FOCUS OF THE MONTH (FOM)
SALVATION IS BIRTHED
SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK (SOW)
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. — Isaiah 7:14 KJV
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. — Isaiah 7:14 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 15, 2024 – A GRANDMA’S FAITH – 2 Timothy 1:1-5
Our Daily Bread Focus: Influencing people; Living for Christ; Living with other believers; Mentoring
Today’s Insights
In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul describes the way in which faith in Jesus is received, nurtured, and passed on within families: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.” Though no one is saved by the faith of their parents, being part of a family of believers in Christ provides a biblical foundation. Exposing children to the truths of the Bible and the character of God picks up on the Jewish tradition found in the Shema (an important Old Testament prayer found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9): “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments . . . are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (vv. 4-7).
Today’s Devotional
We were seated around the dinner table when my nine-year-old grandson said with a smile, “I’m just like Grandma. I love to read!” His words brought joy to my heart. I thought back to the year before when he’d been sick and stayed home from school. After he took a long nap, we sat together side by side reading. I was happy to be passing along the legacy of loving books that I’d received from my mother.
But that’s not the most important legacy I want to pass on to my grandchildren. I pray the legacy of faith I received from my parents and sought to pass on to my children will also help my grandchildren in their journey toward faith.
Timothy had the legacy of a godly mother and grandmother—and a spiritual mentor, the apostle Paul. The apostle wrote, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).
We may think our lives haven’t been positive enough to be a good example for others. Maybe the legacy passed down to us wasn’t a good one. But it’s never too late to build a legacy of faith into our children, grandchildren, or any child’s life. Through God’s help, we plant seeds of faith. He’s the one who makes faith grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-9).
Reflect & Pray
What kind of spiritual inheritance did you receive? How can you build a legacy of faith?
Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing me to You. Please help me to be a godly example to others.
For further study, read Walk with Me: Traveling with Jesus and Others on Life’s Road.
Today’s Insights
To encourage believers in Jesus who were suffering because of their faith, Paul reminded them of the blessed hope of His imminent return (1 Thessalonians 1:3, 10; 3:13; 4:13-17; 5:1-10). Twice, he instructed them to “encourage one another” (4:18; 5:11). The Greek word translated “encourage” (parakaleō) means “to come alongside”; “to give one the strength and courage to get up and get going again.” It’s like giving a much-needed push to a child’s swing to get it moving. The apostle John used paraklētos to refer to the Holy Spirit, who comes alongside us to be our “Advocate” (John 14:26). It’s difficult to find an equivalent to this Greek word, so it’s translated in several different ways to describe the Spirit: “Helper,” “Counselor,” “Comforter,” “Companion,” or “Friend.” These are all apt descriptions of coming alongside to encourage.
Today’s Devotional
An Indiana schoolteacher suggested that her students write notes of encouragement and inspiration for their peers. Days later, when a school tragedy occurred in a different part of the country, their notes buoyed the spirits of their fellow students as they dealt with the resulting fear and pain that something could happen to them too.
Encouragement and mutual concern were also on Paul’s mind when he wrote to the believers at Thessalonica. They had lost friends, and Paul instructed them to hope in Jesus’ promised return to bring their loved ones to life again (1 Thessalonians 4:14). While they didn’t know when that would occur, he reminded them that as believers they needn’t wait in fear of God’s judgment when He returned (5:9). Instead, they could wait with confidence in their future life with Him and meanwhile “encourage one another and build each other up” (v. 11).
When we experience painful losses or senseless tragedies, it’s easy to be overcome with fear and sadness. Yet Paul’s words are helpful to us today, just as when they were written. Let’s wait in hopeful expectation that Christ will restore all things. And meanwhile, we can encourage each other—with written notes, spoken words, acts of service, or a simple hug.
Reflect & Pray
How have you been encouraged by others? How can you encourage someone today?
Risen Jesus, despite my hurts in a messed-up world, please help me to wait on You with hope and faith and to encourage those around me until You come again.
Today’s Insights
Matthew clearly states that Mary was pregnant “before [she and Joseph] came together” (1:18). Joseph would have considered this apparent violation of their engagement to be the same as adultery, which carried the death penalty (Leviticus 20:10). That Joseph, who was “faithful to the law” (Matthew 1:19), planned to divorce Mary discreetly reveals his gracious character. Just as important, he believed what the angel told him (v. 24) and married Mary. This exposed them both to public ridicule. When Jesus later returned to “his hometown” to carry out His ministry, the people wondered, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? . . . Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” (13:54-55). But He was more than just “the carpenter’s son.” He was the Messiah.
Today’s Devotional
What began as a normal cable car ride across a Pakistani valley turned into a frightful ordeal. Shortly after the ride began, two supporting cables snapped, leaving eight passengers—including school children—suspended hundreds of feet in the air. The situation sparked an arduous twelve-hour rescue operation by the Pakistani military, who used ziplines, helicopters, and more to rescue the passengers.
Those well-trained rescuers are to be commended, but their work pales in comparison to the eternal work of Jesus, whose mission was to save and rescue us from sin and death. Prior to Christ’s birth, an angel instructed Joseph to take Mary home because her pregnancy was from “the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18, 20). Joseph was also told to name his son Jesus, because He would “save his people from their sins” (v. 21). Yet, while this name was common in the first century, only this child was qualified to be the Savior (Luke 2:30-32). Christ came at the right time to seal and secure the eternal salvation of all who repent and believe in Him.
We were all trapped in the cable car of sin and death, suspended over the valley of eternal separation from God. But in His love and grace, Jesus came to rescue us and bring us safely home to our heavenly Father. Praise Him!
Reflect & Pray
What significant mission would Mary’s baby have? What does the rescue Jesus secured mean to you?
Dear Jesus, please help me to rejoice in the reality that though I once was lost, I can now be found because of Your grace.
Today’s Insights
Two months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive God’s laws (Exodus 19:16-25). Trembling in fear after God revealed Himself in thunder, lightning, billowing smoke, and a violent shaking of the whole mountain (vv. 16-18), the Israelites asked Him not to speak to them directly, but through Moses, lest they be destroyed by His holiness (20:18-19). Forty years later, Moses prophesied that God would provide a prophet—a mediator who would make known to them God’s words (Deuteronomy 18:15-20). God commanded His people not to imitate the detestable occultic practices of the pagan nations; specifically, not to consult with sorcerers, diviners, witches, spiritists, and mediums (vv. 9-14). They were to listen only to the “prophet like [Moses]” (v. 15) that God would send. This prophet would be far greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6). Jesus, the “new Moses,” is the sole mediator between God and humanity (Acts 3:22-23; 1 Timothy 2:5).
Today’s Devotional
“I’ve got to declare an emergency. My pilot’s deceased.” Doug White nervously uttered those words to the control tower monitoring his flight. Minutes after takeoff, the pilot of the private plane Doug’s family had chartered suddenly passed away. Doug stepped into the cockpit with just three-month’s training in flying less sophisticated aircraft. He then carefully listened to controllers at a local airport who talked him through landing the plane. Later, Doug said, “[They] saved my family from an almost certain fiery death.”
We have one who alone can help us navigate the challenges in life. Moses, speaking to the Israelites, said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you . . . . You must listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). This promise pointed to a succession of prophets God provided for His people, but it also spoke of the Messiah. Both Peter and Stephen would later state that this ultimate prophet was Jesus (Acts 3:19-22; 7:37, 51-56). He alone came to tell us the loving and wise instructions of God (Deuteronomy 18:18).
During Christ’s life, God the Father said, “This is my Son . . . . Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7). To live wisely and avoid crashing and burning in this life, let’s listen to Jesus as He speaks through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. Listening to Him makes all the difference.
Reflect & Pray
Why is it sometimes challenging to hear Christ’s voice in this world? How can you better follow His wise and loving words today?
Dear Jesus, please help me hear and obey Your voice.
Thursday, December 19, 2024 – GOD’S VIEW OF US – Genesis 1:1-10
Daily Bread Focuses: Creation; God’s love and care
Scripture(s): Jeremiah 31:3; 32:17; Romans 1:20; 1 John 4:10
Today’s Insights
The word genesis means “origin” or “beginnings.” The book of Genesis is about beginnings: the beginning of the world, of God’s chosen people, and of His plan to save us. It begins: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1). The gospel of John has a similar opening: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (1:1-2). These verses reveal much about the world’s origin: The Word (Jesus) was with God in the beginning—and is God. Not only was Jesus with the Father and Spirit from the very beginning, He gave life and created all things (1:3; Genesis 1:2). In Genesis 1:3, God speaks light into the world; in John 1:4, we read that Jesus is “the light” (see also 8:12).
Today’s Devotional
It was 1968, and America was mired in a war with Vietnam, racial violence was exploding in cities, and two public figures had been assassinated. A year before, fire had taken the lives of three astronauts on the launchpad, and the idea of going to the moon seemed like a pipe dream. Nonetheless, Apollo 8 managed to launch a few days before Christmas.
It became the first manned mission to orbit the moon. The flight crew, Borman, Anders, and Lovell—all men of faith—broadcast a Christmas Eve message: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). At the time, it was the most watched TV event in the world, and millions shared the God’s-eye view of Earth in a now iconic photo. Frank Borman finished the reading: “And God saw that it was good” (v. 10).
Sometimes it’s hard to look at ourselves, all the hardships we’re mired in, and see anything that’s good. But we might return to the story of creation and see God’s view of us: “In the image of God he created them” (v. 27). Let’s pair that with another divine-eye view: “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). Today, remember that God created you, sees the good despite the sin, and loves the you He created.
Reflect & Pray
What hardships and sins are you mired in today? What does it mean that you’re created in the image of God?
Dear God, I’m struggling these days. Please help me to see what You see in me—You’re the God’s-eye view.
Today’s Insights
We tend to make the phrase “the Word of God” (see Isaiah 40:8) into a synonym for Scripture itself. And it’s true that the Bible is an integral and vital way in which God reveals Himself to us. Ultimately, however, the greater revealer of God is a living and enduring person: Jesus. Isaiah 40:1-11 has a strong messianic message as it describes this eternal Word in whom we trust. This is who Isaiah is pointing to—the Word made flesh as revealed in John 1 (see especially vv. 1, 14). The words of God given to us in the pages of the Bible point to the Word of God (Jesus) spoken of in John 1.
Today’s Devotional
When he was younger, my son Xavier and I read a fictional children’s story about a boy who rebelled against his teacher by referring to a pen by a made-up name. The student convinced his fellow fifth graders to use the new name he created for pens. News about the boy’s replacement word spread through the whole town. Eventually, people across the country changed the way they referred to pens, simply because others accepted one boy’s made-up reality as a universal truth.
Throughout history, flawed human beings have embraced ever-changing versions of truth or personal preferred realities to suit their desires. However, the Bible points to one truth, the one true God, and one way to salvation—the Messiah—through whom “the glory of the Lord will be revealed” (Isaiah 40:5). The prophet Isaiah affirmed that people, like all created things, are temporal, fallible, and unreliable (vv. 6-7). He said, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (v. 8).
Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah provides a dependable foundation, a safe refuge, and a secured hope. We can trust God’s Word because Jesus Himself is the Word (John 1:1). Jesus is the Truth who never changes.
Reflect & Pray
When have you been tempted to reject what the Bible says simply because others accepted another view as truth? How does knowing Jesus is the Word and the fulfillment of all God’s promises comfort you?
Dear Jesus, please help me live in a way that shows I believe the Bible is the truth that never changes.
Saturday, December 21, 2024 – WINDOW TO THE WONDERFUL – Revelation 21:23-22:5
Our Daily Bread Focus: Christ, birth
Today’s Insights
In Revelation 21:1-22:5, we’re given a vision of “a new heaven and a new earth” (21:1), our home once Christ returns and makes all things right. One striking element of this vision is that the old creation seems to be still recognizable in the new; the new Jerusalem, for example, is still recognizable as Jerusalem (v. 10). Humanity still enjoys fellowship in a city. God has wholly redeemed and transformed His good creation.
Today’s Devotional
Photographer Ronn Murray likes cold weather. “Cold means clear skies,” he explains. “And that can open a window to the wonderful!”
Ronn provides Alaskan photography tours dedicated to tracking Earth’s most spectacular light show—aurora borealis (the northern lights). Murray speaks of the experience as “very spiritual.” If you’ve ever seen this iridescent display dance across the heavens, you’ll understand why.
But the lights aren’t only a northern phenomenon. Aurora australis, nearly identical to borealis, occurs simultaneously in the south—the same kind of lights.
In the disciple John’s telling of the Christmas story, he skips the stable and shepherds and goes directly to the one who “brought light to everyone” (John 1:4 nlt). When John later writes of a heavenly city, he describes the source of its light. This “city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light” (Revelation 21:23 nlt). This light source is Jesus—the same source referenced in John 1. And for those who inhabit this future dwelling, “there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them” (22:5 nlt).
As our lives reflect this light of the world—the one who created aurora borealis and australis—we open a window to the truly wonderful.
Reflect & Pray
When or how have natural wonders dazzled you? What’s distracting you from reflecting God’s light to the world?
Dear Creator of the cosmos, may the beauty of the night sky remind me that You’re the true light of the world.
THIS WEEK’S INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT BY SISTER CLOVIA
#PRINCE OF PEACE
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulders: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. — Isaiah 9:6-7
#PRINCE OF PEACE
As we are at the onset of a New Year, there is no doubt we live in a time of uncertainty and unrest around the world. In this world, we will have trouble. It is a fact. But we have a choice.
We can choose to focus on the trouble in 2025 or focus on the Prince of Peace, the Creator of peace, and by His blood, we are graciously granted peace.
Yes, trouble may enter our lives, but our lives don’t have to be ruled by it. Jesus is our Prince of Peace, the Giver of Peace. Let’s allow Him to rule our hearts and lives as we live for Him.
Knowing Him and making Him known this Christmas is our life’s purpose. Take heart, Saints, our Prince of Peace has this crazy world under control. The ultimate battle has been fought and won; Jesus has overcome the world!
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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