The Daily Lectionary for SATURDAY, December 15, 2018

The Birth of John the Baptist
Luke 1:57-66

The Daily Lectionary

SATURDAY, December 15, 2018

(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

Isaiah 12:2-6

2 Surely God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid,
  for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
    he has become my salvation.

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

  Give thanks to the Lord,
    call on his name;
  make known his deeds among the nations;
    proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
    let this be known in all the earth.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
    for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Amos 9:8-15

8 The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
    and I will destroy it from the face of the earth
    —except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
  says the Lord.

9 For lo, I will command,
    and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
  as one shakes with a sieve,
    but no pebble shall fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
    who say, “Evil shall not overtake or meet us.”

The Restoration of David’s Kingdom
11 On that day I will raise up
    the booth of David that is fallen,
  and repair its breaches,
    and raise up its ruins,
    and rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom
    and all the nations who are called by my name,
    says the Lord who does this.

13 The time is surely coming, says the Lord,
    when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps,
    and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed;
  the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
    and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
    and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
  they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them upon their land,
    and they shall never again be plucked up
    out of the land that I have given them,
  says the Lord your God.

Luke 1:57-66

The Birth of John the Baptist
1:57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

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
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

The Morning Prayer for SATURDAY, December 15, 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 15, 2018

Luke 1:30-33 (NIV) But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Read all of Luke 1

Listen to Luke 1

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 - Consejos prácticos para el diario vivir

Consejos prácticos para el diario vivir

Lámpara es a mis pies tu palabra, y lumbrera a mi camino.

~ Salmo 119:105 (RV-60)

Hay un refrán popular que expresa: «El que no oye consejos no llega a viejo». Y es muy que cierto.

No sé si te ha pasado, pero a mí sí. A veces nuestros padres nos aconsejan y nos dicen cosas que saben que son buenas, pero no les hacemos caso. Hoy, después de tantos golpes en la vida, te puedo decir que debemos escuchar los consejos de nuestros padres, pues tienen la experiencia y la sabiduría de la vida. Además, desean lo mejor para nosotros.

He aquí algunos consejos útiles que a mí me han dado buenos resultados:

• Coloca a Dios en primer lugar.
• Deja el pasado atrás.
• Ten en alto tu autoestima.
• Valórate.
• No menosprecies lo que tienes.
• Sé fiel, honesto y sincero.
• No envidies los triunfos de los demás.
• Trabaja con excelencia.
• Sé humilde.
• Sé obediente a los mandamientos del Señor.

Si quieres ser feliz de verdad, pon en práctica lo que te aconseja la Palabra de Dios.

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón
Hay un refrán popular que expresa: «El que no oye consejos no llega a viejo».

Standing Strong Through the Storm - LOVE MYSTERY

LOVE MYSTERY

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.

~ 1 Corinthians 4:1 (NIV)

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

However we splice it, the Christian life involves living with mystery. Many times the will of God is utterly incomprehensible to us. This is as it should be, since God’s ways are so much higher than ours, but it doesn’t make it any easier to live with. Living with mystery is hard.

Mystery should make us silent, humble, careful. We should not rush to explain what cannot be explained. But I remember on a visit to China meeting a famous house church leader. We were talking about revival. Revival is a mystery. Why does God bring it to some countries and not to others? We don’t know. This leader said he knew: “Oh, there is no mystery to revival. Revival is brought about by persecution. You pray for persecution, and you will get revival later on.”

But this is quite untrue, and one has to make allowances for persecuted Christians, for though they may know the history of their own churches well, they are often unaware of the history of the church worldwide. It is obvious that God has brought many revivals about without persecution. The Great Awakenings of 18th century America and Britain for example were brought about largely as a result of the preaching of Whitefield and Wesley. It is also obvious that there are places where persecution has not brought revival. One thinks of the whole of North Africa and the Middle East, which provided so many of our early church leaders like Tertullian and Augustine. Now there are only the sandy ruins of churches, and Islam.

Mysteries also should make us honest. We have to admit “we don’t know” to God. But all too often we beg for answers we simply could not handle. But if I look at the experiences rather than the explanations of the persecuted, I see that at the heart of mystery is not frustration, but joy and grace.

The same Chinese leader—so confident he knew the formula to revival—also shared a prison experience: “I had lost my church, my freedom, and I was starting to lose my health, and I cried to God, Why are you letting me go through this?” He received no formal answer, but said, “I felt a light within me that chased away the darkness, and I received the companionship of Christ. I cannot explain it any more than that, though God knows I have tried. It never comes out right. But the mystery of God’s will was the means I rested on the bosom of Christ.”

Mysteries appear dark, like black holes on the outside, but as we enter them, we are in for a wonderful discovery. At their center is not darkness, but light. This light is the light of Christ. Don’t be afraid of a mystery. It is dark on the outside, but full of light on the inside.

RESPONSE: Today I will not fear mystery but love it by entering to find the light of Christ.

PRAYER: Lord, keep me silent, humble, careful and honest as I explore the mystery of Your grace.

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 - Family Abuse and Rescue

Family Abuse and Rescue

2 Kings 11:1–16

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered.

~ 2 Kings 11:2 (NIV)

Until a few years ago, I was only marginally aware of this emotionally powerful story about Joash. It is, after all, stuck in the middle of the long section of 1 and 2 Kings that many of us sometimes, um, skim.

At any rate, we read here about King Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah, who had begun killing off the royal family so that she could rule as queen. Jehosheba, Ahaziah’s sister, saw what was going on and rescued Ahaziah’s young son Joash, hiding him and his nurse at the temple. Joash remained there for six years, finally emerging when it was time for him to be crowned as king.

What first gripped me about this story was Athaliah, a wicked matriarch of fairy-tale proportions. Can’t you just see her as the Wicked Witch of the West? Once I tore myself away from that specter, I noticed how complicated her family was. On the one hand, this group of relatives was truly dysfunctional (they were, after all, related to the infamous family of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel). They were so dysfunctional that a grandmother began killing off her own grandchildren—her own descendants!—so she could grab the throne. Athaliah makes my overbearing grandmother look like a wimp.

On the other hand, the family wasn’t all bad. Joash’s aunt, Jehosheba, intervened to rescue the little boy and hide him till he was old enough to be king. That’s a powerful illustration of how families that contain violent and destructive kooks and abusers can also contain courageous and self-sacrificing heroes.

I can relate to the story of Joash because my own aunts played such a huge role in my growing-up years. While never in danger of being killed, I sometimes felt like I didn’t fit in with my parents and sister. My aunts stepped into that gap to nurture me, to explain the weird Winner family mysteries to me, and to help me feel like I belonged. Now that I’m an adult, my aunts continue to be my cherished confidants.

My own aunts—not to mention Aunt Jehosheba—remind me what a blessing extended family can be. They help me understand how important it is not to get so focused on our nuclear families that we forget our wider kith and kin. For some of us, extended families may not be biological; they may be in-laws, neighbors, friends or church family.

I certainly hope my own little family is never as destructive and broken as Joash’s. But I would be fooling myself to think that my husband and I are perfect parents or that we can do the job of raising our children by ourselves. We need others to help us do that. By looking outside the walls of our own home to our relatives and church family, Griff and I will help ensure that our own bad tendencies are caught, checked and corrected by others who love us and ours.

Lauren Winner

Let’s Talk

• Thinking about each other’s families, which people are the dysfunctional or difficult ones? Who are the heroes? How do all of these people influence our marriage?
• Are we as a couple open to intervention, love, even rebuke from friends or extended family? If we have children how do we encourage relationships between them and other adults in our family whom we love and trust?
• Have we ever acted as someone else’s Jehosheba, stepping in to help the child of a friend or relative? What have we learned from this experience?

Until a few years ago, I was only marginally aware of this emotionally powerful story about Joash.

LHM Daily Devotions - A HOME AWAY FROM HOME

"A HOME AWAY FROM HOME"

Dec. 15, 2018

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

~ Luke 1:39-43 (ESV)

Luke tells us that Mary went "with haste" to visit Elizabeth; she was in a hurry to get there. And no wonder, because Mary knew that Elizabeth and Zechariah were the two people in the world guaranteed to believe in the miracle that was happening to her. They would understand that Mary's coming baby was God's miracle; they had their own miracle baby on the way. They would gladly take her in and care for her while she experienced those first few months of pregnancy herself—days of joy and anxiety, tiredness and morning sickness.

Elizabeth's house would be a home away from home—a place where Mary could relax and be comfortable. We all need that kind of a place, don't we? We need a place we can go where we don't have to worry about judgement or condemnation or shame. We need a refuge: a place where we can feel safe and loved.

God's good news for us is that we have exactly that—a home away from home, a place—no, even better, a Person! —who welcomes us and cares for us as His own children. "God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble," says the psalmist (Psalm 46:1). God made Himself our refuge when He entered this world as our Savior, Jesus Christ. He lay down His own life to rescue us from evil, and rose from the dead as the One with power over everything, including all our fears. And to all of us who are ashamed, frightened, fearing judgment, He says, "Come to Me. Whoever comes to Me I will never cast out ... This is the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, but raise them up on the last day" (see John 6:37-39).

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, You have called me to You. Let me stay with You forever, trusting You with all my heart. Amen.

The Coming King REFLECTION QUESTIONS!

• What is your favorite place to be? Why?

• Who is someone in your life who makes you feel truly at home? How?

• Think of someone you know who needs a "home away from home" from you. What could you do to show care and welcome to him or her?

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).
Luke tells us that Mary went "with haste" to visit Elizabeth.

Devocional del CPTLN de 15 de Diciembre de 2018 - Un hogar lejos del hogar

ALIMENTO DIARIO

Un hogar lejos del hogar

15 de Diciembre de 2018

Por esos mismos días, María fue de prisa a una ciudad de Judá que estaba en las montañas. Al entrar en la casa de Zacarías, saludó a Elisabet.

~ Lucas 1:39 (RVC)

Lucas nos dice que María fue "de prisa" a visitar a Elisabet. Y no es de extrañar que así lo hiciera, porque sabía que Elisabet y Zacarías eran las dos personas en el mundo que sin duda iban a creer en el milagro que le estaba sucediendo. Ellos entenderían que el bebé de María era un milagro de Dios, pues ya tenían su propio milagro también en camino.

La casa de Elisabet sería un hogar lejos de su hogar donde María podría relajarse y estar cómoda. Todos necesitamos un lugar así, ¿no? Un lugar donde poder ir sin temer ser juzgados, condenados o avergonzados. Necesitamos un refugio donde poder sentirnos seguros y amados.

La buena noticia de Dios para nosotros es que ya tenemos ese hogar lejos de nuestro hogar. Mejor aún, no se trata de un lugar, sino de una Persona que nos acoge y nos cuida como a sus propios hijos. "Dios es nuestro amparo y fortaleza, nuestro pronto auxilio en todos los problemas", dice el Salmo 46:1.

Dios se hizo nuestro refugio cuando entró en este mundo para ser nuestro Salvador. Jesucristo dio su vida para rescatarnos del mal y resucitó de entre los muertos con poder sobre todas las cosas, incluidos todos nuestros temores. A todos los que estamos avergonzados, asustados, temiendo ser juzgados, él nos dice: "Al que viene a mí, no lo echo fuera ... Y ésta es la voluntad del que me envió: Que de todo lo que él me dio, yo no pierda nada, sino que lo resucite en el día final" (Juan 6:37, 39).

ORACIÓN: Querido Señor Jesús, gracias por hacerme tuyo. Ayúdame a permanecer siempre a tu lado, confiando en ti con todo mi corazón. Amén.

PREGUNTAS DE REFLEXIÓN:

• ¿Quién te hace sentir como si estuvieras en tu casa? ¿De qué manera?

• Si conoces a una persona que necesita un "hogar lejos del hogar", piensa qué podrías por ella.

© Copyright 2018 Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones. Que a través de estos devocionales, la Palabra de Dios te refresque en tu diario caminar.
¿Quién te hace sentir como si estuvieras en tu casa? ¿De qué manera?

Lời Sống Hằng Ngày - Bức Khảm Đẹp

Bức Khảm Đẹp

Đọc: Lu-ca 1:46-55 | Đọc Kinh Thánh suốt năm: A-mốt 1-3; Khải huyền 6

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Linh hồn tôi tôn ngợi Chúa, tâm linh tôi mừng rỡ trong Đức Chúa Trời là Cứu Chúa tôi. Lu-ca 1:46-47

Ngồi trong sân nhà thờ Chúa Thăm Viếng (Church of Visitation) tại Ein Karem, Israel, tôi bị choáng ngợp bởi vẻ đẹp của bảy bức khảm ghi phần Kinh Thánh Lu-ca 1:46-55 bằng nhiều ngôn ngữ. Từ bấy lâu nay được biết đến dưới tên Magnificat, là chữ La-tinh có nghĩa “tán dương,” những câu này là lời đáp ứng đầy vui mừng của Ma-ri khi nghe tin bà sẽ là mẹ của Đấng Mê-si-a.

Mỗi tấm bảng chứa đựng lời của Ma-ri: “Linh hồn tôi tôn ngợi Chúa, tâm linh tôi mừng rỡ trong Đức Chúa Trời là Cứu Chúa tôi… Bởi Đấng Toàn Năng đã làm các việc lớn cho tôi” (c.46-49). Bài ca trích từ Kinh Thánh được khảm trên gạch này là bài ca ngợi khen của Ma-ri khi bà thuật lại sự thành tín của Chúa đối với bà và dân Y-sơ-ra-ên.

Là người nhận lãnh ân điển của Chúa với lòng biết ơn, Ma-ri vui mừng trong sự cứu rỗi của bà (c.47). Bà công nhận rằng sự thương xót của Chúa đã được bày tỏ cho dân Y-sơ-ra-ên suốt nhiều thế hệ (c.50). Nhìn lại sự chăm sóc của Chúa trên dân Y-sơ-ra-ên, Ma-ri đã ngợi khen Chúa về những việc quyền năng của Ngài thay cho dân sự Ngài (c.51). Bà cũng cảm tạ Chúa, nhận biết rằng sự chu cấp mỗi ngày đến từ tay Ngài (c.53).

Ma-ri cho chúng ta thấy rằng việc đếm lại những việc lớn lao Chúa đã làm là cách để bày tỏ sự ngợi khen và sẽ khiến chúng ta vui mừng. Mùa Giáng Sinh này, hãy suy nghĩ đến sự nhân từ của Chúa khi bạn suy ngẫm về năm nay. Bạn sẽ tạo nên một bức khảm thật đẹp bằng những lời ngợi khen của mình.

Lạy Chúa, chúng con ngợi khen Ngài về những việc lớn lao mà Ngài đã làm trong cuộc đời chúng con năm nay. Chúng con vui mừng trong ơn thương xót và sự chăm sóc của Ngài.

Hãy liệt kê những ơn phước mà Chúa đã ban cho bạn trong năm nay và suy ngẫm trong sự tĩnh lặng. Và hãy chia sẻ câu chuyện về sự nhân từ của Ngài với người khác. 

bởi Lisa M. Samra

© 2018 Lời Sống Hằng Ngày
Ngồi trong sân nhà thờ Chúa Thăm Viếng (Church of Visitation) tại Ein Karem, Israel, tôi bị choáng ngợp bởi vẻ đẹp của bảy bức khảm ghi phần Kinh Thánh Lu-ca 1:46-55 bằng nhiều ngôn ngữ.