LHM Advent Devotion - December 19, 2017 "PROMISES TO KEEP"

Advent Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"PROMISES TO KEEP"

December 19, 2017

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).

~ Matthew 1:22-23 (ESV)

"Keep your promise!" Who hasn't heard those words, either from friends in school or from your own children wanting a treat? We put a lot of weight on promises. "We'll see" is an answer that gives us hope, but "I promise" settles the matter.

That's exactly what God did for us. He gave us the hope of a Savior, and then He went one better-He gave us His own promise. And people have been holding on to that promise ever since the days of Isaiah the prophet, who first spoke it to an unbelieving king.

They were right to trust God's promise, because they knew that the Lord is a faithful God. When He says "Yes," He means it. When He promises to bless, He does it. Even when He promises something utterly impossible, He carries it out. The ancient Israelites saw this when He rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The impossible came true.

And here again, with Mary and her baby Jesus, God is keeping His promise and doing the impossible. "A virgin shall conceive"-yes, indeed, in spite of every scientific law and all the weight of human history against it. "And bear a son"-oh yes, though as a woman Mary had no Y chromosome to give a male baby Jesus. Never mind. God took care of it. He had a promise to keep.

And how wonderfully He kept it! As Mary lay gazing at her newborn Son, did she think of the other promises God was going to fulfill? "Call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21b). "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34b). "And He shall stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord ... And He shall be their peace" (Micah 5:4-5a). "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). God has kept His promises in the past, and He will keep His promises in the future, to the very end of the world.

THE PRAYER: Lord, thank You for keeping Your promises. Help me to trust in the ones You have yet to fulfill. Amen.

Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
"Keep your promise!" Who hasn't heard those words...

Devociones de Adviento de 19 de Diciembre de 2017 "Promesas a cumplir"

ALIMENTO DIARIO

"Promesas a cumplir"

19 de Diciembre de 2017

Todo esto sucedió para que se cumpliera lo que el Señor dijo por medio del profeta: "Una virgen concebirá y dará a luz un hijo, y le pondrá por nombre Emanuel, que significa: "Dios está con nosotros."

~ Mateo 1:22-23 (RVC)

"¡Debes cumplir lo prometido!" ¿Quién no ha escuchado esas palabras, ya sea de compañeros de estudio o de sus propios hijos? A las promesas les damos mucho valor. "Veremos", es una respuesta alentadora, pero "lo prometo", no deja lugar a dudas.

Eso es exactamente lo que Dios hizo por nosotros: nos dio la esperanza de un Salvador y luego, como si eso fuera poco, nos dio su propia promesa. Su pueblo había estado aferrándose a esa promesa desde los días en que el profeta Isaías la había anunciado a un rey incrédulo.

Hacían bien en confiar en la promesa de Dios, pues sabían que el Señor es fiel y que, cuando él promete algo, lo cumple. Cuando promete bendecir, bendice, e incluso cuando promete algo humanamente imposible, también lo hace. Los israelitas lo experimentaron cuando Dios los rescató de la esclavitud en Egipto. Lo imposible se había hecho realidad.

Y aquí, con María y el niño Jesús, Dios otra vez está cumpliendo su promesa de hacer algo imposible. "Una virgen concebirá", sí, lo hará a pesar de toda ley científica y experiencia humana que dice lo contrario. "Y dará a luz un hijo", sí, a pesar de que María no tenía ningún cromosoma 'Y' para darle al niño Jesús. No importa. Dios se encargó de eso. Él tenía que cumplir una promesa.

¡Y la cumplió de una manera maravillosa! ¿Será que cuando María observaba a su hijo recién nacido, pensaba en las otras promesas que Dios habría de cumplir? "Le pondrás por nombre Jesús, porque él salvará a su pueblo de sus pecados" (Mateo 1:21). "Y yo perdonaré su maldad, y no volveré a acordarme de su pecado" (Jeremías 31:34b). "Se levantará para guiarlos con el poder del Señor... Y él será nuestra paz" (Miqueas 5:4-5). "Porque así como el mar rebosa de agua, también la tierra rebosará con el conocimiento de la gloria del Señor" (Habacuc 2:14). Dios ha cumplido sus promesas en el pasado y las cumplirá en el futuro, hasta el fin del mundo.

ORACIÓN: Señor Dios, gracias por cumplir tus promesas. Ayúdame a confiar en aquéllas que aún habrás de cumplir. Amén.

© Copyright 2017 Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones. Que a través de estos devocionales, la Palabra de Dios te refresque en tu diario caminar.
"¡Debes cumplir lo prometido!"

A Deadly Chain Reaction

A Deadly Chain Reaction

by David Feddes

Once upon a time there was a land where people saw God’s hand in almost everything. They looked at animals and mountains, at stars and rainbows, at sunshine and cornfields, and saw the hand of God. They looked at great events of history and saw the hand of God. They looked at their own lives and saw the hand of God. Most people prayed in their homes. They worshiped in church every Sunday. They sent their children to schools that started each day with prayer and told about God and taught the difference between right and wrong.

But then things began to change. At first, people didn’t deny God openly. They just started to ignore him. Instead of looking at creation and marveling at God’s power and wisdom, they talked about “the laws of nature.” Instead of thanking God for the good things they enjoyed, they spoke of how they had earned it all through hard work. A deadly chain reaction followed.

After a while, the old beliefs about God began to seem rather quaint. Why suppose there was a Creator at all? Couldn’t everything have come into being just by chance? Soon some of the smarter people came up with a whole new theory to explain everything without even mentioning God. Then somebody decided that schools must teach this new theory to all the children and not allow anyone to pray openly. Teachers weren’t allowed to talk about God or to teach right and wrong based on faith in God. Meanwhile, as schools banned all mention of God, churches started producing up-to-date gods and goddesses that would make people more comfortable than they were with the old God who insisted on holiness.

As the old faith faded, there was a sexual revolution. The new commandment was “If it feels good, do it!” It began to seem unfair to insist that sex is for married people. It seemed cruel to deprive single people of such a fun activity. For that matter, why limit married people to the same person their whole life? Divorce became common, as more and more people decided they would be happier with a new mate.

After that sexual revolution came a second. The whole notion of male and female seemed outdated. Women became sexually involved with other women, men with other men. Some had hundreds of different partners. They even had parades and special events to celebrate all this. Such behavior had once been considered unnatural and wrong, but now anyone who spoke against such behavior was considered unnatural and wrong.

Some nasty diseases spread rapidly as a result of the new attitude toward sex, but few people wanted to change their behavior. They just wanted a cure for the diseases.

Somewhere along the line, people decided they didn’t want to recognize any moral absolutes at all. More and more things that were once thought wicked and unmentionable became mainstream. Their favorite motto was, “Nobody’s going to tell me what to do!” People became more and more money-hungry, and in their greed they didn’t care whom they ripped off or stomped on to get ahead. It seemed everybody wanted what somebody else had. Violent crime and murder grew more and more common. Lawsuits jammed the courts; conflict became a way of life at every level of society. Lying became so common that nobody’s word carried any weight; anything important had to be written in a contract, and even contracts didn’t count for much. The whole atmosphere became malicious; gossip and slander were everywhere, in politics and in private life.

It seemed as though people had no conscience anymore. If anyone dared to challenge the “I can do as I please” attitude in the name of God, people just hated God all the more. They hated authority of every kind. Young people became more and more defiant and rebellious toward their parents. Those who bragged the loudest and invented the most outlandish behavior were often admired for having real “attitude.” Whether in a street gang or a business corporation, nastiness was the way to get respect.

In this deadly chain reaction, one thing led to another. Things went from bad to worse until people considered God a joke and applauded ungodliness. There was still a vague memory of God and of his warning that sin leads to death and hell, but most people just laughed at old beliefs about “fire and brimstone.” They not only did bad things but flaunted their behavior openly and made celebrities out of those who “lived on the wild side.”



God’s Wrath Revealed

Does any of this sound familiar? It might sound like a fair summary of what’s been going on in our society over that last several decades. But I didn’t get this sequence of events from reading newspapers or watching TV. I got it from the Bible. Everything I’ve mentioned is found in Romans 1, in the very order I’ve just described. The scariest thing about all this is that when the Bible describes this deadly chain reaction, it says that these are progressive symptoms of a society that is under God’s wrath. Here’s what the Bible says in Romans 1:18-32.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Isn’t is chilling to hear such an exact description of where we find ourselves? First, people know God but suppress what they know and refuse to thank him or give him the honor he deserves. Then they come up with new theories about creation, leaving the Creator out of the picture. Then sexual looseness becomes common, followed by approval of gay and lesbian coupling. Finally, the entire social structure starts crumbling as everybody does what they please. The whole mess reeks of death and decay, but still the people act like this is normal.

What does it all mean? It means we’re in deep trouble. According to Romans 1, these are the progressive symptoms of a society under God’s wrath. In hearing about this revelation of wrath, we hear three times the same dreadful refrain: “God gave them over... God gave them over... God gave them over.” The Lord shows his anger by letting people think their own thoughts and go their own way. The Lord shows his anger by letting people go further and further away from his light, further and further into darkness and ruin.

We are a society under God’s wrath. Politicians and pundits, psychologists and sociologists, can offer explanations for the breakdown of the family and the disintegration of the social fabric, and those explanations may have a bit of truth here and there. But the core of the matter is this: we are a society under God’s wrath. All the symptoms are there, exactly as the Word of God describes them. No other explanation will do.

A lot of people these days are concerned about crime and family problems and the various ways our society and our personal life seem to be disintegrating. And they’d like to do something about it. They’d like to build more prisons, or get rid of guns, or improve education, or emphasize sexual morality, or crusade against drugs and gangs, or teach our children about creation, or get prayer back in the schools. Some of these things might be okay, but they only deal with symptoms. They don’t address the root cause. According to Romans 1, all our problems are part of a deadly chain reaction set off by our most basic problem: we have rejected God and are under his wrath.

The first step in obtaining God’s mercy is seeing our need of it. Before we can escape the mess we’re in, we must know how we got ourselves into it in the first place. We must face the facts without any excuses.

Creation shines with the power and divine splendor of God. But sinful people don’t want to acknowledge him, so they suppress and distort the signals that creation sends them about God. And what’s the result? Romans 1 says that this provokes God’s wrath, and God reveals his wrath by letting them go from bad to worse. He hands them over to themselves and lets them sink deeper and deeper into their own mess.

The whole mess begins with a refusal to acknowledge God and give him the praise and thanks he deserves. That’s the source of all the other problems. Romans 1:18 says that God’s wrath is revealed against godlessness and wickedness. The order in which those two words occurs is very important. Godlessness comes before wickedness. There are many types of wickedness, but they’re all symptoms of the same problem: godlessness--an attitude that God doesn’t exist or, if he exists, that he doesn’t really matter very much in our lives.

When Alexander Solzhenitsyn looked at the shambles Russian society made of itself, he summarized the problem in four words: “Men have forgotten God.” That applies to other societies as well, including ours: “Men have forgotten God.” This means that every type of moralizing, every effort to make individuals more virtuous, or to make a society more decent, isn’t addressing the real problem at all. It’s like using a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound, or taking two aspirin to get rid of cancer. We don’t just need a little something to deal with a particular symptom of wickedness. We need somehow to be saved from God’s wrath and turned from godlessness back to God. Nothing less will do.



Who, Me?

Let’s take another look at the scenario in Romans 1, this time in reverse order. The final verses show the dregs of degradation, where people are so brazen that they openly approve and encourage evil. Isn’t this happening right now? Gossip isn’t condemned; it’s a multibillion dollar industry of trash TV and tabloids. Sexual perversion isn’t condemned; it’s a multibillion dollar industry of pornographic magazines and movies. Abortion isn’t condemned by those in power; they promote it and help pay for it. Mixed up families and rebellious youth are no laughing matter, but we laugh anyway at stupid sitcoms that mock the family. Strife and murder are glorified in film after film. The fashion world even gets into the act, peddling to kids everywhere the style of clothes that gang members wear, and encouraging girls to dress like prostitutes. We know God’s decree of death against such wickedness, but we flout it anyway. It’s the kind of situation God describes in Jeremiah, where he says, “Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush” (Jeremiah 8:12).

But maybe you say, “Who, me? That’s not my attitude at all.” Maybe you’re concerned about this open contempt for decency and this loss of conscience. You’re troubled by the breakdown of families and the violence in society. You’d like to see more love and peace. Meanwhile, though, you’re still convinced there’s nothing wrong with sex between consenting adults. You think it’s okay “as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else.” But Romans 1 says, and history shows, that this attitude toward sex is part of the same deadly chain reaction which produces the violence and heartless behavior you dislike so much. And anyway, how can you say it doesn’t hurt anybody when so many are dying of AIDS and other diseases? As Romans puts it, they receive in their own bodies the due penalty for their perversion.

But maybe you recognize this. You’re troubled by the promotion of gay lifestyles and the widespread promiscuity, divorce, and destruction of marriage. You wish more people would get back to traditional morality, but you’re noncommittal when it comes to faith in God. In fact, you believe an evolutionary theory about human origins that doesn’t say much of anything about God, or you believe that the universe itself is divine. But Romans 1 says, and history shows, that accepting and spreading such beliefs has a devastating impact on sexual morality. Once again, despite your intentions, you’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.

But maybe you don’t accept any of the evils we’ve been talking about. You’re concerned about crime and societal strife, you support traditional sexual morality, you believe in God, and you think everybody should be taught about creation. But when it comes to your day-to-day living, you don’t pay much attention to God. You don’t marvel at his majesty, and you don’t thank him for the good things he sends into your life. If that’s the case, then you’re an atheist in your behavior, even if you’re not an atheist in your mind. There’s no use believing in God if you don’t honor him as God and give him thanks.

And that brings us back to where we started. Romans 1 says that even though God makes himself known to us, we don’t glorify him or give him thanks. We don’t respond to God’s kindness and love by loving him in return. That’s where all the trouble starts. The heart of the problem turns out to be a problem of the heart. Once our hearts refuse to love and worship and thank God, our heads begin to suppress what we know about him, and our hands start doing things that show how far we are from God.

So let’s not fool ourselves. Let’s not say, “Who, me?” You and I are implicated in all this. Some of us who still have some sense of morality or some religious loyalties would like to think otherwise. But right after Romans 1 describes the deadly chain reaction that results from ignoring God and provoking his wrath, the very next statement is this: “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things” (Romans 2:1).

We do the very things that we condemn in others. Even if we don’t commit their exact brand of sin, we’re still up to our neck in the whole situation. Whether you’re a person who flaunts the most heartless or antisocial behavior, or someone who considers yourself basically nice but with a preference for sexual freedom, or a person who wants things to improve and thinks quality schools without God can make it happen, or the respectable type of person who harps on virtue and morality all day long, you’re part of the mess described in Romans 1, and you’re under the wrath of God.



What’s the Solution?

A lot of concerned people are saying that we need a stronger emphasis on morality. Maybe so, but if that’s all we have, it will just make the situation worse. A stronger emphasis on morality will make some people even more rebellious against authority and make the rest of us hypocrites. Why? Because as we talk about morals, we commit the ultimate immorality of ignoring God in our everyday life and suppressing anything we know about God that we don’t happen to find convenient.

A stronger emphasis on moral absolutes is not our greatest need. Our greatest need is to see our degenerating situation as a revelation of God’s wrath, and to realize that the deadly chain reaction will continue unless we are rescued from God’s wrath, changed at the very heart of who we are, and restored to fellowship with the God we’ve tried so hard to ignore. There have been various attempts to say that people aren’t really so bad, that all they need is a little more instruction in morality. Even some churches have downplayed talk about sin and God’s wrath and Jesus’ blood as the only way to be saved, and have said that people just need better role models and more information and education. How naive! Can anyone take such thinking seriously? The Bible’s diagnosis of the situation is 100% accurate, and the Bible’s solution is the only one that’s going to work.

What’s the solution? Nothing less than the power of God himself, unleashed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Romans 1, just before the apostle Paul describes the deadly chain reaction of ignoring God, he writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17).

Paul was enthusiastic about the gospel, because he knew that Christ is our only hope. Writing to people who lived in Rome, the capital city of the world’s greatest superpower, Paul could have been intimidated by the trappings of culture and power, but Paul saw through all that to a society that was rotten at its very core. The situation in ancient Rome was much like ours today. Rome’s only hope was the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and that is still our only hope today. If our future depends on our virtue or on our ability to turn our lives around, the situation is hopeless. But the gospel introduces us to God’s cleansing power in Jesus’ blood and God’s life-giving power in Jesus’ resurrection, and the gospel calls us to faith in Christ.

God’s mercy in Jesus Christ--that is the gospel. That is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith. Just as the source of all our problems is alienation from God, so the solution to all our problems is restored fellowship with God.

I haven’t given a very flattering picture of where we are or where we’re headed in our flight from God. That’s not because I like making people feel rotten, but because it’s God’s truth, and the sooner we face it, the better. The Bible shows that apart from a great rebirth through the gospel of Christ, things go from bad to worse. Without regeneration, there’s only degeneration.

Let’s close with a humble, heartbroken prayer from the Bible, a prayer of sinners have provoked God’s wrath, who have been given over to ever-increasing sin and ruin, and who now long for his mercy and salvation.

PRAYER

Lord, look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags... you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people (Isaiah 63:15,17;64:4-9). Forgive us and save us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Daily Readings for MONDAY, December 18, 2017

Matthew 24:29-31

Daily Readings

Zechariah 1:7-17

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo; and Zechariah said, In the night I saw a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, "What are these, my lord?" The angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they are." So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, "They are those whom the LORD has sent to patrol the earth." Then they spoke to the angel of the LORD who was standing among the myrtle trees, "We have patrolled the earth, and lo, the whole earth remains at peace." Then the angel of the LORD said, "O LORD of hosts, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry these seventy years?" Then the LORD replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. So the angel who talked with me said to me, Proclaim this message: Thus says the LORD of hosts; I am very jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. And I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse. Therefore, thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, says the LORD of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. Proclaim further: Thus says the LORD of hosts: My cities shall again overflow with prosperity; the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.

Revelation 3:7-13

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens: "I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying-- I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Matthew 24:15-31

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, 'Look! Here is the Messiah!' or 'There he is!'-- do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Look! He is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look! He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. "Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see 'the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven' with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.

Prayer of the Day for MONDAY, December 18, 2017

Oh Lord Jesus, I come to you this morning, in this season of waiting for the feast of your birth, to ask your blessing on myself and all those in the world who wait for you. We wait now for your return, as the Jews of old waited for their Messiah; yet now we have the Holy Spirit to comfort us. But we know that Christmas will come, just as the prophets knew that you would come in the flesh; and we know that you will come, in clouds of glory to judge the living and the dead, and to take your faithful with you to a place where no tear will be shed.

We are like children waiting for their presents, sometimes. Help us not to be impatient, Lord Christ, but to wait as you have told us, showing the fruits of the spirit in every thought and work: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. And let us always have complete confidence in your return. Come Lord Jesus.

Amen

Verse of the Day for MONDAY, December 18, 2017

Luke 1:68-70 (NIV) “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

Read all of Luke 1

Listen to Luke 1

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Morning Devotions with Cap'n Kenny - The Man Who Tried to Stop Christmas

The Man Who Tried to Stop Christmas

"Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared."

~ Matthew 2:7 (NIV)

King Herod was the man who tried to stop Christmas. With all his wealth and power, he came to complete ruin. Historical writings tell us that in the final year of his life, his body was infected with disease.

Ironically, Herod pretended to be a worshiper. He said to the wise men, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” (Matthew 2:8). Yet Herod was a false worshiper. There are people like him today. They say they believe in God, but they live a life that contradicts what the Scriptures teach.

Herod wanted to be the king of his own life, but he really was a slave. He ended up being not the King of the Jews but the king of fools. Herod ended up on the ash heap of history like dictators before and after him, reminding us that those who live wicked lives eventually will reap what they sow. Adolf Hitler went into his bunker and shot himself as his nation crumbled around him. Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a hole and was eventually executed by his own people. Muammar Gaddafi was hunted down by his own people, beaten, and shot to death.

All those who blaspheme God, fight with God, or try to stop the work of God eventually will fail. Yet God’s Word ultimately will prevail. Philippians 2:9–10 says, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”

One day, everyone—every man, every woman, every believer, and every nonbeliever—will bow before Jesus Christ.

Oh Lord Jesus, I come to you this morning, in this season of waiting for the feast of your birth, to ask your blessing on myself and all those in the world who wait for you. We wait now for your return, as the Jews of old waited for their Messiah; yet now we have the Holy Spirit to comfort us. But we know that Christmas will come, just as the prophets knew that you would come in the flesh; and we know that you will come, in clouds of glory to judge the living and the dead, and to take your faithful with you to a place where no tear will be shed.

We are like children waiting for their presents, sometimes. Help us not to be impatient, Lord Christ, but to wait as you have told us, showing the fruits of the spirit in every thought and work: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. And let us always have complete confidence in your return. Come Lord Jesus. Amen

In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny


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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
There are true worshipers and there are false worshipers.

Un Dia a la Vez - Respuestas tardías

Respuestas tardías

El Señor tu Dios es el Dios verdadero, el Dios fiel, que cumple su pacto [...] y muestra su fiel amor a quienes lo aman y obedecen sus mandamientos.

~ Deuteronomio 7:9 (NVI)

Ya hemos hablado en este libro devocional que los tiempos de Dios no son nuestros tiempos y esto afecta en gran medida a ciertas personas.

Hay muchos de ustedes que no tienen mayor problema con sentarse a esperar que Papá Dios conteste a una pregunta u oración. Otros, por el contrario, son tan desesperados que necesitan las respuestas de inmediato y en cuanto las solicitan.

Cuando vamos a la Biblia, encontramos ejemplos que nos muestran que en algunos casos Dios tardaba mucho tiempo en contestar. Uno de estos lo tenemos en Job. Su tiempo de prueba fue tan difícil que se le murieron todos sus hijos, perdió todos sus bienes y terminó con sarna y rascándose con una teja. A pesar de eso, y en medio de su frustración, confiaba en que Dios no lo abandonaría. Aunque, claro, hubo ocasiones en que se quejó por la indeferencia ante la maldad y hasta le reprochó al Señor lo que consideraba su descuido cuando le dijo: «Recuerda, oh Dios, que mi vida es un suspiro; que ya no verán mis ojos la felicidad» (Job 7:7).

Luego, Dios cambió las cosas a su tiempo y le aumentó al doble la prosperidad anterior a Job.

Le extendió la vida a ciento cuarenta años y pudo ver a sus hijos, y a los hijos de sus hijos, hasta la cuarta generación.

El Señor no permite que suframos sin motivo, y aunque ese motivo esté oculto en los propósitos divinos y nunca sepamos el porqué, debemos confiar que Él siempre hace lo bueno.

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón

Standing Strong Through the Storm - GOD IS AT WORK IN HIS CHURCH

GOD IS AT WORK IN HIS CHURCH

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

~ Ephesians 2:22 (NIV)

Daniel, a young “underground” house church believer from Muslim background (MBB) would not attend the open church in his Middle Eastern city because he felt its leaders were cooperating with the government. Everything had to be secretive in the house church meetings with no loud singing. It was risky meeting like this. Daniel shares his story of discovery and what he learned from the experience:

“A few months ago, I was at the church leader’s house. They were old family friends and I was helping their kids to repair their computer. The mother answered the door and men came into the house. They were plainclothes police with papers that showed they were from security and had authority to arrest. They took everyone’s phones, disconnected the internet, and gathered all of the computers while they searched the house for Bibles. They found 300. They didn’t want to touch the Bibles, like they were dirty. They took the husband and wife away in handcuffs.

“The leaders were still imprisoned when the police came to my house about a month and a half later pretending to be postmen. In my whole life, that was the first time I saw my father cry. They searched through my room and took my computer, my books, my prayer notebook, my written plans for our youth group, and my personal Bible. They also took my sister’s laptop and all of our cell phones. At the end of their search, they told my parents that they were going to take me with them. My mother was distressed, but I hugged her and told her I would be back.

“They took me to the central prison. I was there for two weeks. They only beat me the first day, but they still threatened me. For the first week I didn’t answer their questions, but the second week was difficult. I was imagining my mom and dad—I had talked to my dad and knew it was a more difficult time for them than for me. I still wondered what I had done wrong and why I didn’t have the right to praise my Lord.

“After two weeks they let me go after guaranteeing I wouldn’t flee. About a month later they also released our leaders on bail. After that, they told me my case was still open and they could call me in at any time. We were uncertain of our sentence because they wouldn’t hold a trial for around six months. Constant pressure. It was a pleasure to be persecuted for my Lord.”

Asked what he learned from the experience, Daniel replied, “First, God taught me patience. Eventually, even though I was worried about my family, God gave me a chance to witness to my persecutors. I really don’t hate them. I love them because they don’t know what they’re doing. They’ve been taught bad things, they’re not bad themselves. I felt a responsibility to tell them about the light of Jesus that can break through their spiritual darkness…I want western people to know that God is working in the Middle East, through persecution, deception, and difficulties.”

RESPONSE: Today I will be thankful that God can work through my fellowship of believers regardless of the level of freedom we enjoy.

PRAYER: Pray for those in underground house churches who risk everything to meet and fulfill the five functions of the church.

Women of the Bible - Priscilla

Priscilla

Her name means: "Worthy" or "Venerable"

Her character: One of the first missionaries and a leader of the early church, along with her husband, Aquila, she risked her life for the apostle Paul. Priscilla was a woman whose spiritual maturity and understanding of the faith helped build up the early church.
Her sorrow: To experience opposition to the gospel from both Jews and Gentiles.
Her joy: To spread the gospel and nurture the church.
Key Scriptures: Acts 18-19; Romans 16:3-4; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19

Her Story

How good it is to have Paul back again, she thought. Ephesus was on fire with the gospel, their young church growing stronger each day. Paul's preaching and miracles had brought many to faith. Even the touch of his handkerchief had healed illnesses and delivered people from evil spirits.

Priscilla couldn't help laughing when she heard the story of Sceva's seven sons, Jewish exorcists who had tried to duplicate such wonders by driving out an evil spirit with a magic invocation: "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out."

But the spirit had merely mocked them, saying: "Jesus I know and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man they were trying to deliver beat them so soundly they ran bleeding and naked from the house.

The Ephesians were so impressed by what had happened that a number of sorcerers held a public bonfire to destroy their scrolls. Their magical formulations and incantations seemed like useless trinkets in light of the greater power of Jesus.

But despite the progress of the gospel, Priscilla was aware of growing opposition. One day, she heard the sounds of a crowd forming in the streets. A silversmith was shouting to other craftsmen, all of whom made their living selling miniature images of the many-breasted goddess Artemis: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."

The crowd erupted into a riot, seizing two of Paul's companions. Priscilla was distressed when Paul insisted on addressing the mob. She was certain such boldness could only end in worse violence. With her husband's help, she was able to restrain Paul until a city official calmed the crowd and it dispersed. Soon after, Paul set out to spread the gospel in Macedonia.

Though the book of Acts describes the riot in Ephesus, it does not tell us that either Priscilla or Aquila were actually present, only that some disciples prevented Paul from entering the fray, possibly saving his life in the process. Since Priscilla and her husband were leaders of the church in Ephesus, it is quite possible they were among those who intervened on Paul's behalf.

Priscilla's faith had been planted years earlier in an atmosphere of strife and controversy, first in Rome and later in Corinth. The latter was a commercial center famous for its appetite for vice, hardly a place to nurture the faith of a new believer. Yet that was where God transplanted her, along with her husband, Aquila, after Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in ad 49, tired of their constant fighting about Chrestus (a probable reference to Christ).

Though various gods were worshiped in Corinth, none was more popular than Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, whose temple at one time boasted more than a thousand sacred prostitutes. Throughout the empire, the phrase "Corinthian girl" was just another name for "prostitute."

After the couple had been in Corinth for about a year, they met up with a man who would involve them in yet more controversy. Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who had ruthlessly persecuted Jesus' followers until his own dramatic conversion. Lately, he had been traveling in Asia Minor and Macedonia, preaching the gospel wherever he went. When he arrived in Corinth, he probably met the couple through their common trade as tentmakers. Priscilla and Aquila invited Paul to stay in their home and work with them.

As always, Paul preached the gospel first in the local synagogue and then to the Gentiles. And, as always, his preaching generated both faith and opposition. After eighteen months, leading Jews of Corinth hauled him before the proconsul to accuse him of spreading an illicit religion. After the charge was dismissed, Paul set sail for Ephesus, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him.

The three missionaries must have been eager to see a city that ranked in importance with Rome, Corinth, Antioch, and Alexandria. The capital of provincial Asia, Ephesus boasted a temple to Artemis (also known as Diana) so enormous that it was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. After only a short while, Paul left for other ports, leaving the couple behind to lead the church that met in their home.

Before long another Jew arrived, preaching eloquently about Jesus to the Jews at Ephesus. But Apollos, a native of Alexandria, had grasped only a shadow of the gospel, one more in keeping with the message of John the Baptist than of Jesus. Rather than denouncing him for his inadequate presentation, Priscilla and Aquila merely took him aside and instructed him in the faith. They did their job so well, in fact, that believers in Ephesus eventually sent the gifted preacher to Corinth, where he advanced the work Paul had begun.

Priscilla must have been a spiritually mature woman, whose gifts equipped her for leadership. Her name actually precedes Aquila's four out of the six times they are mentioned in the New Testament, probably signifying her greater abilities as a leader or the fact that her family may have hailed from a higher social strata than his. Whatever the case, Priscilla's role in instructing Apollos and leading the early church is remarkable.

Along with Aquila, she was the best friend Paul could have had, helping him establish the church and risking her life for his sake. Paul mentions the couple's courage in one of his letters but doesn't elaborate on the circumstances.

Rather than withering in the soil of controversy, Priscilla's faith seemed to flourish. She helped establish the early church in an atmosphere of great hostility, risking her own life for the sake of the gospel she loved.

Her Promise

Scripture doesn't tell us exactly what role Priscilla played in the circumstances described in the New Testament. Was she active as a teacher? Or did she work in the background? But the very fact that her name appears along with her husband's every time does tell us something: She was a valued disciple, one who made a difference in Paul's life and in her world.

Whatever your role as a woman in your church, whether in the background or in a leadership position, you can be sure that what you are doing matters. Each task—no matter how small or large—is important to the spread of the gospel. You are an integral part of your church community, and God promises to use you.

Today's reading is a brief excerpt from Women of the Bible: A One-Year Devotional Study of Women in Scripture by Ann Spangler and Jean Syswerda (Zondervan). © 2010 by Ann Spangler. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Enjoy the complete book by purchasing your own copy at the Bible Gateway Store. The book's title must be included when sharing the above content on social media.

Girlfriends in God - God With Us

God With Us

Susie Larson

Today’s Truth

All right then, the Lord Himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

~ Isaiah 7:14 (NLT)

Friend to Friend

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. I love the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. I love the chance to give gifts to those I love and to some I may never meet this side of heaven. I love moments by the tree to count my blessings, to remember God’s faithfulness throughout the past year.

For me, this holiday—celebrating Christ’s birth—represents God’s infinite potential to save our souls, to fill us up, to connect us with loved ones, and to restore what’s been lost or stolen.

I must confess, though, for many years, I perpetually dealt with Christmas-envy, which surfaced while walking through one “not-yet” season after another.  I noticed others’ blessings in light of what I seemed to lack. I longed for a breakthrough, for life not to feel so hard, and for God’s provision to match our need. But during that time, those things were hard to find. Bed rest, sickness, disease, and more medical debt than we could pay, left me feeling like a have-not; like the girl who pressed her nose up against the window and longingly watched others celebrate this happy time of year.

Many years ago when the holidays were upon us, I remember specifically thinking, “This will be the year. The winds of adversity have shifted and a new season is in our midst. This will be my Merry Christmas year.”

My husband sat on the living room floor and untangled Christmas lights. Our three little boys sang Christmas songs and excitedly pulled ornaments from the box. Our in-laws had given us their big, beautiful Christmas tree to replace our puny, Charlie Brown one. Music filled the air. Cookies baked in the oven. The children celebrated with glee.

I peeked into the living room when I noticed a funny look on my husband’s face. “Is everything all right?” I asked. He rubbed his nose, looked this way then that, and faintly said, “Um, yes.

Everything’s fine. Everything is going to be fine.” I startled and said, “Oh no! What’s wrong?”

Well, it seems, that last spring, while doing a little spring cleaning, my dear husband threw away half of our large, beautiful Christmas tree. And a portion of our Charlie Brown tree. Leaving us with exactly two halves of two trees that didn’t belong together.

In a moment’s time, the cookies overcooked and burned, the cassette tape (dating me, I know) got swallowed up in the recorder, and my husband’s tree building endeavor came to a screeching halt. My heart sank and I wondered why—for the life of us—we couldn’t pull off the kind of Christmas scene you see on the holiday commercials. Or why that impossible dream mattered so to me.

My sweet husband was determined to make this right. He said, “Not to worry, honey. I just need a few of my tools.” Bless his heart.

With my hands in the sudsy water, I scraped the burnt cookie remnants from our only cookie sheet. I listened to the sounds of an electric drill in the living room. I heard the skill saw fire up a time or two. And I wondered, does anybody else’s living room resemble a construction site during this holiday season?

Nighttime came and I put the kids to bed. My hubby still hard at work, I kissed the top of his head and said, “It’s okay, honey. We don’t need a tree this year. Thanks for a valiant effort.”

I crawled in bed and fell fast asleep only to wake in the middle of the night to find Kev’s side of the bed still untouched.

I crawled out of bed, wrapped myself up in my robe, and walked in to the living room. I stopped quickly, gasped, and put my hands over my mouth. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Here in the middle of the night my husband sat on our living room floor in front of the most perfect, beautiful, medium-sized Christmas tree I had ever seen. He held the control to the lights like they were the control to a racecar. I put my hands on his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. Without turning around he whispered, “I was going to make it a rotating tree but figured I should stop while I’m ahead.”

I chuckled and crawled in his lap. Together we stared at our very own Christmas blessing. Suddenly overcome with emotion, I realized how much my life, our life together, resembled this tree. Kev sat in the mess of our living room and envisioned the finished product. He knew what he was after and was committed to seeing it through to the very end.

Our lives were a mess in so many ways. We were still buried in medical debt. I still battled sickness. Our house was still falling apart. But we had Emmanuel—God—With—Us. He was with us in the mess, committed to our story, and would see it through to its beautiful conclusion.

Jesus came to earth wrapped in human skin, was born into poverty, and walked the earth for us. He came to us, to our mess, and to our need. Though we love a good Christmas holiday celebration, what we need is salvation. Jesus came to save us. And He’s redeeming our story one step a time.

No matter what life season you’re in this Christmas, may your capacity to know Jesus, trust His love, and embrace His nearness grow by leaps and bounds. God is with you. And it’s impossible for Him to fail you.

Prayer

Jesus, You are the King of Kings and the Perfect Shepherd. You’re my Savior and my Friend. You will see my story to its beautiful end. Thank you for coming to earth, for living a sinless life, for always obeying the Father, and for dying my death on the Cross. I am forever grateful and profoundly changed because of who You are and because of what You’ve done. Forgive me for allowing myself to stress about the non-essentials this season. You are God-Most-High and You are with us. I have more than I could ever need because I have You. I’m deeply loved and profoundly blessed. Thank You, Lord. I love You back.
In Jesus’ Name, I pray,
Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn

When was the last time you most sensed Emmanuel – God With You? What about that moment was so sacred to you? In what ways are you tempted to allow the stress of the season to steal your joy? Here’s a challenge for you: Sit quietly by the tree for an evening and ask God what He most wants for you this season, and then adjust your schedule and expectations accordingly. A most blessed Christmas to you!

More from the Girlfriends

Be sure to check out Susie’s book, Your Powerful Prayers: Reaching the Heart of God With a Bold and Humble Faith and visit her website at www.susielarson.com.

Seeking God? Click HERE to find out more about how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
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