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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
December 17: Morning"I remember thee." - Jeremiah 2:2
Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity "His delights were with the sons of men;" his thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the world; he viewed them in the mirror of his foreknowledge. "In thy book," he says, "all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them" (Ps. 139:16). When the world was set upon its pillars, he was there, and he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Many a time before his incarnation, he descended to this lower earth in the similitude of a man; on the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18), by the brook of Jabbok (Gen. 32:24-30), beneath the walls of Jericho (Jos. 5:13), and in the fiery furnace of Babylon (Dan. 3:19, 25), the Son of Man visited his people. Because his soul delighted in them, he could not rest away from them, for his heart longed after them. Never were they absent from his heart, for he had written their names upon his hands, and graven them upon his side. As the breastplate containing the names of the tribes of Israel was the most brilliant ornament worn by the high priest, so the names of Christ's elect were his most precious jewels, and glittered on his heart. We may often forget to meditate upon the perfections of our Lord, but he never ceases to remember us. Let us chide ourselves for past forgetfulness, and pray for grace ever to bear him in fondest remembrance. Lord, paint upon the eyeballs of my soul the image of thy Son.
Evening
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." - John 10:9
Jesus, the great I AM, is the entrance into the true church, and the way of access to God himself. He gives to the man who comes to God by him four choice privileges.
1. He shall be saved. The fugitive manslayer passed the gate of the city of refuge, and was safe. Noah entered the door of the ark, and was secure. None can be lost who take Jesus as the door of faith to their souls. Entrance through Jesus into peace is the guarantee of entrance by the same door into heaven. Jesus is the only door, an open door, a wide door, a safe door; and blessed is he who rests all his hope of admission to glory upon the crucified Redeemer.
2. He shall go in. He shall be privileged to go in among the divine family, sharing the children's bread, and participating in all their honours and enjoyments. He shall go in to the chambers of communion, to the banquets of love, to the treasures of the covenant, to the storehouses of the promises. He shall go in unto the King of kings in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the secret of the Lord shall be with him.
3. He shall go out. This blessing is much forgotten. We go out into the world to labour and suffer, but what a mercy to go in the name and power of Jesus! We are called to bear witness to the truth, to cheer the disconsolate, to warn the careless, to win souls, and to glorify God; and as the angel said to Gideon, "Go in this thy might," even thus the Lord would have us proceed as his messengers in his name and strength.
4. He shall find pasture. He who knows Jesus shall never want. Going in and out shall be alike helpful to him: in fellowship with God he shall grow, and in watering others he shall be watered. Having made Jesus his all, he shall find all in Jesus. His soul shall be as a watered garden, and as a well of water whose waters fail not.
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Reading 5: The Branch from Jesse
Sometimes after a tree is cut down, a new green shoot grows out of the stump. Jesse was King David's father, so the "stump of Jesse" (Isaiah 1:1) was Isaiah's way of referring to David's family. When the nation of Israel was divided and eventually destroyed, it appeared that David's family had died out. But God promised that a "shoot" would grow from it--a new leader would be born to give the nation hope.
Isaiah 11:1-10
The Branch From Jesse
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him--
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD--
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra's den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper's nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
Further Study
JUST THE FACTS
- What gifts would the Spirit give this "shoot" (v. 1) when the Spirit rested on him? (v. 2)
- What would the "shoot" wear as his belt? As his sash? (v. 5)
- What animals are mentioned in this reading? How will these animals someday behave? (vv. 6 - 9)
- Why do you think Isaiah talked about the Messiah's coming by using words about growing things, like the "Branch" and the "shoot" (v. 1)? What sometimes happens when you cut off a plant that still has deep, living roots?
- What did Isaiah mean when he said, "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat" (v. 6)? What would life be like if the world was that peaceful?
God gave his people hope. He taught them to look for the Messiah by telling them what he was going to do long before it happened. Just as Israel looked for the Messiah, we can hope and look forward to Jesus coming again to bring a time when there will be no more violence or cruelty.
POINTS OF INTEREST
11:8 The cobra and the viper are poisonous snakes. The cobra, which can grow to eight and a half feet long, was the deadly Egyptian cobra, used in Egypt as a religious symbol. It is usually found on the north and east coasts of Africa, with a variation of the species located in the Arabian Desert. The picture of a child calmly playing near these feared reptiles was a sure sign that the Messiah would change everything.
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Ahaz
[Ä€'hăz] - jehovah hath seized or sustains.
1. A Benjamite of the family of Saul (1 Chron. 8:35, 36; 1 Chron. 9:41, 42).
2. The son of Jotham, king of Judah and father of Hezekiah, Ahaz became the eleventh king of Judah and reigned for sixteen years (2 Kings 16). He is called Achaz in Matthew 1:9. An Assyrian inscription gives the name of the king as Jehoahaz. But the abbreviation Ahaz was commonly used and was found on the seal ring of one of his courtiers. Perhaps the consistent omission of the first part of the name Jeho, meaning "Jehovah" was deliberate because of the abhorrent apostasy of Ahaz.
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Ready for Christmas
by Sharon Jaynes
Today's Truth
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matthew 3:2 NIV)
Friend to Friend
It seems like everywhere you go during the month of December people ask the same question. At the grocery checkout counter--"Are you ready for Christmas?" At the bank drive through window--"Are you ready for Christmas?" At the doctor's office--"Are you ready for Christmas?"
I think the answer to that question depends on how you define "ready." Let me ask you this question: "Are you ready for Jesus?" Now that puts the idea of being ready in a whole different Christmas light, doesn't it?
John the Baptist was sent by God to get the people ready to meet Jesus. Here's what Matthew had to say about him:
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:"People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." (Matthew 3:1-3, 5-6).
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight paths for him.'"...
We don't like the words "repent" or "repentance" very much. They mean "to make a radical change in one's life, to turn and go in the opposite direction from sin (another word we're not too fond of today) to God." Repentance involves an element of grief over the way we have lived apart from God and a decision to run toward the Father. That was God's idea of the way to prepare for Christ's arrival in the book of Matthew, and it is still God's idea of preparing to worship Him today.
Let's reflect for a moment on the words to this poem and then answer the question, "Are you ready for Christmas?"
"Ready for Christmas," she said with a sighLet's Pray
As she gave a last touch to the gifts piled high...
Then wearily sat for a moment AND READ
Til soon, very soon, she was nodding her head.
Then quietly spoke a voice in her dream,
"Ready for Christmas, what do you mean?"
She woke with a start and a cry of despair.
"There's so little time and I've still to prepare.
Oh, Father! Forgive me, I see what You mean!
Yes, more than the giving of gifts and a tree.
It's the heart swept clean that He wanted to see,
A heart that is free from bitterness and sin.
So be ready for Christmas - and ready for Him.
Dear Lord, I want to be ready for Jesus today and everyday. I come to You now in repentance for my sins: my sin of selfishness, stubbornness, and rebellion. I turn from my self-centeredness today and commit to keep my focus on You. God, I cannot do this on my own. I am not able. So I ask that you fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit Who empowers me to obey. Thank You that You have given me every thing I need for a life of godliness and truth. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. In Jesus' name, amen.
Now It's Your Turn
What do you think it means to be "ready for Christmas?"
What do you think it means to be ready for Jesus?
Go back and read the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. Notice the difference between the five who were ready and the five who were not. Which group more resembles your readiness for Christ?
Today's Advent reading is from the Girlfriends in God devotional ministry. There is no Advent devotional email tomorrow (Saturday); the next email will be on Sunday, when we'll introduce a new set of Scripture passages to reflect on throughout the week.
Editor's note: yesterday's Advent devotional incorrectly identified Hans Christian Andersen as a Dutch writer. Andersen was Danish, not Dutch. We apologize for the error and appreciate those of you who took the time to point this out.
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