Verse of the Day 12/31

Verse of the Day 12/31

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  English Standard Version (ESV)

Yesterday we considered in Psalm 96 how we are to "number our days" and strive to make  them count, and as Christians this means making them count for God and His glory.  As we approach the New Year there will be a lot of looking back and looking forward.  At first glance today's verse seems to focus on the forward, to running the race while looking to Jesus, the author of our faith, to perfect it.  But the great cloud of witnesses have a view of the race which includes our past, our recent past, right up to the present.  Those in the family of God are cheering us on.

One of the Beattles greatest hits was "Let it Be", seeking words of wisdom, let it be.  The question for us as Christians is where to we go to seek those words of wisdom so that we could say "let it be" or as the amen's to our prayers are saying so be it.

Another year is dawning, Dear Father, let it be,
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee;
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace;
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love;
Another year of training for holier work above.
Another year is dawning, Dear Father, let it be,
On earth or else in heaven, another year for Thee.   Francies Ridley Havergal

John Piper writes, " The 365 days of the year are like a miniature lifetime. And these final hours are like the last days in the hospital after the doctor has told me that the end is very near. And in these last hours, the lifetime of this year passes before my eyes, and I face the inevitable question: Did I live it well? Will Jesus Christ, the righteous judge, say "Well done, good and faithful servant"?  .... Numbering your days simply means remembering that your life is short and your dying will be soon. Great wisdom — great, life-revolutionizing wisdom — comes from periodically pondering these things.

For me, Piper's quote seems to bring these two passages from Hebrews and Psalm 90 together.

Psalm 90:12-17English Standard Version (ESV)

¹² So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
¹³ Return, O Lord! How long?
    Have pity on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶ Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
¹⁷ Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Yes Lord, let it be.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Hebrews 12:1-3The Message (MSG)

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

12 ^1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Verse of the Day 12/30

Verse of the Day 12/30

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days

    that we may get a heart of wisdom.   English Standard Version (ESV)

As we head towards the New Year this weekend most of us will spend some time looking back at the year that has been and taking a look forward to the year ahead.  There have been many historic, joyous and tragic things that have happened that have impacted our lives, the question is what will we, or better yet are we willing to do something about it?

Today's verse encourages us to take life one day at a time,  to "number our days", you might say to make each day count.  We should have a purpose for each day, whether it be at home, at work , vacation or out in the community.  When we make the effort to make this our goal we will learn from the experiences which in themselves will help prepare us for the next experiences.

Over fifty years ago, A. W. Tozer wrote the following, "In the year just gone the world has been writing history, not with ink only but with blood and tears; not in the quiet of the study but in violence, terror and death in city streets and along the borders of nations; and other and milder but more significant history has been written by incredible feats of power in sending man-made objects out to circle the moon and the sun...."   It would be a difficult challenge to think of more fitting words to say about today.

Aw we head toward the New Year, let us take a look back at where God has led us and may we pray for His guidance for where He will lead us in the coming year.  I like the way The Message puts it, may it be our prayer:

Psalm 90:12  "Oh! Teach us to live well!
    Teach us to live wisely and well!" 
Psalm 90:17 " Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!"  The Message

May we number our days to make them count for the glory of God.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Psalm 90:12-17The Message (MSG)

^12-17 Oh! Teach us to live well!
    Teach us to live wisely and well!
Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—
    and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
    then we'll skip and dance all the day long.
Make up for the bad times with some good times;
    we've seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
Let your servants see what you're best at—
    the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
    confirming the work that we do.
    Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

Verse of the Day 12/27

Verse of the Day 12/27

Matthew 1:21  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  English Standard Version (ESV)

Today's verse is part of the Christmas story and Joseph's dream which led him to take Mary as his wife and revealed to him, the significance of the child.  The focus today is that He came "to save his people from their sins".  I want to take some time to think about that today and what it means for us.

He came to offer forgiveness for our sins that we have and will commit.  We now have a way to avoid the penalty of our sins before God.  He offers His Spirit to guide and direct us, giving us grace that we will avoid the consequences of sins that we would have committed if He wasn't "with us" as we realize the prophecy fulfilled, "Immanuel, God with us".  Through repentance, turning from our sins toward God, we can have peace with God that can be with us, that can carry us through this life and into  eternity.

Matthew Henry writes:  "The Christian life is a life of . . .

continued repentance, humiliation for and mortification of sin,

continual faith in, thankfulness for, and love to the Redeemer, and

hopeful joyful expectation of a day of glorious redemption, in which the believer shall be fully and finally acquitted, and sin abolished forever!"

1 John 1:8-10  If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.   The Message (MSG)

That statement about "forgiving and purging" reminded me of the old hymn "More Like the Master", we'll close with that today.

More like the Master I would ever be,
More of His meekness, more humility;
More zeal to labor, more courage to be true,
More consecration for work He bids me do. 

Chorus:
Take Thou my heart, I would be Thine alone;
Take Thou my heart and make it all Thine own.
Purge me from sin, O Lord, I now implore,
Wash me and keep me Thine forevermore.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Matthew 1:21-23The Message (MSG)

^20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").

Verse of the Day 12/25

Verse of the Day 12/25

Hebrews 4:16  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. English Standard Version (ESV)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today's verse from Hebrews 4 is another that we might not often think of in relation to Christmas, but once again, reading it with Christmas in mind expands our understanding of the significance of His coming.  Christ came that the shepherds and wise men would draw near and see this Christ Child.  It is because He came near over 2000 years ago that we can now  draw near to Him in confidence that He hears our hearts cry and intercedes for us to the Father.  If He had not come we would not  be able to draw near.

John Piper writes, "So, come. Come boldly (Hebrews 4:16). Come expectantly. Come expecting a smile. Come trembling with joy, not dread.   Jesus is saying, "I have made a way to God. Now I am not going to get in the way." Come. "

Come to Him, draw near to Christ today as you celebrate His birth.  Draw near to His "living and active" Word, day by day, each day of the year and He will make His presence and His will known to you.  Draw near and hold onto Him through the joys and strains of life.  Draw near to Him, don't let the opportunities "slip through your fingers" (The Message).

Draw near to your family, don't let this opportunity to celebrate Jesus "slip through your fingers".

Joy to the world! The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart
Prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love;

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV

Hebrews 4:12-16The Message (MSG)

^12-13 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what.

The High Priest Who Cried Out in Pain

^14-16 Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

Verse of the Day 12/24

Verse of the Day 12/24

Titus 2:14  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.    English Standard Version (ESV)

I've spent much time this Christmas Advent season in the gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Old Testament books of Psalms and Isaiah. But there are so many other passages that are not thought of as "Christmas" passages that are amplified against the backdrop of the season.  Today's passage is one of  those.  In John 3:16 we recall that "for God so loved the world" that He gave Jesus to us in human form.  This passage in Titus in verse 11 states "for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation".  That is what we are celebrating, the gift of Jesus and what He brought  to us was the gift of salvation and deliverance from "the wages of our sin" .  Romans 6:23

C. S. Lewis reminds us that He came down to lift us up, "God descends to re-ascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity… down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders."

I'm reminded of the hymn that we sang in church when I was a child.  Perhaps not often thought of in relation to Christmas, but the song points to that Christmas  so long ago and what He went on to accomplish in His life, death, and resurrection.

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,  When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;  My sins were washed away -  And my night was turned to day -  Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!    Born of the Spirit with life from above into God's fam'ly divine,  Justified fully thru Calvary's love, O what a standing is mine!  And the transaction so quickly was made when as a sinner I came,  Took of the offer of grace He did proffer - He saved me, O praise His dear name!      The passage in Titus also points  to His second coming, something that   we as Christians should  be  anticipating and looking forward to every   day of our lives.      --   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Titus 2:11-15English Standard Version (ESV)

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³ waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

¹⁵ Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Verse of the Day 12/16

Verse  of the Day 12/16/16

 

Matthew 11:28   Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.   English Standard Version (ESV)

 

When you first read today's verse, you may not think of it as a "Christmas" verse, but it is a verse for us for every day of the year, perhaps especially at Christmas.  "The season" can fill us with  all kinds of worries  and anxieties, some  justified, others simply pressures that  we bring on  ourselves.  The focus the verse today is that first word "come".

 

When  I first think  of  that  word  in  relation to  Christmas I think of how it  is mentioned in  so many Christmas hymns, such as "Come  Thou Long Expected Jesus" or "O Come All Ye Faithful".  The first points to those who were looking  for Jesus' birth, the coming  of the  Messiah.  The Christmas story shares examples of Zechariah and Simeon as  those  devout  followers that  were looking and would find there hope in Him.  The second, " O Come All Ye Faithful" is a call to believers to acknowledge and praise  God for His wonderful gift and  to worship Christ.

 

But the word "come" also applies to us believers who long for His return.  Charles Spurgeon writes, "this is not only Christ's cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ--"Come! come!" You will be longing for his second advent; you will be saying, "Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus." You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is "Come," your response to him will be, "Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to thy service."

 

Come, thou long expected Jesus, 
born to set thy people free; 
from our fears and sins release us, 
let us find our rest in thee. 
Israel's strength and consolation, 
hope of all the earth thou art; 
dear desire of every nation, 
joy of every longing heart. 

Born thy people to deliver, 
born a child and yet a King, 
born to reign in us forever, 
now thy gracious kingdom bring. 
By thine own eternal spirit 
rule in all our hearts alone; 
by thine all sufficient merit, 
raise us to thy glorious throne. 

 

We praise God that Jesus was born than night a couple of thousand  years  ago, we come  to  Him in praise, we worship Him and celebrate Him but we also  have that longing  for His  return, and we come  to Him to  find  our rest until He does, to "raise us to Hid  glorious throne."

 

Blessings,

 

Mike

 

Matthew 11:27-30The Message (MSG)

 

27 Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. "The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

 

28-30 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

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Verse of the Day 12/14

 

Verse of  the Day 12/14

 

Matthew 1:23   "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

    and they shall call his name Immanuel"

(which means, God with us).   English Standard Version (ESV)

 

In yesterday's  post we considered how God gave us His son in John 3:16 and that the purpose of the "sending" in John 3:17 was not  to condemn but to offer, to bring  salvation.  Today's verse shows that Jesus is the fulfillment  of  the  Old Testament  prophecy in Isaiah 7 which prophesied the virgin birth, the One to be called "Immanuel" – God with us.

 

The  greatest thing about the  greatest gift is that it doesn't grow old, doesn't wear out or lose is effectiveness or  significance.  Jesus,  the gift, in the form  of  the Holy Spirit  is  always  with us, if we have received the  gift.

 

John Townsend  writes,  "To be "with" means "on the same side." It signifies that someone is present with you, has your back, is accompanying you, and wants to help you in every way. Jesus' birth announcement provided another name for Him, to convey an idea of hope to us. It is that not only is God the Creator and the Sustainer of life, He is also present. He is deeply and intimately connected in relationship to you. He knows your struggles and your dreams, and walks with you through them."

 

What does it mean to you to know that  God, the Creator is with  you  and  "has  your back".   Not only that, but  instead of working for  Him, as we would be for an employer,  we are working  with Him, with God.   Think about that, as the verse below encourages us to do.

 

Psalm 3:8

⁸ Salvation belongs to the Lord;
    your blessing be on your people! Selah    English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Remind yourself today of God's presence and of God's present.  He is with you.  In light of  that,  Tony Dungy's devotional today fits right  in  with this, he  writes, "Spend time  with  the people God  brings  into  your  life  today.  The circumstances that have brought  you together  have been orchestrated by Him.  He may want to pass along  the needed reminder of how important they are to God."

 

Blessings,

 

Mike

 

Matthew 1:18-25The Message (MSG)

The Birth of Jesus

^18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

^20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").

^24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

 

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