OUR CHANGING WORLD

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

OUR CHANGING WORLD

Read:  Psalm 102:25-27

I am the Lord, I do not change.  Malachi 3:6

Change is one thing we can be sure of in this life.  Our relationships change as we move to new places, experience illness, and ultimately face death.  Even the cells in our bodies are alway in the process of change.  When cells wear out most are replaced by new ones.  This is especially noticeable with our skin-we shed and regrow outer skin cells about very twenty-seven days.

Yes, change is the one certainty in our world.  Henry Lyte’s melancholy line in his hymn “Abide with Me” is true:  “Change and decay in all around I see.”  But the hymn immediately adds, “O Thou who changes not, abide with me!”

By faith in Jesus Christ we can have a relationship with the unchanging God, who says of himself in Malachi 3:6, “I am the Lord, I do not change.”  We can depend on God to be the same forever, as the psalmist says (Psalm 102:27).  Hebrews 13:8 adds this reassuring testimony:  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  He is our firm foundation, who can give us confidence and security in this changing world.

We creatures, caught up in the swirling tide of time, can rest our souls on the everlasting arms, which will never let us go.  VCG

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day, 

Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see-

O Thous who changes not, abide with me! -Lyte

To face life’s changes, look to the unchanging God.

ALL THINGS NEW

All Things New

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

READ REVELATION 21:1–7

Junkyards intrigue me. I enjoy working on cars, so I frequently make trips to the one near our home. It’s a lonely place, where the wind whispers through discarded hulks that were once someone’s prized possession. Some were wrecked, some wore out, and others simply outlived their usefulness. As I walk between the rows, a car will sometimes catch my eye, and I’ll find myself wondering about the adventures it had during its “lifetime.” Like a portal to the past, each has a story to tell—of human hankering after the latest model and the inescapable passage of time.

But I take particular pleasure in finding new life for an old part. Whenever I can take something discarded and give it new life in a restored vehicle, it feels like a small victory against time and decline.

It sometimes makes me think of Jesus’s words at the end of the Bible: “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5). These words refer to God’s renewal of creation, which includes believers. Already, all who’ve received Jesus are a “new creation” in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).

And one day we will enter into His promise of unending days with Him (John 14:3). Age and disease will no longer take their toll, and we will continue the adventure of an eternal lifetime. What stories each of us will have to tell—stories of our Savior’s redeeming love and undying faithfulness.

By James Banks

REFLECT & PRAY

The end of a year and beginning of another is an opportunity for a fresh start. What might God be making new in your life?

Loving Lord, I praise You that I am a new creation in You, and that in Your kindness and mercy You have given me the promise of eternal life.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

Today’s passage gives us a glimpse of heaven, describing it as a physical place (vv. 1-2). Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3), and this promise is fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, the holy city (Revelation 21:2). While it’s a great comfort that heaven is a perfect place (v. 4), the most important thing is that it’s the dwelling place of God (v. 3). In this final vision of the beginning of eternity (21:1-22:9), John hears Christ declaring, “It is done” (21:6). The New Living Translation renders it, “It is finished!” echoing Christ’s victorious cry from the cross (John 19:30). Sin’s curse will one day be completely removed and reversed (Revelation 21:4-5; see Genesis 3:16-19). K. T. Sim

WHAT GOD OWES US

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

WHAT GOD OWES US

Read:  Colossians 1:9-14

Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.  Colossians 1:10

A story is told about a vendor who sold bagels for fifty cents each at a street corner food stand.  A jogger ran past and threw a couple of quarters into the bucket but didn’t take a bagel.  He did the same thing every day for months.  One day, as the jogger was passing by, the vendor stopped him.  The jogger asked, “You probably want to know why I always put money in but never take a bagel, don’t you?” “No,” said t he vendor.  “I just wanted to tell you that the bagels have gone up to sixty cents.”

Too often, as believers, we treat God with that same kind of attitude.  Not only are we ungrateful for what He’s given us-but we want more.  Somehow we feel that God owes us good health, a comfortable life, material blessings.  Of course, God doesn’t owe us anything, yet He gives us everything.

G.K. Chesterton wrote, “Here dies another day, during which I have had eyes, ears, hands, and the great world round me.  And with tomorrow begins another.  Why am I allowed two?”  The psalmist said, “This is the day the Lord had made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

Each day, whether good or bad, is one more gift from our God.  Our grateful response should be to live to please Him.    CHK

Living for Jesus a life that is true,

Striving to please Him in all that I do;

Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,

This is the pathway of blessing for me. -Chisholm

Life is a gift from God to be lived for God.

WHEN GOD SAYS NO

When God Says No

In perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.

Isaiah 25:1

READ ISAIAH 25:1–5

When I was conscripted into the military at age eighteen, as all young Singaporean men are, I prayed desperately for an easy posting. A clerk or driver, perhaps. Not being particularly strong, I hoped to be spared the rigors of combat training. But one evening as I read my Bible, one verse leaped off the page: “My grace is sufficient for you . . .” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

My heart dropped—but it shouldn’t have. God had answered my prayers. Even if I received a difficult assignment, He would provide for me.

So I ended up as an armored infantryman, doing things I didn’t always enjoy. Looking back now, I’m grateful God didn’t give me what I wanted. The training and experience toughened me physically and mentally and gave me confidence to enter adulthood.

In Isaiah 25:1-5, after prophesying Israel’s punishment and subsequent deliverance from her enemies, the prophet praises God for His plans. All these “wonderful things,” Isaiah notes, had been “planned long ago” (v. 1), yet they included some arduous times.

It can be hard to hear God saying no, and even harder to understand when we’re praying for something good—like someone’s deliverance from a crisis. That’s when we need to hold on to the truth of God’s good plans. We may not understand why, but we can keep trusting in His love, goodness, and faithfulness.

By Leslie Koh

REFLECT & PRAY

When God says no, He has a plan. Keep trusting Him!

Lord, give me the faith to keep trusting You even when You say no.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

Throughout Isaiah we see dark and dire prophecies interspersed with oases of hope. We may think these dramatically different sections contrast with each other—and they do—but they’re also complementary. Note how Isaiah 25 responds to previous pronouncements of judgment, which the prophet praises God for.

Chapter 24 declares that the entire earth will be devastated (vv. 1-3). Then it concludes by saying, “The Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders—with great glory” (v. 23). This sets the stage for Isaiah 25. “In perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things,” says the prophet (v. 1). These things include God’s judgment: “You have made the city a heap of rubble” (v. 2). Because of the judgment, “strong peoples” will honor the Lord, and “cities of ruthless nations will revere you” (v. 3). Even God’s judgment draws His creation to Him. Tim Gustafson

GOD'S TRAINING SCHOOL

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

GOD’S TRAINING SCHOOL

Read:  Romans 8:12-17

[We are] heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,

 if indeed we suffer with Him.  Romans 8:17

Lew Wallace’s book Ben-Hur tells the story of a Jewish aristocrat betrayed by his best friend and condemned to serve as a galley slave in the Roman navy.  On a forced march to the ship, Judah Ben-Hur meets Jesus of Nazareth, whose compassion fills him with hope.  Eventually, Ben-Hur saves the Roman commander during battle.  In gratitude, the commander adopts Ben-Hur as his son, instantly elevating him from slave to heir.

That’s what happens to us when God adopts us into His family.  But great privilege brings great responsibility.  Paul said that we become “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him” (Romans 8:17).  The gospel does not say, “Come to Jesus and live happily ever after.”  God’s syllabus for His children’s education includes training through hardships.

Ben-Hur’s years of enduring hardship as a Roman slave strengthened him and increased his endurance.  He eventually defeated his “friend-turned-enemy” in a chariot race.

As endurance and training were key to Ben-Hur’s victory, so are they vital to victory in the Christian’s war with sin and evil.  The hard times we endure are God’s way to prepare us for greater service for His glory.   CPH

We conquer by continuing.

GOOD RIDDANCE DAY

Good Riddance Day

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:12

READ PSALM 103:1–12

Since 2006 a group of people have celebrated an unusual event around the New Year. It’s called Good Riddance Day. Based on a Latin American tradition, individuals write down unpleasant, embarrassing memories and bad issues from the past year and throw them into an industrial-strength shredder. Or some take a sledgehammer to their good riddance item.

The writer of Psalm 103 goes beyond suggesting that people say good riddance to unpleasant memories. He reminded us that God bids good riddance to our sins. In his attempt to express God’s vast love for His people, the psalmist used word pictures. He compared the vastness of God’s love to the distance between the heavens and the earth (v. 11). Then the psalmist talked about His forgiveness in spatial terms. As far as the place where the sun rises is from the place where the sun sets, so the Lord has removed His people’s sins from them (v. 12). The psalmist wanted God’s people to know that His love and forgiveness were infinite and complete. God freed His people from the power of their transgressions by fully pardoning them.

Good news! We don’t have to wait until the New Year to experience Good Riddance Day. Through our faith in Jesus, when we confess and turn from our sins, He bids good riddance to them and casts them into the depths of the sea. Today can be a Good Riddance Day!

By Marvin Williams

REFLECT & PRAY

What sins do you need to say goodbye to? How does it make you feel knowing that God infinitely and completely forgets your sins?

Thank You, Father, for freedom from sin.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

Recognizing our propensity to be forgetful and unfaithful (Deuteronomy 6:10-12; Hosea 13:6), David wrote Psalm 103 as a thanksgiving song, calling us to praise God for who He is and what He has done. He reminds us not to forgot “all his benefits” (vv. 1-2). The psalmist describes the character of our redeeming Father. He is compassionate, slow to anger, loving, forgiving, and gracious (vv. 3-13). He “does not punish us for all our sins . . . [or] deal harshly with us, as we deserve” (v. 10 nlt). God has forgiven our sins completely (vv. 11-12). David recounts God’s character in the aftermath of Israel’s idolatrous sin (vv. 7-8; Exodus 32): Our God is “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7). K. T. Sim

NO NEED TO PANIC

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

NO NEED TO PANIC

Read:  1 Peter 4:12-19

Do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as

though some strange thing happened to you.  1 Peter 4:12

On a Bible-teaching cruise in the Caribbean, I was listening to the customary first-day safety briefing.  The precautions were vital in case the ship should have to be evacuated.

The instructions from the ship’s personnel concluded with a simple but significant explanation.  A specific combination of air horn blasts, indicating a drill, would be distinctly different from those indicating a real emergency.  The distinction was critical.  A drill did not constitute a need to evacuate.  If passengers were to panic during the drill, it could result in chaos.

When we don’t understand the circumstances that surround us, it’s easy to be shaken by life’s alarms.  Peter’s generation experienced the same thing.  His warning was simple:  “Do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you” (1 Peter 4:12).

The trials and heartaches of life may sound like a call to evacuate-to run away or to respond to life in ways that are disheartening and destructive.  But we would do well to listen more closely to our Lord.  The trial may be nothing more than a reminder that our trust is to be in God, not in people.  We can trust Him in those times when the alarms start to sound.   BC

We can trust our loving Savior

To protect from life’s alarms;

He’s prepared a place of refuge

Safe within His mighty arms. -Hess

Life’s challenges are not designed to break jus

but to bend us toward God.

THE HIGHEST PLACE

The Highest Place

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:17

READ COLOSSIANS 1:15–23

My husband invited a friend to church. After the service his friend said, “I liked the songs and the atmosphere, but I don’t get it. Why do you give Jesus such a high place of honor?” My husband then explained to him that Christianity is a relationship with Christ. Without Him, Christianity would be meaningless. It’s because of what Jesus has done in our lives that we meet together and praise Him.

Who is Jesus and what has He done? The apostle Paul answered this question in Colossians 1. No one has seen God, but Jesus came to reflect and reveal Him (v. 15). Jesus, as the Son of God, came to die for us and free us from sin. Sin has separated us from God’s holiness, so peace could only be made through someone perfect. That was Jesus (vv. 14, 20). In other words, Jesus has given us what no one else could—access to God and eternal life (John 17:3).

Why does He deserve such a place of honor? He conquered death. He won our hearts by His love and sacrifice. He gives us new strength every day. He is everything to us!

We give Him the glory because He deserves it. We lift Him up because that is His rightful place. Let’s give Him the highest place in our hearts.

By Keila Ochoa

REFLECT & PRAY

Jesus is the center of our worship.

Jesus, You are my Savior and my Lord, and I want to give You the highest place of honor in my life.

Read God at the Center at discoveryseries.org/hp152.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

The New Testament concept of “image” (Colossians 1:15) involves three things: “exact likeness” (2 Corinthians 4:4 nlt), “exact representation” (Hebrews 1:3), and complete revelation (John 1:18). Man is created “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27), but Jesus “is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The writer of Hebrews says the Son “is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (1:3) or “expresses the very character of God” (nlt). Jesus in His very essence and nature is God (Colossians 2:9; Philippians 2:5-6). The apostle John (John 1:18) says Jesus “has made [God] known” (niv) or “has explained Him” to us (nasb). K. T. Sim

THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE

Read:  John 10:22-30

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither

shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  John 10:28

On December 26, 2004, an earthquake shook the whole earth.  Many people didn’t feel it, but the South Asian region and parts of Africa suffered a devastating tsunami as a result.  According to reporter Randolph Schmid, however, “No point on Earth remained undisturbed,”  That earthquake, he tells us, “shook the ground everywhere on Earth’s surface.”

The 19th-century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard says that his world was rocked when his religious father told him he had cursed God for the mistreatment he was getting from others.  His father’s actions shook Soren so much that he called the event “The Great Earthquake.”  He wondered for the rest of his life if his family was cursed by God for his father’s actions.

We too have had or possibly will have “earthquakes” in our lives.  But it’s comforting to know that under the worst of circumstances, our faith in God can-and will-hold us fast.  After all, “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” and that means “He’s got you and me, brother and sister, in His hands.”

No one, nor any disaster, can snatch us out of our heavenly Father’s hands (John 10:28-29).  His grip will hold us into all eternity.   VCG

Neither life nor death can ever

From the Lord His children sever,

For His love and deep compassion

Comforts them in tribulation -Berg

Our unknown future is secure in the hands

of our all-knowing God.

JUST ANOTHER DAY?

Just Another Day?

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.

Acts 3:13

READ ACTS 3:17–26

In Christmas Every Day, William Dean Howells tells of a little girl who gets her wish. For one long, horrible year it is indeed Christmas every day. By day three, the yuletide joy has already begun to wear thin. Before long everyone hates candy. Turkeys become scarce and sell for outrageous prices. Presents are no longer received with gratitude as they pile up everywhere. People angrily snap at each other.

Thankfully, Howell’s story is just a satirical tale. But what an incredible blessing that the subject of the Christmas celebration never wearies us despite the fact that we see Him throughout the Bible.

After Jesus had ascended to His Father, the apostle Peter proclaimed to a crowd at the temple in Jerusalem that Jesus was the one Moses foretold when he said, “God will raise up for you a prophet like me” (Acts 3:22; Deuteronomy 18:18). God’s promise to Abraham, “Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed,” was really a reference to Jesus (Acts 3:25; Genesis 22:18). Peter noted, “All the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days”—the arrival of the Messiah (Acts 3:24).

We can keep the spirit of Christmas alive long after the celebrations have ended. By seeing Christ in the whole story of the Bible we can appreciate how Christmas is so much more than just another day.

By Tim Gustafson

REFLECT & PRAY

This year, as you pack up the Christmas decorations, don’t put away the spirit of Christmas.

Father, thank You for giving us Your Son, and for giving us His Story on the pages of the Bible.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

The book of Acts describes how the Spirit of God enabled followers of Jesus to spread the word of what they had seen with their eyes (Acts 1:8). Their witness was given credibility by miracles (3:1-10), care for one another (6:1-7), a love for their enemies, and a willingness to suffer and die for their life-changing story (7:59-8:4).

From the temple of Jerusalem to a prison in Rome, they told how the long-awaited King and Savior of Israel had been crucified (3:17-18). Together they showed how the Jewish Scriptures could be read with a new understanding (8:26-35), and even how other religious beliefs (17:16-31) could be seen in light of a resurrected Savior and Lord. Mart DeHaan

WONDER

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

WONDER

Read:  Luke 2:15-20

All those who heard it marveled at those things which were

told them by the shepherds.  Luke 2:18

Elmer Kline, a bakery manager in 1921, was given the job of naming the company’s new loaf of bread.  As he struggled to come up with something “catchy” he found his answer in an unlikely place.  While visiting the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he stopped to watch the International Balloon Festival.

Later he described the sight of the beautiful hot-air balloons launching into the Indiana sky as on of “awe and wonderment.”  The thought stuck, and he called the new product Wonder Bread.  To this day, the packaging for Wonder Bread is brightened by colorful balloons.

Wonder, however, is a word that evokes something more significant than a loaf of bread or hot-air balloons.  One dictionary defines wonder as “a cause of astonishment or admiration.”  It’s a word that captures the experience of all the people surrounding the events of the coming of Jesus into the world-the angels, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and all the people they told.  Luke said they “marveled” (2:18).  For all of them trying to understand the birth of Christ was an exercise in wonder.

As we celebrate Christmas, may we be filled with wonder at His love and His coming!   BC

Have you felt the joy of the shepherds,

Who were first to behold the sight

Of that holy Child of Mary

On that wonderful Christmas night? -Brill

A wonder-filled life is yours when you know

the Christ of Christmas.

WINTER SNOW

Winter Snow

He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break.

Isaiah 42:2-3

READ ISAIAH 42:1–4

In winter, I often wake to the beautiful surprise of a world blanketed in the peace and quiet of an early morning snow. Not loudly like a spring thunderstorm that announces its presence in the night, snow comes softly.

In “Winter Snow Song,” Audrey Assad sings that Jesus could have come to earth in power like a hurricane, but instead He came quietly and slowly like the winter snow falling softly in the night outside my window.

Jesus’s arrival took many by quiet surprise. Instead of being born in a palace, He was born in an unlikely place, a humble dwelling outside Bethlehem. And He slept in the only bed available, a manger (Luke 2:7). Instead of being attended by royalty and government officials, Jesus was welcomed by lowly shepherds (vv. 15-16). Instead of having wealth, Jesus’s parents could only afford the inexpensive sacrifice of two birds when they presented Him at the temple (v. 24).

The unassuming way Jesus entered the world was foreshadowed by the prophet Isaiah, who prophesied the coming Savior would “not shout or cry out” (Isaiah 42:2) nor would He come in power that might break a damaged reed or extinguish a struggling flame (v. 3). Instead He came gently in order to draw us to Himself with His offer of peace with God—a peace still available to anyone who believes the unexpected story of a Savior born in a manger.

By Lisa Samra

REFLECT & PRAY

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given! —O Little Town of Bethlehem

Lord Jesus, thank You for willingly giving up Your majesty and coming to earth in order to offer peace.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

Known as one of the Servant Songs (songs/poems that celebrate the service, suffering, and ultimate reign of the “Servant of the Lord”; see also Isaiah 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12), Isaiah 42 paints a beautiful picture of God’s care, concern, and coming justice for the nations. While there is some debate over the identity of the servant (in some songs the servant is expressed in the plural, suggesting the nation of Israel is the servant), there is little doubt about how today’s passage was viewed. Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-4 in its entirety (Matthew 12:18-21). Matthew says that Jesus’s ministry of healing the sick was in fulfillment of this passage: “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah” (v. 17). Matthew clearly sees Jesus as the Servant of the Lord in whom the nations “put their hope.” J.R. Hudberg

A GIFT OF SHELTER

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

A GIFT OF SHELTER

Read:  Luke 2:1-7

There was no room for them in the inn.  Luke 2:7

Life was tough for Datha and her family.  At age thirty-nine, she had a heart attack and bypass surgery and learned that she had coronary artery disease.  A year later, her fifteen-year-old daughter Heather became paralyzed as the result of a car accident.  Datha quit her job to take care of Heather, and the bills started piling up.  Soon they would be facing eviction.  Datha was so angry with hGod that she stopped praying.

Then came Christmas Eve 2004.  A young girl knocked on Datha’s door.  The girl wished her a “Merry Christmas,” gave her an envelope, and left quickly.  Inside was a gift that would cover Datha’s housing needs for the next year.  The attached note read, “Please accept this gift in honor of the Man whose birthday we celebrate on this holy night.  Long ago, His family also had a shelter problem.”

Luke 2 tells the story of Joseph and Mary as they searched for a shelter for Mary to deliver her baby.  They found a place with the animals.  Later in His life, Jesus said of himself, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20).

Jesus understood Datha’s troubles.  He brought her hope and met her needs through others who contributed funds.

We can cast all our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7).  In Christ, we find shelter (Psalm 61:3-4).    AC

God will take care of you still to the end;

O what a Father, Redeemer, and Friend!

Jesus will answer whenever you call;

He will take care of you:  trust Him for all! -Crosby

You do the casting, God will do the caring.

PONDER IT

Ponder It

Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 2:19

READ LUKE 2:8–20

During Oswald Chambers’ years at the Bible Training College in London (1911-15), he often startled the students with things he said during his lectures. One young woman explained that because discussion was reserved for the following mealtime together, Chambers would frequently be bombarded with questions and objections. She recalled that Oswald would often simply smile and say, “Just leave it for now; it will come to you later.” He encouraged them to ponder the issues and allow God to reveal His truth to them.

To ponder something is to concentrate and think deeply about it. After the events leading to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, followed by the appearance of angels and the shepherds who came to see the Messiah, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). New Testament scholar W. E. Vine said that ponder means “to throw together, confer, to put one thing with another in considering circumstances” (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).

When we struggle to understand the meaning of what’s happening in our lives, we have Mary’s wonderful example of what it means to seek God and His wisdom.

When we, like her, accept God’s leading in our lives, we have many new things about His loving guidance to treasure and ponder in our hearts.

By David C. McCasland

REFLECT & PRAY

Allow yourself a few minutes of quiet during this busy season to sit and listen for what God might be saying to you.

Father, guide us by Your Holy Spirit as we consider Your great love and embrace Your plan for our lives.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

Shepherds were considered to be irreligious because their shepherding work prevented them from performing their religious obligations at the temple. Because they were in contact with dead animals, birds, and insects, they were rendered ceremonially “unclean” all the time (Leviticus 5:2-5; 11:4-43). It’s noteworthy that the birth of the Messiah—the Lamb of God (John 1:29) who is called our Good Shepherd (10:11)—was first announced to despised shepherds! K. T. Sim