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Friday, December 31, 2021
Yesterday / Oswald Chambers
A Living Hope / Charles Stanley
A Living Hope
Believers are born into a living hope. However, people who are without Christ have no foundation for their expectations and desires. Many live with a false sense of security. They assume that what is important in this life is the physical and material. But there is no safety in things (1 Tim. 6:9). Those who pursue wealth and health rather than God find that their dreams either go unfulfilled or fail to satisfy.
Believers anchor their hope in the solid rock of Jesus Christ. His words are always true and His promises always kept. I'll sometimes hear a person project his or her unfulfilled desires on God and then argue that He came up short. But Christians who make a request and submit to God's will always get an answer—yes, no, or wait.
The Lord does not disappoint those who seek His will. Don't misunderstand that statement. We might feel temporarily let down when something we hope for is not in God's plan. But He doesn't go back on the biblical promise to give His children the best (Isa. 48:17; 64:4). When one door closes, there is another about to open with something better behind it. Friends, the Lord cannot be outdone. We can't even wish ourselves as much good as God has in store.
The best choice a Christian can make is to fix his or her hope on the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome whatever fits His will for your life, and turn away from all that does not. Circumstances may shift and change, but Jesus never does. He is a living hope who never disappoints.
Do You Need Another Chance? / Adrian Rogers
Do You Need Another Chance?
Therefore, He says, “Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:14-16
We stand on the threshold of a new year. And if you’re like I am, you make resolutions that go in one year and out the other.
We determine we’re going to do this or that or not do this or that. And then at the end of the year, we look back and see we’ve failed to some degree to keep our resolution(s).
But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t resolve again, by the grace of God, because I have wonderful, wonderful news for you. The God we serve is the God of grace, the God of forgiveness, and the God of beginning again. Don’t forget it. He’s the God of a new start. He’s the God of the second chance.
God’s two great gifts to you are: number one, Jesus, and number two, TIME. God has given you time to work, time to serve, time to love, time to laugh, time to labor. But like any gift, how you use it is really up to you. See this day and every day as a gift from God.
Wonder of Wonders / Alistair Begg
Wonder of Wonders
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.'
John 7:37
Patience had her perfect work in the Lord Jesus, and until the last day of the feast He pleaded with the Jews, even as on this last day of the year He pleads with us and waits to be gracious to us. The long-suffering of the Savior is truly admirable as He bears with some of us year after year despite our insults, rebellions, and resistance to His Holy Spirit. Wonder of wonders that we are still in the land of mercy!
Mercy expressed herself most plainly, for Jesus “cried,” which implies not only the loudness of His voice, but the tenderness of His tones. He entreats us to be reconciled. “God making his appeal through us,” says the apostle, “we implore you on behalf of Christ . . .” What earnest, pathetic terms are these! How deep the Father’s love that causes Him to weep over sinners and, like a mother, to tenderly call His children to Himself! Surely at the sound of such a cry our willing hearts will come.
Provision is made most generously: Everything that man needs to quench his soul’s thirst is available. To his conscience the Atonement brings peace; to his understanding the Gospel brings the richest instruction; to his heart the person of Jesus is the noblest object of affection; to the whole man the truth as it is in Jesus supplies the purest nourishment. Thirst is terrible, but Jesus can remove it. Even if the soul were utterly famished, Jesus can restore it.
Proclamation is made most freely, that every thirsty one is welcome. No other distinction is made but that of thirst. Whether it be the thirst of greed, ambition, pleasure, knowledge, or rest, he who suffers from it is invited. The thirst may be bad in itself, and not be a sign of grace, but a mark of inordinate sin that longs to satisfy itself with deeper lust; but it is not goodness in the creature that brings him the invitation—the Lord Jesus sends it freely and without respect of persons.
Personality is declared most fully. The sinner must come to Jesus—not to works, ordinances, or doctrines but to a personal Redeemer who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. The bleeding, dying, rising Savior is the only ray of hope to a sinner. Oh, for grace to come now and drink, before the sun sets upon the year’s last day!
No waiting or preparation is even hinted at. Drinking represents a reception that has no special requirements. A fool, a thief, a harlot can drink; our sinfulness is no barrier to the invitation to believe in Jesus. We need no golden cup, no fine china, in which to convey the water to the thirsty; the mouth of poverty is welcome to stoop down and drink of the life-giving stream. Blistered, leprous, filthy lips may touch the stream of divine love; they cannot pollute it but will themselves be purified. Jesus is the fount of hope. Dear reader, listen to the dear Redeemer’s loving voice as He cries to each of us, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
One Day Closer to Christmas / ODB
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Finishing Well / David Jeremiah
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December 31 / NKJV 365
The eternal Son of God, Jesus, actually became a baby. God became an embryo. The deity in diapers! Once Jesus arrived on earth, He went through a learning process, just like anybody else. Luke tells us that, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature.” (Luke 2:52). Some hear this and say, “Hold on! If you are God, then you’re omniscient, which means you know all things. So how can you learn anything?” That’s a valid question. And here’s the biblical answer: Jesus continued to possess His divine attributes without choosing to use them. In the words of Scripture, He “emptied” Himself and “humbled” Himself. But self-emptying is not self-extinction. In coming to earth He did not lay aside His deity — that was impossible — but rather the privileges of deity. He emptied Himself, not of His essential being or character, but of His right to draw upon the staggering privileges of His deity.
Taken from Start! The Bible for New Believers
“And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Luke 2:52
Why We Have the Bible / Billy Graham
Why We Have the Bible
God caused the Bible to be written for the express purpose of revealing to us God’s plan for His redemption. God caused the Book to be written that He might make His everlasting laws clear to His children, and that they might have His great wisdom to guide them, and His great love to comfort them as they make their way through life. For without the Bible this world would indeed be a dark and frightening place, without signpost or beacon. The Bible easily qualifies as the only book in which God’s revelation is contained.
There are many bibles of different religions; there is the Mohammedan Koran, the Buddhist Canon of Sacred Scripture, the Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta, and the Brahman Veda . . . They all begin with some flashes of true light, and end in utter darkness. Even the most casual observer soon discovers that the Bible is radically different. It is the only Book that offers redemption to us and points the way out of our dilemma.
Daily Prayer
Lord Jesus, as I read Your Word, Your truth shines through and illuminates a dark world.
“but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
John 20:31
December 31 / Wisdom from the Psalms
How to Avoid Playing the Blame Game / Senior Living
How to Avoid Playing the Blame Game
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” - Matthew 7:3-5
There was once a manager of a minor league baseball team who was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun—until it bounced off his forehead.
The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between his hands and smacked his eye. Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted, “You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!”
It’s easy for some people to blame others when things aren’t going their way, isn’t it? They try and try to figure out just what someone else did wrong to put them in their predicament, all the while the real blame should be put on themselves.
In the Christian life, God wants you to take responsibility for your own actions. It’s easy to look at others and find faults with them. But remember that every time you point a finger, you have three more pointing right back at you. So examine yourself before you blame others. Be quick to confess when you might be in the wrong. A humble heart is the key to maintaining good, godly relationships with others.
Prayer Challenge:
Ask God to show you areas where you’ve been too judgmental toward others. If you need to, confess how you’ve unfairly blamed them, and accept responsibility when it’s yours.
The Redemptive Value of New Year's Resolutions by Mike Pohlman
The Redemptive Value of New Year's Resolutions
by Mike Pohlman
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. -- Philippians 3:13-14
Thinking about New Years and what resolutions I want to make this year. I, for one, see God's grace in the close of one year and the dawn of another. This yearly cycle gives us the opportunity to take inventory of where we stand in relation to our Creator; are we seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33)? The New Year can be a time for "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead," to recommit ourselves to "setting our minds on things above" (Colossians 3:1-4).
To help me in this endeavor I've enlisted Steven Lawson and his fine book on Jonathan Edwards: The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards, of course, is probably best known for his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” But there is far more to appreciate about this eighteenth-century pastor. Benjamin Warfield referred to Edwards as a “figure of real greatness in the intellectual life of colonial America.” And Edwards scholar George Marsden considers him “the most acute American philosopher.” But perhaps the Englishman Martyn Lloyd-Jones said it best: “I am tempted, perhaps foolish, to compare the Puritans to the Alps, Luther and Calvin to the Himalayas, and Jonathan Edwards to Mount Everest! He has always seemed to me the man most like the Apostle Paul.”
Lawson's aim with his book is "to challenge a new generation of believers to pursue holiness in their daily lives" by focusing on Edwards' seventy "Resolutions" (Amazingly, Edwards wrote these resolutions in 1722 and 1723 when he was just eighteen and nineteen-years-old).
Lawson chose to focus on Edwards' "Resolutions" given how well they demonstrate the towering virtue of his life, namely, his piety. "In short, though Edwards was intellectually brilliant and theologically commanding, his true greatness lay in his indefatigable zeal for the glory of God."
Consider Resolution #1:
Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and the most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.
Edwards was resolved, regardless of the difficulty, to live for the glory of God, his own pleasure (in God) and the good of mankind generally. Profound and convicting.
Now, notice what this puritan - this relic of centuries ago - says in Resolution #2:
Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.
We don’t usually associate Jonathan Edwards with “innovation” or “cutting edge thinking.” And yet, here he is resolved to continually dream up ways to advance the glory of God.
I want to do that this year. I want to be resolved to live for the glory of God, to find my pleasure in Him and the good of mankind generally. And I want to do this with a determined, vigorous and biblically-wise analysis of ways I can do it better.
Intersecting Faith & Life: What new ways can you think of to advance the glory of God, your pleasure in Him and the good of mankind? And don’t just think innovation. Perhaps what is "old" should become new again.
Further Reading
The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards (Steven Lawson)
Pivotal Moments / Greg Laurie
Pivotal Moments
“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:24-25 NKJV).
Hebrews 11, what we call the Heroes Hall of Faith, tells us about the faith of great men and women of God who made a huge difference because of the stand they took. This includes Moses, who, through his godliness and personal integrity, effectively kept two-and-a-half million people from turning to full-tilt idolatry.
What a difference his life made.
Moses made important decisions at the beginning of his life. Here’s what Hebrews 11 says about him: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (verses 24-26 NKJV).
Moses ended up in Pharaoh’s palace because Pharaoh had given the decree that all the Hebrew baby boys should be put to death. But Moses’s mother saved his life by putting him into a little basket and placing it in the Nile River. As though on cue, baby Moses let out a cry, and Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses, took him into her home, and raised him as her own son.
Moses effectively was the prince of Egypt, and potentially he could have been the next pharaoh. But Moses made a principled stand in his life.
We all come to forks in the road that will lead to another fork in the road and then to another. These pivotal moments in our lives can make all the difference as to how we end up.
Know this: The evening of your life is determined by the morning of your life. The end of your life is determined by the beginning. How important it is to make the right decisions.
Big Talk / Chuck Swindoll
Big Talk
Solomon and the wise men of Israel identified six characteristics of a sluggard. Our responsibility is to identify these faulty traits, examine ourselves to see if they have taken root in us, and then counter them with specific behaviors that teach us how to be diligent and faithful in our responsibilities. According to the book of Proverbs,
- The sluggard is restless: He (or she) may have desires, but the trouble comes in implementing them.
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
But the soul of the diligent is made fat. (13:4)The desire of the sluggard puts him to death,
For his hands refuse to work;
All day long he is craving,
While the righteous gives and does not hold back. (21:25–26)
It is not uncommon for lazy people to be extremely skilled and very creative individuals who possess great potential. They can talk and dream and even sketch out the game plan, but they lack the discipline to pursue their vision. As we just read, their “craving” goes on “all day long,” but little gets accomplished. When pressed for an explanation, their excuses bear witness to their creativity as well as to their unwillingness to apply themselves.
In my observation of people over the years, this kind of laziness results from one of three possible faults:
Lack of Confidence
A profound sense of doubt in one’s own capabilities can be coupled with a fear of exposing this incompetence. In truth, everyone lacks to some degree the confidence to attempt something new or untried. We all take on new challenges wondering if we have what it takes to see the job through to the end. Those who do not want to become sluggards choose to forge ahead with the expectation that, as they try, fail, assess, and grow, they will develop the skills necessary to succeed.
Lack of Skill
Sluggards won’t apply themselves without complete assurance at the beginning that they will not fail. If they lack the necessary skills, they console themselves with pipe dreams and petty assurances they could have succeeded “if only.” Those who do not want to become sluggards recognize their own lack of qualifications, but they decide to acquire the skills they need to accomplish their goals.
Lack of Desire
Sluggards are complacent people—and don’t mistake contentment for complacency. Unlike people who are content with what they have, sluggards feel entitled to greater wealth and more possessions, but they remain unwilling to do what is necessary to acquire them. People who are content feel gratified by what they accomplish regardless of the material reward. Sluggards want the rewards of hard work without putting forth the effort.
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again. (26:15)
To avoid the sluggard’s sense of entitlement, pursue worthy goals without regard for wealth or possessions. Invest yourself in something meaningful and derive satisfaction from accomplishments that honor God.
December 31 / Daily Blessings
Daily Blessings
Hitherto / Streams
Hitherto
December 31 / C.S. Lewis
The thing you long for summons you away from the self. Even the desire for the thing lives only if you abandon it. This is the ultimate law—the seed dies to live, the bread must be cast upon the waters, he that loses his soul will save it. But the life of the seed, the finding of the bread, the recovery of the soul, are as real as the preliminary sacrifice. Hence it is truly said of heaven ‘in heaven there is no ownership. If any there took upon him to call anything his own, he would straightway be thrust out into hell and become an evil spirit.’ But it is also said ‘To him that overcometh I will give a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it’ [Revelation 2:17]. What can be more a man’s own than this new name which even in eternity remains a secret between God and him? And what shall we take this secrecy to mean? Surely, that each of the redeemed shall forever know and praise some one aspect of the Divine beauty better than any other creature can. Why else were individuals created, but that God, loving all infinitely, should love each differently? And this difference, so far from impairing, floods with meaning the love of all blessed creatures for one another, the communion of the saints. If all experienced God in the same way and returned Him an identical worship, the song of the Church triumphant would have no symphony, it would be like an orchestra in which all the instruments played the same note.
The Problem of Pain. Copyright © 1940, C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Copyright restored © 1996 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. A Year With C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works. Copyright © 2003 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
God’s Good Plan / Max Lucado
God’s Good Plan
Click below to listen to today's devotional
Satan’s scheme to kill the Son of God was defeated on the cross he designed for Christ. Had Satan known that the death of the Messiah would mean death for him and life for us, he never would have crucified the King. He never saw it coming. And so that we would never forget, Jesus gave us our own celebration: “He took the bread, he gave thanks and he broke it, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you;’ …He also took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’” (Luke 22:19-20).
A broken body? Spilled blood? Can good come from this? Communion says, “Yes.” You have a good God, who has a good plan, and that plan is revealed in his good book. Today’s confusion and crisis will be tomorrow’s conquest.
Thursday, December 30, 2021
“And Every Virtue We Possess” / Oswald Chambers
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