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Streams in the Desert – December 23

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The Lord’s angelic messenger came back again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, for otherwise you won’t be able to make the journey.”—1 Kings 19:7

 

And what did God do with His tired servant? Gave him something good to eat, and put him to sleep. Elijah had done splendid work, and had run alongside of the chariot in his excitement, and it had been too much for his physical strength, and the reaction had come on, and he was depressed. The physical needed to be cared for. What many people want is sleep, and the physical ailment attended to. There are grand men and women who get where Elijah was—under the juniper tree! and it comes very soothingly to such to hear the words of the Master: “The journey is too great for thee, and I am going to refresh you.” Let us not confound physical weariness with spiritual weakness.

 

“I’m too tired to trust and too tired to pray, 

Said one, as the over-taxed strength gave way. 

The one conscious thought by my mind possessed, 

Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.

 

“Will God forgive me, do you suppose, 

If I go right to sleep as a baby goes, 

Without an asking if I may, 

Without ever trying to trust and pray?

 

“Will God forgive you? why think, dear heart, 

When language to you was an unknown art, 

Did a mother deny you needed rest, 

Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?

 

“Did she let you want when you could not ask? 

Did she set her child an unequal task? 

Or did she cradle you in her arms, 

And then guard your slumber against alarms?

 

“Ah, how quick was her mother love to see, 

The unconscious yearnings of infancy. 

When you’ve grown too tired to trust and pray, 

When over-wrought nature has quite given way:

 

“Then just drop it all, and give up to rest, 

As you used to do on a mother’s breast, 

He knows all about it—the dear Lord knows, 

So just go to sleep as a baby goes;

 

“Without even asking if you may, 

God knows when His child is too tired to pray. 

He judges not solely by uttered prayer, 

He knows when the yearnings of love are there.

 

“He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust, 

And He knows, too, the limits’ of poor weak dust. 

Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ, 

For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,

 

“When He bade them sleep and take their rest, 

While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed—

You’ve given your life up to Him to keep, 

Then don’t be afraid to go right to sleep.”

God’s Story… For My Life – Tuesday, December 23, 2014

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Safely Home

Read Luke 23:32-43

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” A sign was fastened to the cross above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
(Luke 23:34-43)
Reflect

As this man was about to die, he turned to Christ for forgiveness, and Christ accepted him. This shows that our deeds don’t save us—our faith in Christ does. Even in his misery, Jesus had mercy on this criminal who decided to believe in him. Our lives will be much more useful and fulfilling if we turn to God early, but even those who repent at the very last moment will be with God in paradise.

The dying criminal had more faith than the rest of Jesus’ followers put together. Although the disciples continued to love Jesus, their hopes for the kingdom were shattered. Most of them had gone into hiding. As one of his followers sadly said two days later, “We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel” (Luke 24:21). By contrast, the criminal looked at the man who was dying next to him and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42). By all appearances, the kingdom was finished. How awe-inspiring is the faith of this man who alone saw beyond the present shame to the coming glory!
Respond

Is there someone you know who seems to be waiting until the bitter end to trust Jesus? Pray for him or her to know God’s tender mercy and compassion. Be a light that reminds him or her of the love of God.

Streams in the Desert – December 22

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Lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him (Gen. 15:12).

The sun at last went down, and the swift, eastern night cast its heavy veil over the scene. Worn out with the mental conflict, the watchings, and the exertions of the day, Abraham fell into a deep sleep, and in that sleep is soul was oppressed with a dense and dreadful darkness, such as almost stifled him, and lay like a nightmare upon his heart.

Do you understand something of the horror of that darkness? When some terrible sorrow which seems so hard to reconcile with perfect love, crushes down upon the soul, wringing from it all its peaceful rest in the pitifulness of God, and launching it on a sea unlit by a ray of hope; when unkindness, and cruelty maltreat the trusting heart, till it begins to doubt whether there be a God overhead who can see and still permit–these know something of the “horror of great darkness.”

It is thus that human life is made up; rightness and gloom; shadow and sun; long tracks of cloud, succeeded by brilliant glints of light, and amid all Divine justice is working out its own schemes, affecting others equally with the individual soul which seems the subject of special discipline.

O ye who are filled with the horror of great darkness because of God’s dealings with mankind, learn to trust that infallible wisdom, which is co-assessor with immutable justice; and know that He who passed through the horror of the darkness of Calvary, with the cry of forsaken, is ready to bear you company through the valley of the shadow of death till you see the sun shining upon its further side.

Let us, by our Forerunner, send forward our anchor, Hope, within the veil that parts us from the unseen; where it will grapple in ground and will not yield, but hold until the day dawns, and we follow it into the haven guaranteed to us by God’s immutable counsel.
–F. B. Meyer

The disciples thought that that angry sea separated them from Jesus. Nay, some of them thought worse than that; they thought that the trouble that had come upon them was a sign that Jesus had forgotten all about them, and did not care for them.

Oh, dear friend, that is when troubles have a sting, when the devil whispers, “God has forgotten you; God has forsaken you”; when your unbelieving heart cries as Gideon cried, “If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?” The evil has come upon you to bring the Lord nearer to you. The evil has not come upon you to separate you from Jesus, but to make you cling to Him more faithfully, more tenaciously, more simply.
–F. S. Webster, M.A.

Never should we so abandon ourselves to God as when He seems to have abandoned us. Let us enjoy light and consolation when it is His pleasure to give it to us, but let us not attach ourselves to His gifts, but to Himself; and when He plunges us into the night of pure faith, let us still press on through the agonizing darkness.

Oh, for faith that brings the triumph
When defeat seems strangely near!
Oh, for faith that brings the triumph
Into victory’s ringing cheer–
Faith triumphant; knowing not defeat or fear.
–Herbert Booth

An Encouraging Word – Max Lucado – A Next Door Savior

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A Next Door Savior

There was something wrong with the picture.

We used to look at such scenes in elementary school. To keep us occupied, the teacher would pass out drawings with the question at the bottom, “What’s wrong with this picture?” Remember them? We’d look closely for something that didn’t fit. A farmyard scene with a piano near the water trough. A classroom with a pirate seated on the back row. An astronaut on the moon with a pay phone in the background. We’d ponder the picture and point to the piano or pirate or pay phone and say, “This doesn’t fit.” Something is out of place. Something is absurd. Pianos don’t belong in farmyards. Pirates don’t sit in classrooms. Pay phones aren’t found on the moon, and God doesn’t chum with the common folk or snooze in fishing boats.

But according to the Bible he did. “For in Christ there is all of God in a human body” (Col. 2:9 TLB). Jesus was not a godlike man, nor a manlike God. He was God-man.

Midwifed by a carpenter. Bathed by a peasant girl. The maker of the world with a belly button. The author of the Torah being taught the Torah.

Heaven’s human. And because he was, we are left with scratch-your-head, double-blink, what’s-wrong-with-this-picture? moments like these:

Bordeaux instead of H2O. A cripple sponsoring the town dance. A sack lunch satisfying five thousand tummies. And, most of all, a grave: guarded by soldiers, sealed by a rock, yet vacated by a three-days-dead man.

What do we do with such moments?

What do we do with such a person? We applaud men for doing good things. We enshrine God for doing great things. But when a man does God things?

One thing is certain, we can’t ignore him. Why would we want to? If these moments are factual, if the claim of Christ is actual, then he was, at once, man and God.

There he was, the single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP; he is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street. Who comes close? Humanity’s best and brightest fade like dime-store rubies next to him.

Dismiss him? We can’t.

Resist him? Equally difficult. Don’t we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next door Savior.

God’s Story… For My Life – Monday, December 22, 2014

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Who Is Really on Trial?

Read John 18:38–19:16

Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”

The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
(John 19:4-11)

Reflect

The truth finally came out—the religious leaders had not brought Jesus to Pilate because he was causing rebellion against Rome, but because they thought he had broken their religious laws. Blasphemy, one of the most serious crimes in Jewish law, deserved the death penalty. Accusing Jesus of blasphemy would give credibility to their case in the eyes of Jews; accusing Jesus of treason would give credibility to their case in the eyes of the Romans. They didn’t care which accusation Pilate listened to, as long as he would cooperate with them in killing Jesus.

Throughout the trial we see that Jesus was in control, not Pilate or the religious leaders. Pilate vacillated, the Jewish leaders reacted out of hatred and anger, but Jesus remained composed. He knew the truth, he knew God’s plan, and he knew the reason for his trial. Despite the pressure and persecution, Jesus remained unmoved. It was really Pilate and the religious leaders who were on trial, not Jesus.

Respond

How do you usually respond when unjustly criticized? When you are questioned or ridiculed because of your faith, remember that while you may be on trial before your accusers, they are on trial before God.

Take Hope in the Manger

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12/22/2014

Take Hope in the Manger

 

From Louie Giglio’s
Waiting Here For You, An Advent Journey of Hope

Just the Right Time

 

A Savior had been promised to God’s people for centuries. They longed and prayed for rescue. And then on the right day, in the right place, at the right time, Jesus was born.

 

While God rarely comes at our appointed time, He always comes at the right time. All of us are waiting on something, often wondering if God has forgotten us. In your waiting, let the birth of Christ encourage you. Just because God hasn’t come through (as far as you can see), it doesn’t mean He has abandoned you.

HE ALWAYS COMES AT THE RIGHT TIME

To Him a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. This very minute He’s working for His glory and for your good. Though circumstances say otherwise, God is going to come through, on schedule, fulfilling His long-appointed plans for you.

 

Don’t give up before the time is right. Take hope in the manger and know that you are loved and prized by the God who stepped down from heaven and arrived at the perfect time for you.

 

God’s Story… For My Life – Sunday, December 21, 2014

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Peter’s Denial

Read Mark 14:66-72

Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire. She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth.”

But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed.

When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others, “This man is definitely one of them!” But Peter denied it again.

A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.”

Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” And immediately the rooster crowed the second time.

Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept.
(Mark 14:66-72)

Reflect

Caiaphas’s house, where Jesus was tried (Mark 14:53), was part of a huge palace with several courtyards. John was apparently acquainted with the high priest, and he was let into the courtyard along with Peter (John 18:15-16).

The disciple who swore he’d never desert Jesus—“Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will” (Mark 14:29)—promptly denies Jesus out of fear of being arrested with him. Peter’s curse was more than just a common swear word. He was making the strongest denial he could think of by denying with an oath that he knew Jesus. He was saying, in effect, “May God strike me dead if I’m lying.” His heart was filled with remorse afterward.

While most of us may not be like the Jewish and Roman leaders, we are like the disciples because all of us have been guilty of denying Christ as Lord in vital areas of our lives. We may pride ourselves that we have not committed certain sins, but we are all guilty of sin.

Respond

Sometimes we deny Jesus by remaining silent about our Christianity or by trying to fit in with a specific group. We can also deny him by the way we treat others—with unkindness, prejudice, or indifference. Sadly, we keep running, fearing that he’ll point the finger of condemnation at us. Have you denied Jesus? Stop running. Condemnation is the enemy’s tactic. Jesus waits to restore you in love and mercy.

God’s Story… For My Life – Saturday, December 20, 2014

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Not My Will, But Yours

Read Matthew 26:36-46

Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
(Matthew 26:36-41)

Reflect

Jesus was in great anguish over his approaching physical pain, separation from the Father, and death for the sins of the world. The divine course was set, but he, in his human nature, still struggled (Hebrews 5:7-9). Because of the anguish Jesus experienced, he can relate to our suffering. Jesus’ strength to obey came from his relationship with God the Father, who is also the source of our strength (John 17:11, 15-16, 21, 26).

Jesus was not rebelling against his Father’s will when he asked that the cup of suffering and separation be taken away. In fact, he reaffirmed his desire to do God’s will by saying, “I want your will to be done, not mine” (Matthew 26:39). His prayer reveals to us his terrible suffering. His agony was worse than death because he paid for all sin by being separated from God. The sinless Son of God took our sins upon himself to save us from suffering and separation.

In times of suffering people sometimes wish they knew the future, or they wish they could understand the reason for their anguish. Jesus knew what lay ahead of him, and he knew the reason. Even so, his struggle was intense—more wrenching than any struggle we will ever have to face.

Respond

What is your usual response to hard times? What would it take for you to be able to say “I want your will to be done, not mine”? Do you have that level of trust in God’s plans?

Streams in the Desert – December 19

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This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses.—Luke 21:13

 

Life is a steep climb, and it does the heart good to have somebody “call back” and cheerily beckon us on up the high hill. We are all climbers together, and we must help one another. This mountain climbing is serious business, but glorious. It takes strength and steady step to find the summits. The outlook widens with the altitude. If anyone among us has found anything worth while, we ought to “call back.”

 

If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back—

’Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track; 

And if, perchance, Faith’s light is dim, because the oil is low, 

Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.

 

Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;

Call back, and say He kept you when the forest’s roots were torn;

That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,

He bore you up and held you where the very air was still.

 

Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your your face,

They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race;

But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,

And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.

 

But if you’ll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,

And if you’ll say He saw you through the night’s sin-darkened sky

If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back—

’Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track. 

—Selected

God’s Story… For My Life – Friday, December 19, 2014

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He Prays for You

Read John 17:20-26

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
(John 17:20-26)

Reflect

Jesus prayed for all who would follow him, including you and others you know who were born long after his death and resurrection. He prayed for unity (John 17:11), protection from the evil one (John 17:15), and holiness (John 17:17). Knowing that Jesus prayed for us can give us confidence as we work for his Kingdom.

Jesus’ greatest desire for his disciples was that they would become one—a unified body. He wanted them unified as a powerful witness to the reality of God’s love. Jesus prayed for unity among the believers based on the believers’ union with him and the Father. Christians can know unity among themselves if they are living in union with God. For example, each branch living in union with the vine is united with all other branches doing the same (see John 15).

Respond

How are you helping to unify the body of Christ? Some actions can include praying for other Christians, building others up through affirmation, working together in humility, giving your time and money, and refusing to get sidetracked arguing over divisive matters. The best way to promote unity is to keep connected to the vine. The Holy Spirit works through you, and keeps your heart softened.