Tag Archives: Peace

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Song of Commitment

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What is your favorite Christmas carol? O Holy Night ranks as many Americans’ favorite song, according to a recent study. It surpassed White Christmas and even The Christmas Song. O Holy Night is a song of worship about the glorious birth of God’s only Son. Whether they all realize it or not, Americans praise God when they sing this wonderful carol.

He was manifested in the flesh…seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations.

I Timothy 3:16

The practice of singing praises has been around for thousands of years. In early churches of the Bible and in worship services today, there’s a tradition of singing a hymn at the end of the service. These songs allow the congregation to affirm their acceptance of the message and commitment to do God’s will. Today’s passage is a portion of such a hymn. The author, Paul, describes how church leaders should behave and ends with a song, therefore leading the reader into acceptance of the message.

Take time today to read Paul’s message in its entirety, then focus on the hymn of worship. Reflect on the gift of Christ’s coming to the world. Ask God to help you live a life above reproach. Request the same for the leaders of this nation. Then sing a song of praise to signal your commitment to do so.

Recommended Reading: I Timothy 3:1-15 

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Have You Lost Jesus?

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Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.— James 4:8

Apparently it has become a national trend to steal baby Jesus figures from outdoor Nativity scenes. The problem has become so pervasive that churches are now placing GPS tracking devices inside their baby Jesus figures. The approach seems to be working. One church in Old Bridge, New Jersey, reported, “There’s been no attempt of theft since we announced that we’re tracking our Jesus.”

The good news is that the real Jesus cannot be stolen. However, this is a time of year when we can lose Jesus. How ironic that it happens at the very time when we should be celebrating His birth.

We rush around like crazy people, especially during this season. You could inscribe these words on the tombstones of many Americans: hurried, worried, buried. We are the only nation on earth that actually has a national monument called Mount Rushmore. And we can be so busy that we don’t have time for God. I would like go to church, but I am so busy this time of the year. . . . I would like to pray, but there’s so much going on—so many responsibilities. . . . I would like to invest in the kingdom of God, but I have other financial commitments. People are so preoccupied with their lives and what they are doing that they don’t have any time for God.

I think it is because people don’t have time for Jesus that so many are depressed during the Christmas season. People have a romanticized idea of what Christmas ought to be, and when they look at their lives, they are not anywhere close to their ideal. They are expecting Christmas to do what only Christ can do. But if we will make time for Him, then He certainly will have time for us.

 

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – No Room

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Max Lucado

Some of the saddest words on earth are “We don’t have room for you.” Jesus knew the sound of those words.  He was still in Mary’s womb when the innkeeper said, “We don’t have room for you” (Luke 2:7).

And when he was hung on the cross, wasn’t the message one of utter rejection?  “We don’t have room for you in our world.”

Even today Jesus is given the same treatment.  He goes from heart to heart, asking if he might enter. Every so often, he’s welcomed.  Someone throws open the door of his or her heart and invites him to stay.  And to that person Jesus gives this great promise, “In my Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:2).

What a delightful promise he makes us! We make room for him in our hearts….And he makes room for us in his house!

From Grace for the Moment

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – How We Can Relate to God

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Charles Stanley

Matthew 13:18-23

Scripture teaches that when one is born from above by the Spirit, that person becomes a child in God’s family. Such wording expresses the nature of our relationship with God: He interacts with us as a father does, and we should respond like loving, obedient children. God took the first step in the relationship by opening His family to us. Man’s initial response involves saying yes to Jesus and trusting Him as personal Savior. But even after accepting that invitation, we’re still responsible to respond in a way that keeps our fellowship with Him strong.

Our part consists largely in noticing when the Father is speaking so we can learn to become good listeners and obedient followers. That is why we need to spend time in the Bible, where the Father speaks clearly. Many pretend to be interested in hearing from God and yet invent excuses for neglecting His Word. Some say, “I read Scripture but don’t understand it.” Do you think God would write us an important message in a way we wouldn’t be able to understand? If you keep reading the Bible, the Spirit of God, who inhabits the believer’s heart, will give you understanding.

Once we are born into God’s family, nothing—not even sin—can destroy our relationship with the Father. However, disobedience can interrupt our fellowship with Him by breaking communication, in which case restoring broken fellowship is essential to spiritual growth (1 John 1:9).

Do you belong to God’s family? If so, are you obeying your Father? Obedience is crucial to a deepening relationship with our loving Creator.

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Son Is Given

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Our Daily Bread

Luke 1:26-33

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. —Isaiah 9:6

One of my favorite portions of Handel’s Messiah is the joyous movement “For unto us a Child is born,” from the first part of the oratorio. I especially love how the chorus rises to the phrase, “Unto us a Son is given.” Those words, of course, are taken from Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.” Handel’s majestic music soars with adoration for the Son who came to us in human flesh that first Christmas.

The New Testament clarifies even further who this Son is. In Luke 1, the angelic messenger appeared to Mary and identified the Christ-child in four ways. He would be the son of Mary, making Him fully human (1:31). He would be the Son of the Highest, which made Him fully divine (1:32). He would also be the Son of David, giving Him royal lineage (1:32). And He would bear the title of Son of God (1:35), giving Him equality with the Father in all things. All of the roles the Messiah was called to fill are made possible in these distinct expressions of His Sonship.

As we worship Him this Christmas, may our celebrations be filled with joy and wonder at the fullness of what it means. Our heavenly Father has given us His perfect, sufficient Son. O come, let us adore Him! —Bill Crowder

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning,

Jesus, to Thee be all glory given;

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;

O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. —Wade

God’s love became incarnate at Bethlehem.

Bible in a year: Jonah 1-4; Revelation 10

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – A Holy Calm

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Alistair Begg

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:33

If the decision about the lot is the Lord’s, whose is the arrangement of our whole life? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by Him, how much more the events of our entire life-especially when we are told by our blessed Savior, “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”1 It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were to constantly remember this. It would relieve your mind from anxiety and enable you to walk in patience, quietness, and cheerfulness as a Christian should. When a man is anxious he cannot pray with faith; when he is troubled about the world, he cannot serve his Master, for his thoughts are serving himself.

f you would “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,”2 all things would then be added to you. You are meddling with Christ’s business and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying to do the providing and forgetting to do the obeying. Be wise and pay attention to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing. Come and survey your Father’s storehouse, and ask whether He will allow you to starve while

He has so great an abundance in store. Look at His heart of mercy; see if that can ever prove unkind! Look at His unsearchable wisdom; see if that will ever be at fault. Above all, look to Jesus Christ your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while He pleads, can your Father deal ungraciously with you? If He remembers even sparrows, will He forget one of the least of His poor children? “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”3

My soul, rest happy in your low estate,

Nor hope nor wish to be esteem’d or great;

To take the impress of the Will Divine,

Be that your glory, and those riches thine.

1 Matthew 10:30-31 2 Matthew 6:33 3 Psalm 55:22

 

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Love

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“We love him, because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Suggested Further Reading: 1 John 3:14-18

We have known many Christians who have forgotten much of their love to Christ when they have risen in the world. “Ah!” said a woman, who desired to do much for Christ in poverty, and who had had a great sum left her, “I cannot do as much as I used to do.” “But how is that?” said one. Said she, “When I had a meagre purse I had an overflowing heart, and now I have an overflowing purse I have only a meagre heart.” It is a sad temptation for some men to get rich. They were content to go to the meeting-house and mix with the ignoble congregation, while they had but little; they have grown rich, there is a Turkey carpet in the drawing-room, they have arrangements now too splendid to permit them to invite the poor of the flock, as once they did, and Christ Jesus is not so fashionable as to allow them to introduce any religious topic when they meet with their new friends. Besides this, they say they are now obliged to pay this visit and that visit, and they must spend so much time upon attire, and in maintaining their station and respectability, they cannot find time to pray as they did. The house of God has to be neglected for the party, and Christ has less of their heart than ever he had. “Is this thy kindness to thy friend?” And hast thou risen so high that thou art ashamed of Christ? And art thou grown so rich, that Christ in his poverty is despised? Alas! Poor wealth! Alas! Base wealth! Alas! Vile wealth! It would be well for thee if it should be all swept away, if a descent to poverty should be a restoration to the ardency of thine affection.

For meditation: If success in the world goes to our hearts it can do others much good (1 Timothy 6:17-19); if it goes to our heads it can do us much harm (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

Sermon no. 229

19 December (1858)

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – God’s Gift of Himself

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“Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17,18, KJV).

Near the Church of St. Mark’s in Venice are three 17th century churches often admired for their highly ornate sculpture. On closer inspection, Ruskin points out, they are found to be “entirely destitute of every religious symbol, sculpture or inscription.”

They are really monuments to the glory of three Venetian families who provided the funds for their construction. “Impious buildings, manifestations of insolent atheism,” they were called by John Ruskin, English writer, art critic and sociologist.

Many Christians are like these buildings. Their association with God is more of a facade, formal and ritualistic. They do not know God as a caring Father with whom they experience a delightful, loving relationship.

As we meet God’s conditions, he becomes our Father, and we become His sons and daughters. His gift of Himself is illustrated in the life of a successful young attorney.

“The greatest gift I ever received,” he said, “was a Christmas gift from my dad. Inside a small box was a note saying, ‘Son, I will give you an hour every day after dinner – 365 days. It’s all yours. We’ll talk about what you want to talk about, we’ll go where you want to go, we’ll play what you want to play. It will be your hour.

“He not only kept his promise, but every year he renewed it – and it was the greatest gift I ever had in my life. I had so much of his time.”

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:11-16

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will count myself richly blessed for having so much of my Father’s time and will seek diligently to be worthy of His love and availability to me.

 

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M.- Priceless Gift

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Imagine if you tried to calculate the cost of all the elaborate gifts named in the classic Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Turtledoves, golden rings, lords-a-leaping…it would probably total thousands of dollars!

Mary…who was with child.

Luke 2:5

God’s gift to you, however, came in simple and rustic wrappings. He was not born surrounded by gold. Instead, the Almighty Creator of the Universe chose to come to Earth as a baby born of humble parents in a nondescript village. Jesus Christ took His first breath in a place where animals were kept, clothed with rags and laid in a feeding trough. There’s nothing elaborate about that.

Yet God went to utmost measures to demonstrate His unconditional love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus was born so He could suffer and die on a cross for your sins. Take a moment each day to thank Him for the gift of salvation. Pray also that Americans and the nation’s leaders will understand that this season is not about expensive gifts wrapped with paper and ribbon. It’s about the priceless gift of a Savior.

Recommended Reading: Matthew 1:18-25

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Not an Optional Belief

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And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” —Luke 1:35

I have heard people say that it isn’t important to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus as long as you believe in His death and resurrection. But I beg to differ. If you doubt the Virgin Birth, then you doubt the Word of God. If you doubt the Virgin Birth, then you are actually saying that Mary was an immoral woman who conceived Jesus out of wedlock.

If you doubt the Virgin Birth, then you doubt the character of Jesus. If Jesus had not been born of a Virgin, then He would have been a mere man with no ability to atone for our sins. If there was no Virgin Birth, then there was no sinless Christ. If there was no sinless Christ, then there was no atonement. If there was no atonement, then there is no forgiveness. If there is no forgiveness, then there is no hope of heaven. If you take away the Virgin Birth, you lose everything.

So don’t tell me the Virgin Birth is an optional belief. It is essential that we believe the Word of God when it says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was supernaturally conceived in Mary’s womb. The Lord Jesus was born of a Virgin, He lived, and He voluntarily went to a cross and died for the sins of the world. Then He rose again.

When Mary and Joseph dedicated Jesus in the temple, Simeon said, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against” (Luke 2:34). We either believe in Jesus, or we reject Him.

Gabriel’s announcement to Mary introduced the pivotal point in redemptive history. How people respond to the Child whom Gabriel spoke of will determine their eternal destinies.

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Not All Empty

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Our Daily Bread

Psalm 107:1-9

He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. —Psalm 107:9

Our granddaughter Julia spent the summer working in an orphanage in Busia, Uganda. On the final day of her internship, she went to the children to tell each one goodbye. One little girl named Sumaya was very sad and said to her, “Tomorrow you leave us, and next week the other aunties [interns] leave.”

When Julia agreed that she was indeed leaving, Sumaya thought for a minute and exclaimed, “But we will be all empty. None of you will be left!” Again, Julia agreed. The little girl thought a few moments and replied: “But God will be with us, so we won’t be all empty.”

If we are honest with ourselves, we know that “all empty” feeling. It is an emptiness that friendship, love, sex, money, power, popularity, or success can never assuage—a longing for something indefinable, something incalculably precious but lost. Every good thing can remind, beckon, and awaken in us a greater desire for that elusive “something more.” The closest we get is a hint, an echo in a face, a painting, a scene . . . . And then it is gone. “Our best havings are wantings,” said C. S. Lewis.

We were made for God, and in the end, nothing less will satisfy us. Without Him, we are all empty. He alone fills the hungry with good things (Ps. 107:9). —David Roper

Dear Lord, fill me with Your goodness and love.

I desire nothing in heaven and earth but You.

Without You, I have nothing. Thank You for the

abiding satisfaction that we can find in You.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there. —C. S. Lewis

Bible in a year: Obadiah; Revelation 9

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The inexhaustible barrel

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“And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.” 1 Kings 17:16

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Peter 5:6-11

If God saves us, it will be a trying matter. All the way to heaven, we shall only get there by the skin of our teeth. We shall not go to heaven sailing along with sails swelling in the breeze, like sea birds with their fair white wings, but we shall proceed with sails torn to ribbons, with masts creaking, and the ship’s pumps at work both by night and day. We shall reach the city at the shutting of the gate, but not an hour before. O believer, thy Lord will bring thee safe to the end of thy pilgrimage; but mark, thou wilt never have one particle of strength to waste in wantonness upon the road. There will be enough to get thee up the hill Difficulty, but only enough then by climbing on your hands and knees. You will have strength enough to fight Apollyon, but when the battle is over your arm will have no strength remaining. Your trials will be so many, that if you had only one trial more, it would be like the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. But, nevertheless, though God’s love should thus try you all the journey through, your faith will bear the trying, for while God dashes you down to the earth with one hand in providence, he will lift you up with the other in grace. You will have consolation and affliction weighed out in equal degree, ounce for ounce, and grain for grain; you will be like the Israelite in the wilderness, if you gather much manna, you will have nothing over; while blessed be God, if you gather little you shall have no lack. You shall have daily grace for daily trials.

For meditation: The Christian does not need to go looking for problems—they are as fundamental to the Christian faith as any major doctrine (Acts 14:22); but the Christian receives from God the ability to endure (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Sermon no. 290

18 December (1859)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Bearing with an Exhortation

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John MacArthur

“I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation” (Heb. 13:22).

Hell is undoubtedly full of people who did not actively oppose Jesus Christ, but simply drifted into damnation by neglecting to respond to the gospel. These are the kinds of people the writer challenges in Hebrews 2:1-4. They were aware of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, but weren’t willing to commit their lives to Him. As a result, they were drifting past the call of God into eternal disaster.

The Word of God always demands a response. Any effective teacher of it must do more than just dispense facts; he must warn, exhort, and extend an invitation. He may have impressive knowledge of the truth, but if he doesn’t have a passionate concern for how people react to it, he is not a worthy representative of Jesus Christ.

Jesus had that kind of compassion. Despite the rejection of His own people, He ached for their salvation: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen ushers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matt. 23:37). You can feel His heart go out to the people.

Paul had similar compassion: “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of My brethren, my kinsman according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:2-3). A true teacher is interested in more than just academics; he is concerned that people respond rightly to what is taught.

Just as the writer of Hebrews had to warn and exhort his readers, at times it becomes necessary for us to warn those we are witnessing to. If you want to see unbelieving friends, relatives, or associates come to Christ, warn them. Let them see the passion in your heart and your love for them. Please don’t allow anyone to slip into eternal destruction without being warned sufficiently.

Suggestion for Prayer:

Ask God to give you wisdom regarding when to warn the people you are witnessing to.

For Further Study:

Read Hebrews 3:7–4:13, 6:4-8, 10:26-31, and 12:25-29 noting the pattern the writer followed in presenting these other warnings.

 

 

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He is Faithful

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“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)” (Hebrews 10:23, KJV).

When we share our faith with others – hopefully a natural part of our daily walk, though we need not “preach a sermon” to share – we can remain steadfast in that profession of our faith, not wavering as we consider all He has done for us.

Why is that possible?

Simply this: He is faithful that promised.

The writer of Hebrews, presumably the apostle Paul, knew that the believers had been suffering persecution and there might be a tendency or temptation to become weak in their faith. Even serious doubts might have crept in. So Paul is seeking to guard against any kind of apostasy.

He wants to be sure the people are not shaken by their trials or by the arguments of their enemies. So he exhorts them in unmistakable terms.

Paul’s reasoning to the people about faithfulness was this: Since God is so faithful to us, His children, we ought to be faithful to Him. Further, the fact that He is faithful should be an encouragement to us. We are dependant upon Him for grace to hold fast the profession of our faith.

All that God has promised, He will perform. He is faithful.

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will state in positive, confident terms what God has done for me, knowing that He is the faithful One who will do all He has promised. With this assurance, I can draw open His faithfulness to live supernaturally.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Adore Him

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“Sing choirs of angels / Sing in exaltation / Sing all ye citizens of Heaven above / Glory to God, glory in the highest / O come, let us adore Him.” It’s easy to sing this beloved Christmas carol and miss the awesomeness of it. A whole, thick book can be written about angels, as evangelist Billy Graham demonstrated.

When he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God‘s angels worship him.”

Hebrews 1:6

Angels are amazing: supernatural, fearless and strong. When humans encounter these holy beings, they fall trembling before them, yet angels worship Jesus – who was both human and God. The entirety of Hebrews 1 points out Christ’s deity. The Heavenly Father gave this divine gift in human packaging that people might believe and receive eternal life.

Worship Him, as the angels do, and thank the Savior for leaving the glory of Heaven to express God to all people. And pray the nation’s leaders and citizens alike will receive revelation of who Jesus is…like Peter did, “Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:16-17)

Recommended Reading: Matthew 16:13-20

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Joseph, the Unsung Hero

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Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. —Luke 1:26–27

To me, Joseph is the unsung hero of the Christmas story. Very little is said about him, but he was a righteous man.

Luke’s Gospel tells us that Mary was “betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph” (1:27). This arrangement was a little different than engagements of today. According to the rabbinical writings, there were two stages in a Hebrew marriage. The first, known as the betrothal period, was as legally binding as marriage. If at any time during this phase of marriage either person violated their vows, a formal divorce was required to nullify the marriage. Mary and Joseph were legally married, and during the approximate twelve-month period of their betrothal, they had no physical relationship and lived in separate houses. The second stage was the wedding ceremony, which lasted for seven days.

It was in the first stage of their betrothal that Mary became pregnant with the Son of God. Joseph could have divorced her because of this. His heart must have been broken, but he didn’t want to make a spectacle out of Mary. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).

Joseph knew that he would be thought of as the husband of the woman who had broken her vow. And indeed Mary went through life with that reputation. The Pharisees once said to Jesus, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God” (John 8:41). In other words, “You were conceived out of wedlock, Jesus.”

Joseph was willing to endure all of that. He loved Mary. He obeyed God. And both of them agreed to God’s plan.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Jesus is the Gift

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Max Lucado

Little Carol with the pigtails, freckles, and shiny back shoes. Don’t let her sweet appearance fool you.  She broke my heart!  On the day of the great gift exchange in my fourth-grade class, I ripped the wrapping paper off the box to find—stationery! Brown envelopes and folded note cards with a picture of a cowboy lassoing a horse.  What ten-year-old boy uses stationery?  There’s a term for this kind of gift:  obligatory!

I know we shouldn’t complain, but don’t you detect a lack of originality? And when a person gives a genuine gift, don’t you cherish the presence of a gift just for you?  Have you ever received such a gift?  Yes, you have.  You’ve been given a perfect personal gift.  One just for you. God says to anyone who’ll listen:  ”There has been born for you…a Savior….” Jesus is the gift!

“There has been born for you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11”

From GRACE

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – The God Who Reveals Himself

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Charles Stanley

Hebrews 1:1-4

People have all kinds of distorted impressions of God. As a result, their view of life is awry—for example, they may think life is just a matter of fate. But the Lord of the universe leaves nothing to chance.

Because God wants us to approach life correctly, His Word gives us a clear picture of what He is like. One way He reveals Himself is through the material world. The Bible says that the heavens “declare the glory of God” and “pour forth speech” about the Author of creation (Ps. 19:1-2 niv). They are telling of His strength and magnificence. Likewise, the wind, waves, and natural disasters show forth the power of our awesome God. And in a similar way, all the cycles of nature, with their vivid colors and changing patterns, tell of our Maker’s creative genius.

Another way God chooses to reveal Himself is through man’s conscience. Even people who have never heard of God’s laws instinctively know what is right and what is wrong (Rom. 2:11-15). There are atheists who would never lie, steal, or kill. This standard comes from God, who has impressed a moral sense on every person’s conscience.

Many people obey their conscience yet fail to believe in God or recognize that they are accountable to Him. The fact is that unbelief doesn’t cancel your accountability to the Lord. The evidence for His existence is undeniable, but He will not force anyone to believe. Everybody has a choice to make: Will I worship a god of my own creation, or will I worship the One who created me?

 

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – He Never Ceases to Remember

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Alistair Begg

I remember the devotion of your youth.

Jeremiah 2:2

Let us note that Christ delights to think upon His Church and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returns often to its nest, and as the traveler hurries to his home, so the mind continually pursues the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon the face we love; we continually desire to have what is precious to us.

This is also true with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity He has been “delighting in the children of man.”1 His thoughts rolled onward to the time when His elect would be born into the world; He viewed them in the mirror of His foreknowledge. “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Ps. 139:16). When the world was set upon its pillars, He was there, and He set the boundaries of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Many a time before His incarnation, He descended to this lower earth in the similitude of a man-on the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18), by the brook of Jabbok (Gen. 32:24-30), beneath the walls of Jericho (Josh. 5:13), and in the fiery furnace of Babylon (Dan. 3:19, 25).

The Son of Man visited His people. Because His soul delighted in them, He could not stay away from them, for His heart longed for them. They were never absent from His heart, for He had written their names upon His hands and had graven them upon His side.

As the breastplate containing the names of the tribes of Israel was the most brilliant ornament worn by the high priest, so the names of Christ’s elect were His most precious jewels and glittered on His heart. We may often forget to meditate upon the perfections of our Lord, but He never ceases to remember us. Let us chide ourselves for past forgetfulness, and pray for grace that we might constantly and fondly remember Him. Lord, paint upon the eyeballs of my soul the image of Your Son.

1 Proverbs 8:31

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – A blow at self-righteousness

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“If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me; if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.” Job 9:20

Suggested Further Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Let me just utter a solemn sentence which you may consider at your leisure. If you trust to your faith and to your repentance, you will be as much lost as if you trusted to your good works or trusted to your sins. The ground of your salvation is not faith, but Christ; it is not repentance, but Christ. If I trust my trust of Christ, I am lost. My business is to trust Christ; to rest on him; to depend, not on what the Spirit has done in me, but on what Christ did for me, when he hung upon the tree. Now be it known unto you, that when Christ died, he took the sins of all his people upon his head, and there and then they all ceased to be. At the moment when Christ died, the sins of all his redeemed were blotted out. He did then suffer all that they ought to have suffered; he paid all their debts; and their sins were actually and positively lifted that day from their shoulders to his shoulders, for “the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And now, if you believe in Jesus, there is not a sin remaining upon you, for your sin was laid on Christ; Christ was punished for your sins before they were committed, and as Kent says:

“Here’s pardon full for sin that’s past,

It matters not how black their cast;

And oh! my soul with wonder view,

For sins to come here’s pardon too.”

Blessed privilege of the believer! But if you live and die unbelievers, know this, that all your sins lie on your own shoulders.

For meditation: To boast of the sincerest faith and the most thoroughgoing repentance is to exhibit the most sophisticated form of self-righteousness. Repentance and faith are both gifts from God so that sinners can receive his greatest gift, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12).

Sermon no. 350

17 December (Preached 16 December 1860)