Isaiah 30, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: God Dances Amidst the Common ·

There’s one word that describes the night Jesus came—ordinary. It was an ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds. And were it not for a God who loves to hook an “extra” on the front of the ordinary, the night would have gone unnoticed. But God dances amidst the common. And that night, He did a waltz! The night was ordinary no more.

The announcement went first to the shepherds. They didn’t ask God if He was sure He knew what He was doing. Theologians would have consulted their commentaries.  The elite would have looked to see if anyone was watching. The successful would have first looked to their calendars. The angels went to the shepherds. Men who didn’t know enough to tell God that messiahs aren’t found sleeping in a feed trough. God comes to the common—because His most powerful tools are the simplest!

From In the Manger

Isaiah 30

All Show, No Substance

1–5  30 “Doom, rebel children!”

God’s Decree.

“You make plans, but not mine.

You make deals, but not in my Spirit.

You pile sin on sin,

one sin on top of another,

Going off to Egypt

without so much as asking me,

Running off to Pharaoh for protection,

expecting to hide out in Egypt.

Well, some protection Pharaoh will be!

Some hideout, Egypt!

They look big and important, true,

with officials strategically established in

Zoan in the north and Hanes in the south,

but there’s nothing to them.

Anyone stupid enough to trust them

will end up looking stupid—

All show, no substance,

an embarrassing farce.”

6–7  And this note on the animals of the Negev

encountered on the road to Egypt:

A most dangerous, treacherous route,

menaced by lions and deadly snakes.

And you’re going to lug all your stuff down there,

your donkeys and camels loaded down with bribes,

Thinking you can buy protection

from that hollow farce of a nation?

Egypt is all show, no substance.

My name for her is Toothless Dragon.

This Is a Rebel Generation

8–11  So, go now and write all this down.

Put it in a book

So that the record will be there

to instruct the coming generations,

Because this is a rebel generation,

a people who lie,

A people unwilling to listen

to anything God tells them.

They tell their spiritual leaders,

“Don’t bother us with irrelevancies.”

They tell their preachers,

“Don’t waste our time on impracticalities.

Tell us what makes us feel better.

Don’t bore us with obsolete religion.

That stuff means nothing to us.

Quit hounding us with The Holy of Israel.”

12–14  Therefore, The Holy of Israel says this:

“Because you scorn this Message,

Preferring to live by injustice

and shape your lives on lies,

This perverse way of life

will be like a towering, badly built wall

That slowly, slowly tilts and shifts,

and then one day, without warning, collapses—

Smashed to bits like a piece of pottery,

smashed beyond recognition or repair,

Useless, a pile of debris

to be swept up and thrown in the trash.”

God Takes the Time to Do Everything Right

15–17  God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,

has this solemn counsel:

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me

and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.

Your strength will come from settling down

in complete dependence on me—

The very thing

you’ve been unwilling to do.

You’ve said, ‘Nothing doing! We’ll rush off on horseback!’

You’ll rush off, all right! Just not far enough!

You’ve said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses!’

Do you think your pursuers ride old nags?

Think again: A thousand of you will scatter before one attacker.

Before a mere five you’ll all run off.

There’ll be nothing left of you—

a flagpole on a hill with no flag,

a signpost on a roadside with the sign torn off.”

18  But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.

He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.

God takes the time to do everything right—everything.

Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

19–22  Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you’ll find it’s grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he’ll answer. Just as the Master kept you alive during the hard times, he’ll keep your teacher alive and present among you. Your teacher will be right there, local and on the job, urging you on whenever you wander left or right: “This is the right road. Walk down this road.” You’ll scrap your expensive and fashionable god-images. You’ll throw them in the trash as so much garbage, saying, “Good riddance!”

23–26  God will provide rain for the seeds you sow. The grain that grows will be abundant. Your cattle will range far and wide. Oblivious to war and earthquake, the oxen and donkeys you use for hauling and plowing will be fed well near running brooks that flow freely from mountains and hills. Better yet, on the Day God heals his people of the wounds and bruises from the time of punishment, moonlight will flare into sunlight, and sunlight, like a whole week of sunshine at once, will flood the land.

27–28  Look, God’s on his way,

and from a long way off!

Smoking with anger,

immense as he comes into view,

Words steaming from his mouth,

searing, indicting words!

A torrent of words, a flash flood of words

sweeping everyone into the vortex of his words.

He’ll shake down the nations in a sieve of destruction,

herd them into a dead end.

29–33  But you will sing,

sing through an all-night holy feast!

Your hearts will burst with song,

make music like the sound of flutes on parade,

En route to the mountain of God,

on the way to the Rock of Israel.

God will sound out in grandiose thunder,

display his hammering arm,

Furiously angry, showering sparks—

cloudburst, storm, hail!

Oh yes, at God’s thunder

Assyria will cower under the clubbing.

Every blow God lands on them with his club

is in time to the music of drums and pipes,

God in all-out, two-fisted battle,

fighting against them.

Topheth’s fierce fires are well prepared,

ready for the Assyrian king.

The Topheth furnace is deep and wide,

well stoked with hot-burning wood.

God’s breath, like a river of burning pitch, 

starts the fire.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 49:13–18

 Heavens, raise the roof! Earth, wake the dead!

Mountains, send up cheers!

God has comforted his people.

He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.

14  But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me.

My Master has forgotten I even exist.”

15–18  “Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,

walk away from the baby she bore?

But even if mothers forget,

I’d never forget you—never.

Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands.

The walls you’re rebuilding are never out of my sight.

Your builders are faster than your wreckers.

The demolition crews are gone for good.

Look up, look around, look well!

See them all gathering, coming to you?

As sure as I am the living God”—God’s Decree—

“you’re going to put them on like so much jewelry,

you’re going to use them to dress up like a bride.

Insight

The scope of Isaiah’s ministry is introduced in Isaiah 1:1: “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” While Isaiah’s ministry was largely localized to Jerusalem and Judah, it spanned decades and the rule of four different kings. J. A. Martin, writing in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, says: “Isaiah ministered for at least 58 years (from at least 739, when Uzziah died [6:1], to 681, when Sennacherib died).” Isaiah’s name means “Yahweh is salvation,” which is appropriate since his writing gives numerous prophecies of Jesus the Savior, including Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; and 53. The work of Jesus is clearly in view in Isaiah 53:5: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” By: Bill Crowder

God Won’t Forget You

I will not forget you! Isaiah 49:15

As a child, I collected postage stamps. When my angkong (Fukienese for “grandfather”) heard of my hobby, he started saving stamps from his office mail every day. Whenever I visited my grandparents, Angkong would give me an envelope filled with a variety of beautiful stamps. “Even though I’m always busy,” he told me once, “I won’t forget you.”

Angkong wasn’t given to overt displays of affection, but I felt his love deeply. In an infinitely deeper way, God demonstrated His love toward Israel when He declared, “I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15). Suffering in Babylon for idolatry and disobedience in days past, His people lamented, “The Lord has forgotten me” (v. 14). But God’s love for His people hadn’t changed. He promised them forgiveness and restoration (vv. 8–13).

“I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,” God told Israel, as He also tells us today (v. 16). As I ponder His words of reassurance, it reminds me so deeply of Jesus’ nail-scarred hands—stretched out in love for us and for our salvation (John 20:24–27). Like my grandfather’s stamps and his tender words, God holds out His forgiving hand as an eternal token of His love. Let’s thank Him for His love—an unchanging love. He will never forget us. By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

When were you clearly reminded that God never forgets you? How can His unchanging love give you hope and security in your present situation?

Father, thank You for Your constant love and presence. 

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, December 10, 2023

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

An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God. Biblical Ethics, 125 R

Bible in a Year: Hosea 1-4; Revelation 1

Romans 1, 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

Romans 1

I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God’s words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, God’s friends.

2–7  The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God’s Son. His descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master. Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ! And I greet you now with all the generosity of God our Father and our Master Jesus, the Messiah.

8–12  I thank God through Jesus for every one of you. That’s first. People everywhere keep telling me about your lives of faith, and every time I hear them, I thank him. And God, whom I so love to worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son—the Message!—knows that every time I think of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask him to clear the way for me to come and see you. The longer this waiting goes on, the deeper the ache. I so want to be there to deliver God’s gift in person and watch you grow stronger right before my eyes! But don’t think I’m not expecting to get something out of this, too! You have as much to give me as I do to you.

13–15  Please don’t misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have no idea how many times I’ve made plans for Rome. I’ve been determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God’s work among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities. But something has always come up and prevented it. Everyone I meet—it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple—deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation. And that’s why I can’t wait to get to you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God.

16–17  It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: “The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives.”

Ignoring God Leads to a Downward Spiral

18–23  But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

24–25  So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!

26–27  Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn’t know how to be human either—women didn’t know how to be women, men didn’t know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.

28–32  Since they didn’t bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it’s not as if they don’t know better. They know perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s face. And they don’t care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, December 09, 2023

Today's Scripture

Hebrews 10:19–25

Don’t Throw It All Away

19–21  So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body.

22–25  So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

Insight

The letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish believers in Jesus who, due to persecution and hardship, were in danger of drifting from the faith. Therefore, it makes sense that the author would remind them of the confidence they could have in Christ, for it provides an antidote for their doubts. The New Bible Commentary says, “The word translated confidence is found in four important contexts in Hebrews (3:6; 4:16; 10:19; 10:35). Fundamentally, it’s a confidence of free and open access to God . . . based on the unique sacrifice of Jesus (by the blood of Jesus).” As a result, the believers were encouraged to embrace the confidence that they were truly part of God’s “house” (3:6), to enter His presence confidently in prayer (4:15-16), to enter God’s presence in worship (10:19), and to maintain that confidence in living out their lives (10:35). By: Bill Crowder

Be the Church

Let us consider how we may spur one another on . . . not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. Hebrews 10:24–25

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dave and Carla spent months looking for a church home. Following health guidelines, which limited various in-person experiences, made it even more difficult. They longed for connection to a body of believers in Jesus. “It’s a hard time to find a church,” Carla emailed me. Within me rose a realization from my own longing to be reunited with my church family. “It’s a hard time to be the church,” I responded. In that season, our church had “pivoted,” offering food in surrounding neighborhoods, creating online services, and phoning every member with support and prayer. My husband and I participated and yet wondered what else we could do to “be the church” in our changed world.

In Hebrews 10:25, the writer exhorts readers not to neglect “meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but [encourage] one another.” Perhaps due to persecution (vv. 32–34) or maybe as a result of simply growing weary (12:3), the struggling early believers needed a nudge to keep being the church.

And today, I need a nudge too. Do you? When circumstances change how we experience church, will we continue to be the church? Let’s creatively encourage one another and build each other up as God guides us. Share our resources. Send a text of support. Gather as we’re able. Pray for one another. Let’s be the church. By:  Elisa Morgan

Reflect & Pray

How can you be a help to those today who can’t gather in a church building? How does the church fill your need to be a part of a much larger purpose?

Dear God, please show me how to be the church.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, December 09, 2023

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

When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself.  The Moral Foundations of Life, 728 L

Bible in a Year: Daniel 11-12; Jude

Isaiah 29, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: DON’T MISS IT - December 8, 2023

One’s imagination is kindled thinking about the conversation of the innkeeper and his family. Did anyone mention the arrival of the young couple the night before? Did anyone ask about the pregnancy of the girl on the donkey? The innkeeper and his family were so busy. The day was upon them. The day’s bread had to be made, the morning’s chores had to be done. There was too much to do to imagine that the impossible had occurred. God had entered the world as a baby.

Meanwhile the city hummed. Merchants were unaware that God had visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he had just sent God into the cold. Those who missed His Majesty’s arrival missed it not because of evil acts or malice. No, they missed it because they simply weren’t looking. Not much has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?

Blind Yourselves So That You See Nothing

Isaiah 29
1–4  29 Doom, Ariel, Ariel,

the city where David set camp!

Let the years add up,

let the festivals run their cycles,

But I’m not letting up on Jerusalem.

The moaning and groaning will continue.

Jerusalem to me is an Ariel.

Like David, I’ll set up camp against you.

I’ll set siege, build towers,

bring in siege engines, build siege ramps.

Driven into the ground, you’ll speak,

you’ll mumble words from the dirt—

Your voice from the ground, like the muttering of a ghost.

Your speech will whisper from the dust.

5–8  But it will be your enemies who are beaten to dust,

the mob of tyrants who will be blown away like chaff.

Because, surprise, as if out of nowhere,

a visit from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

With thunderclaps, earthquakes, and earsplitting noise,

backed up by hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning strikes,

And the mob of enemies at war with Ariel,

all who trouble and hassle and torment her,

will turn out to be a bad dream, a nightmare.

Like a hungry man dreaming he’s eating steak

and wakes up hungry as ever,

Like a thirsty woman dreaming she’s drinking iced tea

and wakes up thirsty as ever,

So that mob of nations at war against Mount Zion

will wake up and find they haven’t shot an arrow,

haven’t killed a single soul.

9–10  Drug yourselves so you feel nothing.

Blind yourselves so you see nothing.

Get drunk, but not on wine.

Black out, but not from whiskey.

For God has rocked you into a deep, deep sleep,

put the discerning prophets to sleep,

put the farsighted seers to sleep.

You Have Everything Backward

11–12  What you’ve been shown here is somewhat like a letter in a sealed envelope. If you give it to someone who can read and tell her, “Read this,” she’ll say, “I can’t. The envelope is sealed.” And if you give it to someone who can’t read and tell him, “Read this,” he’ll say, “I can’t read.”

13–14  The Master said:

“These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their hearts aren’t in it.

Because they act like they’re worshiping me

but don’t mean it,

I’m going to step in and shock them awake,

astonish them, stand them on their ears.

The wise ones who had it all figured out

will be exposed as fools.

The smart people who thought they knew everything

will turn out to know nothing.”

15–16  Doom to you! You pretend to have the inside track.

You shut God out and work behind the scenes,

Plotting the future as if you knew everything,

acting mysterious, never showing your hand.

You have everything backward!

You treat the potter as a lump of clay.

Does a book say to its author,

“He didn’t write a word of me”?

Does a meal say to the woman who cooked it,

“She had nothing to do with this”?

17–21  And then before you know it,

and without you having anything to do with it,

Wasted Lebanon will be transformed into lush gardens,

and Mount Carmel reforested.

At that time the deaf will hear

word-for-word what’s been written.

After a lifetime in the dark,

the blind will see.

The castoffs of society will be laughing and dancing in God,

the down-and-outs shouting praise to The Holy of Israel.

For there’ll be no more gangs on the street.

Cynical scoffers will be an extinct species.

Those who never missed a chance to hurt or demean

will never be heard of again:

Gone the people who corrupted the courts,

gone the people who cheated the poor,

gone the people who victimized the innocent.

22–24  And finally this, God’s Message for the family of Jacob,

the same God who redeemed Abraham:

“No longer will Jacob hang his head in shame,

no longer grow gaunt and pale with waiting.

For he’s going to see his children,

my personal gift to him—lots of children.

And these children will honor me

by living holy lives.

In holy worship they’ll honor the Holy One of Jacob

and stand in holy awe of the God of Israel.

Those who got off-track will get back on-track,

and complainers and whiners learn gratitude.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, December 08, 2023

Today's Scripture

John 1:43–51

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)

45–46  Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”

But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”

47  When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”

48  Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”

Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”

49  Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”

50–51  Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

Insight

In John 1:51, Jesus told His first disciples, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” At first glance, this might seem to be an odd word picture, but it points back to Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28:12: “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” In this application, Jesus Himself is the ladder from which we can make our way from earth to heaven. This was Christ’s first hint, opaque though it may be, of His ultimate mission. No wonder Jesus would also say, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). By: Bill Crowder

Prejudice and God’s Love

Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? John 1:46

“You’re not what I expected. I thought I’d hate you, but I don’t.” The young man’s words seemed harsh, but they were actually an effort to be kind. I was studying abroad in his country, a land that decades earlier had been at war with my own. We were participating in a group discussion in class together, and I noticed he seemed distant. When I asked if I’d offended him somehow, he responded, “Not at all . . . . And that’s the thing. My grandfather was killed in that war, and I hated your people and your country for it. But now I see how much we have in common, and that surprises me. I don’t see why we can’t be friends.”

Prejudice is as old as the human race. Two millennia ago, when Nathanael first heard about Jesus living in Nazareth, his bias was evident: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” he asked (John 1:46). Nathanael lived in the region of Galilee, like Jesus. He probably thought God’s Messiah would come from another place; even other Galileans looked down on Nazareth because it seemed to be an unremarkable little village.

This much is clear. Nathanael’s response didn’t stop Jesus from loving him, and he was transformed as he became Jesus’ disciple. “You are the Son of God!” Nathanael later declared (v. 49). There is no bias that can stand against God’s transforming love. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray

What biases have you faced or wrestled with? How does Jesus’ love help you deal with them?

Help me, loving God, to overcome any biases I may have and to love others with the love You alone can give.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, December 08, 2023

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

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

Bible in a Year: Daniel 8-10; 3 John

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, December 08, 2023

Where You Were Born To Be - #9630

Our oldest son had just graduated from a wonderful Christian college. Most of his good friends were headed for careers in business or the professions - which can be great places to serve God. But his calling was to go as a missionary to an Indian reservation among a people listed by some world prayer people as one of the most unreached people groups in North America. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. In fact, his first place to sleep at night was just a little storeroom, where he slept on a table so he wouldn't be a snack for the critters on the floor. Now, he was there pretty much on his own, and he was just starting to try to break down some walls and meet some of the tribal young people there. He'd been there a couple of weeks when he called us, I guess it was some morning at sunrise his time. He had driven about eight miles to find a phone to call. It was before cell phones! It was the kind of call that a parent doesn't forget. He said, "Mom, Dad, I've got to tell you I've probably never been so lonely in my whole life. In college, I had friends whenever I wanted them, I could go out on a date whenever I wanted to, I could get some money together when I needed to. But here, I have none of those things." To be honest, our parents' hearts were aching at this point. And then we were blown away by his unexpected conclusion. He said, "But I've got to tell you this, "I've never had such peace in my life. I'm where I was born to be, doing what I was born to do!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Where You Were Born To Be."

It could be that your life has been very full, but not very fulfilling. What you're doing may be successful, but maybe not necessarily significant. It may be cheered by men, but not very important to God. Let's face it. You're restless inside. You know there's got to be something more. Maybe God is stirring your soul. Maybe He's trying to move you where you were born to be, to do what you were born to do. And it's different from what you're doing now. Don't be afraid of it. Be expectant. And be obedient - no matter how risky that obedience looks. Actually there's no such thing as a risky obedience - only a risky disobedience.

In Jeremiah 1:5, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord says this to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart." When Jeremiah expresses his sense of being inadequate to carry out his calling, God says, "You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you."

On the one hand, these words applied particularly to the calling of Jeremiah to be God's prophet. But the sense of what He said is true of every child of God...including you. He formed you in the womb for special purposes as Paul says, "for good works He prepared in advance" for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). And He's calling you to be where He made you to be, doing what He made you to do. And it may be something different from what you're doing now. You won't be able to see the whole road ahead, but He's expecting you to start walking that direction right now, following the light of His Word, and His leading through your prayers, and His defining circumstances.

His call is for you to "offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." Out of that surrender, you will, according to Romans 12, "be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." To follow Him to your designer destiny, you may have to defy the drumbeat of the culture around you. You may be called foolish by those who can't understand heaven's plans. You will almost surely have to proceed by faith; trusting in the Lord who loves you, not in a plan that you can control or even figure out.

But, by all means, follow Him where He's taking you. The alternative is a future filled with the bitter regrets of someone who knows they've missed what they were put here for. Don't settle for anything less than being where you were born to be, and doing what you were born to do.

Isaiah 28, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily LINGER NEAR THE MANGER - December 7, 2023

Christianity was born in one big heavenly interruption. Just ask the Bethlehem shepherds. They had no expectations of excitement. These are sheep they’re watching. We count sheep to go to sleep! Shepherds, however, treasured the predictable. This was the night shift. Any excitement was bad excitement—wolves, lions, poachers. Just because they wanted a calm night, didn’t mean they would get it.

Luke says, “Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord shining around them, and they became very frightened.” We always assume the worst before we look for the best. Good thing the shepherds lingered. Otherwise they might have missed the second verse: “Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ the Lord.”

I hope you’ll do what the shepherds did—linger near the manger!

Isaiah 28

God Will Speak in Baby Talk

1–4  28 Doom to the pretentious drunks of Ephraim,

shabby and washed out and seedy—

Tipsy, sloppy-fat, beer-bellied parodies

of a proud and handsome past.

Watch closely: God has someone picked out,

someone tough and strong to flatten them.

Like a hailstorm, like a hurricane, like a flash flood,

one-handed he’ll throw them to the ground.

Samaria, the party hat on Israel’s head,

will be knocked off with one blow.

It will disappear quicker than

a piece of meat tossed to a dog.

5–6  At that time, God-of-the-Angel-Armies will be

the beautiful crown on the head of what’s left of his people:

Energy and insights of justice to those who guide and decide,

strength and prowess to those who guard and protect.

7–8  These also, the priest and prophet, stagger from drink,

weaving, falling-down drunks,

Besotted with wine and whiskey,

can’t see straight, can’t talk sense.

Every table is covered with vomit.

They live in vomit.

9–10  “Is that so? And who do you think you are to teach us?

Who are you to lord it over us?

We’re not babies in diapers

to be talked down to by such as you—

‘Da, da, da, da,

blah, blah, blah, blah.

That’s a good little girl,

that’s a good little boy.’ ”

11–12  But that’s exactly how you will be addressed.

God will speak to this people

In baby talk, one syllable at a time—

and he’ll do it through foreign oppressors.

He said before, “This is the time and place to rest,

to give rest to the weary.

This is the place to lay down your burden.”

But they won’t listen.

13  So God will start over with the simple basics

and address them in baby talk, one syllable at a time—

“Da, da, da, da,

blah, blah, blah, blah.

That’s a good little girl,

that’s a good little boy.”

And like toddlers, they will get up and fall down,

get bruised and confused and lost.

14–15  Now listen to God’s Message, you scoffers,

you who rule this people in Jerusalem.

You say, “We’ve taken out good life insurance.

We’ve hedged all our bets, covered all our bases.

No disaster can touch us. We’ve thought of everything.

We’re advised by the experts. We’re set.”

The Meaning of the Stone

16–17  But the Master, God, has something to say to this:

“Watch closely. I’m laying a foundation in Zion,

a solid granite foundation, squared and true.

And this is the meaning of the stone:

a trusting life won’t topple.

I’ll make justice the measuring stick

and righteousness the plumb line for the building.

A hailstorm will knock down the shantytown of lies,

and a flash flood will wash out the rubble.

18–22  “Then you’ll see that your precious life insurance policy

wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.

Your careful precautions against death

were a pack of illusions and lies.

When the disaster happens,

you’ll be crushed by it.

Every time disaster comes, you’ll be in on it—

disaster in the morning, disaster at night.”

Every report of disaster

will send you cowering in terror.

There will be no place where you can rest,

nothing to hide under.

God will rise to full stature,

raging as he did long ago on Mount Perazim

And in the valley of Gibeon against the Philistines.

But this time it’s against you.

Hard to believe, but true.

Not what you’d expect, but it’s coming.

Sober up, friends, and don’t scoff.

Scoffing will just make it worse.

I’ve heard the orders issued for destruction, orders from

God-of-the-Angel-Armies—ending up in an international disaster.

23–26  Listen to me now.

Give me your closest attention.

Do farmers plow and plow and do nothing but plow?

Or harrow and harrow and do nothing but harrow?

After they’ve prepared the ground, don’t they plant?

Don’t they scatter dill and spread cumin,

Plant wheat and barley in the fields

and raspberries along the borders?

They know exactly what to do and when to do it.

Their God is their teacher.

27–29  And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices,

the dill and cumin, are treated delicately.

On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly.

The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain.

He’s learned it all from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

who knows everything about when and how and where.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, December 07, 2023

Today's Scripture

Romans 12:1–3

Place Your Life Before God

1–2  12 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

3  I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

Insight

In Romans 11, Paul writes to the church at Rome about how the salvation available through Christ is offered to everyone: the faithful remnant of Israel (vv. 1-10) and the ingrafted branches of gentiles (vv. 11-24). And the hardened hearts of Israel will be softened so that all will embrace Jesus as Messiah (vv. 25-32). In the concluding verses (vv. 33-36), the apostle can’t help but burst into celebratory song over the wisdom, grace, and power of God.

Chapter 12 is a continuation of his reasoning. It begins with the word therefore, which is a classic literary signal that what’s coming is the result of what was said previously. Because God offers salvation to so many and because His wisdom is beyond scrutiny, those who’ve chosen Jesus should offer themselves as living sacrifices (v. 1), renew their minds so they’re not conformed to this world (v. 2), and be humble (v. 3).  By: JR Hudberg

Giving like Christ

Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Romans 12:1

When American author O. Henry wrote his beloved 1905 Christmas story “The Gift of the Magi,” he was struggling to rebound from personal troubles. Still, he penned an inspiring story that highlights a beautiful, Christlike character trait—sacrifice. In the story, an impoverished wife sells her beautiful long hair on Christmas Eve to buy a gold pocket watch chain for her husband. As she learns later, however, her husband had sold his pocket watch to buy a set of combs for her beautiful hair.

Their greatest gift to each other? Sacrifice. From each, the gesture showed great love.

In that way, the story represents the loving gifts the magi (wise men) gave to the Christ child after His holy birth (see Matthew 2:1, 11). More than those gifts, however, the Child Jesus would grow up and one day give His life for the whole world.

In our daily lives, believers in Christ can highlight His great gift by offering to others the sacrifice of our time, treasures, and a temperament that all speak of love. As the apostle Paul wrote, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). There’s no better gift than sacrificing for others through Jesus’ love.

By:  Patricia Raybon

Reflect & Pray

What sacrificial gift have you received from someone that showed Christ’s love? What sacrificial gift can you give to others in return?

In my daily life, dear God, may I show others Jesus by sacrificing my needs for theirs.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, December 07, 2023

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

Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ.  My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R

Bible in a Year: Daniel 5-7; 2 John

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, December 07, 2023

Bringing Back a Loved One - #9628

The funeral plans for Matt were in the works. The Park Service had announced that Matt was one of five people who had been killed in a plane crash on a mountainside in Montana. The funeral never happened. Suddenly, Matt's bereaved parents heard the stunning news: although he had been badly injured, their son, along with one other Forest Service worker, had just been rescued alive, miles from the crash site. Rescue workers at the scene of the crash had concluded that the charred wreckage and the scattered human remains indicated that the crash had been "un-survivable." But amazingly, Matt and his fellow worker hiked for 29 hours, often in subfreezing temperatures, until they reached a highway where a motorist picked them up. One news magazine called it, "A Miracle in the Snows of Montana" (Newsweek, October 4, 2004).

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bringing Back a Loved One."

Many a parent with a child away from God has despaired of them ever coming out of the spiritual death that they've chosen. There may be wreckage, there may be damage, injuries, but it's way too soon to think it's over.

If someone you love is away from the Lord and hope is sometimes hard to hang onto, God has a promise for you today in Psalm 126:5-6. It's our word for today from the Word of God and it's a good one. He says: "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." All those months and years of praying and weeping and sowing the seed of God's Word in their life will not return un-harvested.

How God does it, when God does it, whether or not you may even be here to see it is totally in God's hands. But you can be sure the Shepherd is persistently, skillfully pursuing that lost sheep you love and that He loves so much more. Remember, He's more concerned about the one who's lost than the 99 who are doing okay.

I can't begin to list the wanderers and rebels that my heart has ached for over the years; so many who had tasted the goodness of God but who wandered away - some of whom are still wandering. Some of whom have gloriously come home to Jesus, now living for Him with the fervor of one who loves much because they've been forgiven much. Through all these battles for people away from Jesus, I've learned a couple of simple principles that are grounded in Scripture. They've been anchors when it looked like there was no hope.

First, remember the difference between a chapter and a book. These dark times in the life of that one you love are not the whole book - they're a chapter, or even a series of chapters. But many a book with sad chapters has had a happy ending. Don't judge the ending by the dark chapters in the middle of a book. Don't decide the game is lost because your team is losing at halftime.

If you think it's over, you may actually contribute to their continued wandering by resorting to nagging. And that's only going to drive them further away. Or by compromise and accepting what can never be acceptable before God. By slowly giving up on your prayer of faith for them, or maybe just withdrawing from them when your unconditional love may actually be their best hope. See, when someone you love is the least lovable, that's when they need your love the most.

Remember, as long as there's breath, there's hope. It just isn't over so long as they have breath to cry out to God for rescue. So keep on fighting for them in the Throne Room of Almighty God with defiant faith - faith that defies the devil's lie that "it's over. What's the use?" Keep on loving them. Keep on gently sowing seed, as the Holy Spirit opens up natural opportunities. Keep on asking God to make their sin unsatisfying to them, and cry out to the Lord, "Do whatever it takes, Lord, within Your will, to bring them to You!"

Jesus is still bringing back, alive, loved ones that had been spiritually given up for dead.

Ephesians 6, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily: SEARCHING THE NIGHT - December 6, 2023

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 the manicured grass of a cemetery. We’ve asked our questions. We’ve 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?

Ephesians 6

Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. “Honor your father and mother” is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, “so you will live well and have a long life.”

4  Fathers, don’t exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.

5–8  Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.

9  Masters, it’s the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.

A Fight to the Finish

10–12  And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13–18  Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

19–20  And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.

21–22  Tychicus, my good friend here, will tell you what I’m doing and how things are going with me. He is certainly a dependable servant of the Master! I’ve sent him not only to tell you about us but to cheer you on in your faith.

23–24  Good-bye, friends. Love mixed with faith be yours from God the Father and from the Master, Jesus Christ. Pure grace and nothing but grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, December 06, 2023

Today's Scripture

Matthew 1:18–25

The Birth of Jesus

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

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

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

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

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

Insight

The biblical record includes very little about Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father. He’s mainly mentioned in narrative accounts of Christ’s birth. What we do see of Joseph, however, validates God’s wisdom in choosing him for his unique role. He was a man of the Scriptures and a man of grace: “Joseph . . . was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose [Mary] to public disgrace” (Matthew 1:19). He was a law-abiding citizen who made the trek to Bethlehem to register for the census with his pregnant wife (Luke 2:1-5). Finally, not only did he adhere to the laws of God, his heart and ears were open to His leading concerning taking Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:24) and protecting and settling his family (2:13-15, 19-23). By: Arthur Jackson

Saint Nick

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23

The person we know as Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) was born around ad 270 to a wealthy Grecian family. Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy, and he lived with his uncle who loved him and taught him to follow God. When Nicholas was a young man, legend says that he heard of three sisters who didn’t have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus’ teaching about giving to those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each sister a bag of gold coins. Over the years, Nicholas gave the rest of his money away feeding the poor and caring for others. In the following centuries, Nicholas was honored for his lavish generosity, and he inspired the character we know as Santa Claus.

While the glitz and advertising of the season may threaten our celebrations, the gift-giving tradition connects to Nicholas. And his generosity was based on his devotion to Jesus. Nicholas knew that Christ enacted unimagined generosity, bringing the most profound gift: God. Jesus is “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). And He brought us the gift of life. In a world of death, He “save[s] his people from their sins” (v. 21).

When we believe in Jesus, sacrificial generosity unfolds. We tend to others’ needs, and we joyfully provide for them as God provides for us. This is Saint Nick’s story; but far more, this is God’s story. By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

What’s your experience with gift-giving—is it forced or free and joyful? How does Jesus’ life change your notions of generosity?

Dear God, I want to be generous, but I don’t always feel it. Please help me to practice true generosity.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, December 06, 2023

“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

Beware of pronouncing any verdict on the life of faith if you are not living it. Not Knowing Whither, 900 R

Bible in a Year: Daniel 3-4; 1 John 5

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, December 06, 2023

Bringing Back a Loved One - #9628

The funeral plans for Matt were in the works. The Park Service had announced that Matt was one of five people who had been killed in a plane crash on a mountainside in Montana. The funeral never happened. Suddenly, Matt's bereaved parents heard the stunning news: although he had been badly injured, their son, along with one other Forest Service worker, had just been rescued alive, miles from the crash site. Rescue workers at the scene of the crash had concluded that the charred wreckage and the scattered human remains indicated that the crash had been "un-survivable." But amazingly, Matt and his fellow worker hiked for 29 hours, often in subfreezing temperatures, until they reached a highway where a motorist picked them up. One news magazine called it, "A Miracle in the Snows of Montana" (Newsweek, October 4, 2004).

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Bringing Back a Loved One."

Many a parent with a child away from God has despaired of them ever coming out of the spiritual death that they've chosen. There may be wreckage, there may be damage, injuries, but it's way too soon to think it's over.

If someone you love is away from the Lord and hope is sometimes hard to hang onto, God has a promise for you today in Psalm 126:5-6. It's our word for today from the Word of God and it's a good one. He says: "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." All those months and years of praying and weeping and sowing the seed of God's Word in their life will not return un-harvested.

How God does it, when God does it, whether or not you may even be here to see it is totally in God's hands. But you can be sure the Shepherd is persistently, skillfully pursuing that lost sheep you love and that He loves so much more. Remember, He's more concerned about the one who's lost than the 99 who are doing okay.

I can't begin to list the wanderers and rebels that my heart has ached for over the years; so many who had tasted the goodness of God but who wandered away - some of whom are still wandering. Some of whom have gloriously come home to Jesus, now living for Him with the fervor of one who loves much because they've been forgiven much. Through all these battles for people away from Jesus, I've learned a couple of simple principles that are grounded in Scripture. They've been anchors when it looked like there was no hope.

First, remember the difference between a chapter and a book. These dark times in the life of that one you love are not the whole book - they're a chapter, or even a series of chapters. But many a book with sad chapters has had a happy ending. Don't judge the ending by the dark chapters in the middle of a book. Don't decide the game is lost because your team is losing at halftime.

If you think it's over, you may actually contribute to their continued wandering by resorting to nagging. And that's only going to drive them further away. Or by compromise and accepting what can never be acceptable before God. By slowly giving up on your prayer of faith for them, or maybe just withdrawing from them when your unconditional love may actually be their best hope. See, when someone you love is the least lovable, that's when they need your love the most.

Remember, as long as there's breath, there's hope. It just isn't over so long as they have breath to cry out to God for rescue. So keep on fighting for them in the Throne Room of Almighty God with defiant faith - faith that defies the devil's lie that "it's over. What's the use?" Keep on loving them. Keep on gently sowing seed, as the Holy Spirit opens up natural opportunities. Keep on asking God to make their sin unsatisfying to them, and cry out to the Lord, "Do whatever it takes, Lord, within Your will, to bring them to You!"

Jesus is still bringing back, alive, loved ones that had been spiritually given up for dead.

Isaiah 27, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: OUT ON A LIMB - December 5, 2023

“After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 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.

Isaiah 27

Selected Grain by Grain

1  27 At that time God will unsheathe his sword,

his merciless, massive, mighty sword.

He’ll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees,

the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight.

He’ll kill that old dragon

that lives in the sea.

2–5  “At that same time, a fine vineyard will appear.

There’s something to sing about!

I, God, tend it.

I keep it well-watered.

I keep careful watch over it

so that no one can damage it.

I’m not angry. I care.

Even if it gives me thistles and thornbushes,

I’ll just pull them out

and burn them up.

Let that vine cling to me for safety,

let it find a good and whole life with me,

let it hold on for a good and whole life.”

6  The days are coming when Jacob

shall put down roots,

Israel blossom and grow fresh branches,

and fill the world with its fruit.

7–11  Has God knocked them to the ground

as he knocked down those who hit them? Oh, no.

Were they killed

as their killers were killed? Again, no.

He was hard on them all right. The exile was a harsh sentence.

He blew them away on a fierce blast of wind.

But the good news is that through this experience

Jacob’s guilt was taken away.

The evidence that his sin is removed will be this:

He will tear down the alien altars,

take them apart stone by stone,

And then crush the stones into gravel

and clean out all the sex-and-religion shrines.

For there’s nothing left of that pretentious grandeur.

Nobody lives there anymore. It’s unlivable.

But animals do just fine,

browsing and bedding down.

And it’s not a bad place to get firewood.

Dry twigs and dead branches are plentiful.

It’s the leavings of a people with no sense of God.

So, the God who made them

Will have nothing to do with them.

He who formed them will turn his back on them.

12–13  At that time God will thresh

from the River Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt,

And you, people of Israel,

will be selected grain by grain.

At that same time a great trumpet will be blown,

calling home the exiles from Assyria,

Welcoming home the refugees from Egypt

to come and worship God on the holy mountain, Jerusalem.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, December 05, 2023

Today's Scripture

Joshua 1:1–9

After the death of Moses the servant of God, God spoke to Joshua, Moses’ assistant:

“Moses my servant is dead. Get going. Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people. Cross to the country I’m giving to the People of Israel. I’m giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on—just as I promised Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River—all the Hittite country—and then west to the Great Sea. It’s all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. In the same way I was with Moses, I’ll be with you. I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you. Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don’t get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you’re going. And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”

Insight

Joshua, a leader from the tribe of Ephraim, was one of the twelve spies Moses sent to survey the land of Canaan. Moses changed his name from Hoshea, meaning “salvation,” to Joshua, meaning “Jehovah is salvation” (Numbers 13:8, 16). He’d been Moses’ aide since his youth (Exodus 24:13; 33:11; Numbers 11:28; Joshua 1:1). God commended Joshua as one who followed Him wholeheartedly. And Joshua and Caleb were the only two persons who were twenty years old or more when they left Egypt who were permitted to enter the promised land (Numbers 32:11-12). Even Moses wasn’t allowed to enter (Deuteronomy 3:23-29). By: K. T. Sim

God’s Comforting Commitment

The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Years ago, our family visited Four Corners, the only place in the United States where four states meet at one location. My husband stood in the section marked Arizona. Our oldest son, A.J., hopped into Utah. Our youngest son, Xavier, held my hand as we stepped into Colorado. When I scooted into New Mexico, Xavier said, “Mom, I can’t believe you left me in Colorado!” We were together and apart as our laughter was heard in four different states. Now that our grown sons have left home, I have a deeper appreciation of God’s promise to be near all His people wherever they go.

After Moses died, God called Joshua into leadership and guaranteed His presence as He expanded the Israelite’s territory (Joshua 1:1–4). God said, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (v. 5). Knowing that Joshua would struggle with doubt and fear as the new leader of His people, God built a foundation of hope on these words: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (v. 9).

No matter where God leads us or our loved ones, even through difficult times, His most comforting commitment assures us that He’s always present. By:  Xochitl Dixon

Reflect & Pray

How has God recently comforted you with His constant presence? How does His commitment to be present help when you’re far from loved ones?

Ever-present God, thank You for comforting me with the promise of Your constant presence.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, December 05, 2023

“The Temple of the Holy Spirit”

…only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. —Genesis 41:40

I am accountable to God for the way I control my body under His authority. Paul said he did not “set aside the grace of God”— make it ineffective (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God is absolute and limitless, and the work of salvation through Jesus is complete and finished forever. I am not being saved— I am saved. Salvation is as eternal as God’s throne, but I must put to work or use what God has placed within me. To “work out [my] own salvation” (Philippians 2:12) means that I am responsible for using what He has given me. It also means that I must exhibit in my own body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mysteriously or secretly, but openly and boldly. “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection . . .” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has given us the responsibility to rule over all “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” including our thoughts and desires (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to improper ones. But most of us are much more severe in our judgment of others than we are in judging ourselves. We make excuses for things in ourselves, while we condemn things in the lives of others simply because we are not naturally inclined to do them.

Paul said, “I beseech you…that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (Romans 12:1). What I must decide is whether or not I will agree with my Lord and Master that my body will indeed be His temple. Once I agree, all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law concerning the body are summed up for me in this revealed truth-my body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit.”

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

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

Bible in a Year: Daniel 1-2; 1 John 4

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, December 05, 2023

Chasing Bubbles - and Meaning - #9627

A dog and bubbles: ah, there's an amusing combination! I think my wife discovered this when our little Shih tzu dog was just a puppy, a new member of our family, and she was kind of still discovering her world. My wife went out and bought one of those containers of bubbles, you know the one with the little wand.

Well, the puppy couldn't resist those bubbles. She'd try to pounce on the bubble as soon as it landed on the floor. And when they were in the air, she'd watch them come down, she'd wait for them. She was in attack mode. The problem is that the bubbles disappeared as soon as she could get to them. She'd open her mouth to attack it (or eat it or whatever you do with it), and suddenly it wasn't there anymore! All that was left was this bewildered dog sniffing and searching and looking up at the new bubbles coming down. She wasted an awful lot of energy looking for bubbles.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Chasing Bubbles - and Meaning."

Our word for today from the Word of God; Ecclesiastes 1:14. It's from a man who chased plenty of them. King Solomon, the ancient Jewish King said this, "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Our dog would have said chasing after the bubbles. See, Solomon probably lived life with more gusto than anybody you ever knew. He was the richest man of his time. He built an incredible temple with his name on it. There were roads and buildings everywhere that he was responsible for. He had the best of entertainment. He had more women than you could possibly imagine, and he studied the greatest ideas of his time, and repeatedly he says in his book, "it was all chasing after the wind."

Chasing bubbles - maybe you know that feeling. You see something or someone that looks promising as a goal and you think it would give you personal happiness or personal fulfillment. So, you pounce on it with everything you've got and poof - it's gone! It leaves you sniffing and wondering why you're still empty and you keep looking for the next bubble to come along. How long is it going to be before we realize that what we really want isn't any of life's bubbles, any of the things that earth can even offer us?

Okay, Ecclesiastes 3:11 - Solomon got it figured out. He says, "God has placed eternity in our hearts." See, there's this eternal hole in our heart. It's so big that only someone as eternal as God can fill it. We've been trying to put earth stuff there and earth people to fill a God hole in our heart. We're hungry for something that's going to be there forever.

Right now you might be aggressively pursuing a position or a possession or a person with everything you've got. But when you get it, you're going to discover what you always discover - it's a bubble that bursts. That's why Solomon concludes after his life-long search in Ecclesiastes 12:1, "Remember your creator, in the days of your youth." There's only one pursuit worth everything you've got - and it's a personal relationship with your Creator. Life lived for what matters to God. The Bible says this, speaking of Jesus Christ, "He is our peace."

Maybe you're away from God right now and you know you are. The Bible says we all are actually, because of our sin, our self rule of our life; but Jesus came to pay for that sin on His cross. He took the death penalty for it, and when you meet Jesus at His cross, you are finally as the Bible says, "complete in Him." So how soon are you going to give up chasing the wind? Looking for love and peace in things that will disappear as soon as you get them? It's time for you to belong to Jesus, isn't it?

Do you want to do that? Would you tell Him that today; "Jesus, I'm yours." Let me invite you to go to our website - ANewStory.com. Meet me there and I'll explain how you can be sure you have this relationship and your search is finally over.

Remember, you're finally ready for something that's eternal, that's unloseable, that's unbreakable. You, my friend, are ready for Jesus.

Isaiah 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE WAY JESUS CAME - December 4, 2023

It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment. God became a man. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb.

Jesus came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. The hands that first held him were un-manicured, calloused, and dirty. For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. Weak and weary and afraid of failure. His feelings got hurt.

To think of Jesus in such a light seems almost irreverent. There’s something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, predictable. But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t! Let him be as human as he intended to be. For only if we let him in can he pull us out.

Isaiah 26

Stretch the Borders of Life

1–6  26 At that time, this song

will be sung in the country of Judah:

We have a strong city, Salvation City,

built and fortified with salvation.

Throw wide the gates

so good and true people can enter.

People with their minds set on you,

you keep completely whole,

Steady on their feet,

because they keep at it and don’t quit.

Depend on God and keep at it

because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.

Those who lived high and mighty

he knocked off their high horse.

He used the city built on the hill

as fill for the marshes.

All the exploited and outcast peoples

build their lives on the reclaimed land.

7–10  The path of right-living people is level.

The Leveler evens the road for the right-living.

We’re in no hurry, God. We’re content to linger

in the path sign-posted with your decisions.

Who you are and what you’ve done

are all we’ll ever want.

Through the night my soul longs for you.

Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you.

When your decisions are on public display,

everyone learns how to live right.

If the wicked are shown grace,

they don’t seem to get it.

In the land of right living, they persist in wrong living,

blind to the splendor of God.

11–15  You hold your hand up high, God,

but they don’t see it.

Open their eyes to what you do,

to see your zealous love for your people.

Shame them. Light a fire under them.

Get the attention of these enemies of yours.

God, order a peaceful and whole life for us

because everything we’ve done, you’ve done for us.

O God, our God, we’ve had other masters rule us,

but you’re the only Master we’ve ever known.

The dead don’t talk,

ghosts don’t walk,

Because you’ve said, “Enough—that’s all for you,”

and wiped them off the books.

But the living you make larger than life.

The more life you give, the more glory you display,

and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!

16–18  O God, they begged you for help when they were in trouble,

when your discipline was so heavy

they could barely whisper a prayer.

Like a woman having a baby,

writhing in distress, screaming her pain

as the baby is being born,

That’s how we were because of you, O God.

We were pregnant full-term.

We writhed in labor but bore no baby.

We gave birth to wind.

Nothing came of our labor.

We produced nothing living.

We couldn’t save the world.

19  But friends, your dead will live,

your corpses will get to their feet.

All you dead and buried,

wake up! Sing!

Your dew is morning dew

catching the first rays of sun,

The earth bursting with life,

giving birth to the dead.

20–21  Come, my people, go home

and shut yourselves in.

Go into seclusion for a while

until the punishing wrath is past,

Because God is sure to come from his place

to punish the wrong of the people on earth.

Earth itself will point out the bloodstains;

it will show where the murdered have been hidden away.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, December 04, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 23

A David Psalm

1–3  23 God, my shepherd!

I don’t need a thing.

You have bedded me down in lush meadows,

you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word,

you let me catch my breath

and send me in the right direction.

4  Even when the way goes through

Death Valley,

I’m not afraid

when you walk at my side.

Your trusty shepherd’s crook

makes me feel secure.

5  You serve me a six-course dinner

right in front of my enemies.

You revive my drooping head;

my cup brims with blessing.

6  Your beauty and love chase after me

every day of my life.

I’m back home in the house of God

for the rest of my life.

Insight

Before David was king or warrior, he was a poet and shepherd to his father’s sheep (1 Samuel 16:11). In fact, God used David’s shepherding as the training ground to help prepare him for the challenges he’d face. For example, when his flock was attacked by a lion and a bear, he stood strong and defeated them (17:34-37). Those events, David felt, prepared him to face the giant Goliath in battle. The responsibilities of leadership and the care of the flock were also good preparation for caring for God’s flock, the people of Israel (Psalm 78:70-72). Like those in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 25:21, 23), David had been faithful in a few things and God made him ruler over many things. Likewise, his poetry helped to shape Israel’s worship as David is credited with at least seventy-three psalms in the book of Psalms.

Learn more about the book of Psalms.

Shadow and God’s Light

Blessed are those who . . . walk in the light of your presence, Lord. Psalm 89:15

When Elaine was diagnosed with advanced cancer, she and her husband, Chuck, knew it wouldn’t be long until she’d be with Jesus. Both of them treasured the promise of Psalm 23 that God would be with them as they journeyed through the deepest and most difficult valley of their fifty-four years together. They took hope in the fact that Elaine was ready to meet Jesus, having placed her faith in Him decades before.

At his wife’s memorial service, Chuck shared that he was still traveling “through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4 nkjv). His wife’s life in heaven had already begun. But the “shadow of death” was still with him and with others who’d greatly loved Elaine.

As we travel through the valley of shadows, where can we find our source of light? The apostle John declares that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). And in John 8:12, Jesus proclaimed: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

As believers in Jesus, we “walk in the light of [His] presence” (Psalm 89:15). Our God has promised to be with us and to be our source of light even when we travel through the darkest of shadows. By:  Cindy Hess Kasper

Reflect & Pray

What valley have you been walking through? Which of God’s promises provide light for your journey?

Loving God, thank You for Your promise to never leave me. I trust You to be my strength, my provision, and my joy throughout my life.

For further study, read The Promises of God.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, December 04, 2023

The Law of Opposition

To him who overcomes… —Revelation 2:7

Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life.

Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought.

Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.

And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, “…but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.

Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.  Not Knowing Whither, 888 L

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 47-48; 1 John 3

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, December 04, 2023

The Christmas Window - #9626

You may remember when the word window just referred to that opening in a wall that kind of, you know, you covered with glass? Well, NASA changed all that. A window is still an opening, but the folks at Cape Canaveral use that word to refer to that brief period of time where everything is right for the launch: the wind is okay, the weather's okay, they've checked it at the Cape, they've checked it down range, and the atmospherics are okay for communication. The conditions have been predicted for the time of return and they look good, too. But the window will pass soon. If you're going to get this thing off the ground, go when the window's open.

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

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 2 beginning at verse 16. This might be a dimension of Christmas that we often miss; maybe with tragic consequences. "So the shepherds hurried off and found Mary, and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in a manger. And when they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."

Now, notice it says they had seen Him and then they spread the word. The first people to ever celebrate Christmas saw it as a time for telling. That was their first response! "Man, it's time to spread this good news!" Now, 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells you what your lifetime assignment for Jesus is, "We are Christ's ambassadors." Whatever you do for a living, or go to school for, your highest calling is that you're an ambassador for Jesus Christ. If the people in your world are ever going to hear about Him, it's going to be through you. See, He's assigned you to this particular little tribe that's around where you work, or go to school, or live, or recreate. That's your territory as a "missionary."

Your environment might change. You may move, but your assignment doesn't. You are His ambassador wherever He puts you. Christmas, I think, is the best window of the year for telling about your Jesus. Hearts are softer this time of year. People are open. Christ is kind of like everywhere. You can't even go to the mall without hearing songs about Him. It's never easier to talk about Jesus than it is during the Christmas season.

But the Devil? Oh, he loves to see us so consumed with Christmas busyness that he keeps us distracted when the window in lost hearts is the most open. Think about it. Who is there this Christmas, in this countdown to Christmas, that you need to communicate Christ to? They need to hear about your Jesus. This Christmas season would be the time to tell them about the One who promised peace, and brought peace to your heart.

Maybe it's time to take that person out to lunch. Maybe it's time to give them a Christian recording of some kind or contemporary worship music. Share with them the songs that really mean a lot to you. Most of all, tell your Hope Story; write down your Hope Story. If you do Christmas cards, put it in the cards. Look for opportunities to tell your personal Hope Story of the difference Jesus is making in your life. Maybe you need to invite them to an event that will be a good place for lost people to go and some place "seeker friendly." They're ready to hear Christmas music, it's that time of year! Everybody wants to hear that.

Invite them to your home afterwards. Don't just go to the concert. Invite them to your home to fellowship and talk about what was sung and what was said about Jesus there. My wife and I had great opportunity to make progress in communicating our Jesus to our friends by that alone. Just invite them to a concert or a Christmas event and have them over afterwards and talk about what we all felt.

Jesus said that it was "harvest time." He said the harvest is plentiful. And I've asked farmers, I've asked what harvest means to them and they say, "ready." Well, I think someone around you is ready because it's Christmas. They desperately need your Lord, and they may be more ready than ever before.

If you're ever going to launch an effort to take that person to heaven with you, would you do it now while the Christmas window is open?