Bible League: Living His Word An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."— Luke 2:9-10 NIV What do you do when you hear good news? You tell others, right? "Did you hear? I'm going to be a grandma again!" "I've got good news! My son is going to graduate at the top of his class!" "Mom and Dad, I got the job!" "Guess what! We're getting married!" When we hear good news, we want to tell people, don't we? We love to share good news. Why? It is because good news brings great joy. On the night that the Savior was born in Bethlehem, an angel appeared to lowly shepherds and told them that he was bringing them good news that would cause great joy for all the people. Luke 2:17 says that when they saw Him, they spread the word concerning Him. Good news makes you want to tell others all about it so that they can share in your joy. What is interesting about the book of Luke is that it begins with great joy, and it ends with great joy. Luke 24:51-52 says, "While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." Jesus was blessing His eleven remaining disciples; and while He was blessing them, He ascended into Heaven. Luke says that the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy. What happened after that? They shared the good news that Jesus was alive, and it has been bringing great joy to the world ever since. The challenge for us this Christmas season is not only to remember the good news that has brought us great joy, but also to share it with others. Church-growth experts will tell you that Christmas is the time of year when people who are far from God are the most likely to respond to the Good News of Jesus Christ. What better way to bring great joy into someone's life than to share with them the best news ever? God loved this world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life with Him. Pray for an opportunity this Christmas season to share the Good News that brings great joy for all the people. By Shawn Cornett, Bible League International staff, Illinois U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingAmos 4, 5, 6 Amos 4 -- Israel Has Not Returned to Me NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Amos 5 -- Seek Me that You May Live NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Amos 6 -- Woe to those at ease in Zion; Abhorrence of Israel's Pride NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 6 Revelation 6 -- The First Six Seals NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?Insight Jesus summarized the law as love for God and neighbor, and Paul said that love demonstrated toward a neighbor would fully satisfy the law. When we fail to love, we are actually breaking God's law. Challenge Examine your attitude and actions toward others. Do you build people up or tear them down? When you're ready to criticize someone, remember God's law of love and say something good instead. Saying something beneficial to others will cure you of finding fault and increase your ability to obey God's law of love. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Isaiah 54:11 And lay thy foundations with sapphires.Not only that which is seen of the church of God, but that which is unseen, is fair and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah's work everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean. The deep foundations of the work of grace are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able to measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in vain. Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the lifetime of the Almighty. Another foundation is the person of the Lord Jesus, which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the sapphire; blending in one the deep blue of earth's ever rolling ocean and the azure of its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the ruby as he stood covered with his own blood, but now we see him radiant with the soft blue of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are clear and cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating justice, or law suspending its operations; no, we defy the eagle's eye to detect a flaw in the groundwork of our confidence--our foundation is of sapphire, and will endure the fire. The Lord himself has laid the foundation of his people's hopes. It is matter for grave enquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a basis. Good works and ceremonies are not a foundation of sapphires, but of wood, hay, and stubble; neither are they laid by God, but by our own conceit. Foundations will all be tried ere long: woe unto him whose lofty tower shall come down with a crash, because based on a quicksand. He who is built on sapphires may await storm or fire with equanimity, for he shall abide the test. Daily Light on the Daily Path Matthew 21:28 "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.'Galatians 4:7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Romans 6:11-13 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. • Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, • and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 1 Peter 1:14,15 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, • but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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