Friday, December 30, 2016
Thursday, December 29, 2016
December 29 / Evening... by Charles Spurgeon
December 29
Evening...
Matthew 22:42
What think ye of Christ?
The great test of your soul's health is, What think you of Christ? Is He to you "fairer than the children of men"-"the chief among ten thousand"-the "altogether lovely"? Wherever Christ is thus esteemed, all the faculties of the spiritual man exercise themselves with energy. I will judge of your piety by this barometer: does Christ stand high or low with you? If you have thought little of Christ, if you have been content to live without His presence, if you have cared little for His honour, if you have been neglectful of His laws, then I know that your soul is sick-God grant that it may not be sick unto death! But if the first thought of your spirit has been, How can I honour Jesus? If the daily desire of your soul has been, "O that I knew where I might find Him!" I tell you that you may have a thousand infirmities, and even scarcely know whether you are a child of God at all, and yet I am persuaded, beyond a doubt, that you are safe, since Jesus is great in your esteem. I care not for thy rags, what thinkest thou of His royal apparel? I care not for thy wounds, though they bleed in torrents, what thinkest thou of His wounds? are they like glittering rubies in thine esteem? I think none the less of thee, though thou liest like Lazarus on the dunghill, and the dogs do lick thee-I judge thee not by thy poverty: what thinkest thou of the King in His beauty? Has He a glorious high throne in thy heart? Wouldst thou set Him higher if thou couldst? Wouldst thou be willing to die if thou couldst but add another trumpet to the strain which proclaims His praise? Ah! then it is well with thee. Whatever thou mayst think of thyself, if Christ be great to thee, thou shalt be with Him ere long.
"Though all the world my choice deride,
Yet Jesus shall my portion be;
For I am pleased with none beside,
The fairest of the fair is He"
Deserter or Disciple? by Oswald Chambers
Deserter or Disciple?
When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must “walk in the light” of that vision (1 John 1:7). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t “walk in the light” of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the “heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, “Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?” You have to “walk in the light” of the vision that has been given to you. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the “heavenly vision,” do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— “…for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.
Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage
Eternal Security: Can We Be Sure? by Charles Stanley
Our loving heavenly Father wants us to know with certainty that we have eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. What assurances do we have that we are permanently secure?
God’s love. One reason we can be sure of never-ending salvation is our heavenly Father’s unconditional love. At the cross, He demonstrated just how much we mean to Him: He sent His Son to die so that we might have eternal life (1 John 4:9-10).
Christ’s life and death. Because Jesus was without sin, He qualified to serve as our substitute and take our place on the cross. By dying for us, He paid for all our sins and finished the work necessary to secure our salvation (John 19:30).
Jesus’ promise. We have our Lord’s assurance that we will spend eternity with Him. He promised that we can never be separated from Him and that no one can snatch us from His hand (John 10:28). He has gone ahead to prepare a place for us and will return to bring us there (John 14:2-3).
The indwelling Holy Spirit. Another assurance of eternal security is the presence of God’s Spirit within each believer. The Holy Spirit acts as a seal, guaranteeing that we belong to the Lord and serving as a pledge of our future in heaven with Him (2 Cor. 1:21-22).
The Word of God is filled with His promises that those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior will spend eternity with Him. If you struggle with doubt, then meditate on Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into a biblical understanding of your salvation.
A Hope-Filled Heart by Max Lucado
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Spectator Christians or Active Christians? by D. James Kennedy
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| Spectator Christians or Active Christians? | |||||
Truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, will not lose his reward.
—Mark 9:41 Devotion: Christianity is not a spectator sport. Christ does not call us to be “spectator Christians.” There are some people in our churches, however, who, to my knowledge, have never done any work at all. They have merely seen themselves as spectators. They come to watch on Sunday morning, and that is the extent of what they do. They never put their shoulder to the wheel. They never dirty their hands. They never exert themselves in any work. But Christ says in His letter to the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:19, “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience, and that your last works are more than the first.” Christ had not forgotten their good works. I am so glad that many Christians are always working and serving the Lord with love and patience. Christ calls us to get into the arena and glorify Him by our good works. Any deed done in Jesus’ name is precious to Him and has its reward, whether in this life or the next. Question to ponder: Saved, not by works, but saved unto good works—how do these truths connect? | |||||
December 29 / Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman
"Arise... for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and are ye still? Be not slothful to go, and enter to possess the land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth" (Judges 18:9, 10).
Arise! Then there is something definite for us to do. Nothing is ours unless we take it. "The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance" (Joshua 16:4).
"The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions" (Obad. 17).
"The upright shall have good things in possession."
We need to have appropriating faith in regard to God's promises. We must make God's Word our own personal possession. A child was asked once what appropriating faith was, and the answer was, "It is taking a pencil and underscoring all the me's and mine's and my's in the Bible."
Take any word you please that He has spoken and say, "That word is my word." Put your finger on this promise and say, "It is mine." How much of the Word has been endorsed and receipted and said "It is done." How many promises can you subscribe and say, "Fulfilled to me."
"Son, thou art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine." Don't let your inheritance go by default.
"When faith goes to market it always takes a basket."
December 29 / Morning... by Charles Spurgeon
December 29
Morning...
1 Samuel 7:12
Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.
The word "hitherto" seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet, "hitherto the Lord hath helped!" Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health, at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea, in honour, in dishonour, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation, "hitherto hath the Lord helped us!" We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from end to end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves; even so look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys. Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received "hitherto." But the word also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark and writes "hitherto," he is not yet at the end, there is still a distance to be traversed. More trials, more joys; more temptations, more triumphs; more prayers, more answers; more toils, more strength; more fights, more victories; and then come sickness, old age, disease, death. Is it over now? No! there is more yet-awakening in Jesu's likeness, thrones, harps, songs, psalms, white raiment, the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fulness of eternity, the infinity of bliss. O be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise thy "Ebenezer," for-
He who hath helped thee hitherto
Will help thee all thy journey through.
When read in heaven's light how glorious and marvellous a prospect will thy "hitherto" unfold to thy grateful eye!
Why We Have the Bible by Billy Graham
Day By Day With Billy Graham |  |
Day 365 of 366Why We Have the Bible
God caused the Bibleto 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.
John 20:31 KJV
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
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Looking for an Abundant Life by Adrian Rogers
December 29
Looking for an Abundant Life
“In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” - John 1:4
I heard about a lady who was looking in her purse for her keys. She looked casually at first, then seriously, then frantically. Do you know what she discovered? She was looking in the wrong purse.
I do not know everything about you, but I know this much: you would like to have a full, meaningful, fulfilling life. Am I right? I think most people feel that way. But no matter how much you search, you’ll not find it apart from Jesus Christ.
Now, I’m not talking about life, as in breathing and heart beating. You have that. I’m talking about a rich, abundant life that Christ died to give you. Life is in Christ.
Are you looking in the wrong place for life? Only Christ can give you life.
Christ is the Creator by John MacArthur
Christ Is the Creator
“In [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).
Christ created everyone and everything.
The sheer size of the universe is staggering. The sun, for example, could hold 1.3 million planets the size of Earth inside it. The galaxy to which our sun belongs, the Milky Way, contains hundreds of billions of stars. And astronomers estimate there are millions, or even billions, of galaxies.
Who created this awesome universe? According to the false teachers at Colosse, it was not Christ. They viewed Him as the first and most important of the emanations from God; they were convinced it had to be a lesser being who eventually created the material universe. Believing matter to be evil, they argued that neither the good God nor a good emanation would have created the universe.
But the apostle Paul rejected that blasphemy, insisting that Christ made all things, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible. When he mentions thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities (v. 16), he is referring to the various ranks of angels. Far from being an angel, as the false teachers taught, Christ created the angels (cf. Eph. 1:21). Jesus’ relation to the unseen world, like His relation to the visible world, proves He is God, the Creator of the universe.
Man is certainly interested in knowing about the universe that Christ created. That is evident, for example, by his exploration of space. Manned space capsules photographing the earth rising over the lunar horizon and satellites beaming pictures to us of planets at the outer edges of our solar system leave us in awe and wonder. Even more amazing is, not that man has gone into space, but that God came to Earth. In Christ, the invisible God who created everything and everyone became visible to man. How sad that while man looks into space, He refuses to look at the One who came to Earth.
Suggestions for Prayer
Worship Christ for His awesome work of creation.
For Further Study
Read Psalm 19:1-6. What testimony does this passage give of the Creator?
From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com. |
NIV 365 / The Wise Men Arrive
The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading Plan | |
Day 364 of 365The Wise Men Arrive
*How do you suppose the myth that the wise men were at the manger got started?
*Why is it meaningful that they brought very expensive gifts to Jesus?
If we were to ask people who aren't familiar with the Bible who came to visit Jesus on the night he was born, they would probably look at the closest nativity scene and name Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the angel above the stable and the wise men. And we would have to tell them their answer is incorrect.
There were no wise men at the manger. They didn't show up until months later, when Jesus and his family were living in a house. And as long as we're talking about myths, we should point out that there weren't necessarily three wise men. The wise men, or Magi, brought three gifts to Jesus, but that doesn't mean there were three givers.
What we do know is that the Magi were kings from the East. They saw a star, realized it meant that the King of kings had been born, and followed it to Jesus' house. There they presented him with gold, incense and myrrh.
The fact that kings from a distant land knew who Jesus was and where he could be found shows us that God's hand was at work in every part of the Christmas story. For that, we can praise him.
Prayer
Dear God, on this Christmas Day, we thank you for the evidence in your Word that supports our faith. You are the truth, and we put our belief in you. Amen.
Taken from Once a Day At the Table
Matthew 2:11 KJV
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
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Immutable Bond by David Jeremiah
Thursday, December 29
Immutable Bond Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
Psalm 139:16
| Recommended Reading Psalm 139 |
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Letting go does not mean a lack of connection. While our children will now have their own expectations and thoughts on how we interact, we can continue to encourage them through life’s challenges and celebrations. As we remember our own immutable bond with our Creator, we have the courage to trust Him with the people we value and love most.
We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer.
Charles H. Spurgeon
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