Christmas Devotion Day 1

 

Read Genesis 3

Genesis 3:15 - I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her seed (offspring); he shall crush your head, and you shall strike his heel.

The story of Christmas begins at the beginning of the Bible. God had created a universe, earth, an animal kingdom, and finally mankind, and had said it was good. There was no sickness, or war (even between the animals), or hatred. Then Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, and sin entered the world and all creation.

But God was not caught by surprise. He already had a plan for how He would redeem mankind. He had given them the choice to obey or disobey, and now He would make a way so mankind could choose to return to Him without being destroyed.

However, one of the greatest angels God created had also chosen to sin. Satan hated God so much he wanted to destroy everything God had created. Satan could not force Adam and Eve to disobey, so he tempted them to do so. He still tempts us today – not because he wants us to be with him, but simply because he hates God so much.

God’s first prophecy came in reply to this first sin: His promise that Jesus would one day come – the only man ever to be born just of a woman without the seed of a man. Satan would "strike" Jesus but ultimately, Jesus will "crush" his head and destroy him and his power. 

Prayer: Thank you God for creating us and the beautiful world we live in. We are sorry for the sin that so easily entangles us. Thank You Jesus for coming to this earth, taking on human flesh and being willing to be struck by Satan so that we can be saved. May our focus be on You this Christmas season and every day. We love you! In Your name we pray, Amen. 

Squanto - A Special Instrument of God

  

As we celebrate Thanksgiving day I'd like to share the true story of Squanto...the Native American who helped the Pilgrims survive that first year. 

Historical accounts of Squanto's life vary, but historians believe that around 1608, more than a decade before the Pilgrims arrived, a group of English traders sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, the traders took them prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery. It was an unimaginable horror.

But God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians, a boy named Squanto.

Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto's desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America.

It wasn't until 1619, ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped, that a ship was found. Finally, after a decade of exile and heartbreak, Squanto was on his way home.

But when he arrived in Massachusetts, more heartbreak awaited him. An epidemic had wiped out Squanto's entire village.

We can only imagine what must have gone through Squanto's mind. Why had God allowed him to return home, against all odds, only to find his loved ones dead?

A year later, the answer came. A shipload of English families arrived and settled on the very land once occupied by Squanto's people. Squanto went to meet them, greeting the startled Pilgrims in English.

According to the diary of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, Squanto "became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died."

When Squanto lay dying of fever, Bradford wrote that their Indian friend "desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen's God in heaven." Squanto bequeathed his possessions to the Pilgrims "as remembrances of his love."

Who but God could so miraculously convert a lonely Indian and then use him to save a struggling band of Englishmen? It is reminiscent of the biblical story of Joseph, who was also sold into slavery, and whom God likewise used as a special instrument for good. 

The Seventieth Week - Daniel 9:26-27

And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”  Daniel 9:26-27

 

In our last lesson we read about the timing of the Seventieth Week of Daniel. For details on this special seven years of earth’s history we need to go to the book of Revelation. To understand all of this as God wrote it, we need to state some things that have been misunderstood or misinterpreted from the Bible.

First, this seventieth week is about Israel, not about the Church. Remember, the decree from God was made to Daniel about “your people” – Israel. The Church (true believers in Jesus from all over the world) began on Pentecost Sunday in Acts 2. The Church did not replace Israel in God’s plan – He has specific plans for both! The purpose for Israel was for bringing Jesus into the world – He would be born from that nation. The purpose for the Church is to be Jesus’ body on this earth until His plan is completed; then the Church goes to Jesus’ side to become His Bride and to always be with Him. Israel is pictured as God’s “wife” in many Old Testament scriptures (read Hosea as an example). The “covenant” God made with Israel is pictured in the Tabernacle/Temple. The “covenant” He made with the Church is the Holy Spirit as a special helper to the Church, and a “contract of marriage” which is pictured in all Jesus told His disciples in John chapters 13-17. Ephesians 1:13 pictures the Holy Spirit as a kind of “engagement ring” for the Church.

Second, this seventieth week is God’s way of bringing Israel back to Himself. When Jesus came the first time, the religious leaders understood exactly who He claimed to be – but they did not want to lose their positions of power over the people, so they conspired to kill him. God’s prophecies in Deuteronomy promised Israel exactly what would happen to them if/when they walked away from Him. Another difference in how God promised to work in each group is that Israel was promised God’s anger and wrath (Deuteronomy 11:17 for example) when they walked away from Him. His promise to the Church is that we will be delivered or protected from His wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

Lastly, God’s promise to Israel is that when His “wrath” has been completed, “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26-27). When they finally acknowledge who Jesus truly is – their Messiah and God – they will never again walk away from Him.

*When was the last time you prayed for the people of Israel to recognize Jesus as their Messiah?

Seventy Weeks of History Foretold - Daniel 9:20-27

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. 

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”  Daniel 9:20-27

Notice that Daniel prayed at the time of day that God had commanded His people to pray – at the time of the evening sacrifice. Even though the temple was destroyed, Daniel still honored the “time for prayer” as God had commanded. When does God ask us to pray? The answer is found in such verses as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “pray without ceasing.”

God now gives Daniel a prophetic map of the history of Israel from his day until the end of history as we know it. Where Daniel had been reading about “70 years”, God now maps history in “70 weeks.” Each “week” is seven years. Notice that the purpose of the seventy weeks is to “finish the transgression” – complete the time of Israel’s rebellion against God.

The first period of seven weeks began with the king’s command to Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2). The city and the place of the Temple again belonged to Israel. The prophecy of sixty-two weeks gives us the exact day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, offering them the Kingdom (Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 12). Within days “after that” Jesus was crucified – “cut off” from His people. (For further explanation of this fulfillment go to https://www.gotquestions.org/seventy-weeks.html)

Jesus spoke of the “times of the Gentiles” in Luke 21:24, a period of time between the “cutting off” of the Messiah until the time of the last “week” for Daniel’s people, Israel. This is the time in which we live now. Daniel’s seventieth week will begin when a “prince” makes a covenant with Israel (Daniel’s people) for one week – seven years. This is known as the Great Tribulation.

*What makes you certain that you will not have to face the Great Tribulation?

Seek for His Kingdom - Jeremiah 25:11-12

Jeremiah 25:11-12 – “This whole land [Israel] shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste.”

In our last lesson we see Daniel doing exactly what we must do to understand what God wants to tell us or show us in His prophecies. He was reading the “book” – in this case the book of Jeremiah. The Bible as we know it today was not yet complete for Daniel, and each of the individual books (Book of Moses, Book of the Kings, probably the Book of Isaiah, and certainly the Book of Jeremiah) were separate scrolls. Since each was hand-written, they were expensive and therefore great treasures for those who could afford such “books.” Daniel spent time reading and learning from God through them, and then He spent time in prayer talking with God about what he had read.

As we often do when we also read the Bible and pray, Daniel suddenly became aware that a wonderful prophecy was about to be fulfilled for the people of Israel. He could count the years he had been in captivity in Babylon – and here the word of God said he and his people were about to be released! Daniel could have gone to his people to shout the good news, but instead he turned to God in prayer.

Daniel’s prayer was, first, one of confession of sin. Praying in “sackcloth and ashes” was the outward sign that the person knew they deserved nothing from God, that they put aside every bit of pride to put on humility and repentance before God.

Second, Daniel’s prayer was for God to do exactly what He had promised – to turn His wrath away from Jerusalem – verses 16-19. Why would Daniel need to ask God to do what He had promised to do anyway? He did so because what he truly wanted was the same thing God wanted: he was praying for the will of God to be done. How often do we only pray for what we want, rather than seek to know what He wants to do and ask Him to do His will? Jesus’ command to us in Matthew 6:33 is that we seek His kingdom and His will first, and then He will supply all our needs.

We want to work and spend our life here on earth doing what pleases us. God wants us to work and spend our life here doing what He asks of us. We understand our earthly employers caring for us by giving us wages for what we do; but God goes much further. He gives us what we need for life here and trains us for our eternity with Him!

Third, God answered Daniel’s prayer by sending Gabriel to give Daniel far more than he had asked for! We continue this in our next lesson.

*How have you seen God answer your prayers differently than you expected?

Growing in Discernment by John MacArthur

 

How do you measure maturity? It is not a function of how old you are—society is dominated by multiple generations of immature adults who refuse to act their age. Maturity is tested by time, but it’s not a question of how long a person has lived. Rather, it’s determined by how wisely he or she lives. 

The same is true in the spiritual realm. It doesn’t matter how long a person has sat under the teaching of God’s Word if his life is still dominated by fickle emotionalism, foolish worldliness, and shallow spirituality. Exposure to the Word alone won’t make us mature Christians—we must be faithful and disciplined to put it to work in our lives.

Put simply, spiritual maturity is the process of learning to discern. In fact, the path to real discernment is the path to spiritual growth—and vice versa. Growth in grace is an ongoing process throughout this earthly life. No Christian ever reaches complete maturity this side of heaven: “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We must continually “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). We should hunger “for the pure milk of the word, so that by it [we] may grow” (1 Peter 2:2). 

As we mature, our senses are exercised to discern good and evil (Hebrews 5:14). As we cease to be children, we gain stability (Ephesians 4:14-15). Mature people are discerning people.

We know this from the natural world. The bulk of every parent’s responsibility is training children to be discerning. We continually do it, even when our kids become teenagers. We help them think through issues, understand what is wise and unwise, and prompt them to make the right choices. We help them discern. In fact, the goal of parenting is to raise a discerning child. It doesn’t happen automatically, and it doesn’t occur without diligent, lifelong instruction.

The same is true spiritually. You don’t pray for discernment and suddenly wake up with abundant wisdom. It is a process of growth.

Stay on the path of maturity. Sometimes it involves suffering and trials (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 5:10). Often it necessitates divine chastening (Hebrews 12:11). Always it requires personal discipline (1 Timothy 4:7-8). But the rewards are rich:

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit from silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast. . . . My son, let them not vanish from your sight; keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. (Proverbs 3:13-18, 21-23)

And these riches, unlike diamonds, will retain their value and brilliance for all eternity. The alternative is a life of theological confusion, where spiritual treasures are confused with spiritual fakes.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. (Hosea 14:9)

Hosea saw discernment as necessary for righteousness, and antithetical to those who transgress God’s law. That’s why wisdom is so essential if we want to please the Lord through the way we live. If we are to continually grow in conformity to Christ, we cannot afford to stagnate in our discernment. It must be our lifelong pursuit.

A Powerful Prayer - Daniel 9:1-19

 Daniel 9:1-19  
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
4 I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.
6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.
8 To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him
10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.
14 Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.
15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.
18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”