Daily Archives: December 20, 2015

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – God’s Loving Desire for You

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1 Timothy 2:1-8

In today’s reading, Paul is talking about worship and prayer. But he uses them to present an even greater truth: God’s loving desire for us. It can be easy to become complacent in our faith. We may even start to think that we are somehow deserving of God’s love. But God’s love for us—His coming as a man to die for our sins—is about who He is, not who we are.

God desires that all men be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). Salvation involves not only the Lord’s work of deliverance from eternal death but also His endowment of eternal life. When He looks at our hearts, He sees nothing that motivates Him to save us—we have no righteousness or goodness in us.

Instead, our Father chooses to save us because He loves us (Eph. 2:4). His children are trophies of His grace, to which He can point for the benefit of all the generations to come (Eph. 2:7). We human beings are unique in our ability to experience the grace of God.

In living out the Lord’s mercy on us, we also perform His work. Consequently, men and women may see the goodness of God and give glory to Him. That’s why we’re charged with being lights here on earth to reflect our Father (Matt. 5:14).

This week, as you prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, consider the love He has for you—a reality strong enough to compel Him to die in your place. Everything in the heart of God reaches out to pour love upon humanity—be open to receive it.

Bible in One Year: Hebrews 10-11

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Pax Romana

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Read: Isaiah 9:1-7

Bible in a Year: Micah 1-3; Revelation 11

To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. —Isaiah 9:6

No one can afford the price of war. One website reports 64 nations are currently involved in armed conflicts. When and how will they end? We want peace, but not at the expense of justice.

Jesus was born during a time of “peace,” but it came at the cost of heavy-handed oppression. The Pax Romana (“Roman Peace”) existed only because Rome squashed all dissent.

Seven centuries before that time of relative peace, hostile armies prepared to invade Jerusalem. From the shadow of war, God made a remarkable pronouncement. “On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned,” the prophet declared (Isa. 9:2). “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . . . Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end” (vv. 6-7). Matthew tells us that Isaiah’s prophecy found fulfillment in the Christ-child (Matt. 1:22-23; see also Isa. 7:14).

We adore the tiny baby in the manger scene. Yet that helpless babe is also the Lord Almighty, “the Lord of Heaven’s Armies” (Isa. 13:13 nlt). He will one day “reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness” (9:7). Such a regime will be no oppressive Pax Romana. It will be the reign of the Prince of Peace. —Tim Gustafson

Father, we can never sufficiently thank You that Your Son came to bring us peace with You through His death and resurrection. Thank You that He will rule in both peace and righteousness.

The Lamb of God is also the Lion of Judah.

INSIGHT: The encouraging words of the prophet Isaiah about a time of peace are all contingent on one specific event. Isaiah 9:1-5 describes a time not simply of rest from war and conflict but a time when the apparel of battle—clothes stained with blood—will be burned (v. 5). The land will be blessed and at peace because of the birth of the Child described in verses 6-7. Jesus brings real and lasting peace both to our world and to our hearts and minds.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Love Beyond Doubt

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I have loved you with an everlasting love.

Jeremiah 31:3

Sometimes the Lord Jesus tells His Church His love thoughts. “He does not consider it sufficient to declare them behind her back, but in her very presence He says, ‘Behold, you are beautiful, my love.’1 It is true, this is not His ordinary method. He is a wise lover and knows when to hold back the intimation of love and when to declare it; but there are times when He will make no secret of it, times when He will put it beyond all dispute in the souls of His people” (R. Erskine’s Sermons).

The Holy Spirit is often pleased, in a most gracious manner, to witness with our spirits to the love of Jesus. He takes the things of Christ and reveals them to us. No voice is heard from the clouds, and no vision is seen in the night, but we have a testimony more certain than either of these.

If an angel should fly from heaven and inform the believer personally of the Savior’s love for him, the evidence would not be one bit more satisfactory than that which is born in the heart by the Holy Spirit.

Ask the Lord’s people who have lived the nearest to the gates of heaven, and they will tell you that they have had seasons when the love of Christ toward them has been a fact so clear and sure that they could no more doubt it than they could question their own existence.

Yes, dear believer, you and I have had times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and then our faith has soared to the heights of assurance. We have had confidence to lean our heads upon the shoulder of our Lord, and we have not questioned our Master’s affection for us. The dark question, “Lord, is it I that will betray You?” has been put far from us. He has kissed us with the kisses of His mouth and killed our doubts by the closeness of His embrace. His love has been sweeter than wine to our souls.

1) Song of Solomon 1:15

Family Bible Reading Plan

  • 2 Chronicles 24
  • Revelation 11

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg.

 

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The first Christmas carol

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“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14

Suggested Further Reading: Romans 14:5-9

I wish everybody that keeps Christmas this year, would keep it as the angels kept it. There are many persons who, when they talk about keeping Christmas, mean by that the cutting of the bands of their religion for one day in the year, as if Christ were the Lord of misrule, as if the birth of Christ should be celebrated like the orgies of Bacchus. There are some very religious people, that on Christmas would never forget to go to church in the morning; they believe Christmas to be nearly as holy as Sunday, for they reverence the tradition of the elders. Yet their way of spending the rest of the day is very remarkable; for if they see their way straight up stairs to their bed at night, it must be by accident. They would not consider they had kept Christmas in a proper manner, if they did not verge on gluttony and drunkenness. There are many who think Christmas cannot possibly be kept, except there be a great shout of merriment and mirth in the house, and added to that the boisterousness of sin. Now, my brethren, although we, as successors of the Puritans, will not keep the day in any religious sense whatever, attaching nothing more to it than to any other day: believing that every day may be a Christmas for ought we know, and wishing to make every day Christmas, if we can, yet we must try to set an example to others how to behave on that day; and specially since the angels gave glory to God: let us do the same. Once more the angels said, “Peace to men”: let us labour if we can to make peace next Christmas day.

For meditation: The unconverted cannot understand why Christians do not join them in their wild Christmas celebrations (1 Peter 4:3-4); those who celebrate the event without being able to give a sensible reason for doing so, are providing us with wonderful opportunities to give a reason for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15).

Sermon no. 168

20 December (1857)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Throwing out the Anchor

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“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Heb. 2:1).

God’s Word is the anchor that will prevent people from drifting past the harbor of salvation.

While English explorer William Edward Parry and his crew were exploring the Arctic Ocean, they needed to go further north to continue their chartings. So they calculated their location by the stars and began a treacherous march.

After many hours they stopped, exhausted. After taking their bearings, they discovered they were now further south than when they started! They had been walking on an ice floe that was traveling faster south than they were walking north.

That is similar to the situation people who continue rejecting Christ find themselves in. Therefore Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”

Why would anyone knowingly reject Christ? He came into the world as God incarnate, died on a cross to forgive our sins, paid our penalty, showed us divine love, and gives us blessing and joy beyond imagination.

The Greek words translated “pay much closer attention to” and “drift away from” both have a nautical usage. The first means “to tie up a ship” and the second can be used of a ship that has been carelessly allowed to drift past the harbor because the sailor forgot to attend to the steerage or chart the wind, tides, and current. Hebrews 2:1 could be translated: “We must diligently anchor our lives to the things we have been taught, lest the ship of life drift past the harbor of salvation and be lost forever.”

Most people don’t deliberately turn their backs on God; they almost imperceptibly slip past the harbor of salvation and are broken on the rocks of destruction. Be sure you warn those you know who might be slipping past that harbor.

Suggestion for Prayer

Ask God to strengthen your resolve when you know you need to confront someone regarding his or her relationship with the Lord.

For Further Study

Memorize Proverbs 4:20-22 as your own reminder of how important it is to hold on to God’s Word.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Be Kind to Those Who Aren’t Kind to You

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And be kind to one another . . . —Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV)

Christmas is the season of good cheer, but it often becomes a season of stress . . . so much shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, and visiting. Before you know it, people are losing patience, snapping at one another. It’s easy to become unkind.

I’ll never forget something my daughter told me a long time ago. She said that her goal was to learn to love or to treat with kindness, goodness, and mercy every single person she encountered who was unkind or ugly to her. She said, “That’s my goal. I want to submit to God in my emotions and the way that I handle myself so that when I’m out in public and someone mistreats me, I respond with kindness.”

She said, “One of the things that God has shown me that really helps is when someone is grouchy toward me, I can get angry and frustrated or I can think: I don’t know what this person is going through. Maybe right now her back hurts terribly. Maybe this grumpy man is carrying a financial burden that feels too heavy for him. Maybe that woman’s husband has just been told he’s losing his job at the end of the week.”

We don’t know what’s going on in people’s lives.

Kindness will cause you to slow down and give people some space and some grace. Life was not meant to be the way it is today. We were not meant to live at the fast pace at which we live, with thousands of things coming at us at once.

I think we’ve lost sight of some important things in life and that we need to put kindness back on our priority lists!

Love Others Today: “Help me, Lord, to be especially kind to people who are not kind to me.”

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Practicing Patience

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“You need to keep on patiently doing God’s will if you want Him to do for you all that He has promised” (Hebrews 10:36).

During a Bible study on this passage, Ted made this contribution: “Spiritually,” he said, “I’m a sprinter, not a long distance runner.”

Numerous Christians would identify with that for there is little patience, persistence, and tenacity among believers. When adversity comes, many of us are prone to give up and lose our wind. That is the reason James says in his first chapter, verses 2-4, “Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.”

You will note the emphasis on patience. All of us are faced with problems, testings, temptations, adversities and trials in varying degrees. We can determine, by our attitudes and actions, whether or not our tragedies will turn to triumph. Our heartache and sorrow can become joy and rejoicing simply by our patience, which is the ability to relax in the confidence that God rules in the affairs of men and nations. Everything is under His control. And as we walk in faith and obedience, we will be a part of His wonderful and perfect plan.

But the question may be asked, how can we increase this rare trait or gift of patience that unlocks the door to supernatural living? The answer is simple. It is found in Galatians 5:22-23 in the listing of the fruit of the Spirit, for one of the nine characteristics mentioned is patience or longsuffering.

Are you patient with your husband, wife, parents, children, neighbors and those with whom you work in the office? Or do you find yourself critical and complaining – more prone to judge than to bless?

As we more and more yield ourselves to God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, the fruit of patience is increased, along with all the other fruit.

Bible Reading: Hebrews 6:12-15

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will invite the Holy Spirit to control and empower my life moment by moment, day by day, knowing that the fruit of the Spirit, including patience, will increase and mature in my life.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M. – Rescued

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It was the day after Christmas in West Virginia. Temperatures were below freezing with snow on the ground. A puppy with only one eye and not yet weaned from her mother was dumped on the side of a country road. When a passing driver noticed this tiny form wriggling around in the snow, he stopped and scooped the puppy up into his hand. The warmth of the car and the kindness of her rescuer was certainly a gift from God for this little dog.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

Colossians 1:13

Soon a lady named Stacey saw the puppy on a pet adoption website. She and her husband travelled 18 hours to meet and adopt the dog – and they welcomed the one-eyed wonder into their home. She has brightened their lives ever since!

God reached out and came in person in order to scoop you up and rescue you from your sin. As you prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, remember today…and every day… to thank Him for the priceless gift of salvation. Pray that all of America’s leaders will embrace a relationship with Jesus this Christmas season.

Recommended Reading: Ephesians 1:3-8

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples –Willing to Fail

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“Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still.” Proverbs 9:9

You may have heard about a remarkable man who encountered continual disappointment yet wasn’t afraid to risk failing again. Between 1831 and 1858 he suffered two business failures, the death of his fiancée, and a mental breakdown. This man also failed in his attempts at public office: He bid unsuccessfully for positions as state legislator, speaker of the state legislature, presidential elector, state land officer, congressional representative, U.S. Senator (twice), and U.S. vice president.

Was he a hopeless loser? History indicates otherwise. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. He led the nation through the dark days of the Civil War, preserved the union, and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Many historians consider him the greatest of all U.S. presidents.

Successful people such as Abraham Lincoln usually experience failure along the way, but they keep taking risks—and they learn from their mistakes. Are you willing to fail in order to learn and grow?

Just between us…

  • David was a great king, yet he fell into sin. What did he learn from his sin? (See Psalm 51.)
  • What have you learned from past failures?
  • When you fail, do I hold it against you, or do I help you try again?
  • How does God want us to respond to failure?

Lord, we ask tonight that You affirm Your work in our lives and that You put Your hand of blessing and safekeeping on all our endeavors. When we try and fail, help us to get up and try again. Amen.

From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson