little kids...kids like me. Now when you pull the bar in your Dumbo car, it starts to go up. Not super-high, but high enough to get a nice view of a lot of things in the park. And our granddaughter began making those Dumbo circles with her uncle, and he started to pull the bar up to help the flying elephant fly. It was not to be. Our little princess would have none of this going higher business...nope! Too scary! She made it no secret that Dumbo was to fly at the lowest possible level...and stay there.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Flying Too Low."

There's a whole lot of people who are just like our granddaughter with her flying elephant-not flying; settling for a low level spiritually when there's so much to see higher up. And maybe, without realizing it, you have settled into a low level of all there is to experience in the living Christ. You may not realize it because so many other believers around you are flying low, too. It seems to be like normal Christianity. It's not. Just because spiritual mediocrity is common, doesn't mean it's normal! And my guess is your heart is saying, "There's got to be more than this." Well, there is. Much more.

The writer of Hebrews gave some early Christians this challenge: "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again...Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with teaching about righteousness." God's saying, "Look, you've known Jesus much too long for you to still be living on the ABC's of the Bible. Grow up, son! Grow up, daughter! There's so much more that only spiritual grownups experience!" The challenge continues: "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity" (Hebrews 5:12-13; 6:1).

God's made you restless for more because He wants you to go for a much bigger, much bolder, much more powerful and exciting relationship with Him. He's calling you to the kind of spirit the great Apostle Paul had after thirty years of one of the greatest Christian lives ever. It's in Philippians 3, beginning with verse 12, our word for today from the Word of God. "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me...forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." In other words, "I refuse to stay at the level I am at! I'm going higher! I want to see the view!"

So what does this look like? Okay, give yourself to four "going higher" goals. First, dig deeper into God's Word than you've ever gone before. Two, pray bigger in God's throne room than you've ever prayed before; no more safe, predictable, scripted prayer. Three, open wider to God's control than you've ever opened up before. Let Him drive in areas where you've always insisted on holding that wheel. Four, tackle something bigger in God's work than you've ever risked before; say yes to a mission for Him that will make you dig deeper into Him than you've ever been before.

So go for the awesome view that's up higher. It may be safe down low, but it's boring and it's powerless. In the time you've got left, however little or much that may be, don't you want to experience all of Jesus that you can? No more settling for life where it's safe. You're going higher where the view is amazing!

Psalm 52, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Searching the Night for a Light

On the night when Jesus was born, I wonder if Joseph prayed, "Father, this all seems so bizarre. The angel you sent? Any chance you could send another?" You've stood where Joseph stood. Each of us knows what it's like to search the night for a light. Not outside a stable, but perhaps outside an emergency room or on the manicured grass of a cemetery. We've asked our questions. We have wondered why God does what he does.
If you're asking what Joseph asked, let me urge you to do what Joseph did. Obey. He didn't let his confusion disrupt his obedience. What about you? You have a choice: to obey or disobey. Because Joseph obeyed, God used him to change the world. Can He do the same with you? Will you be that kind of person? Will you serve. . .even when you don't understand?
From In the Manger

Psalm 52
A David Psalm, When Doeg the Edomite Reported to Saul, “David’s at Ahimelech’s House”
52 1-4 Why do you brag of evil, “Big Man”?
    God’s mercy carries the day.
You scheme catastrophe;
    your tongue cuts razor-sharp,
    artisan in lies.
You love evil more than good,
    you call black white.
You love malicious gossip,
    you foul-mouth.

5 God will tear you limb from limb,
    sweep you up and throw you out,
Pull you up by the roots
    from the land of life.

6-7 Good people will watch and
    worship. They’ll laugh in relief:
“Big Man bet on the wrong horse,
    trusted in big money,
    made his living from catastrophe.”

8 And I’m an olive tree,
    growing green in God’s house.
I trusted in the generous mercy
    of God then and now.

9 I thank you always
    that you went into action.
And I’ll stay right here,
    your good name my hope,
    in company with your faithful friends.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Sunday, December 09, 2018
Read: Psalm 136:1–9

Thank God! He deserves your thanks.
    His love never quits.
Thank the God of all gods,
    His love never quits.
Thank the Lord of all lords.
    His love never quits.

4-22 Thank the miracle-working God,
    His love never quits.
The God whose skill formed the cosmos,
    His love never quits.
The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations,
    His love never quits.
The God who filled the skies with light,
    His love never quits.
The sun to watch over the day,
    His love never quits.
Moon and stars as guardians of the night,
    His love never quits.
The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn,
    His love never quits.
And rescued Israel from Egypt’s oppression,
    His love never quits.
Took Israel in hand with his powerful hand,
    His love never quits.
Split the Red Sea right in half,
    His love never quits.
Led Israel right through the middle,
    His love never quits.
Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea,
    His love never quits.
The God who marched his people through the desert,
    His love never quits.
Smashed huge kingdoms right and left,
    His love never quits.
Struck down the famous kings,
    His love never quits.
Struck Sihon the Amorite king,
    His love never quits.
Struck Og the Bashanite king,
    His love never quits.
Then distributed their land as booty,
    His love never quits.
Handed the land over to Israel.
    His love never quits.

INSIGHT
Psalm 136 is known in Jewish tradition as the Great Hallel (from hallelujah; a psalm of praise). The writer of this psalm isn’t given, although some commentators suggest it was written by David. This joyful psalm was likely used as a responsive reading or song. The congregation would repeat (or sing) in unison the refrain “His love endures forever” after an individual or a choir of priests and Levites sang each opening sentence. It was likely sung during the dedication of Solomon’s temple (2 Chronicles 7:3, 6). Variations of the refrain are also found in 1 Chronicles 16:34 and 2 Chronicles 5:13; 20:21. This psalm not only served as a reminder to the Israelites but also reminds us today to praise God for His never-ending goodness and His wondrous deeds on our behalf. - Alyson Kieda

Steadfast Love
By Amy Peterson

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1

“I love you!” my dad called out as I slammed the car door and headed into school. I was in sixth grade, and for months we had played out basically the same scenario every morning. We arrived at school, Dad said, “Have a great day! I love you!” and all I said was “Bye.” I wasn’t angry with him or ignoring him. I was simply so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice his words. Nevertheless, my dad’s love remained steadfast.

God’s love is like that—and more. It endures forever. The Hebrew word that expresses this steadfast kind of love is hesed. It’s used over and over again in the Old Testament, and twenty-six times in Psalm 136 alone! No modern word can fully capture the meaning; we translate it “kindness,” “loving-kindness,” “mercy,” or “loyalty.” Hesed is a love that is based on covenant commitment; love that is loyal and faithful. Even when God’s people sinned, He was faithful in loving them. Steadfast love is an integral part of the character of God (Exodus 34:6).

When I was a child, I sometimes took my dad’s love for granted. Sometimes now I do the same thing with my heavenly Father’s love. I forget to listen to God and respond. I forget to be grateful. Yet I know that God’s love for me remains steadfast—a reality that provides a sure foundation for all of my life.

God, we praise You for Your steadfast love to us! Even when we’re faithless, You’re faithful.

Take time to show the love of God to someone today.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, December 09, 2018

The Opposition of the Natural

Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians 5:24

The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.

The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L

1 Samuel 22, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Out on a Limb

After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18 NKJV). Joseph was perched firmly on his branch in the tree. Predictable and solid, Joseph had no intention of leaving it. That is, until he was told to go out on a limb.
"Conceived by the Holy Spirit? Come on! Who will believe me?"
Pride told him not to do it. But God told him to do it. I have a feeling you can relate to Joseph. One foot in your will and one foot in His. His will or yours? Disrupting, isn't it? You can bet it won't be easy. Limb-climbing has never been. Ask Joseph…or better yet, ask Jesus! He knows better than anyone the cost of hanging on a tree!
From In the Manger


1 Samuel 22

Saul Murders the Priests of God
22 1-2 So David got away and escaped to the Cave of Adullam. When his brothers and others associated with his family heard where he was, they came down and joined him. Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around—losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all.

3-4 Then David went to Mizpah in Moab. He petitioned the king of Moab, “Grant asylum to my father and mother until I find out what God has planned for me.” David left his parents in the care of the king of Moab. They stayed there all through the time David was hiding out.

5 The prophet Gad told David, “Don’t go back to the cave. Go to Judah.” David did what he told him. He went to the forest of Hereth.

6-8 Saul got word of the whereabouts of David and his men. He was sitting under the big oak on the hill at Gibeah at the time, spear in hand, holding court surrounded by his officials. He said, “Listen here, you Benjaminites! Don’t think for a minute that you have any future with the son of Jesse! Do you think he’s going to hand over choice land, give you all influential jobs? Think again. Here you are, conspiring against me, whispering behind my back—not one of you is man enough to tell me that my own son is making deals with the son of Jesse, not one of you who cares enough to tell me that my son has taken the side of this, this . . . outlaw!”

9-10 Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, spoke up: “I saw the son of Jesse meet with Ahimelech son of Ahitub, in Nob. I saw Ahimelech pray with him for God’s guidance, give him food, and arm him with the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

11 Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub, along with the whole family of priests at Nob. They all came to the king.

12 Saul said, “You listen to me, son of Ahitub!”

“Certainly, master,” he said.

13 “Why have you ganged up against me with the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword, even praying with him for God’s guidance, setting him up as an outlaw, out to get me?”

14-15 Ahimelech answered the king, “There’s not an official in your administration as true to you as David, your own son-in-law and captain of your bodyguard. None more honorable either. Do you think that was the first time I prayed with him for God’s guidance? Hardly! But don’t accuse me of any wrongdoing, me or my family. I have no idea what you’re trying to get at with this ‘outlaw’ talk.”

16 The king said, “Death, Ahimelech! You’re going to die—you and everyone in your family!”

17 The king ordered his henchmen, “Surround and kill the priests of God! They’re hand in glove with David. They knew he was running away from me and didn’t tell me.” But the king’s men wouldn’t do it. They refused to lay a hand on the priests of God.

18-19 Then the king told Doeg, “You do it—massacre the priests!” Doeg the Edomite led the attack and slaughtered the priests, the eighty-five men who wore the sacred robes. He then carried the massacre into Nob, the city of priests, killing man and woman, child and baby, ox, donkey, and sheep—the works.

20-21 Only one son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped: Abiathar. He got away and joined up with David. Abiathar reported to David that Saul had murdered the priests of God.

22-23 David said to Abiathar, “I knew it—that day I saw Doeg the Edomite there, I knew he’d tell Saul. I’m to blame for the death of everyone in your father’s family. Stay here with me. Don’t be afraid. The one out to kill you is out to kill me, too. Stick with me. I’ll protect you.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Saturday, December 08, 2018
Read: John 14:1-6

The Road
14 1-4 “Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

5 Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

6-7 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

INSIGHT
John 14:1–6 is a familiar passage in which Jesus states He is the way, the truth, and the life. He then discusses going away to prepare rooms for His followers. As believers, we look forward to the day when we will be with Christ (v. 3). But these statements would have sounded completely different to the ears of the disciples. For us, these words assure us we will someday meet Jesus face to face. But for the disciples, this will be a reunion.

The focus of this passage is not the rooms in the Father’s house but being with Jesus. Jesus is coming back to take His followers with Him so that they will be where He is (v. 3). Being with Jesus is the encouragement He was offering the disciples, and it’s the same encouragement He offers us. - J.R. Hudberg

Home
By Dave Branon

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2 nkjv

Recently a friend who sold homes for a living died of cancer. As my wife and I reminisced about Patsy, Sue recalled that many years ago Patsy had led a man to faith in Jesus and he became a good friend of ours.

How encouraging to recall that Patsy not only helped families find homes to live in here in our community, but she also helped others make sure they had an eternal home.

As Jesus prepared to go to the cross for us, He showed a keen interest in our eternal accommodations. He told His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you” and reminded them that there would be plenty of room in His Father’s house for all who trusted Him (John 14:2 nkjv).

We love to have a nice home in this life—a special place for our family to eat, sleep, and enjoy each other’s company. But think of how amazing it will be when we step into the next life and discover that God has taken care of our eternal accommodations. Praise God for giving us life “to the full” (John 10:10), including His presence with us now and our presence with Him later in the place He is preparing for us (14:3).

Thinking of what God has in store for those who trust Jesus can challenge us to do as Patsy did and introduce others to Him. 

Lord, while we anticipate the home You’re preparing for us, may we tell others they too can enjoy forever the home You’re preparing for all who believe in Jesus.

Who can you talk to today about their need for an eternal home and the assurance that would bring them?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, December 08, 2018
The Impartial Power of God
By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14

We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Once we realize that Christ has become all this for us, the limitless joy of God begins in us. And wherever the joy of God is not present, the death sentence is still in effect.

No matter who or what we are, God restores us to right standing with Himself only by means of the death of Jesus Christ. God does this, not because Jesus pleads with Him to do so but because He died. It cannot be earned, just accepted. All the pleading for salvation which deliberately ignores the Cross of Christ is useless. It is knocking at a door other than the one which Jesus has already opened. We protest by saying, “But I don’t want to come that way. It is too humiliating to be received as a sinner.” God’s response, through Peter, is, “… there is no other name…by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). What at first appears to be heartlessness on God’s part is actually the true expression of His heart. There is unlimited entrance His way. “In Him we have redemption through His blood…” (Ephesians 1:7). To identify with the death of Jesus Christ means that we must die to everything that was never a part of Him.

God is just in saving bad people only as He makes them good. Our Lord does not pretend we are all right when we are all wrong. The atonement by the Cross of Christ is the propitiation God uses to make unholy people holy.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our minds; the thoughts of our heart; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.  The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 669 L

Psalm 56, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TAKE A LOOK AT BABY JESUS

If you want to see people on the edge of insanity, just watch the way families treat their babies at Christmastime!  The poor child has no warning!  Red furry stocking cap, goofy elfish shoes that curl at the toes.  And the pictures we take!  Baby snoozing under the tree.  Baby on Santa’s lap.  Santa with wet spot on lap.

Is not Christmas the story of a baby?  The moment that shaped all others?  Mary’s eyes falling on the face of her just-born son.  The first to whisper, “So this is what God looks like!” Never in mankind’s wildest imaginings did we consider that God would enter the world as an infant.  John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Would you like to see God?   Take a look at the baby Jesus!

Read more Because of Bethlehem






Psalm 56

A David Psalm, When He Was Captured by the Philistines in Gath
56 1-4 Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,
    stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
    but somebody beats me up;
They make it their duty
    to beat me up.
When I get really afraid
    I come to you in trust.
I’m proud to praise God;
    fearless now, I trust in God.
    What can mere mortals do?

5-6 They don’t let up—
    they smear my reputation
    and huddle to plot my collapse.
They gang up,
    sneak together through the alleys
To take me by surprise,
    wait their chance to get me.

7 Pay them back in evil!
    Get angry, God!
    Down with these people!

8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
    through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
    each ache written in your book.

9 If my enemies run away,
    turn tail when I yell at them,
Then I’ll know
    that God is on my side.

10-11 I’m proud to praise God,
    proud to praise God.
Fearless now, I trust in God;
    what can mere mortals do to me?

12-13 God, you did everything you promised,
    and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
    my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
    in the sunlit fields of life.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, December 07, 2018
Read: Psalm 139:13–18

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
    God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
    any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
    And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
    all the men and women who belittle you, God,
    infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
    see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
    Your enemies are my enemies!

INSIGHT
David wrote Psalm 139 to worship God, but he also gave us a primer in theology proper—the study of the person of God. He does this by focusing on three of God’s character qualities, what theologians call “attributes.” In verse 1, David points out God’s omniscience—that He is all-knowing: “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.” He then moves to God’s omnipresence—that God is everywhere present at once: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (v. 7). Then the psalmist moves to God’s omnipotence—that there is no limit to His power—which is evidenced in how He forms us: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (v. 13).

For more on Psalm 139, listen to the Discover the Word programs “Search Me” at discovertheword.org/series/search-me-2/. - Bill Crowder


God’s Hidden Hand
By Poh Fang Chia

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:16

My friend was adopted by a missionary couple from the United States and grew up in Ghana. After his family moved back to the US, he began college but had to drop out. Later, he signed on with the military, which eventually helped him pay for college and took him all over the world. Through it all, God was at work, preparing him for a special role. Today, he writes and edits Christian literature that ministers to an international audience.

His wife also has an interesting story. She failed her chemistry exams during her first year of college due to the strong medication she had to take for epilepsy. After some careful deliberation, she switched from studying science to studying American Sign Language, which had a more manageable workload. Reflecting on that experience, she says, “God was redirecting my life for a greater purpose.” Today, she is making His life-changing Word accessible to the hearing-impaired.

Do you sometimes wonder where God is leading you? Psalm 139:16 acknowledges God’s sovereign hand in our lives: “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” We don’t know how God will use the circumstances of our life, but we can rest in the knowledge that God knows everything about us and is directing our footsteps. Though His sovereign hand may seem hidden, He’s never absent.

Dear Lord, help me to trust You even when I don’t understand.

What steps can you take to discern God’s leading or to act on His call for your life?

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, December 07, 2018
Repentance
Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation… —2 Corinthians 7:10

Conviction of sin is best described in the words:

My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall.

Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.

The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To live a life alone with God does not mean that we live it apart from everyone else. The connection between godly men and women and those associated with them is continually revealed in the Bible, e.g., 1 Timothy 4:10.  Not Knowing Whither, 867 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, December 07, 2018
Your Unchanging Address - #8325

In just one year, a whole lot changed for my wife and me. We sold our home of 24 years, and we disposed of a quarter century of accumulated "stuff"! We relocated to a home way out in the country in another state after our Board decided to relocate the entire ministry to that part of the country. So, we got a new personal address, we got a new ministry address, we had all new phone numbers, and new license plates, and new co-workers. But with all the changes, there was one thing that didn't change - our email address. No matter where we are, our email address is always the same!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Unchanging Address."

Even if you didn't know what email is, if you belong to Jesus Christ, you have an address that never changes no matter how many other things in your life are moving around.

The address where you can always be found is mentioned repeatedly in our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Ephesians 1:3-7. Listen for your constant address. "God has blessed us...with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world, He predestined us to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through His blood." Then God talks about what "He purposed in Christ" for us, that "in Him" we were also chosen," that we were "the first to hope in Christ," and that you were included "in Christ."

Unless you have gone totally deaf or you have serious A.D.D., you know your unchanging spiritual address by now. You're always what? Yeah, "in Christ." That's right. In just 12 verses, God says you are "in Christ" eight times! You are, whether you know it or not, whether you feel like it or not, no matter where else you are, permanently in Christ! You're anchored in this unloseable relationship with this Jesus who loves you eternally, who has planned this relationship with you since before there was a world, who makes all His spiritual fortune available to you for what you're facing right now.

Now, if I ask you where you are right now, there are a number of answers you might give me. You might say "Well, I'm in the hospital," or "I'm in pain," or "I'm in love," or "I'm in over my head," or "I'm in a new place." Or it's possible that you're "in doubt," or "in between," or maybe "in debt," "in trouble," "in danger." But wherever your situation has located you, your anchor address is that you are in Christ. Paul could remain at peace inside, whether he was in jail, or in pain, or in trouble because he didn't draw his sense of wellbeing or who he was from his surroundings. Wherever you put him, he was in Christ and nothing else could touch that!

Is this your anchor, too? You know it could be even though you're religious and have a lot of Christianity, somewhere along the way maybe there's never been that time when you have grabbed on to Jesus to be your rescuer from your sin, like someone would grab a lifeguard if they were drowning. This could be that day for you. See, without that kind of turnover of you to Him, you're not in Christ. You might be around Him, but He's not in you. You're still outside of Christ. He's got to come in at your invitation before you are in Him. So this could be the day to anchor your life to this one unloseable. This could be your spiritual birthday to be born into His family. Tell Him, "Jesus, I want to make this mine. I am yours beginning this day because you died in my place for my sin." Wow! At that point you are in Christ and you are safe.

I'd love to help you get this nailed down. And that's why I've put what you need to know at our website. It is ANewStory.com. And, honestly, it's a great name for it, because this could be the beginning of a whole new story for you. Go there, will you?

You are standing on the edge of a totally dependable security. You are secure, no matter what has changed when you are in Christ and you're not moving!

Luke 22:1-23, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: NO DAY ACCIDENTAL OR INCIDENTAL

No day is accidental or incidental.  No acts are random or wasted.  Look at Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem.  A king ordered a census.  Joseph was forced to travel.  Mary, as round as a ladybug, bounced on a donkey’s back.  The hotel was full.  The hour was late.  The event was one big hassle.

Yet out of the hassle, hope was born.  It still is.  I don’t like hassles.  But I love Christmas because it reminds us of the heart-shaping promises of Christmas.  Long after the guests have left, and the carolers have gone home and the lights have come down, these promises endure:  God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28).  Perhaps you could use some Christmas this Christmas?

Luke 22:1-23

The Passover Meal
22 1-2 The Feast of Unleavened Bread, also called Passover, drew near. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way to do away with Jesus but, fearful of the people, they were also looking for a way to cover their tracks.

3-6 That’s when Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot. He was one of the Twelve. Leaving the others, he conferred with the high priests and the Temple guards about how he might betray Jesus to them. They couldn’t believe their good luck and agreed to pay him well. He gave them his word and started looking for a way to betray Jesus, but out of sight of the crowd.

7-8 The Day of Unleavened Bread came, the day the Passover lamb was butchered. Jesus sent Peter and John off, saying, “Go prepare the Passover for us so we can eat it together.”

9 They said, “Where do you want us to do this?”

10-12 He said, “Keep your eyes open as you enter the city. A man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him home. Then speak with the owner of the house: The Teacher wants to know, ‘Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will show you a spacious second-story room, swept and ready. Prepare the meal there.”

13 They left, found everything just as he told them, and prepared the Passover meal.

14-16 When it was time, he sat down, all the apostles with him, and said, “You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It’s the last one I’ll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.”

17-18 Taking the cup, he blessed it, then said, “Take this and pass it among you. As for me, I’ll not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives.”

19 Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory.”

20 He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.

21-22 “Do you realize that the hand of the one who is betraying me is at this moment on this table? It’s true that the Son of Man is going down a path already marked out—no surprises there. But for the one who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man, this is doomsday.”

23 They immediately became suspicious of each other and began quizzing one another, wondering who might be about to do this.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, December 06, 2018
Read: Psalm 25:14–22

God-friendship is for God-worshipers;
They are the ones he confides in.

15 If I keep my eyes on God,
I won’t trip over my own feet.

16 Look at me and help me!
I’m all alone and in big trouble.

17 My heart and kidneys are fighting each other;
Call a truce to this civil war.

18 Take a hard look at my life of hard labor,
Then lift this ton of sin.

19 Do you see how many people
Have it in for me?
How viciously they hate me?

20 Keep watch over me and keep me out of trouble;
Don’t let me down when I run to you.

21 Use all your skill to put me together;
I wait to see your finished product.

22 God, give your people a break
From this run of bad luck.

INSIGHT
Psalm 25 is a prayer for and celebration of God’s guidance—extended to anyone willing to humbly learn from Him (vv. 5, 8–9, 12). Even the structure of this psalm as an acrostic poem (each line sequentially following the Hebrew alphabet) reinforces this emphasis on learning from God, since the structure was often chosen for its helpfulness in memorization.

The psalm’s theme of worship as a lifestyle of learning from God is also captured by the words “put my trust” in verse 1—more literally, “lift up my soul” (nrsv; “soul” referring to all of oneself, both body and spirit). The image, alluding to the worship posture of uplifted hands, offers a beautiful picture of walking with God: we honestly lift up before Him all of ourselves and our struggles, while continually waiting with open, trusting hands to receive all we need from our loving, gracious God (vv. 15–18, 20–21). - Monica Brands

Lonely Christmas
By Lawrence Darmani

My eyes are ever on the Lord. Psalm 25:15

The loneliest Christmas I ever spent was in my grandfather’s cottage near Sakogu, northern Ghana. I was just fifteen, and my parents and siblings were a thousand kilometers away. In previous years, when I’d been with them and my village friends, Christmas was always big and memorable. But this Christmas was quiet and lonely. As I lay on my floor mat early Christmas morning, I remembered a local song: The year has ended; Christmas has come; the Son of God is born; peace and joy to everybody. Mournfully, I sang it over and over.

My grandmother came and asked, “What song is that?” My grandparents didn’t know about Christmas—or about Christ. So I shared what I knew about Christmas with them. Those moments brightened my loneliness.

Alone in the fields with only sheep and occasional predators, the shepherd boy David experienced loneliness. It would not be the only time. Later in his life he wrote, “I am lonely and afflicted” (Psalm 25:16). But David didn’t allow loneliness to cause him to be despondent. Instead, he sang: “My hope, Lord, is in you” (v. 21).

From time to time we all face loneliness. Wherever Christmas may find you this year, in loneliness or in companionship, you can enjoy the season with Christ.

Lord, thank You that with You I’m not alone even in my times of loneliness. This Christmas, help me to enjoy my fellowship with You and to reach out to others.

With Jesus at Christmas, we’re never alone.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, December 06, 2018
“My Rainbow in the Cloud”
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. —Genesis 9:13

It is the will of God that human beings should get into a right-standing relationship with Him, and His covenants are designed for this purpose. Why doesn’t God save me? He has accomplished and provided for my salvation, but I have not yet entered into a relationship with Him. Why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He has done it. The point is— will I step into that covenant relationship? All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.

Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God— a very rare thing. We only have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, “Now I believe.” There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22).

When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is transformed and radiates peace and joy.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To live a life alone with God does not mean that we live it apart from everyone else. The connection between godly men and women and those associated with them is continually revealed in the Bible, e.g., 1 Timothy 4:10.  Not Knowing Whither, 867 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, December 06, 2018
The Dream Boss - #8324

Some of the nasty words in the English language are often described as four-letter words. So it's probably not a coincidence that "boss" is a four-letter word. You sure get a lot of complaining about the boss. Usually the boss writes a Want Ad when an employee is needed. But what if the employee got to write an ad when the boss was needed? What would you put in there? "Boss wanted: fair, consistent, caring, listener, interested in his employees, impartial, approachable." Hey, hold it! You want it? You got it!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Dream Boss."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 3, beginning at verse 22. It's actually addressed to the slaves of that time. Now right away we're talking about a less than ideal working environment wouldn't you say? Today it would be employees; although maybe you feel like the word slave still fits. Listen, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord." By the way, this is followed with the way the master should treat them.

Paul talks here about two motivators for doing good work. He says, number one, maybe the boss is watching; and secondly, to win their favor because you want to impress them. Then in verse 23, he talks about a working lifestyle, "Whatever you do" - little, big, glory, no glory, pleasant, unpleasant - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart." He's describing a hundred percenter here, but here's their motive, "...as working for the Lord not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Now who's your boss where you work? Well, if you know the Lord, ultimately your boss is the Lord Christ. Work for Him because He's the one who's watching all the time. He's the one to impress. He's the rewarder. This is pretty radical stuff! It means you're going to work with all your heart no matter what the environment and no matter what kind of superior you have. Your work is going to be for the approval of Jesus, actually looking past your human boss right over his or her shoulder and seeing Jesus there.

So that means if you're cooking French fries, you're going to say, "I'm going to be the best French fry cooker they ever had." I'm going to be the best algebra student this algebra teacher has ever seen. Whether I get the best grades or not, I'm going to work as hard as anybody they've ever had. I'm going to be the best shipping clerk, or checkout person, or vice president, or teacher they've ever seen. You'll be known as their hardest worker; one who's on time, who keeps their commitments, who doesn't cut corners, who finishes what they start, who goes the extra mile. Not for them. No, you're not working for the company. See, that's your secret. You're not working for your superior. You realize that Jesus cares about how you work, so this is an offering to Him.

You get your paycheck from your human boss and maybe a nice bonus occasionally. Wait till you see the reward you're going to get from your real boss. Starting now, and then ultimately forever, it is from the Lord, the Bible says, that you will receive your inheritance. That's the biggest paycheck of all - your real reward. He's the One you want to please. He's the One you want to impress. He's the One you're doing it all for, and when a job is for Him, you know you do it with everything you've got.

When you work for Jesus Christ, you work with all your heart because you have got the Dream Boss.