2022-12-25
2 Corinthians 9:15 NKJV
Paul says that the gift God gave each of us that first Christmas is “indescribable.” The Living Bible says it’s “too wonderful for words.” Consider this: Isaiah says, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given” (Isaiah 9:6 KJV). Jesus was both God and man. As a child He was born, but as the Son of God He could only be given, because He always existed. So He is the perfect solution to our sin problem because He understands both the claims of divinity and the struggles of humanity.
Today let’s examine this “indescribable gift.” First, He is our “daysman!” Job said, “Neither is there any daysman [umpire, mediator, or middleman] betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both” (Job 9:33 KJV). “Daysman” is an old English word for someone who was more than just an umpire; they could actually join the game and bring both sides together. So when you mess up, Jesus keeps one hand on you and the other on God so that the connection is never broken. “Indescribable”!
Second, He is our intercessor! The Bible says, “He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25 NIV). If you had to remember and confess all the sins of omission and commission you commit each day, you would never sleep; you would live on your knees. But Christ’s death covers all the wrong you have done (commission), and His life covers all the good you have left undone (omission). So, He is fully qualified to represent you before the throne of God. There is only one word that fits such a Christmas gift: “indescribable.”
Soul food: Isa 11:1-10; Luke 2:1-20
2022-12-22
2 Corinthians 9:15 CEV
One afternoon a little girl stood outside Pete Richardson’s antique shop studying the treasures in the window. Then she went in and asked to see a string of blue beads. When Pete set them on the counter, she said: “They’re perfect. Will you gift wrap them, please? They’re for my sister. She takes care of me. This will be our first Christmas since Mom died, and I’ve been looking for the perfect present.” “How much do you have?” asked Pete cautiously. Pouring a stack of coins on the counter, she said, “I emptied my bank.” Pete picked up the necklace, the price tag visible to him and not her. “What’s your name?” he asked, walking into the back room. “Jean Grace,” she replied. Pete returned with a beautifully wrapped package, and the little girl thanked him and left.
On Christmas Eve when the last customer had left and he was locking up, a young woman rushed into the store and handed him a familiar package. “Do you remember who you sold this to?” she asked. “A girl called Jean bought them for her big sister,” he replied. “How much are they worth?” she inquired. “The price,” Pete replied, “is always confidential between the seller and his customer.” Her sister asked, “But how could she pay for them?” Carefully rewrapping the present, Pete handed it back to her and said, “She paid the biggest price anyone can ever pay. She gave everything she had.”
When “God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4 KJV) to redeem us, He gave everything He had. “Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words!”
Soul food: Micah 1-4; John 19:1-16; Ps 12; Prov 31:1-5
2022-06-14
1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 NIV
Writer Jim Killam offers some more tips for a successful marriage:
“(1) Praying together may be the most intimate thing you can do, even more than sex. Pray together before making big decisions and most small ones. Ultimately, the decision you make is less important than the fact you prayed about it together.
(2) Hold your career with a light touch. It’s not who you are, it’s just what you do.
(3) Moving every few years is a good way to take stock of how much unnecessary stuff you have.
(4) Observe a no-TV week once in a while. It’ll be there when you get back… and there will still be [very little] worth watching.
(5) Find regular times of quietness alone and together. (Guys, watching a ball game doesn’t count!)
(6) Never attempt exploratory surgery on a broken dishwasher. You can call the repairman now or later. Save yourself years of humiliation. Call now!
(7) Instead of entertaining yourselves, focus outward. Together, you can impact your community and your world.
(8) Find a good church and get involved. Don’t be spectators; churches have enough of those.
(9) ‘Honor your father and mother’ applies at all ages – and not just for their sakes.
(10) Talk often about your hopes and dreams, and don’t laugh at hers.
(11) Fight fair and clean. No yelling, escalating, or pouting.
(12) Remember, ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’ (1 Timothy 6:6 KJV). Approach each day with a thankful heart; it’s freeing to realize nobody owes you anything.
(13) Your wife is an amazing gift from God; treat her that way.
(14) No marriage is bulletproof. Guard it with your life.”
Soul food: 2 Kings 1:1-4:17; Matt 17:14-27; Ps 143; Pro 13:9-10
2021-05-17
Ephesians 3:20 NKJV
Next time you see a big oak tree, remind yourself that it began as a tiny acorn. What you have to offer today may seem small, but when God blesses it, it can grow.
In 1912, Dr. Russell Conwell, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, told about a Sunday school student named Hattie May Wiatt. Because of overcrowding, Dr. Conwell had told Hattie May he would love to have buildings large enough for everyone to attend. When Hattie May became ill and died, Conwell was asked to preach at her funeral. The girl’s mother told him Hattie May had been saving her money to help build a bigger church. Hattie’s purse contained coins amounting to fifty-seven cents. Conwell exchanged them for fifty-seven pennies, which he put on display and “sold.” With the proceeds, a nearby house was purchased for a children’s wing for the church. Inspired by Hattie’s story, more money came in, and out of her fifty-seven cents eventually came the buildings of Temple Baptist Church, Temple University, and Good Samaritan Hospital.
Perhaps you feel your gifts, your time, your talents, and your efforts are too small to make a difference. But when you give them completely to God and ask Him to bless them, you discover that He’s both a great mathematician and a great multiplier. He can take your words, your endeavors, and your resources and multiply them beyond anything you can imagine. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (v. 20 NKJV).
Soul food: Lev 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-18
2021-02-19
Ephesians 2:8 AMP
To understand how God sees you, try thinking of these two things:
1) A five-pound note. It’s just a little piece of thin plastic, but it’s more valuable than another piece of plastic the same size because it carries with it the promise of the bank and government that’s issued it. You can crumple it up, step on it, cut it into pieces and tape it back together again, and its value doesn’t change.
2) A diamond. If you dropped a diamond in the mud, it would still be a diamond. It might be dirty, and in order to truly appreciate its beauty, you would have to clean it up and restore its original lustre, but it doesn’t lose its value.
Just like the five-pound note and the diamond, your value in God’s eyes as His redeemed child doesn’t change or decrease when you mess up, get stepped on by others, or crushed and broken by life and circumstances. That’s because your true worth isn’t determined by your own efforts but by the price Jesus paid for you on the cross. At that moment, all your sins (past, present and future) were laid on Him. And when you accept Him as your Saviour, all His righteousness is transferred to you. His blood cleanses you, and you carry God’s promise of love and salvation. You don’t have to earn it or strive for it. It’s a gift: ‘This [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God.’
Gen 7-9; Matt 16:1-12; Ps 33:13-22; Prov 5:15-20
