Tag Archives: theology

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Paradogs

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Read: Psalm 143:7-12

Bible in a Year: Hosea 5-8; Revelation 2

In You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk. —Psalm 143:8

I am amazed by the story of the World War II paradogs. In preparing for D-Day (June 6, 1944), the Allied troops needed the sharp senses of dogs to sniff their way through minefields and to warn troops of approaching danger. And the only way to get these dogs to troops behind enemy lines was by parachute. But dogs are instinctively afraid of doing this—and let’s be honest, they are not alone. Yet after weeks of training, the dogs learned to trust their masters enough to jump at their command.

I wonder if any of us trust our Master enough to do challenging things we would never instinctively do or things that might make us fearful. We may not be instinctively generous or forgiving or patient with those who annoy us. Yet Jesus commands us to trust Him enough to do things that may be difficult but that will advance His kingdom. To say, “In You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk” (Ps. 143:8 nkjv).

Paradogs often received medals for their bravery. I believe we too will someday hear “well done” because we have trusted our Master enough to jump when He said, “Go!” —Joe Stowell

Is God asking you to do something that you are afraid to do? Will you trust Him to lead you and walk with you?

Trust Jesus to show you how you can be used by Him.

INSIGHT: Psalm 143 is the last of seven penitential psalms (Pss. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130) that express deep sorrow over sin. The authors affirm that as forgiven people they have come into God’s presence because of His mercy. Today’s psalm is a prayer for deliverance, protection, and guidance. David, pursued and in grave danger from a powerful enemy (vv. 3-4), desperately cried out to the Lord (v. 7). He likely wrote this psalm when fleeing from the murderous Saul. He prayed for God’s mercy (v. 1), rescue (v. 9), guidance (v. 10), preservation (v. 11), and deliverance (v. 12). His prayer is not based on his own merits (v. 2) but on trust in God’s mercy, faithfulness, righteousness, and unfailing love.

 

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Story Hour

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Frank Boreham’s childhood brimmed with storytelling. They called it “The Hassock Hour,” which came on Sunday evenings and commenced at their mother’s feet. Kneeling on hassocks beside her, Frank and his nine siblings heard storytelling as children that rivaled everything they heard as adults. Their favorite story was one their mother told of herself at seventeen.

She had made plans with her cousin, Kitty, to spend the afternoon at Canterbury Cathedral. Neither had been there before and they were excited about the adventure. But when the time came for their meeting, Kitty was no where to be found. Ten a.m. turned to half past eleven, and Kitty had still not arrived. “I was just about to turn away,” said Mrs. Boreham, “dejected and disgusted, when an elderly gentleman approached me.” He seemed to notice she had been waiting for someone, and proceeded to ask if she would like a tour. “I am deeply attached to the place,” the man said, “and happen to know something of its story.”

This turned out to be quite true. As they moved from point to point, the stories came alive. The man recreated in words the arrival of Augustine in the sixth century, the first archbishop of Canterbury. He described the pilgrims of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the Danes’ disfiguring attack on the noble building. Beside the shrine of Thomas Becket, the grim martyrdom of 1170 came to mind as never before. Mrs. Boreham had discovered adventure after all: “Concerning every pillar and arch, every cranny and crevice, my eloquent guide had some thrilling tale to tell.”

We often speak of the influence of story in our lives. The influence of a storyteller is equally profound, I think. This seems especially clear as the story of Christmas quickly approaches and brings with it childhood favorites, Handel’s Messiah, and traditions with origins we often sense matter deeply even if we can’t identify them. F.W. Boreham long cited his mother’s masterful storytelling as the tool God chose to most shape his own writing and imagination. Her storytelling made visible the wonders of God at work. “The Hassock Hour” brought past and future, story and faith to life for Boreham—much in the way the guided tour brought Canterbury Cathedral to life for his mother. Through the eyes of one who knew the story by heart, both learned to see.

The early church is full of similar testimonies. As Philip ran beside the chariot of the Ethiopian official, he heard a fragment of a story. The official had been in Jerusalem worshiping at the temple, and on his way home he was reading from the book of Isaiah. Hearing this, Philip asked the man if he understood what he was reading. “How can I,” he replied, “unless someone explains it to me?” and he invited Philip into the chariot. So Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the rest of the story: The one whom Isaiah foretold, the one who would be “led like a sheep to the slaughter,” was crucified in Jerusalem and resurrected to life. With this storytelling now before him, the man stopped the chariot and asked Philip immediately to baptize him: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” he said decidedly.

Storytelling is profound because we live our lives in the midst of story. Mrs. Boreham’s encounter at Canterbury invited her to live among a great history of belief and story. In that cathedral, she realized she was simply one among countless pilgrims to stand in awe before the Lord. Likewise, the Ethiopian official found himself a part of the same grand story, invited to life as it reached far beyond the words of Isaiah himself—from Eden to Nazareth to Ethiopia. The stories we tell remind us continually that life is first a story.

They also remind us that there is first a Storyteller. When at long last the cathedral tour was finished and they were heading out the great doors, Mrs. Boreham’s guide suggested they exchange cards. She thanked him sincerely for his time and courtesy and tucked the card in her pocket. On the train ride home, she pulled it out. It simply read: Charles Dickens.

Christians tell the story of Christmas, Advent tells the story of Christmas because there is a story to tell. Faith comes through hearing the story, says Paul, and the story is heard through Christ. Faith comes forth by the Spirit because the Father has assured us there is a story to hear. Faith comes, because where there is a story, there is a Storyteller. Into our small world, there is one who speaks, one who comes, one who is born, one who is among us: a Light that shines in the darkness, which even the darkest nights will not overcome.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Jesus, The Great Guarantee

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He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

1 Thessalonians 5:24

Heaven is a place where we will never sin, where our battle with the evil one will be over; there will be no tempter to ensnare our feet. There the wicked cause no trouble, and the weary are at rest. Heaven is the undefiled inheritance; it is the land of perfect holiness, and therefore of complete security.

But don’t even the saints on earth sometimes taste the joys of blissful security? The doctrine of God’s Word is that all who are in union with Christ are safe, that all the righteous shall keep to the path, that those who have committed their souls to the care of Christ will find Him to be a faithful and unchanging protector.

Sustained by such a doctrine we can enjoy security even on earth-not the high and glorious security that makes us free from every slip, but that holy security that comes from the sure promise of Jesus that none who believe in Him will ever perish but will be with Him where He is. Believer, reflect often and joyfully on the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, and honor the faithfulness of God by a holy confidence in Him.

May God bring home to you a sense of your safety in Christ Jesus! May He assure you that your name is graven on His hand and whisper in your ear the promise, “Fear not, for I am with you.”

Look upon Him, the great Guarantee of the covenant, as faithful and true and therefore bound and committed to present you, in your weakness, with all the chosen race, before the throne of God; and in such a sweet contemplation you will drink the cup of salvation and taste the fruits of paradise. You will have a foretaste of the enjoyments that ravish the souls of the saints in heaven if you can believe with unwavering faith that “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”

Family Bible Reading Plan

  • 2 Chronicles 11, 12
  • Revelation 2

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

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The Minister’s farewell

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“Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Acts 20:26-27

Suggested Further Reading: Titus 2:7-15

I have seen the young believer, just saved from sin, happy in his early Christian career, and walking humbly with his God. But evil has crept in, disguised in the mantle of truth. The finger of partial blindness was laid upon his eyes, and only one doctrine could be seen. Sovereignty was seen, but not responsibility. The minister once beloved was hated; he who had been honest to preach God’s word, was accounted as the offscouring of all things. And what became the effect? The very reverse of good and gracious. Bigotry replaced love; bitterness lived where once there had been a loveliness of character. I could point you to innumerable instances where harping upon any one particular doctrine, has driven men to excess of bigotry and bitterness. And when a man has once come there, he is ready enough for sin of any kind to which the devil may please to tempt him. There is a necessity that the whole gospel should be preached, or else the spirits, even of Christians, will become marred and maimed. I have known men diligent for Christ, labouring to win souls with both hands; and suddenly they have espoused one particular doctrine and not the whole truth and they have subsided into lethargy. On the other hand where men have only taken the practical side of truth, and left out the doctrinal, too many professors have run over into legality; have talked as if they were to be saved by works, and have almost forgotten that grace by which they were called. They are like the Galatians, they have been bewitched by what they have heard. The believer in Christ, if he is to be kept pure, simple, holy, charitable, Christ-like, is only to be kept so by a preaching of the whole truth as it is in Jesus.

For meditation: Doctrine should lead to practice; practice should spring from doctrine (Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1). Do you seek to hear and apply the whole counsel of God in your life (James 1:22)?

note: This was Spurgeon’s farewell sermon at the Royal Surrey Gardens Music Hall.

Sermon no. 289

11 December (1859)

 

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Christ Is Superior to Angels

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“Having become . . . much better than the angels” (Heb. 1:4).

Through a deft use of the Old Testament, the writer proves that Christ is the mediator of a greater covenant.

Man is a wonderful and amazing creation—higher than plants, animals, and any other material creation in this world. But there are created beings even higher than man—angels.

Hebrews 2:9 shows this to be the case because when Jesus became a man, He was “made for a little while lower than the angels.” After the fall of the rebellious angels under Lucifer, the angels in heaven were no longer subject to sin. These angels are holy, powerful, and wise. They are special beings created by God before He created man.

The Jewish people understood the exalted position of angels because they knew that the Old Covenant was brought to men and maintained by angelic mediation. Galatians 3:19 says, “Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made.”

Because of this high regard for angels by his readers, the writer of Hebrews was faced with a problem. If he was to show that Christ was the mediator of a better covenant, he would have to prove that Christ is better than angels. To do so, he used seven Old Testament passages to verify his claim.

If he had tried to prove from Christian writings that Christ is a better mediator, his unbelieving Jewish readers would have said, “We don’t accept these writings as being from God.” So in effect he wisely replies, “Open up your own Scriptures and I’ll prove my claim from them.” It results in a powerful and irresistible argument.

For the next several days, we’ll see in what ways Christ is superior to angels and how He could mediate a better covenant for us.

Suggestion for Prayer

Because much of our understanding of the New Testament is based on the writings of the Old Testament, thank God for how He has brought His complete Word to us intact throughout the centuries.

For Further Study

Read Galatians 3:8, Romans 9:15, and Matthew 4:4.

  • What Old Testament verses to those passages quote?
  • What truth does each of them verify?
Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Set Your Mind Ahead of Time

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If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. —Colossians 3:1-2

Colossians 3:2 tells us to set our minds and keep them set. To “set your mind” means you make a firm decision about how to handle a situation and you keep your mind set in that direction. It means to be single-minded, not double-minded. We can prepare ourselves to handle a difficult situation properly by setting our minds ahead of time—telling ourselves no matter what comes, we can do it. If you’re in a less than desirable situation, but you know it is where God wants you to be, don’t drift off into thinking that can weaken you. Instead, think, I am strong in Christ, and I can do whatever He leads me to do.

Power Thought: I set my mind and keep it set for victory.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Teach You Much

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“But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of Me – and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit – He will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you” (John 14:26).

Some years ago, at one of our week-long Lay Institutes for Evangelism, attended by more than 4,000 trainees, I gave a message on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Afterward, a missionary who had just retired after 20 years of service in Africa came to see me. He was very excited as he came to share how, during that meeting, he had finally found what he had sought throughout his entire Christian life.

“Today, as you spoke,” he said, “I was filled with the Spirit. For 20 years I have tried to serve God on the mission field, but I have served Him in the energy of the flesh and have had very little results. Now, though I have retired and returned to America, I want to go back to Africa.

“This time, I want to concentrate on working just with missionaries, because I know from experience that many of them are still searching for what I have sought all these years. The most important message I can take to them is how they can be filled with the Holy Spirit by faith.

“I want to teach them what you taught me so that they, in turn, will be able to teach the Africans how they too can be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Dr. J. Edwin Orr, a leading authority on spiritual revival, describes the Holy Spirit as “the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Christ. He is the Lord of the harvest, supreme in revival, evangelism and missionary endeavor.”

“Without His consent, plans are bound to fail. It behooves us as Christians to fit our tactical operations into the plan of His strategy, which is the reviving of the church and the evangelization of the world.”

Bible Reading: John 14:13-17

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will look to God’s indwelling Holy Spirit for the spiritual lessons I need to learn today and claim His power to serve the Lord Jesus Christ supernaturally.

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Love Gifts

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When people celebrate Christmas every year, it’s easy to fall into the trap of buying gifts out of obligation. You might think you have to buy someone a present because they bought you one, or they’re a relative, or you bought something for someone at work, so you need to buy gifts for all of your coworkers. When you feel pressured to give beyond what you are able at Christmas, it’s easy to feel disgruntled.

There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Acts 4:12

Think about the greatest gift of all. Jesus. Salvation. Eternal life. “For God so loved the world he gave His Son.” He didn’t do it out of obligation or because He wanted to make a good impression. He did it out of love.

This Christmas, determine to give out of love. Pray about the gifts you purchase. What would make the person on your list feel loved? Pray that this nation will focus on God and people, not things. Intercede, too, for protection for all of the shoppers, and that the needs of those going through difficult times will be supplied.

Recommended Reading: I Corinthians 13:1-7

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Conflict of Christmas

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“Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other!”—Luke 12:51

This may come as a shock to you, but the real Christmas story is not about love, peace, harmony, and gathering with family around a crackling fire. The real Christmas story is actually about conflict. It always has been, and it always will be.

One of the unexpected passages in the Bible that deals with the subject of Christmas is found in Revelation 12, where we have the picture of a woman being pursued by a powerful dragon who seeks her death. As she is preparing to give birth to a child, the dragon hovers over her, wanting to destroy the baby. The woman is a picture of Israel, the child is Jesus Christ, and the dragon is Satan.

That is Christmas from a heavenly perspective, and it gives us the big picture of what was really happening when God sent His Son into the world. The Devil opposed it and wanted to stop His birth. And really, you can take that story and see how it is still in play today.

Hostility toward Christmas seems to escalate a little more every year. More nativity scenes are being removed from public places, Christmas carols have been prohibited in many places, and atheists have put up billboards attacking the Christian faith. What’s more, many today don’t even want the word Christmas used. These are all symptomatic of the conflict of Christmas.

Jesus did not come to bring a mind-numbing peace on Earth that is devoid of truth. The message to the shepherds on the night Christ was born was, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased” (Luke 2:14).

What does that mean? It means the only way we will have peace on Earth is when we are pleasing to God.

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – Pray!

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When a believing person prays—great things happen! You might say, I worry so much about how I should pray—I don’t get around to actually praying!  Exactly!

If you want to deepen your prayer life—pray! Don’t prepare to pray. Just pray. Don’t read about prayer. Just pray. Don’t attend a lecture on prayer or engage in discussion about prayer. Just pray! James 5:13 says anyone who’s having troubles should pray. Anyone who’s happy should sing praises! Posture, tone, and place–these are personal matters. Do what works for you. Just don’t over-think it! In other words, don’t be so concerned about wrapping the gift that you never give it! Better to pray awkwardly than not at all. And if you feel you should only pray when you’re inspired, that’s okay! Just see to it that you’re inspired every day!

From Grace for the Moment

Night Light - James & Shirley Dobson

Night Light for Couples –The Girl with the Apple

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by Herman and Roma Rosenblat

It is bitter cold on this dark, winter day in 1944. But it is no different than any other day in the Nazi concentration camp. Back and forth I pace, trying to keep my emaciated body warm. I am just a boy, and hungry. I have been hungry for longer than I want to remember. Edible food seems like a dream. Each day, as more of us disappear, the happy past seems also like a dream, and I sink deeper into despair.

Suddenly, I see something moving in the field beyond the camp’s two barbed wire fences. Families are working in the field; near the outer fence is a young girl. With an eye out for the guards, I hurry to the inside fence.

The girl stops working and looks at me with sad eyes—eyes that seem to say she understands. I ask, across twenty feet and two fences, if she has something to eat. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a red apple. A beautiful, shiny red apple. She looks to the left and to the right and then with a smile of triumph, throws the apple over the fences. I pick it up, holding it in trembling, frozen fingers, then run away as fast as I can. If the guards see us, we will both be shot.

The next day, I cannot help myself—I am drawn at the same time to that spot near the fences. Am I crazy for hoping she will come again? Of course. But in here, I cling to any tiny scrap of hope.

She comes. And again, she brings an apple, flinging it over the fences with that same sweet smile. This time I catch it and hold it up for her to see. Her eyes twinkle. And for the first time in so long, I feel my heart move with emotion.

For seven months we meet like this. Sometimes we exchange a few words. Sometimes, just an apple. But she is feeding more than my belly, this angel from heaven. She is feeding my soul. And somehow, I know I am feeding hers as well.

One day I hear frightening news: We are being shipped to another camp. The next day when I greet her, my heart is breaking. I can barely speak. “Do not bring me an apple tomorrow,” I say. “I am being sent to another camp. We will never see each other again.” Turning before I lose all control, I run away. I cannot bear to look back. If I did, I know she would see tears streaming down my face.

Months pass, and the nightmare continues. Only the memory of this girl sustains me. And then one day, just like that, the nightmare is over. The war has ended. Those of us still alive are freed. I have lost everything precious to me, including my family. But I still have the memory of this girl, a memory I carry in my heart as I move to America to start a new life.

The years go by. It is 1957. I live in New York City. A friend convinces me to go on a blind date with a lady friend of his. Reluctantly, I agree. But she is nice, this woman named Roma. And like me, she is an immigrant, so we have at least that in common.

“Where were you during the war?” Roma asks me gently, in that delicate way immigrants ask one another such questions.

“I was in a concentration camp in Germany,” I reply. Roma gets a faraway look in her eyes. “What is it?” I ask. “I am just thinking about something from my past, Herman,”

Roma explains in a voice suddenly very soft. “You see, when I was a young girl, I lived near a concentration camp. There was a boy there, a prisoner, and for a long while, I used to visit him every day. I remember I used to bring him apples. I would throw the apple over the fence, and he would be so happy.”

Roma sighs heavily and continues. “It is hard to describe how we felt about each other—after all, we were so young, and we only exchanged a few words when we could—but I can tell you, there was much love there. I assume he was killed like so many others. But I cannot bear to think that, and so I try to remember him as he was for those months we were given together.”

With my heart pounding so hard I think it will explode, I look directly at Roma and ask, “And did that boy say to you one day, ‘Do not bring me an apple tomorrow. I am being sent to another camp’?” “Why, yes,” Roma responds, her voice trembling. “But Herman,

how on earth could you possibly know that?” I take her hands in mine and answer, “Because I was that young boy, Roma.” For many moments, there is only silence. We cannot take our eyes from each other as we recognize the soul behind the eyes, the dear friend we once loved so much, whom we have never stopped loving.

Finally, I speak: “Roma, I was separated from you once, and I don’t ever want to be separated from you again. Now I am free, and I want to be together with you forever. Dear, will you marry me?”

I see that same twinkle in her eye I used to see as Roma says, “Yes, I will marry you.” We embrace—the embrace we longed to share for so many months, but barbed wire came between us. Now, nothing ever will again.

Looking ahead…

This fictional story offers a powerful glimpse of hope in the midst of terror.

Can any of us live without hope? I think not. Without hope, we have no reason to get out of bed in the morning… no motivation to complete our daily tasks at work, home, church… no desire to take on the sometimes dizzying array of problems in our world. A life without hope is a life without meaning.

Yet as Christians, we always have hope. In Jesus Christ, we have a holy protector, friend, confidante, and guide. We have a reserved seat in heaven that promises unimaginable joy. This is what gives us the endurance, patience, and motivation to bring glory to our Creator during this imperfect existence. In the days ahead, we’ll talk more about how hope can strengthen our marriage.

John tells us, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36). Can you imagine a greater source of hope?

– James C Dobson

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

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis Daily – Today’s Reading

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In the earliest days of Christianity an ‘apostle’ was first and foremost a man who claimed to be an eyewitness of the Resurrection. Only a few days after the Crucifixion when two candidates were nominated for the vacancy created by the treachery of Judas, their qualification was that they had known Jesus personally both before and after His death and could offer first-hand evidence of the Resurrection in addressing the outer world (Acts 1:22). A few days later St Peter, preaching the first Christian sermon, makes the same claim—‘God raised Jesus, of which we all (we Christians) are witnesses’ (Acts 2:32). In the first Letter to the Corinthians, St Paul bases his claim to apostleship on the same ground—‘Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen the Lord Jesus?’ (1:9).

As this qualification suggests, to preach Christianity meant primarily to preach the Resurrection. . . . . The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences, were the ‘gospel’ or good news which the Christians brought: what we call the ‘gospels’, the narratives of Our Lord’s life and death, were composed later for the benefit of those who had already accepted the gospel. They were in no sense the basis of Christianity: they were written for those already converted. The miracle of the Resurrection, and the theology of that miracle, comes first: the biography comes later as a comment on it. . . . . The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say they have seen the Resurrection. If they had died without making anyone else believe this ‘gospel’ no gospels would ever have been written.

From Miracles

Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Experiencing God’s Goodness

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Psalms 31:19-24

When life is pleasant, we find praising God easy because His kindness is abundantly evident. However, we may have difficulty recognizing pain and trouble as an expression of His loving care as well. In difficult times, we need to trust today’s scripture, which tell us that the Lord has stored up goodness for those who take refuge in Him.

If you believe that God is good only when your circumstances are enjoyable, then you misunderstand His nature and have become numb to the expression of His benevolence toward you. Those who’ve learned to know His character and trust His ways can see evidence of His goodness in all situations.

I haven’t always felt that the Lord was being good. While I was growing up, my goal was to be obedient so that He wouldn’t do anything bad to me. The difficult and painful situations in my life hindered my understanding of His goodness. As I look back, I can now see His love and wisdom in using those trials to shape my character.

Today, when God does something I don’t like, I pour out my heart to Him. After seeking His perspective and listening to Him, I’m filled with gratitude and trust in His character. Then I’m willing to accept the Father’s wise choice for my life.

We live under the umbrella of God’s goodness. When circumstances and emotions tell you otherwise, rely on what you know. Throughout the day, look for signs of His loving care for you. As your perspective changes, you will see the signs of His goodness everywhere you turn.

Bible in One Year: Colossians 1-4

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Like Shooting a Fly

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Read: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

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

Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. —2 Corinthians 5:14

Macarena Valdes’s skill in mapping underground mines made a real difference in the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped after an explosion in October 2010. Drilling to find the exact place where the men were located was like “trying to shoot a fly from 700 meters away,” she said. With her mining experience, Valdes was able to guide the probe to where the miners were entombed, which helped bring about their dramatic rescue.

In efforts to carry out spiritual rescues, it’s easy to become discouraged. Although the apostle Paul faced even greater obstacles, he said, “We do not lose heart” (2 Cor. 4:1). Even though “the god of this age” had “blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel,” he continued to proclaim the gospel of salvation (vv. 4-5). Compelled by God, who lovingly spoke light into his own darkness (v.6), Paul knew that what God had done for him God could do for others.

You and I may have a similar story. Compelled by the love of God, we too have reason not to lose heart. As Macarena led in the rescue of the miners, the Spirit of God can carry the light of our love and words into the hearts of those who need a rescue they may not yet understand. —C. P. Hia

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to our rescue when we were lost and helpless in our sin. Help those of us who have been rescued to share the lifeline of Your love with those who are still trapped.

When you’ve been rescued, you want to rescue others.

INSIGHT: In the middle of Paul’s discussion with the Corinthian church about sharing the message of the gospel, he makes two references to creation. In verse 4 of today’s reading, Paul refers to Christ as the image of God—language that is similar to the description of the creation of humanity (Gen. 1:26). Then in verse 6, Paul refers to the creation of light (see Gen. 1:3) as similar to the effect of salvation. In both cases—the creation of light and our new redeemed life—God created something new (2 Cor. 5:17) and both are “very good” (Gen 1:31).

Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – Where Is God

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In a certain home town there lived a cobbler, Martin Avdeitch by name. He lived in a small basement room whose one window looked out onto the street, and all he could see were the feet of people passing by. But since there was hardly a pair of boots that had not been in his hands at one time for repair, Martin recognized each person by his shoes. Day after day, he would work in his shop, watching boots pass by. One day he found himself consumed with the hope of a dream that he would find the Lord’s feet outside his window. Instead, he found a lingering pair of worn boots belonging to an old soldier. Though at first disappointed, Martin realized the old man might be hungry and invited him inside to a warm fire and some tea. He had other visitors that evening, and though sadly none were Christ, he let them in also. Sitting down at the end of day, Martin heard a voice whisper his name as he read the words: “I was hungry and you gave me meat; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in. Inasmuch as you did for the least of these, you did unto me.”(1)

Every Christmas, our family reads the story of Martin the Cobbler as an aid to our celebration. Tolstoy’s words offer something of a creative attempt to capture the wonder of a God who comes near and helps us picture the gift of Christ among us in accessible terms. Notably, the story was originally titled, Where God Is, Love Is.

The Christian story that informs the Christian calendar gives its followers time and opportunity to remember the coming of Christ in a specific context—in Bethlehem, in the Nativity, in the first Christmas. But it also presents repeated opportunities and reminders to prepare for the coming of Christ again and again. Like Martin eagerly waiting at the window, the Christian worldview is one that asks of every day of every year: How will Christ come near today? Will I wait for him? Am I ready for him? Am I even expecting to find him? We are reminded to keep watch, to be prepared, and to continually ready our hearts and minds for the one who is already near. At the same time, the Christian story would also have us to remember how unexpectedly Christ at times appears—as a baby in Bethlehem, a man on a cross, as a woman in need.

In the book of Titus, we read that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people.” How and where will grace show up this week? In order to stay alert to the rich possibilities, perhaps we need to keep before us the radical thought of all that God has offered: a Christ child who comes down to us, a redeemer willing to die for us, a God willing to redefine what is near—all so that we might be where God is. Christianity is not an escape system for us to avoid reality, to live above it, or to be able to redefine it. Christianity is a way that leads the world to grasp what reality is and, by God’s grace and help, to navigate through it to our eternal home in God’s presence.

The story God has given indeed feeds the hungry, takes in the stranger, and orients the resident alien who is ever-looking homeward. The focus of Christ’s coming is the message of Immanuel—God is with us. The focus of Christ’s earthly ministry is the declaration of the cross—God is for us. And the focus of Christ’s resurrection is the promise of a future and his imminent return—God will bring us safely home. Until then, God is among us, even when it seems most unlikely.

Stuart McAllister is regional director for the Americas at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Story told in Leo Tolstoy’s, Walk in the Light While There Is Light and Twenty-three Tales (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2003).

Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg – Gazing Forever on Christ

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So we will always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:17

Even the sweetest glimpses of Christ are short-how transitory they are! One moment our eyes see Him, and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; but then the moment passes and we do not see Him, for our beloved withdraws Himself from us. Like a roe or a young hare He leaps over the mountains of division; He is gone to the land of spices and no longer feeds among the lilies.

If today He deigns to bless us

With a sense of pardoned sin,

He tomorrow may distress us,

Make us feel the plague within.

How sweet the prospect of the time when we will no longer see Him from a distance but rather face to face-when He will not be like a traveler staying only for a night but will enfold us in the bosom of His eternal glory. We will not see Him for a little while, but

Millions of years our wondering eyes,

Shall o’er our Savior’s beauties rove;

And myriad ages we’ll adore,

The wonders of His love.

In heaven we will not be interrupted by care or sins; no weeping will dim our eyes; no earthly business will distract our happy thoughts. We will have nothing to prevent us from gazing forever on the Sun of Righteousness with tireless eyes. If it is so sweet to see Him now and then, how wonderful to gaze on that blessed face forever, and without a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one’s eyes away to look on a tired and sinful world. When will this blessed day dawn? Rise, unsetting sun! If to die is to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is swallowed up in a sea of victory and is definitely gain.

Family Bible Reading Plan

  • 2 Chronicles 10
  • Revelation 1

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

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – The wailing of Risca

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“Suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.” Jeremiah 4:20

Suggested Further Reading: Luke 12:35-48

Live while you live; while it is called today, work, for the night cometh wherein no man can work. And let us learn never to do anything which we would not wish to be found doing if we were to die. We are sometimes asked by young people whether they may go to the theatre, whether they may dance, or whether they may do this or that. You may do anything which you would not be ashamed to be doing when Christ shall come. You may do anything which you would not blush to be found doing if the hand of death should smite you; but if you would dread to die in any spot, go not there; if you would not wish to enter the presence of your God with such-and-such a word upon your lip, utter not that word; or if there would be a thought that would be uncongenial to the judgment-day, seek not to think that thought. So act that you may feel you can take your shroud with you wherever you go. Happy is he that dies in his pulpit. Blessed is the man that dies in his daily business, for he is found with his loins girt about him serving his Master; but, unhappy must he be to whom death comes as an intruder, and finds him engaged in that which he will blush to have ever touched, when God shall appear in judgment. Power supreme; thou everlasting king; permit not death to intrude upon an ill-spent hour, but find me rapt in meditation high; singing my great Creator; proclaiming the love of Jesus, or lifting up my heart in prayer for myself and my fellow-sinners.

For meditation: Life contains a final moment when it will be impossible to explain away or cover up something inappropriate.

note: This sermon was occasioned by a mine explosion, in which some two hundred or so miners were killed, at Risca, near Newport in South Wales. Spurgeon had often gone to the Vale of Risca to rest and preach.

Sermon no. 349

10 December (Preached 9 December 1860)

John MacArthur

John MacArthur – The Sacrifice and Exaltation of Christ

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“When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

Jesus Christ offered one sacrifice for all the sins of mankind, then sat down with the Father once He had accomplished it.

The Bible makes it perfectly clear that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Jesus Christ went to the cross, died the death we deserved, and consequently freed us from the penalty of sin by our faith in Him.

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that Christ “does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (Heb. 7:27). In the Old Testament, the priests had to make continual sacrifices, but Jesus made only one. And not only was He the priest, but also the sacrifice! He made a tremendously potent sacrifice, for He forever purged our sins—something the Old Testament sacrifices could never do.

When His sacrifice was complete, “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3, emphasis added). That is significant because the Old Testament priests never sat down—there were no seats in the sanctuary because they offered sacrifices day in and day out. But Jesus offered one sacrifice, finished it, and then went to the Father and sat down. What the Old Testament sacrifices couldn’t accomplish Christ’s did for all time.

As a result, God exalted Him to His right hand, the seat of honor and rule and rest. But perhaps most important, it is the place where Christ intercedes to the Father on our behalf (Rom 8:34).

Don’t ever forget what Jesus accomplished for us—and what He still does for us: “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank Jesus for His sacrifice on your behalf. Also thank Him for the salvation He has given you and the access you now have to God.

For Further Study

Read Hebrews 9:1—10:18 to gain a deeper understanding of Christ’s ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament priestly system. In what specific ways did He fulfill it?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – He Is Your Strength

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God is my Strong Fortress.—2 Samuel 22:33

God wants to give you strength for every situation you face. He doesn’t only want to give you strength, though; He wants to be your strength.

Many men and women of the Bible knew God as their strength, and they are great examples to encourage us to trust in His strength too. David wrote in Psalm 18:29 that by his God he could run through a troop and leap over a wall. In 1 Kings 19:4-8, an angel of God ministered to Elijah, who was tired and depressed, and Elijah went forty days and nights in the strength he received from that one visit.

How do we receive strength from God? We receive by faith, by believing His promise to strengthen us. That faith will quicken your body, as well as your spirit and your soul. At our conferences, the Holy Spirit has strengthened with fresh determination people who felt they could not go on. His healing power came as we waited in His presence and received it from Him.

By faith you can receive strength to stay in a difficult marriage, raise a difficult child, or stick with a difficult job. You can receive strength to do great things. Don’t worry about your natural weaknesses, but remember that Christ’s strength is made perfect and shows itself most effective in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Have you been trying to push through difficulties on your own? If so, make a change right now. Start getting strength from deep within you, where the Holy Spirit dwells.

Love God Today: “Lord, I do not have much strength on my own. I receive the strength you want to give me through Your Holy Spirit. I believe I can do whatever I need to do in life through Jesus Christ.”

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – The Same Father

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“We who have been made holy by Jesus, now have the same Father He has. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers” (Hebrews 2:11).

Though you and I have been made holy by Jesus, we need to ask ourselves a question: Have we really been set apart, consecrated, devoted to God experientially?

A practical definition of the word consecration would carry the idea that you and I are willing to do anything the Lord asks us to do. Is that really the case? Are we listening closely enough to His still small voice even to know what He really wants us to do?

Once a popular TV commercial asked, “How do spell relief?” We might ask ourselves, “How do you spell commitment?” Too many of us, I’m afraid, spell it C-O-N-V-E- N-I-E-N-C-E. If it is convenient for us to share the good news of the gospel, we will do it; if it is convenient for us to go to Sunday school, church or prayer meeting, we will do it.

True commitment is a rare commodity these days – even among Bible-believing, evangelical Christians. Otherwise our churches would be full; our witnessing would be a normal daily routine; our lives would be more Christlike.

We have already been made holy, but we need to reckon on that fact – and through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, live like holy people. Meditate on this fact: We have the same Father as Jesus, and Jesus calls us His brothers. What a great honor and privilege is ours!

Bible Reading: Hebrews 10:5-14

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will count on the holiness of Christ within me to make me all that He wants and intends me to be, As a member of God’s supernatural family I shall claim God’s power to live supernaturally.