FOCUS OF THE MONTH (FOM)
SALVATION IS BIRTHED
SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK (SOW)
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
— Luke 2:11 KJV
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
— Luke 2:11 ESV
Wednesday Corporate Fasting Scripture – Isaiah 58 (ESV); Isaiah 58 (KJV)
Friday End of Week Scripture – Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)
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ESV Translation Philosophy
The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to reproduce the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on “word-for-word” correspondence, at the same time taking full account of differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and exact force of the original.
In contrast to the ESV, some Bible versions have followed a “thought-for-thought” rather than “word-for-word” translation philosophy, emphasizing “dynamic equivalence” rather than the “essentially literal” meaning of the original. A “thought-for-thought” translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive views of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture.
Every translation is at many points a trade-off between literal precision and readability, between “formal equivalence” in expression and “functional equivalence” in communication, and the ESV is no exception. Within this framework, we have sought to be “as literal as possible” while maintaining clarity of expression and literary excellence. Therefore, to the extent that plain English permits and the meaning in each case allows, we have sought to use the same English word for important recurring words in the original; and, as far as grammar and syntax allow, we have rendered Old Testament passages cited in the New in ways that show their correspondence. Thus in each of these areas, as well as throughout the Bible as a whole, we have sought to capture all the echoes and overtones of meaning that are so abundantly present in the original texts.
As an essentially literal translation, taking into account grammar and syntax, the ESV thus seeks to carry over every possible nuance of meaning in the original words of Scripture into our own language. As such, the ESV is ideally suited for in-depth study of the Bible. Indeed, with its commitment to literary excellence, the ESV is equally well suited for public reading and preaching, for private reading and reflection, for both academic and devotional study, and for Scripture memorization.
PRAISE & WORSHIP
DAILY DEVOTIONALS
Sunday, December 1, 2024 – GOOD REPUTATION FOR CHRIST – Titus 2:6-8
Our Daily Bread Focus: Christ, life/teaching; influencing people
Today’s Insights
Titus was one of the young men that Paul mentored in ministry. Unlike Timothy (see Acts 16:1-3), we know little about Titus. We’re not told how he and Paul met or how he came to have the apostle as his mentor. Titus is mentioned ten times in 2 Corinthians (2:13; 7:6, 13, 14; 8:6, 16, 17, 23; 12:18 [twice]) and two times in Galatians (2:1, 3)—solidifying our picture of him as an important member of Paul’s team. The only other mention of Titus (aside from the letter addressed to him) is in 2 Timothy 4:9-10, where Paul writes to Timothy: “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.”
Today’s Devotional
During his college days at Florida State University, Charlie Ward was a two-sport student athlete. In 1993, the young quarterback won the Heisman Trophy as the country’s best college American football player, and he also starred on the basketball team.
During a pregame talk one day, his basketball coach used some foul language as he talked to his players. He noticed that Charlie “wasn’t comfortable,” and said, “Charlie, what’s up?” Ward said, “Coach, you know, Coach Bowden [the football coach] doesn’t use that kind of language, and he gets us to play awfully hard.”
Charlie’s Christlike character allowed him to gently speak to his basketball coach about this issue. In fact, the coach told a reporter: “It’s almost as if there was an angel looking at you” when he talked to Charlie.
A good reputation with unbelievers and a faithful witness for Christ are hard to maintain. But at the same time, believers in Jesus can grow to be more like Him as He helps and guides us. In Titus 2, younger men, and by extension all believers, are called to “be self-controlled” (v. 6) and to “show integrity . . . and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned” (vv. 7-8).
When we live that way in Christ’s strength, we’ll not only honor Him but also build a good reputation. Then as God provides the wisdom we need, people will have reason to hear what we say.
Reflect & Pray
How does a good reputation help you influence others? What will help you grow in Christlike character?
Dear God, please help me to grow in character that reflects You and honors You.
For further study, read Evangelism—Reaching Out through Relationships.
Today’s Insights
Everyone in the community of believers in Jesus was afraid of Saul because he was persecuting them (Acts 9:2). Even Ananias—who’d been given explicit instructions from Jesus to go to the house where Saul was staying—was afraid of the man (vv. 10-19). Later, when Saul, “who was also called Paul” (13:9), escaped with his life to Jerusalem, Christ’s disciples refused to allow him to join out of sheer fear of him (9:26). It was Barnabas who convinced Peter and the rest to welcome him as a fellow disciple of Jesus (v. 27), and it was Barnabas who saw potential in him for serving the church at Antioch (11:25-26). Where other believers feared him, Barnabas saw someone who’d been radically changed by Christ. Because of this encourager, Paul was able to begin the ministry that would forever change the trajectory of the church.
Today’s Devotional
“Sheer encouragement.” That was the phrase J. R. R. Tolkien used to describe the personal support his friend and colleague C. S. Lewis gave him as he wrote the epic The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien’s work on the series had been painstaking and exacting, and he’d personally typed out the lengthy manuscripts more than twice. When he sent them to Lewis, Lewis responded, “All the long years you have spent on it are justified.”
Perhaps Scripture’s best-known encourager was Joseph from Cyprus, better known as Barnabas (meaning “son of encouragement”), the name the apostles gave him (Acts 4:36). It was Barnabas who advocated for Paul to the apostles (9:27). Later, when non-Jewish believers began to place their faith in Jesus, Luke tells us Barnabas “was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (11:23). Luke describes him as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith,” adding that because of him, “a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (v. 24).
The worth of encouraging words can’t be measured. As we offer words of faith and love to others, God—who gives “eternal encouragement” (2 Thessalonians 2:16)—may move through what we share to transform someone’s life forever. May He help us to offer “sheer encouragement” to someone today!
Reflect & Pray
Who would you like to encourage? In what ways might you share God’s love with them through a kind deed or word?
Dear God, please help me to be an encouragement to someone today.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024 – GOD KNOWS ME – Psalm 139:1-10
Today’s Insights
Psalm 139 powerfully presents some of God’s attributes or qualities. In verses 1-6, the singer celebrates His omniscience—that He knows everything. In verses 7-12, he discusses the omnipresence of God—that He’s everywhere present at the same time. Then in verses 13-16, we consider His omnipotence—that He’s all-powerful, particularly in His power to create. And not just creation in general, but how He’s created us! David exults: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (v. 14). Considering God deeply, however, leads the psalmist with a desire to be examined by Him. David concludes: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23-24).
Discover praise and prayer in this study to learn more about the Psalms.
Today’s Devotional
When my sister found a storybook from our childhood, my mom, now in her seventies, was delighted. She remembered all the funny details about a bear who stole honey and got chased by a swarm of angry bees. She also remembered how my sister and I laughed as we anticipated the bear’s escape. “Thank you for always telling us stories when we were kids,” I told my mom. She knows my whole story including what I was like as a young child. Now that I’m an adult, she still knows and understands me.
God knows us too—deeper than any human being can, including ourselves. David says He’s “searched” us (Psalm 139:1). In His love, He’s examined us and understands us perfectly. God knows our thoughts, understanding the reasons behind and meanings of what we say (vv. 2, 4). He’s intimately familiar with every detail that makes us who we are, and He uses this knowledge to help us (vv. 2-5). He who knows us most doesn’t turn away in distaste but reaches out to us with His love and wisdom.
When we feel lonely, unseen, or forgotten, we can be secure in the truth that God is always with us, sees us, and knows us (vv. 7-10). He knows all the sides of us that others don’t—and more. Like David, we can say with confidence, “You know me . . . . Your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (vv. 1, 10).
Reflect & Pray
How are you encouraged by a wise and loving God who knows you so intimately? How can you share His loving presence with others?
Dear God, You know me best and love me most. I’m so grateful for Your hand on my life.
Today’s Insights
The word life in John’s writings means more than physical existence; rather, it describes the vibrant, rich quality of joyful fellowship with God—“the eternal life, which was with the Father” (1 John 1:2). Divine life transforms human life from mere existence into something more, as light transforms darkness (John 1:4-5). Through our bond with Jesus, believers in Him access that rich life—so that “our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). And believers’ fellowship with God also draws them into “fellowship with one another” (v. 7).
Today’s Devotional
In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine dominated the world’s attention. As the magnitude of the catastrophe became apparent, officials scrambled to the critically essential task of containing the radiation. Lethal gamma rays from highly radioactive debris kept destroying the robots deployed to clean up the mess.
So they had to use “bio robots”—human beings! Thousands of heroic individuals became “Chernobyl liquidators,” disposing of the hazardous material in “shifts” of ninety seconds or less. People did what technology could not, at great personal risk.
Long ago, our rebellion against God introduced a catastrophe that led to all other catastrophes (see Genesis 3). Through Adam and Eve, we chose to part ways with our Creator, and we made our world a toxic mess in the process. We could never clean it up ourselves.
That’s the whole point of Christmas. The apostle John wrote of Jesus, “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us” (1 John 1:2). Then John declared, “The blood of Jesus, [God’s] Son, purifies us from all sin” (v. 7).
Jesus has provided what His creatures could not. As we believe in Him, He restores us to a right relationship with His Father. He’s liquidated death itself. The life has appeared.
Reflect & Pray
How might you be trying to clean up your own mess? How will you give your struggles to Jesus today?
Loving God, thank You for sending Your Son into this world to clean up my mess.
Learn more about having a personal relationship with God.
Thursday, December 5, 2024 – A PRAYER FOR GOD’S WILL – Luke 22:41-44
Daily Bread Focus: Decision Making; Prayer
Scripture(s): Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18; Proverbs 3:5-6
Today’s Insights
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve chose their own will over the will of their creator. God said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Their actions have affected all future generations.
The garden of Gethsemane (see Matthew 26:36-46) is the second garden to have a universal impact on the course of human experience. There, Jesus was faced with a similar choice: do what seemed beneficial to Himself or submit to the will of the Father. Christ asked for there to be another way. But in a decision that would undo the rebellion of Adam and Eve, He submitted to God’s will and went to the cross (Luke 22:39-44).
Today’s Devotional
As a young believer in Jesus, I picked up my new devotional Bible and read a familiar Scripture: “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). The commentary explained that what we really should be asking God for is our will to line up with His. By seeking for His will to be done, we would be assured that we’d receive what we asked for. That was a new concept for me, and I prayed for God’s will to be done in my life.
Later that same day, I became surprisingly excited about a job opportunity I’d already turned down in my mind, and I was reminded about my prayer. Perhaps what I didn’t think I wanted was actually a part of God’s will for my life. I continued to pray and eventually accepted the job.
In a much more profound and eternally significant moment, Jesus modeled this for us. Before His betrayal and arrest, which led to His crucifixion, He prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Christ’s prayer was filled with anguish and agony as He faced physical and emotional pain (v. 44). Yet He was still able to “earnestly” pray for God’s will to be done.
God’s will in my life has become my ultimate prayer. This means I may desire things I don’t even know I want or need. The job I originally hadn’t wanted turned out to be the beginning of my journey in Christian publishing. Looking back, I believe God’s will was done.
Reflect & Pray
What prayer request is on your heart? What do you believe God is calling you to do?
Heavenly Father, please guide me to do Your will.
Learn how to discern and follow God’s calling in your life.
Today’s Insights
Matthew’s gospel was written to a primarily Jewish Christian audience to present Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, a king descended from the line of David. Matthew (Levi) frequently uses messianic language (such as “Son of David”) and Old Testament references to point to Christ as the Messiah.
Matthew 25:1-46 contains three parables detailing what it means to be ready for Jesus’ second coming: the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the bags of gold, and the parable of the sheep and goats. Some commentators believe that although the story of the sheep and goats contains elements resembling a parable, it’s better viewed as a symbolic representation of the final judgment. Its message is that one day Christ will return to judge the nations (all people). Until then, we’re to serve Him by caring for others.
Today’s Devotional
At a Christmas dinner held at our church to celebrate the cultures of the international guests, I joyfully clapped along to the sound of the darbuka (a type of drum) and the oud (a guitar-like instrument) as a band played the traditional Middle Eastern carol, “Laylat Al-Milad.” The band’s singer explained the title means “Nativity Night.” The lyrics remind hearers that the spirit of Christmas is found in serving others, in ways like offering a thirsty person water or comforting someone weeping.
This carol likely draws from a parable where Jesus commends His followers for deeds they’d done for Him: providing food when He was hungry, drink when He was thirsty, and companionship and care when He was sick and alone (Matthew 25:34-36). Instead of simply accepting Jesus’ commendation, the people in the parable are surprised—thinking they hadn’t actually done these things for Christ. He responded, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v. 40).
During the holiday season, the encouragement to get in the Christmas spirit is often a nudge toward expressing a festive attitude. “Laylat Al-Milad” reminds us that we can put into practice the true Christmas spirit by caring for others. And amazingly, when we do, we not only serve others but Jesus too.
Reflect & Pray
How have you understood the Christmas spirit? How might you serve others this season?
Dear Jesus, please help me reflect the spirit of Christmas You modeled by coming to earth not to be served but to serve.
Saturday, December 7, 2024 – TEMPTED AND TESTED – Daniel 6:1-10
Our Daily Bread Focus: Holiness; Holy Spirit
Today’s Insights
Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth follows a decidedly different pattern than most of his other “church” letters. The apostle usually opens with a section of doctrine (teaching) and follows that with a section of practical application. The first part helps us with what to believe and the second with how to practically live out those beliefs.
In 1 Corinthians, however, the apostle spends the first fourteen chapters addressing problems within the church at Corinth. Some of the chapters are in response to questions asked by the church itself (see 7:1). Then in chapter 15, he provides the single most detailed theological study of the resurrection in the New Testament. The final chapter (ch. 16) contains a few brief statements of practical exhortation.
Hear more about the problems addressed in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.
Today’s Devotional
Stanley loves the freedom and flexibility that his job as a private-hire driver gives him. Among other things, he can start and stop work anytime, and he doesn’t have to account for his time and movements to anyone. Yet, he said, that’s ironically the hardest part.
“In this job, it’s so easy to start an extramarital affair,” he admitted frankly. “I pick up all sorts of passengers, yet no one, including my wife, knows where I am each day.” It’s not an easy temptation to resist, and many of his fellow drivers have given in to it, he explained. “What stops me is considering what God would think, and how my wife would feel,” he said.
Our God, who created each one of us, knows our weaknesses, desires, and how easily we’re tempted. But as 1 Corinthians 10:11-13 reminds us, we can ask Him for help. “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear,” Paul says. “When you are tempted, [God] will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (v. 13). That “way out” could be a healthy fear of the consequences, a guilty conscience, remembering Scripture, a timely distraction, or something else. As we ask God for strength, the Spirit will turn our eyes from what’s tempting us and help us look toward the way out that He’s given us.
Reflect & Pray
What temptations are you facing today? What way out might God be giving you to keep on His right and holy path?
Father, You know my weaknesses. Please give me the strength to resist temptation and to walk with You, in Your holy and life-giving ways.
For further study, read Walking Free: Overcoming What Keeps Us from Jesus.
THIS WEEK’S INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT BY SISTER CLOVIA
#WONDER!
Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. — Psalm 96:3 KJV
When I look up the word “wonder” in the dictionary, I see words like marvel, astonishment, and awe. When was the last time you truly experienced WONDER at the gift of salvation?
The wonder of advent is simple yet extraordinary. Our glorious God, who created the whole world, sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be born in the humblest of beginnings to a virgin woman in Bethlehem.
This gift of Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of prophecies made hundreds of years before as God promised the way of salvation to rescue humanity from sinful reality.
This baby grew to be a man—the Son of the Most High—who sacrificed His life on the cross to provide rescue and forgiveness from sin. Instead of abandoning people and leaving us dead in our sins, He gave the most precious gift—He gave Himself. The wonder of salvation.
- May our eyes be open to the glorious gift of Jesus this Christmas.
- May we never take His goodness and kindness for granted.
- May we embrace the hope, joy, peace, and love of our Father and share it with those around us.
May we experience the wonder of His salvation.
*This is part one of a five-part reflection as we approach the Christmas holiday.
Next week, we will ponder the word “#HOPE.”*
CHRISTIAN-BASED MOVIE OF THE MONTH
***The Daily Devotionals are taken from Our Daily Bread Ministries and the Scriptures are from the BibleGateway.***
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