The Lord’s Lineage / David Jeremiah

The Lord’s Lineage   He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. Luke 1:32   In 2 Samuel 7:8-16, Almighty God promised an everlasting legacy to the dynasty of King David saying, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (verse 16, NIV). This is similar to the covenant God made with Abraham that through his seed all the world would be blessed (Genesis 22:18).

Recommended Reading: Luke 20:41-47

The opening verse of the New Testament says, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). The story of the Old Testament isn’t simply the story of the Jewish nation; it’s the story of one family—one ribbon of lineages—that leads to the Messiah! Jesus is the rightful heir of the kingship of Israel who comes through the lineage of David. He is the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant God made with David, a descendant of Abraham. God keeps His promises, even over hundreds and thousands of years. He will keep all His promises to you too!   When God makes a promise, you can take it to the bank…. His promises never fail. Michael Lawrence

 

Jesus Meets Our Needs / Ann Graham Lotz

 Jesus Meets Our Needs

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

John 12:32, nkjv

Often, when I arrive in a city to participate in some conference or seminar, the organizers will take me aside and tell me privately about the various people who will be attending. They describe the multitude. People with broken hearts and broken homes and broken dreams and broken hopes. And then they say, “Anne, we want you to know about so-and-so because we’re hoping you will say something that will meet his or her needs.” If I accepted that burden, I would be crushed under it! There’s no way I can meet all those needs, so I usually respond with something like, “That’s impossible! There are too many diverse needs. I can’t address them all individually. But I can just give them Jesus.” And again and again, I have seen Jesus personally meet the spiritual needs of the multitude—one by one.

Jesus has given me ample resources to meet the spiritual needs of others because He has given me Himself and He has given me His Word.

No Limit to His Love / Max Lucado

No Limit to His Love

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NO LIMIT TO HIS LOVE

Maybe your life resembles a Bethlehem stable. Crude in some spots, smelly in others. Not much glamour. You do your best to make the best of it. But try as you might, the roof still leaks, and the winter wind still sneaks through the holes you just can’t seem to fix. You’ve shivered through your share of cold nights, and you wonder if God has a place for a person like you.

Find your answers in the Bethlehem stable. The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us. The moment Mary touched God’s face is the moment God made his case: there is no place he will not go. No place is too common, no person is too hardened, no distance is too far. There is no person he cannot reach. There is no limit to his love. 

Verse of the Day / December 28

Quiet Time...

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, 

especially unto them who are of the household of faith." 

Galatians 6:10 KJV

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Bible in One Year: December 28

 Bible in One Year: Zechariah 5-8; Revelation 19

Continuous Conversion / Oswald Chambers

 

Continuous Conversion …unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. MATTHEW 18:3 These words of our Lord refer to our initial conversion, but we should continue to turn to God as children, being continuously converted every day of our lives. If we trust in our own abilities, instead of God’s, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. When God through His sovereignty brings us into new situations, we should immediately make sure that our natural life submits to the spiritual, obeying the orders of the Spirit of God. Just because we have responded properly in the past is no guarantee that we will do so again. The response of the natural to the spiritual should be continuous conversion, but this is where we so often refuse to be obedient. No matter what our situation is, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered. But we must “put on the new man…” (Ephesians 4:24 ). God holds us accountable every time we refuse to convert ourselves, and He sees our refusal as willful disobedience. Our natural life must not rule— God must rule in us. To refuse to be continuously converted puts a stumbling block in the growth of our spiritual life. There are areas of self–will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, “I won’t submit.” We deify our independence and self–will and call them by the wrong name. What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength. There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God. Bible in One Year: Zechariah 5-8; Revelation 19

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS When we no longer seek God for His blessings, we have time to seek Him for Himself.

Why Do People Follow Jesus? / Charles Stanley

 Why Do People Follow Jesus?

John 6:22-71

When Jesus walked this earth, a vast multitude followed Him. They came for all sorts of reasons—some noble, some selfish. The same is true today. It’s important that we understand what motivates people to come to Christ, because not all who seek Him are really His followers. In fact, we each need to analyze our own walk with the Lord: What do we want from Him? How committed are we to being His disciples?

Many of the people who followed Jesus did so because they had urgent needs that He alone could meet. Everywhere He went, the sick and demon-possessed were brought to Him—this is one of the ways that God draws us to Himself. Those who can solve all their own problems never need a Savior.

Other folks came for sensationalism. They wanted to see the signs and miracles and feel a thrill of excitement. Today some people come to church or conferences to get pumped up, but mountaintop experiences are always followed by valleys. When hardships or challenges come, such people are quick to abandon the Lord.

But Jesus’ disciples followed Him because they genuinely believed He was the Messiah, the very Son of God (Matt. 16:16). Their commitment went beyond emotions or needs. They wanted to know Christ and walk closely with Him.

Are you more interested in what Jesus can do for you than in just being with Him? Do you find it hard to stay committed without an emotional experience to sustain you? Our physical and emotional needs can draw us to the Lord, but they should never be the foundation for our walk with Him.

Who Are You Trying to Please? / Adrian Rogers

 Who Are You Trying to Please?

2 Corinthians 5:9-10
Sermon: 2379 His Unquestioned Lordship, Part 2

Pray Over This

“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
2 Corinthians 5:9-10

Ponder This

Some years ago, I heard about a young pastor who was hired by a church, and one of the ladies in that church said to him, “You’re going to have a difficult time trying to please all 300 of us.” He said, “Madam, there’s only One I’m going to try to please; His name is Jesus. If I please Him, that should be good enough for the rest of you.” Jesus is the One we serve. We don’t primarily serve other people.

Now, there’s only one question that you ask after you bow the knee to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord, Master, and Savior of your life. It’s the question that the Apostle Paul asked on the road to Damascus, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:6). The best advice anybody ever gave to another person was the advice Mary gave that day Jesus turned water into wine. Mary said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5). You’ll never get better advice than that. Ask Him today, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

• Have you ever asked, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” What makes us hesitant to ask this question?
• How can you discern what the Lord would have you do?

Practice This

Ask “Lord, what do You want me to do?” See what He brings to mind and consider it in light of His Word and the wisdom of other Spirit-filled believers.

Meeting the Needs of Others / ODB

Meeting the Needs of Others If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset. Exodus 22:26 READ Exodus 22:22–27  Phillip’s father suffered from severe mental illness and had left home to live on the streets. After Cyndi and her young son Phillip spent a day searching for him, Phillip was rightly concerned for his dad’s well-being. He asked his mother whether his father and other people without homes were warm. In response, they launched an effort to collect and distribute blankets and cold-weather gear to homeless people in the area. For more than a decade, Cyndi has considered it her life’s work, crediting her son and her deep faith in God for awakening her to the hardship of being without a warm place to sleep. The Bible has long taught us to respond to the needs of others. In the book of Exodus, Moses records a set of principles to guide our interaction with those who lack plentiful resources. When we’re moved to supply the needs of another, we’re to “not treat it like a business deal” and should make no gain or profit from it (Exodus 22:25). If a person’s cloak was taken as collateral, it was to be returned by sunset “because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in?” (v. 27). Let’s ask God to open our eyes and hearts to see how we can ease the pain of those who are suffering. Whether we seek to meet the needs of many—as Cyndi and Phillip have—or those of a single person, we honor Him by treating them with dignity and care. By Kirsten Holmberg How has God supplied your needs through others? Whose needs might you be able to supply? Heavenly Father, please open my eyes to the needs of others.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT God gave the Ten Commandments to instruct His people how to bring honor to God through their lives. Commandments 1-4 (Exodus 20:1-11) instruct us to love God and commandments 5-10 (vv. 12-17) deal with loving our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18, 34). Moses then laid down various stipulations to teach God’s people how to love their neighbors (Exodus 21:1-23:9). In Exodus 22:21-27, Moses teaches us how to love the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan—the epitome of the poorest of the poor in ancient Jewish society. Love for neighbors means justice and compassion for the needy. Moses reminded the Israelites that God “shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:17-18). And Moses warned, “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow” (27:19). K. T. Sim

 

The King of Love/ David Jeremiah

 

The King of Love   I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. John 10:11   Last August in India, a shepherd attempted to lead a flock of sheep over railroad tracks. An oncoming train—the Daulatpur Express—struck sixty sheep, and the shepherd fled the scene. Investigators also found another forty injured sheep in another place. They had been abandoned by the shepherd the night before.

Recommended Reading: John 10:11-17

Jesus spoke about shepherds like this, saying: “But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own” (John 10:12-14). Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep. He loves His sheep, and He knows every one of them. He will not abandon us or harm us. When we don’t know what to do or where to go, we need to remember to keep our eyes on Him.   The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever. Henry W. Baker

Ready to Break Camp?/ Greg Laurie

 Ready to Break Camp?

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1NLT)

When you’re getting ready to go somewhere, your destination determines your outlook. For instance, if you’re going on vacation to Hawaii, you can hardly wait to get there. But if you’re going to the dentist, you’re dreading it.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “The time of my death is near” (2 Timothy 4:6NLT). Or, as the New King James Version renders it, “The time of my departure is at hand.”

Earlier Paul had written to the believers in Philippi, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. . . . I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live” (Philippians 1:21, 23-24 NLT).

Paul knew where he was going. He knew that he was going to Heaven. Granted, Paul had a marked advantage: he had already died, gone to Heaven, and returned to Earth. He wrote about the experience in 2 Corinthians 12, where he said he was “caught up to the third heaven” (verse 2) and saw things that were indescribable.

Many commentators believe this probably happened after Paul preached the gospel in Antioch. The Bible tells us, “They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe” (Acts 14:19-20 NLT).

We can imagine Paul in Heaven before His Lord, before the One who had called him on the road to Damascus, before the One who had pardoned him of every sin. But then Paul came back, and ever since, he was homesick for Heaven.

This reminds us that Heaven is not a place of unconscious oblivion; it’s a place of conscious existence. Death held no terror for the apostle Paul. He understood that it meant going and being with Christ. It was a beginning, not an ending. It was a promotion.

The word “departure” used by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:6 (NKJV) comes from an interesting Greek term that also could describe breaking camp.

After a few days of camping, most people are ready to break camp, go home, and enjoy the luxuries of a hot shower and clean clothes. They’re happy to break camp.

When death comes, the tent called the body is laid aside as the spirit moves into a more permanent residence. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands” (verse 1 NLT).

Does that sound depressing to you? Getting ready to break camp is good news if you’ve put your faith in Jesus Christ. It means that you’re going to a far better place. It means that you’re going to Heaven.

Created for God / Ann Graham Lotz

 Created for God

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called Children of God!

1 John 3:1, nkjv

C. S. Lewis, in his testimony Surprised by Joy, described his growing awareness of the capacity within himself to respond with joy and delight in such a way that it gave him an insatiable desire for more joy and delight. The things he found so deeply satisfying left him with a craving for more and more satisfaction. He concluded that nothing in this world could ever give him lasting satisfaction, so therefore he must have been created for another world. And C. S. Lewis was right. Our very beings are created for God. We will never experience permanent, personal satisfaction and fulfillment apart from Him because, as Saint Augustine so eloquently stated, “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Thee.”

Signs of God / Max Lucado

 

Signs of God

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SIGNS OF GOD

“We have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Matthew 2:2 NKJV).

You know, people see signs of God every day. Sunsets that steal the breath. Newborns that bring tears. But do all who see the signs draw near to God? No.

The wise men, however, understood the purpose of the sign. And they followed it to Jerusalem, where they heard about the scripture. The prophecy told them where to find Christ. It is interesting to note that the star reappeared after they learned about the prophecy. The star “came and stood shining right over the place where the Child was” (Matthew 2:9). It is as if the sign and word worked together to bring the wise men to Jesus.

The ultimate aim of all God’s messages, both miraculous and written, is to shed the light of heaven on Jesus.

Verse of the Day / December 27

 Quiet Time...

"My flesh and my heart faileth: But God is the strength of my heart, 

and my portion for ever." 

Psalm 73:26 KJV 

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