Bible in One Year: Malachi 1-4; Revelation 22
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Yesterday / Oswald Chambers
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What Does Following Christ Cost? / Chuck Swindoll
What Does Following Christ Cost?
What Does Following Christ Cost?
Can you recall Jesus's radical philosophy of being a servant to others? The basis of that statement is tucked away in His words:
He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."
(Luke 9:23)
Following Christ as His disciple is a costly, unselfish decision. It calls for a radical examination of our self-centered lifestyles. Whew! That's one of those easy things to say but tough to carry out.
Let's see if I can break this down into smaller bite-sized chunks so we don't gag on it. When you look closely at Jesus's statement, a couple of things seem important. First, those who desire to follow Him closely must come to terms with self-denial. And second, this decision to give ourselves to others (taking up our cross) has to be a dailymatter.
That's costly stuff. Terribly expensive.
If we take His words seriously, then it isn't difficult to see some questions that we must ask and answer ourselves, like:
- Am I serious about being a close follower of Jesus Christ?
- Do I think of others to such an extent that self-denial is becoming the rule rather than the exception in my life?
- Is my walk with Him a daily thing?
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.
God is Faithful to Keep His Promises / Adrian Rogers
God is Faithful to Keep His Promises
Sermon: 1387 Your Guide to the Great Unknown, Part 2
Pray Over This
“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides.”
Ponder This
While you are preparing for this coming year, keep your eyes on the Lord JesusChrist. He will not only guide you through the unknown places but also grant you unfading promises. Do you know what a covenant is? A covenant is a promise that is unfading and unfailing. The Lord Jesus Christ had the last meal with His disciples and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). He is our ark of the covenant. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Him. He will guide us through unknown places. He will grant us the unfailing promises of God. Don’t let 2,000 years keep you from a promise. The promises didn’t die with Moses or Joshua. The promises are for all saints; they are for all seasons; they are for all situations. Don’t think that somehow God blessed these people, but God won’t keep His covenant with us. If you’ll say, “My New Year’s resolution is to follow the ark, and wherever it goes, I’ll go after it,” He will guide you in the uncharted places, grant you the unfading promises, and guard you with unfailing power.
- What are some New Year’s resolutions you have considered making? What would need to change for you to commit to “follow the ark”?
- When have you been tempted to forget the promises of God?
Practice This
Write a list of your New Year’s resolutions and write down some things in your life that might change if you commit to following the ark.
Purpose in Every Step / Get Laurie
Purpose in Every Step
“So I run with purpose in every step.” (1 Corinthians 9:26 NLT)
The Christian life is not only a race that we must run well; it’s also a race that we must finish. It isn’t worth it if we lead the pack for years and then fall back in the end.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! . . . So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24, 26-27 NLT).
Although we run to win, we must not compete with each other. God gives each of us our own lane, a course to follow. We run for the sake of giving our best to the One who gave His best for us.
Paul said, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT).
Here, Paul gives us the image of a runner, perhaps in the last lap of the race. With the goal in sight and every muscle straining, the athlete is determined to cross the finish line.
Sadly, story after story in the Bible tells us about people who had enormous potential, who started well but ended miserably. Don’t let that happen to you. If you need to correct your course, do it now.
We’re about to begin a fresh year with new opportunities. Let’s seize them. Let’s wholly follow the Lord our God.
Finishing Strong / ODB
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My Favorite Things: Love Your God / David Jeremiah
My Favorite Things: Love Your God
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment.
Matthew 22:37-38
Recommended Reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-5
A study in 2016 found that 41 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, but by the end of the year only 9 percent claimed success in keeping their resolutions. Reasons for failure to keep resolutions abound: unrealistic goals, poor record-keeping, forgetfulness, and an unreasonable number of resolutions.[1]
When it comes to making New Year’s resolutions for the coming year, perhaps we should follow the counsel of the fourth-century Church father, Augustine of Hippo: “Once and for all, I give you this one short command: love, and do what you will.” That advice comes from a series of sermons Augustine preached on love as discussed in the letter of 1 John. He also expressed the corollary: “But to have love and be a bad person is impossible.” We could blend Augustine’s words with Jesus’ words and say, “Love God and do what you will.”
Consider one resolution for the coming year: Love God with all you have and are—then do what you will. That should be the first and greatest resolution we make and keep.
Love, and do what you will.
Augustine
[1] “New Year’s Resolution Statistics (2021 Updated),” Discover Happy Habits, July 21, 2022.
Wisdom from the Psalms / December 31
God looked down upon His creation and saw that it was good. In time, God's creation looked back and saw that God was good. Together they formed a unity of love and devotion. Through their covenant, all creation was brought into harmony. The Lord loves His children, and many of His children love Him back. Praise the lord with all of your being. With each breath you take, remember that the Lord is God. Nothing you do is done apart from Him. Wherever you go, God is there. He will never leave those who love Him. He gives us new years and new challenges, and he helps us to grow and learn. As we approach the new year, we can enter it confident that God goes forth with us. Praise the Lord, one and all. The Lord has been very good to His children.
Prayer: I thank You for the year just past-the challenges and the joys-and I look forward to the future, asking Your blessing upon it. Be with me, Lord, and with all my loved ones. Keep me in Your care. Shine Your light upon my path, and make me acceptable in Your sight. Amen.
The Brevity of Life / Alistair Begg
The Brevity of Life
As for man, his days are like grass:
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone …
But the steadfast love of the Lord
is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him.
Life passes us by a lot more quickly than we imagine. I vividly remember the birth of my first child—and then it seemed that he was a teenager only a few weeks later. When we were children, just the time between December 1 and December 25 stretched out for years; now the years race by ever more quickly. Suddenly, we wake up older or we hear of the death of someone who was our age, and we realize that life really is very brief. We flourish for a time, but not forever.
As we age, our physical and mental abilities fade, old friends pass away, familiar customs which have been routine disintegrate, and our long-held ambitions lose their potential or appeal. These realities, though, shouldn’t drive us into despair but rather stimulate us. Like grass, we have a limited number of days, but there is opportunity in every one of them! As the Bible scholar Derek Kidner writes, “Death has not yet reached out to us: let it rattle its chains at us and stir us into action.”[1] With the minutes that remain in our lives, we can lift up our eyes and look at the “fields”—at those who live and work around us and who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, who are not enjoying the steadfast and everlasting love of the Lord. As Jesus said, those fields are already “white for harvest” (John 4:35).
The Bible doesn’t encourage us to wait until we graduate or get married or settle down or sort ourselves out or retire before we start to serve Christ. Rather, it calls us to do so today. The wise person knows that we have limited time and that the best way to spend it is on the Lord’s errands.
So whether you are at the start of life, or feel you are in the prime of life, or are looking back at life, before the strength in your hands fails you and your teeth, eyes, and ears grow weak, will you choose to live all out for Jesus Christ? If you wait until tomorrow, tomorrow may be too late. As C.T. Studd once put it, there is…
Only one life,
’Twill soon be past.
Only what’s done
For Christ will last.
Therefore, look at your days in this life as the “grass” that they are. Spend them in awe of the God who will love you eternally—and spend them not building your own empire of sand but on the work of the only kingdom that endures forever. And pray that as you do so, the Lord will “establish the work of [your] hands” (Psalm 90:17), both today and throughout the year that tomorrow will bring.
Psalm 90
Let the Thirsty Come / Spurgeon
Let the Thirsty Come
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
Not saved! Dear reader, is this your sorry condition? Warned of the judgment to come, invited to escape for your life, and yet at this moment not saved!
You know the way of salvation, you read it in the Bible, you hear it from the pulpit, it is explained to you by friends, and still you neglect it, and therefore you are not saved. You will be without excuse when the Lord shall execute judgment. The Holy Spirit has blessed the Word that has been preached in your hearing, and times of refreshing have come from the divine presence, and yet you are still without Christ. All these hopeful seasons have come and gone—your summer and your harvest have past—and still you are not saved. Years have followed one another into eternity, and your last year will soon be here: Youth has gone, manhood is going, and still you are not saved.
Let me ask you—will you ever be saved? Is there any likelihood of it? Already the most favorable seasons have left you unsaved. Will other occasions alter your condition? Every means has failed with you—the best of means, used perseveringly and with the utmost affection. What more can be done for you? Affliction and prosperity have equally failed to impress you; tears and prayers and sermons have been wasted on your barren heart. Are not the probabilities dead against your ever being saved? Is it not more than likely that you will stay as you are till death forever bars the door of hope? Do you recoil from this idea? Yet it is a most reasonable one: He who is not washed in so many waters will in all probability go filthy to his end. The convenient time never has come—why should it ever come? It is logical to fear that it will never arrive and that like Felix you will find no convenient occasion until you are in hell. Think carefully about hell and of the dreadful probability that you will soon be there!
Reader, suppose you should die unsaved—no words can picture your doom. Write out your dreadful predicament in tears and blood; talk of it with groans and gnashing of teeth: You will be punished with everlasting destruction and banished from the glory of the Lord and from the glory of His power. Allow my words to startle you into serious thought. Be wise, be wise in time, and before another year begins believe in Jesus, who is able to save you completely.
Consecrate these last hours to lonely thought, and if you are brought to deep repentance, it will be well; and if it leads to a humble faith in Jesus, it will be best of all. See to it that this year does not pass away with you still unforgiven. Do not let the new year's midnight bells sound upon a joyless spirit! Now, now, NOW believe and live.
ESCAPE FOR THY LIFE;
LOOK NOT BEHIND THEE,
NEITHER STAY THOU
IN THE PLAIN;
ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN,
LEST THOU BE CONSUMED.
A Heart Like Jesus / Max Lucado
A Heart Like Jesus
Click below to listen to today's devotional
You and I live in a trashy world. Unwanted garbage comes our way on a regular basis. Haven’t you been handed a trash sack of mishaps and heartaches? Sure you have. May I ask, what are you going to do with it?
You could hide it, pretend it isn’t there. But sooner or later it will start to stink. So what will you do? If you follow the example of Christ, you’ll learn to see tough times differently.
He wants you to have a hope-filled heart…just like Jesus. Wouldn’t you want that? Jesus saw his Father’s presence in the problem. Sure, Max, but Jesus was God. I can’t see the way he saw. Not yet, maybe. But don’t underestimate God’s power. He can change the way you look at life.
Friday, December 30, 2022
“And Every Virtue We Possess” / Oswald Chambers
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The Anchor of the Soul / Charles Stanley
The Anchor of the Soul
Hope is a healthy attitude. Anticipating good brings comfort to the mind and heart. In contrast, a state of hopelessness is a terrible condition in which to find oneself. It's overwhelming and depressing to think that what you're facing cannot be changed or resolved. For the person who has lost all hope, life looks like a long dark tunnel going nowhere.
Included in Proverbs is a verse that describes the result of this oppressive feeling: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12). Emotional, physical, and even mental illness haunt a person who feels trapped in a bleak situation. But I want to tell you, my friend, that as long as there is a God, no situation is hopeless. In Him, we have the promise of the second half of that proverb: "Desire fulfilled is a tree of life."
Believers have a hope that anchors their souls. Our relationship with Jesus Christ brings us close to the throne of heaven, where we can cast all our burdens before an omnipotent God. Moreover, we can cling to Him through whatever trials are facing us. Because of the Lord's great love, He provides strength for weary bodies, peace for anxious minds, and comfort for grieving hearts. In short, He lights that darkened tunnel and tenderly guides us through trying situations.
An anchor was a popular image in the ancient Mediterranean world. In an economy that depended on shipping, the anchor symbolized safety and steadiness. The writer of Hebrews used the word to remind believers that God has given a hope that holds firm in any storm.
Are You Worried About Tomorrow? / Adrian Rogers
Are You Worried About Tomorrow?
Sermon: 1387 Your Guide to the Great Unknown, Part 2
Pray Over This
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’”
Ponder This
I heard about some people who were out in a boat on a dark stormy night. The passengers were frightened, so they sent somebody to talk to the captain. He asked the captain about the boat’s condition. The captain said, “I’m going to give it to you straight. This is a leaky old ship, and we may go down. But the boilers on this ship are very weak. We may go up. Whether we go down or up, we’re going on.”
That’s where we are as we look at the year to come. It’s a dark and stormy night, and this old world is not what it ought to be. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We may go down. We may die. We may go up. Jesus may come this year, but whether we go down or up, we are going on. We don’t know what a new year brings. We have never passed this way before. But we don’t have to know where we are going. Abraham went out; he didn’t know where he was going. He marched under sealed orders. Had Abraham known where he was going, it would have put his eyes on the destination. So, where did he keep his eyes? On God. God may keep you in the dark so that you’ll keep your eyes on Him. Aren’t you glad you don’t know the future? What if you knew the demands that would be placed on you in the future? What if you knew the sorrows or challenges that might come? It might choke you down. But in Christ, we can have confidence, no matter what the day, month, or year brings.
- How do you feel about the year to come? What are you excited about? Anxious about?
- How has God changed the way you handle the unknowns in your life?
Practice This
Pray and be honest with God about the unknowns of the coming year that scare you. Consider what it would look like to fix your eyes on Him in the future.
Grace Amid the Chaos / ODB
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Set Your Focus / Greg Laurie
Set Your Focus
“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (Hebrews 12:2 NLT)
In the ancient Olympic Games, the judge stood in full view of the runners, holding a crown of leaves for the victor to wear. If you were running that race, you could look ahead and see the judge holding your reward as you came around the bend. It was in plain view. That was where you would set your focus. You wouldn’t look at the people next to you or behind you. You would focus and run.
In the same way, we are in a race—the race of life. And as we are coming around to perhaps our final lap, we need to look forward and look at Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (NLT).
We need to cut loose any excess weight that will hurt us or slow us down. The key is keeping our eyes on Jesus. Then we won’t have to fear the passing of years. We can look forward to it because that means we are closer to eternity, to seeing the Lord.
If we run the race for others, we will be disappointed. If we put our eyes on people, they may let us down. And if we put our eyes on the world, it can discourage us and overwhelm us.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, and you’ll make it. Run the race for Him. That is where you start, and that is where you must end.
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