The Daily Lectionary for SATURDAY, December 8, 2018

The Great Day of the Lord
Malachi 4:1-6

The Daily Lectionary

SATURDAY, December 8, 2018

(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

Luke 1:68-79

Zechariah’s Prophecy (Song of Zechariah)
1:68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
    for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us
    in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71     that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
    and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
    to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness
    before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
    the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Malachi 4:1-6

The Great Day of the Lord
4:1 See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

4 Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.

Luke 9:1-6

The Mission of the Twelve
9:1 Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. 5 Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2018 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.

The Morning Prayer for SATURDAY, December 8, 2018

Saturday morning prayer

Dear Savior, help me remember as I begin my weekend activities. Whether work or leisure will engage me today, keep my thoughts and actions centered on You. Make it a day of contentment for me, no matter if the activities I face are pleasant or tedious. Keep me through the Holy Spirit from willful sins and from those sins I do not even realize I am committing. Help me be a positive influence in others' lives as I go my way. Let my inner rejoicing in Your salvation be evident in all I say and do so that I bring glory and not shame to Your most holy name.

Amen

Verse of the Day for SATURDAY, December 8, 2018

John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Read all of John 14

Listen to John 14

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Un dia a la Vez - El amor de Dios en mi vida

El amor de Dios en mi vida

Así manifestó Dios su amor entre nosotros: en que envió a su Hijo unigénito al mundo para que vivamos por medio de él.

~ 1 Juan 4:9 (NVI)

Un día como hoy, esta servidora llegó a este mundo. Creo que por eso disfruto mucho de estas temporadas navideñas.

Aún recuerdo mi niñez sencilla, pero muy divertida, en mi natal Colombia. Había fuegos artificiales y disfrutaba de la compañía de mis amistades. En esa época, como buena católica, celebraba la conocida «Novena de Aguinaldos» con villancicos, el árbol de Navidad y, sin faltar, el pesebre, o como se conoce en algunos países, el nacimiento. A pesar de esta hermosa época, desconocía el verdadero significado de la Navidad, pues para muchos solo era una oportunidad de vacaciones, mientras que para otros era enfrascarse en las decoraciones navideñas. Así que un día, hace muchos años, comprendí el verdadero significado de la «Navidad».

La Navidad es hermosa y sé que en esos días surge en nuestro corazón una necesidad por la familia y un anhelo de comprarles regalos a los niños que los esperan con tanta ilusión.

A la hora de analizar esta hermosa estación del año, tú y yo debemos entender que Jesús es la verdadera razón de la Navidad. Cuando le abrimos nuestro corazón, nos convertimos en el pesebre donde nace el Salvador.

Por lo tanto, debemos darle gracias a Dios por su Hijo, Jesús, que vino a este mundo para darnos el regalo de la vida eterna.

Si aún no has tenido ese encuentro personal con Jesucristo, ¿por qué no permites que ese corazoncito bello que tienes se convierta hoy en un pesebre donde nacerá tu Salvador?

De ese modo, ¡tú también nacerás de nuevo!

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón
Un día como hoy, esta servidora llegó a este mundo. Creo que por eso disfruto mucho de estas temporadas navideñas.

Standing Strong Through the Storm - LOSE THE FEAR OF DYING

LOSE THE FEAR OF DYING

We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:8 (NIV)

Our Open Doors colleague, Ron Boyd-MacMillan, shares the following insight from his teaching, “Why I Need to Encounter the Persecuted Church.”

There is a famous book called The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker. It is his contention that the whole of the western world is really a gigantic playground to distract us from ever facing the fact that we will all die! Thinking about death is all but forbidden. Preparing for it is seen as a sign of morbidity. We arrange for the elderly to die out of sight in hostels and hospitals. And huge multinational companies produce products that promise to keep the effects of aging at bay.

Inevitably, when we are too scared to face death we end up being a slave to it. Even Christians can show the same dread of it as others. But an encounter with the persecuted can go a long way to diffusing this sense of dread.

Over twenty years of reporting on the suffering church, I have interviewed literally hundreds of Christians who thought they were going to die for their faith. All of them—and I really do mean all of them—exhibited two amazing characteristics: they experienced unspeakable peace and joy in the midst of the pain as they began to feel death draw near; and they were as surprised as anyone that they were not afraid of death at the time.

Take Pastor You Yong, kidnapped by Islamic extremists from his church outside Madiun, central Java in December 2001. Furious that his church was full of Muslim converts, the extremists showered him with questions, trying to provoke him to attack them. They beat him and finally held a long machete to his throat. He assumed he was about to die. But what was going on inside Pastor You? Deeper than all the pain or fear? This is how he put it. “I was amazed that throughout the ordeal I felt an incredible peace. I was also amazed at the answers I was able to give them. That verse came true—‘when you are brought to trial, do not worry about what to say, for when the time comes, you will be given what to say’ (Matthew 10:19). The more they tried to provoke me, the more peace I felt.”

And so when death reaches out its icy hand even in more everyday ways—when the plane hits an air pocket, or the results of the suspected cancer scan are due—I remember the experiences of my persecuted friends and I am strengthened to think, If they have been where I am about to go, and still testify that Jesus gives unaccountable peace, well, it is no tragedy to tread this well-worn path. Their experiences in the face of death help to take the dread away.

Of course, I know all this from the Bible, where Paul says that to be with Christ is “far better.” And I have read that wonderful passage in Acts seven when Stephen has the face of an angel when he is stoned to death. But the truth comes with more power when a flesh-and-blood person who has faced death puts their arms around you and says, “You will have peace, and Jesus will be with you in the midst of it all.” Death just cannot be that bad if Jesus is that great!

RESPONSE: Today I will live in the peace of God that takes away the fear of dying.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, for the encouragement of the persecuted to trust You in life and death.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

The NIV Couples Devotional - Cheating Together

Cheating Together

1 Kings 14:1–18

At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people.”

~ 1 Kings 14:1–2 (NIV)

Jeroboam was in a predicament. He had served the great Israelite ruler Solomon as an official in the department of public works. Encouraged by the words of Ahijah the prophet that he would one day be king, Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon, resulting in his exile to Egypt (see 1 Kings 11:26–40). When Solomon died and Rehoboam took over, Jeroboam returned from Egypt and seized the opportunity to lure away most of the kingdom.

Originally, Jeroboam’s main goal was to help the Israelites find a better government than the one offered by Solomon and his self-absorbed son. But, along the way, power corrupted Jeroboam; he did things to ensure his tenacious leadership while minimizing God’s influence.

Now Jeroboam’s son was sick. So the king began weaving a web of deception, enlisting his wife to dress like someone else and feign piety before Ahijah to manipulate him into giving a good report on their son. Rather than seeking God’s guidance, the couple tried to use the prophet like a good-luck charm. Things turned out very badly for them as a result.

Marriage binds husband and wife into a unity that changes both of them. While individual identities shouldn’t be crushed as “two become one,” it is also true that we cannot remain isolated or independent from one another. But in the fusing that takes place, both good and bad things can happen.

When we share our lives well, we can strengthen our mate’s resolve, nurture our spouse’s well-being and encourage each other’s gifts. Unfortunately, we can also have a negative impact on each other. We can entice our partner into supporting our mistakes and sins. We can ask our spouse to cover up for us when the phone rings and we don’t wish to be found. We can lie for our mate in public settings. We can manipulate our spouse into falsifying tax returns or hiding assets.

Marriage makes us complicit in the morality of our mate. That is an important reason to choose wisely before we wed and to build upon a strong moral center in our relationship after we are joined. Great businesses don’t collapse overnight through some minor accounting error; their foundations slowly erode as leaders make each other complicit in deceptive schemes. So it is in marriages. While we can win for a while as we help each other cheat on the truth, in the long run we build a kingdom of facades in which we can neither trust our partner’s face nor clearly see our own.

On the other hand, when we learn from mistakes like those of Jeroboam and his wife, we can build a complicity of goodness that our children and friends will admire someday when they help us celebrate our silver and golden wedding anniversaries.

Wayne Brouwer

Let’s Talk

• Are we playing games of deception right now? What might we lose through them?
• How can we keep one another morally committed to what is right? Should we schedule regular opportunities for accountability checks? What would we ask each other?
• In what areas are we most vulnerable to temptation or sin? What do we need most from each other to strengthen these vulnerable places?

Marriage binds husband and wife into a unity that changes both of them.

LHM Daily Devotions - GIVE ME A MIRACLE

"GIVE ME A MIRACLE"

Dec. 8, 2018

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His Name Immanuel.

~ Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)

Have you ever heard somebody say, "If God would just do a miracle, right here and now in front of me, I'd believe in Him"? Whenever I hear this, I roll my eyes. What kind of miracle exactly were they thinking of—the earth opening up and swallowing someone? The heavens torn open and the glory of God being revealed? A voice from the sky booming, "I'M HERE. ARE YOU SATISFIED YET?"

I think that most people asking for a demo miracle underestimate how scary that would be. If I got one of the miracles above, I'd run away so fast you'd smell something burning.

But then there's the miracle God promised king Ahaz. It was a time when war threatened, and Ahaz didn't trust God to protect the country. God offered to do a miracle—any miracle—for him to confirm it, and Ahaz wouldn't even choose one! So God chose for him: "The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His Name 'Immanuel'" (Isaiah 7:14).

Who could be scared of a baby? Babies are about as weak and harmless as they come. They certainly don't belong in a war. But this baby—ah, this baby would be God's miraculous answer to the greatest war the human race has ever faced—Satan's attempt to destroy us all, body and soul. This tiny baby Jesus would be our fighter, our champion, who would fight the devil and all his power and actually win! —releasing all the people the devil had held in bondage to sin for so many years.

God promised this gentle miracle and kept His promise—to Ahaz, to you, and to me. We don't need to be afraid. This baby, Jesus, has come to save us.

THE PRAYER: Thank You, Father, for sending us this gentle miracle, Your dear Son Jesus. Help us welcome Him with faith and trust. Amen.

The Coming King REFLECTION QUESTIONS!

• If God offered you a miracle of your choice, what would you ask for?

• Are babies scary to you? Why or why not—or under what circumstances?

• Why do you think God sent Jesus as a tiny baby instead of a great warrior descending from heaven?

Advent Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo. Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
Have you ever heard somebody say, "If God would just do a miracle, right here and now in front of me, I'd believe in Him"?

Devocional del CPTLN de 08 de Diciembre de 2018 - Dame un milagro

ALIMENTO DIARIO

Dame un milagro

08 de Diciembre de 2018

Pues ahora el Señor mismo les dará una señal: La joven concebirá, y dará a luz un hijo, y le pondrá por nombre Emanuel.

~ Isaías 7:14 (RVC)

¿Alguna vez has escuchado a alguien decir: "Si Dios hiciera un milagro aquí y ahora, creería en Él?" Cada vez que escucho esto, me exaspero. ¿En qué tipo de milagro piensan exactamente: que se abra la tierra y se trague a alguien? ¿O que se abran los cielos y revelen la gloria de Dios? O una voz que desde el cielo diga: "AQUÍ ESTOY. ¿ESTÁS SATISFECHO AHORA?" Se me ocurre que la mayoría de quienes piden un milagro de ese tipo, subestiman lo aterrador que sería. Si yo presenciara algo así, saldría corriendo.

Pero hay otros milagros, como el que Dios prometió al rey Acaz. La guerra amenazaba y Acaz no confiaba en que Dios protegería su país. Dios se ofreció a hacer un milagro para confirmarlo, ¡pero Acaz no eligió ninguno! Entonces Dios eligió por él: "La virgen concebirá y dará a luz un hijo, y llamará su nombre 'Emanuel'" (Isaías 7:14).

¿Quién iba a tener miedo de un niño? Los niños son lo más débil e inofensivo que puede haber. Pero ese niño... ah, ese Niño sería la respuesta milagrosa de Dios a la guerra más grande que la humanidad haya jamás enfrentado: el intento de Satanás de destruirnos en cuerpo y alma. Ese pequeño niño Jesús sería el soldado que pelearía y ganaría contra el diablo y todo su poder, liberando a todas las personas que el diablo había mantenido esclavizadas al pecado durante tantos años.

Dios prometió ese milagro y cumplió su promesa: a Acaz, a ti y a mí. No necesitamos tener miedo. Ese niño, Jesús, ha venido a salvarnos.

ORACIÓN: Gracias, Padre, por enviarnos el milagro de tu querido hijo Jesús. Ayúdanos a recibirlo con fe y confianza. Amén.

PREGUNTAS DE REFLEXIÓN:

Si Dios te ofreciera un milagro, ¿qué le pedirías?

¿Por qué crees que Dios envió a Jesús como un bebé, en vez de enviar un guerrero fuerte?

© Copyright 2018 Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones. Que a través de estos devocionales, la Palabra de Dios te refresque en tu diario caminar.
¿Alguna vez has escuchado a alguien decir: "Si Dios hiciera un milagro aquí y ahora, creería en Él?"

Lời Sống Hằng Ngày - Chỗ Ở

Chỗ Ở

Đọc: Giăng 14:1-6 | Đọc Kinh Thánh suốt năm: Đa-ni-ên 8-10; III Giăng

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Trong nhà Cha Ta có nhiều chỗ ở; nếu không phải vậy, sao Ta lại nói với các con rằng Ta đi chuẩn bị cho các con một chỗ? Giăng 14:2 

Gần đây, một người bạn của tôi đã qua đời vì bệnh ung thư, cô ấy từng làm nghề buôn bán nhà để kiếm sống. Khi vợ chồng tôi hồi tưởng về Patsy, vợ tôi nhớ lại rằng nhiều năm trước đây cô đã dẫn một người về với Chúa và người ấy trở nên bạn tốt của chúng tôi.

Thật được khích lệ khi nhớ lại rằng Patsy không chỉ giúp cho nhiều gia đình tìm được chỗ ở để sống trong khu của chúng tôi, mà cô còn giúp cho người khác biết chắc rằng họ có một chỗ ở đời đời.

Khi sắp bước lên thập tự giá vì cớ chúng ta, Chúa Jêsus đã bày tỏ sự quan tâm sâu sắc đến chỗ ở đời đời của chúng ta. Ngài phán với các môn đồ: “Ta đi chuẩn bị cho các con một chỗ” và nhắc cho họ nhớ rằng trong nhà của Cha Ngài có rất nhiều chỗ cho tất cả những ai tin nơi Ngài (Gi. 14:2).

Chúng ta thích có căn nhà đẹp trong đời này, đó sẽ là nơi đặc biệt để gia đình chúng ta ăn uống, ngủ nghỉ và ở bên cạnh nhau. Nhưng hãy nghĩ xem sẽ tuyệt vời làm sao khi chúng ta bước vào đời sau và khám phá ra rằng Chúa đã chuẩn bị chỗ ở đời đời cho chúng ta. Ngợi khen Chúa vì đã ban cho chúng ta sự sống “dư dật” (Gi. 10:10), bao gồm sự hiện diện của Ngài trong hiện tại và ở nơi mà Ngài đang chuẩn bị cho chúng ta (14:3).

Khi nghĩ đến những gì mà Chúa dành sẵn cho những ai tin Chúa Jêsus, chúng ta sẽ được khích lệ để làm giống như Patsy và hướng dẫn người khác đến với Chúa Jêsus.

Lạy Chúa, trong lúc chúng con trông đợi chỗ ở mà Ngài đang chuẩn bị cho chúng con, xin giúp chúng con chia sẻ cho người khác biết rằng họ cũng có thể tận hưởng chỗ ở đời đời mà Ngài đang chuẩn bị cho mọi người tin Chúa Jêsus.

Hôm nay, bạn sẽ nói cho ai biết về chỗ ở đời đời mà họ cần và sự bảo đảm cho điều đó?

bởi Dave Branon

© 2018 Lời Sống Hằng Ngày
Gần đây, một người bạn của tôi đã qua đời vì bệnh ung thư, cô ấy từng làm nghề buôn bán nhà để kiếm sống.