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What to do about Christmas, December 25, 2017

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Today’s Podcast


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Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com

We are taking a short break from The Story for Advent and Christmas season. We’ll be back into The Story next week. We’re taking this one more week from the consecutive schedule so that our readings at Easter coincide with the events as recorded in The Story. This is our third and last week away from that study, but rest assured we will go back to it next week and then finish our journey exploring God’s plan to bring us back into a face to face relationship with Him.

You may or may not be listening to this podcast as it is being released, but it was released at 5:00 am Christmas morning. Growing up, that was the about as late as my mom could stand it. She would wake all of us up (if we weren’t already awake). We’d rush down the hall to the living room and get stopped in the hallway until dad could set up the camera. Then we would rush into the living room to see what Santa left under the tree. The next ten or thirty minutes were spent oohing and aahing over that magical thing that appeared under the tree from the night before.

Next, we would open all the other presents under the tree that belonged to our family. As the family grew, with five kids, it took a little while for all of them to get opened, chaos to subside and all the wrappings to be gathered and trashed. Once the unwrapping was done we got to pick one thing to take with us to granny’s house where all who could came for breakfast. Granny’s husband died when my father was only five and remained a widow the rest of her life, so most of her kids came home every Christmas to join her for breakfast. Many of the grandkids also stopped by, so it wasn’t unusual to have forty or fifty people trying to run shifts at the table or sofa or just find some standing room in her tiny two bedroom house.

But one thing that always happened at Granny’s house was that someone read the Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2 after breakfast. Then we would shower her with gifts. She never wanted anything and after she moved into an assisted living facility, they found many of those gifts unused in closets, under beds, stuffed away wherever she could find a spot because she just didn’t know how to receive gifts very well and didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by taking anything back or regifting as is common today.

Granny made sure everyone knew what Christmas was about. It wasn’t about presents and decorations and shopping and the hustle and bustle we seem to make it so many times today. Granny made sure we knew it was about Jesus’ birth. She even made Him a birthday cake that all us grandkids enjoyed every year on Christmas day for lunch. She always made Him the center of everything that day and made it clear to the family we were celebrating His coming.

Granny would tell me when I was growing up that her call in life was to raise a Christian family. Of the 96 family members at her funeral when she died, a fourth were in full-time Christian ministry. Many served as Sunday School teachers, sang in choirs, served on church boards and committees, and gave their time and energy in myriad ways to their local church. You could count on one hand the number that weren’t in church regularly. And by regularly, I mean every service. Then it meant Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Granny raised a family committed to Christ.

We live in a highly mobile society and kids and grandkids no longer live close enough to do what Granny’s family did every Christmas. We were only an hour or so away the whole time I was growing up. When Carole and I had kids, we were half a world away from their grandparents. Unfortunately, that’s the way with a huge portion of the population now. We can’t spend time with family like we did in days gone by.

But we can still remember Jesus on Christmas. We can still embrace the importance of community and reach out to those around us. To build a family of friends, not to replace our flesh and blood kin, but to share the love of Christ and the importance of this special day. Does that mean we have to prepare big meals with ham and turkey and lots of side dishes and desserts and spend half the day in the kitchen for a 20 minute meal? No.

At Granny’s we had biscuits, eggs, bacon, sausage, and that’s about it. All of us pitched in to help cook so the meal was pretty simple, quick and easy and it wasn’t the food we went for anyway. We went for the fellowship. It can be the same with any gathering. We don’t need to impress anyone with preparations to enjoy their company. If you have to do that, then those are the wrong people to invite. Invite the ones that don’t care if pillows are out of place or dishes don’t match. The ones that will get their own beverages after you show them where they are the first time.

Spend Christmas in community with people you love. Just sharing Jesus’ love with those around you will make a big difference in your life and theirs. Remember those two commands Jesus gave us that wraps all the others together? Love God and love people. When we do that, something incredible happens. We share the grace and mercy we’ve been given to others in the same way God has give His grace and mercy to us. We learn to give cheerfully from a heart full of love. Those around us see Jesus in our actions when we truly love with His love.

I don’t know what kind of traditions you have in your family. Ours have changed through the years because of experiences we had through our military travels that took us far from family and even sometimes separated us. We made accommodations to what use to be long held traditions because of things that change around us with health and age and place and time. But through it all, there is still one constant.

Jesus is the center of our celebration. We recognize there would be no Christmas without Christ. He is the reason we have the holiday. He is the reason we gather together. He is why we laugh and cry and live and breathe. Jesus is why.

If we lose the real reason for Christmas we lose it all. Whatever you do this day or this season, don’t forget why we celebrate in the first place. Don’t lose the centerpiece of all that happens in this season named for the one to whom it truly belongs. Keep Christ, not just at Christmas, but all year long.

Next week we will return to our study of The Story, God’s plan to restore a face to face relationship with us. We finished chapter 14 before our short break. Next week we will begin reading chapter 15.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Sacrifices aren’t free (1 Chronicles 21:18-22:1), May 13, 2015

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 1 Chronicles 21:18-22:1
Set – 1 Chronicles 21; 1 Thessalonians 2
Go! – 2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21; Psalms 30; 1 Thessalonians 2

1 Chronicles 21:18-22:1
Messenger (commanding Gad): 18 Tell David to build an altar to the Eternal on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

19 David obeyed the instruction of the divine messenger.

20 When Ornan saw the messenger, his four sons who were with him hid among the wheat. But Ornan continued threshing. 21 As David approached, Ornan glimpsed the king, left his chores, and prostrated himself before David.

David: 22 Sell me this threshing floor so I may build on it an altar to the Eternal. I will pay you the full price so the plague against the people may end.

Ornan: 23 Take it; it’s yours to do with as you please. I will donate the oxen for burnt offerings, the threshing tools for wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you, my king.

David: 24 No, I must buy it for the full price. I will not give your possessions to the Eternal as if they were my own, nor will I give a burnt offering which costs me nothing. I must sacrifice something for this offering.

25 So David paid Ornan 15 pounds of gold by weight for the property. 26 There David built an altar to the Eternal, sacrificed burnt offerings, and gave peace offerings. David requested His presence, and He accepted the altar and sacrifices by sending fire from heaven onto the altar of burnt offering. 27 Then the Eternal commanded the divine messenger to sheath his sword. 28 When David saw how the Eternal had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite by coming to the altar as fire and by stopping the plagues and the destruction of Jerusalem, David offered a sacrifice there instead of at Gibeon. 29 (The congregation tent of the Eternal, which Moses had built in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place at Gibeon at that time.) 30 But David could not go to Gibeon to commune with God because he still feared that the Eternal’s messenger would slay him.

22 David: Now this is the house of the Eternal God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel. We will no longer need to travel to Gibeon to sacrifice to God.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

David did a foolish thing requesting a census of the fighting strength of Israel. He had Me on his side and that was enough. Joan tried to tell him not to take the census. His other advisors tried to tell him his action was foolish, but he didn’t listen. He wanted to count his men. The price was a plague that swept across the country and killed thousands. David finally prayed to Me to stop the plague when he say My slayer at Ornan’s threshing floor.

When David understood his foolishness, repented, and prayed, I heard his cry and stopped My messenger from continuing his path of death. My messenger instructed Ornan to tell David to raise and altar to Me on the site. David went to Ornan to purchase the site. Ornan offered it free, but David insisted on paying full price for the land and the materials he would use for the altar and the sacrifice.

Several lessons come from the story that are relevant to you today as you think about your service to and worship of Me. First, repentance is the first step in My hearing you. You and I operate on different plains. I created you above all other creatures, but I am still God. When you disobey My commands, repentance is the right attitude to take in approaching Me.

David didn’t listen to My commands when counted the number of fighting men in his kingdom. All of his advisors tried to stop him. I put into the heart of every one of his advisors the foolishness of his actions and they did everything they could to dissuade David, but he wouldn’t listen. His foolish actions caused the lives of thousands.

Second, worship and offerings to Me must cost you something. David recognized that when he refused Ornan’s offer to give him the threshing floor and all the material to build the altar for My worship. David refused and payed the full price plus for the property. David used his personal wealth, not the kingdom’s coffers to pay for the altar. The land, the altar, the offering needed to come from him, not something given to him. An offering that doesn’t cost you anything isn’t an offering.

Think of it this way, I sacrifice Myself for you. If you are going to honor Me with your offerings, can you do less than sacrifice something in worship to Me? An offering that costs you nothing is no sacrifice. An offering that costs you something touches you. It reminds you that you made the sacrifice in the same way I sacrificed Myself for you. It comes from the heart.

Ornan was ready to sacrifice all of the material to Me and David refused because he knew Ornan would receive the blessing he needed. David needed to make that same sacrifice and purchased the land and materials from Ornan. Not to supersede Ornan’s offering, Ornan still received his blessings from Me for his part in stopping My messenger, but to make the offering his own.

I am a God of love and blessings, but I am also a God of wrath when evil comes near Me. As a holy God, I cannot be in the presence of evil. Only through My perfect sacrifice on the cross, My Son, all man yet all God, can I cover the sins of people who accept that sacrifice. But even then, there is a cost. You must give Me yourself. You must give Me your obedience. You Must die to self and live for Me.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

All you need is love (Luke 10:1-29), Jan 10, 2015

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Today’s background scripture comes from Luke 10:1-29


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You who are My adopted children have a mission to perform. Like the 70 I sent out to all the villages to announce the arrival of God’s kingdom, I’m sending you. It’s a simple message with a simple command. Love one another.

I’m not sure the Beatles’ interpretation was right, but their words were right when they made their hit song “All You Need Is Love.” Unfortunately, the world misuses the word today. They misunderstand love and think of it only as an emotion to fill their own base desires. But love is so much more. Love is why I wrapped Myself in flesh and gave Myself as a sacrifice for you. Love is why I endured the cross for You. Love is why a mother or father will give all, including life itself for their children.

Love is all you need, but it is My love you need. And it is your love others need and I want. Not the emotional drivel that poses as love in the world, but action that demonstrates real care and concern for humankind. Love that shows your compassion for others. Love that lets them know you tending the sick, feeding the hungry, visiting those imprisoned by life’s circumstances constitute your parts of your schedule, not just your language.

As you go out into the world with My message, you’ll find some people are not easy to love, but that is My command. Love them anyway. I died for them. And in the church, love each other. Get rid of your petty arguments and love. Do you have to agree with each other all the time? No, but you must love each other. Don’t let disagreements turn to gossip or dissension or anger. Love with My love. Encourage each other. Carry each others’ burdens. Help each other grow in faith and grace and love. Teach others what it means to become Christlike, not by your words, but by your actions.

Love Me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor like you love yourself.

Ready – Luke 10:1-29
Set – Genesis 25; Luke 10
Go! – Genesis 25-26; Psalms 6; Luke 10

Luke 10:1-29)
The Lord then recruited and deployed 70 more disciples. He sent them ahead, in teams of two, to visit all the towns and settlements between them and Jerusalem. 2 This is what He ordered.

Jesus: There’s a great harvest waiting in the fields, but there aren’t many good workers to harvest it. Pray that the Harvest Master will send out good workers to the fields.

3 It’s time for you 70 to go. I’m sending you out armed with vulnerability, like lambs walking into a pack of wolves. 4 Don’t bring a wallet. Don’t carry a backpack. I don’t even want you to wear sandals. Walk along barefoot, quietly, without stopping for small talk. 5 When you enter a house seeking lodging, say, “Peace on this house!” 6 If a child of peace—one who welcomes God’s message of peace—is there, your peace will rest on him. If not, don’t worry; nothing is wasted. 7 Stay where you’re welcomed. Become part of the family, eating and drinking whatever they give you. You’re My workers, and you deserve to be cared for. Again, don’t go from house to house, 8 but settle down in a town and eat whatever they serve you. 9 Heal the sick and say to the townspeople, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”

10 Of course, not every town will welcome you. If you’re rejected, walk through the streets and say, 11 “We’re leaving this town. We’ll wipe off the dust that clings to our feet in protest against you. But even so, know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” 12 I tell you the truth, on judgment day, Sodom will have an easier time of it than the town that rejects My messengers.

13 It’s going to be bad for you, Chorazin! It’s going to be bad for you, Bethsaida! If the mighty works done in your streets had been done in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, they would have been moved to turn to God and cry out in sackcloth and ashes. 14 On judgment day, Tyre and Sidon will have an easier time of it than you. 15 It’s going to be bad for you, too, Capernaum! Will you be celebrated to heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead.

16 Listen, disciples: if people give you a hearing, they’re giving Me a hearing. If they reject you, they’re rejecting Me. And if they reject Me, they’re rejecting the One who sent Me. So—go now!

17 When the 70 completed their mission and returned to report on their experiences, they were elated.

Seventy: It’s amazing, Lord! When we use Your name, the demons do what we say!

Jesus: 18 I know. I saw Satan falling from above like a lightning bolt. 19 I’ve given you true authority. You can smash vipers and scorpions under your feet. You can walk all over the power of the enemy. You can’t be harmed. 20 But listen—that’s not the point. Don’t be elated that evil spirits leave when you say to leave. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

21 Then Jesus Himself became elated. The Holy Spirit was on Him, and He began to pray with joy.

Jesus: Thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Thank You for hiding Your mysteries from the wise and intellectual, instead revealing them to little children. Your ways are truly gracious. 22 My Father has given Me everything. No one knows the full identity of the Son except the Father, and nobody knows the full identity of the Father except the Son, and the Son fully reveals the Father to whomever He wishes. 23 (then almost in a whisper to the disciples) How blessed are your eyes to see what you see! 24 Many prophets and kings dreamed of seeing what you see, but they never got a glimpse. They dreamed of hearing what you hear, but they never heard it.

25 Just then a scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures tried to trap Jesus.

Scholar: Teacher, what must I do to experience the eternal life?

Jesus (answering with a question): 26 What is written in the Hebrew Scriptures? How do you interpret their answer to your question?

Scholar: 27 You shall love—“love the Eternal One your God with everything you have: all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind”—and “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus: 28 Perfect. Your answer is correct. Follow these commands and you will live.

29 The scholar was frustrated by this response because he was hoping to make himself appear smarter than Jesus.

Scholar: Ah, but who is my neighbor?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

You can pass the test (Genesis 22), Jan 8, 2015

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The background for today’s devotion comes from Genesis 22.

Some people look at My test of Abraham’s faith and decide they could never measure up, so they give up. But they don’t understand Me or what I do in helping My children grow in their trust in Me. I don’t test everyone in the same way. Nor do I want anyone to fail any test I give them. I want to act as a good teacher so all who follow Me learn well and pass every exam.

I knew when I asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son he had a high probability of passing My extreme test of his faith. I watched him through his life and knew his trust had grown to the point of complete obedience to Me. I knew he often didn’t understand what I asked of him, but he followed My will without question. I knew he trusted Me to see him through this task also.

If you look at his conversation with his servants and with Isaac, you see his trust shining through. When he left his servants at the bottom of the mountain, he told them, “We will worship, and then WE (meaning he and his son) will come back and meet you here.” Abraham didn’t know how, but he knew I would make a way of escape somehow.

As Isaac carried the wood for the fire to top of the mountain and helped Abraham build the altar that day, he asked about the ram for the sacrifice. Abraham’s answer, “God will provide.” Again, he didn’t know how I would do it, but he had faith in Me. He trust I would fulfill My promises to him and held on to that truth to the end. Even as he tied his son and placed him on the altar and reached for the knife to plunge it into his heart, he trusted Me.

My test for Abraham was extreme. He was prepared to take an extreme exam. As the patriarch of My chosen people, I needed someone who others could look to that could take such an extreme test. I prepared him for it throughout his life to that point. He was ready. He’d had plenty of practice leading up to it.

I will test you, too. But never past the limits of your ability to handle it. I never want you to fail. You can choose to fail, but you never need to fail. You can ask for My help. My tests are always open book. You can always ask the teacher for help. I will always give you the answers. You may not always like them, but I will give them to you. I promise. Trust Me to the end. It always pays off.

Ready – Genesis 22
Set – Genesis 22; Luke 8
Go! – Genesis 20-22; Luke 8
Genesis 22
After a period of time, God decided to put Abraham to the test.

Eternal One: Abraham!

Abraham: I am right here.

Eternal One: 2 Take your son, your only son Isaac whom I know you love deeply, and go to the land of Moriah. When you get there, I want you to offer Isaac to Me as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. I will show you which one.

3 Abraham did as he was told. Early in the morning he got up, saddled his donkey, and taking two of his trusted servants with him and his son Isaac, he cut the wood for the burnt offering and traveled to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of the journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place far in the distance.

Abraham (to his servants): 5 Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to meet you here.

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and set it on the shoulders of his son Isaac to carry. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. The two of them walked on together.

Isaac (to Abraham): 7 Father!

Abraham: I am right here, Son.

Isaac: Look, we have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham: 8 God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.

The two of them continued to walk on together.

9 When they finally arrived at the place God had shown him, Abraham took some stones and built an altar there and arranged the wood carefully on top of it. Then he bound up his son Isaac with rope and laid him on the altar on top of the stack of wood. 10 Just as Abraham reached over to grab the knife that would kill his son, 11 the special messenger of the Eternal One called his name from heaven.

Special Messenger: Abraham! Abraham!

Abraham: I am right here!

Special Messenger: 12 Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to harm him. I know now that you respect the one True God and will be loyal to Him and follow His commands, because you were willing to give up your son, your only son, to Me.

13 Abraham glanced up and saw a ram behind him with its horns caught in the thicket. He went over, dislodged the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. 14 From that day forward, Abraham called that place, “The Eternal One will provide.” Because of this, people still today say, “On the Mount of the Eternal, all will be provided.”

15 The special messenger of the Eternal One called out to Abraham yet a second time from heaven.

Special Messenger: 16 Listen to the solemn vow the Eternal One has spoken: “Because you have done what I asked and were willing to give up your son, your only son, 17 I will reaffirm My covenant of blessing to you and your family. I will make sure your descendants are as many as the stars of the heavens and the grains of sand on the shores. I reaffirm My earlier promises that your descendants will possess the lands and sit in the gates of their enemies, 18 and from your descendants all the peoples of the earth will discover true blessing. All this is because you have obeyed My voice.

19 Then Abraham returned to the place where he left his trusted servants. They traveled together—Abraham, Isaac, and his servants—back to Beersheba where Abraham lived on for some time.

20 After this happened, Abraham was informed that Milcah had also given birth to many children by his brother, Nahor. 21 Uz was the firstborn, then came his brother Buz, Kemuel (Aram’s father), 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Nahor, Abraham’s brother, had eight children in all by Milcah. 24 Not only that, but Nahor’s concubine (whose name was Reumah) also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.