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Showing posts from December 23, 2018

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OUR DAILY BREAD December 30, 2018 ALL DAY THINGS NEW James Banks If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians 5:17 Revelation 21:1–7 Zechariah 13–14; Revelation 21 Junkyards intrigue me. I enjoy working on cars, so I frequently make trips to the one near our home. It’s a lonely place, where the wind whispers through discarded hulks that were once someone’s prized possession. Some were wrecked, some wore out, and others simply outlived their usefulness. As I walk between the rows, a car will sometimes catch my eye, and I’ll find myself wondering about the adventures it had during its “lifetime.” Like a portal to the past, each has a story to tell—of human hankering after the latest model and the inescapable passage of time. But I take particular pleasure in finding new life for an old part. Whenever I can take something discarded and give it new life in a restored vehicle, it feels like a small victory against time a...

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OUR DAILY BREAD December 29, 2018 Saturday WHEN GOD SAYS NO Leslie Koh In perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.  Isaiah 25:1 Isaiah 25:1–5 Zechariah 9–12; Revelation 20 When I was conscripted into the military at age eighteen, as all young Singaporean men are, I prayed desperately for an easy posting. A clerk or driver, perhaps. Not being particularly strong, I hoped to be spared the rigors of combat training. But one evening as I read my Bible, one verse leaped off the page: “My grace is sufficient for you . . .” (2 Corinthians 12:9). My heart dropped—but it shouldn’t have. God had answered my prayers. Even if I received a difficult assignment, He would provide for me. So I ended up as an armored infantryman, doing things I didn’t always enjoy. Looking back now, I’m grateful God didn’t give me what I wanted. The training and experience toughened me physically and mentally and gave me confidence to enter adulthood. In Isaiah 25:1–...

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OUR DAILY BREAD December 28, 2018 Friday GOOD RIDDANCE DAY Marvin Williams As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.  Psalm 103:12 Psalm 103:1–12 Zechariah 5–8; Revelation 19 Since 2006 a group of people have celebrated an unusual event around the New Year. It’s called Good Riddance Day. Based on a Latin American tradition, individuals write down unpleasant, embarrassing memories and bad issues from the past year and throw them into an industrial-strength shredder. Or some take a sledgehammer to their good riddance item. The writer of Psalm 103 goes beyond suggesting that people say good riddance to unpleasant memories. He reminded us that God bids good riddance to our sins. In his attempt to express God’s vast love for His people, the psalmist used word pictures. He compared the vastness of God’s love to the distance between the heavens and the earth (v. 11). Then the psalmist talked about His forgiveness in...

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OUR DAILY BREAD December 27, 2018 Thursday THE HIGHEST PLACE Keila Ochoa He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:17 Colossians 1:15–23 Zechariah 1–4; Revelation 18 My husband invited a friend to church. After the service his friend said, “I liked the songs and the atmosphere, but I don’t get it. Why do you give Jesus such a high place of honor?” My husband then explained to him that Christianity is a relationship with Christ. Without Him, Christianity would be meaningless. It’s because of what Jesus has done in our lives that we meet together and praise Him. Who is Jesus and what has He done? The apostle Paul answered this question in Colossians 1. No one has seen God, but Jesus came to reflect and reveal Him (v. 15). Jesus, as the Son of God, came to die for us and free us from sin. Sin has separated us from God’s holiness, so peace could only be made through someone perfect. That was Jesus (vv. 14, 20). In other words, Jesus has giv...

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OUR DAILY BREAD December 26, 2018 Wednesday JUST ANOTHER DAY? Tim Gustafson The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.  Acts 3:13 Acts 3:17–26 Haggai 1–2; Revelation 17 In  Christmas Every Day,  William Dean Howells tells of a little girl who gets her wish. For one long, horrible year it is indeed Christmas every day. By day three, the yuletide joy has already begun to wear thin. Before long everyone hates candy. Turkeys become scarce and sell for outrageous prices. Presents are no longer received with gratitude as they pile up everywhere. People angrily snap at each other. Thankfully, Howell’s story is just a satirical tale. But what an incredible blessing that the subject of the Christmas celebration never wearies us despite the fact that we see Him throughout the Bible. After Jesus had ascended to His Father, the apostle Peter proclaimed to a crowd at the temple in Jerusalem that Jesus was the one Moses fo...

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OUR DAILY BREAD December 25, 2018 Tuesday WINTER SNOW Lisa Samra He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break.  Isaiah 42:2–3 Isaiah 42:1–4 Zephaniah 1–3; Revelation 16 In winter, I often wake to the beautiful surprise of a world blanketed in the peace and quiet of an early morning snow. Not loudly like a spring thunderstorm that announces its presence in the night, snow comes softly. In “Winter Snow Song,” Audrey Assad sings that Jesus could have come to earth in power like a hurricane, but instead He came quietly and slowly like the winter snow falling softly in the night outside my window. Jesus’s arrival took many by quiet surprise. Instead of being born in a palace, He was born in an unlikely place, a humble dwelling outside Bethlehem. And He slept in the only bed available, a manger (Luke 2:7). Instead of being attended by royalty and government officials, Jesus was welcomed by lowly shepherds (vv. 15–16). Inste...

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OUR DAILY BREAD December 24, 2018 Monday PONDER IT David C. McCasland Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:19 Luke 2:8–20 Habakkuk 1–3; Revelation 15 During Oswald Chambers’ years at the Bible Training College in London (1911–15), he often startled the students with things he said during his lectures. One young woman explained that because discussion was reserved for the following mealtime together, Chambers would frequently be bombarded with questions and objections. She recalled that Oswald would often simply smile and say, “Just leave it for now; it will come to you later.” He encouraged them to ponder the issues and allow God to reveal His truth to them. To ponder something is to concentrate and think deeply about it. After the events leading to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, followed by the appearance of angels and the shepherds who came to see the Messiah, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (...