QUESTIONS AT CHRISTMAS

Questions at Christmas

“But what about you?” [Jesus] asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Matthew 16:15

READ MATTHEW 16:13–21

Well before the calendar flips to December, Christmas cheer begins to bubble up in our northern town. A medical office drapes its trees and shrubs in close-fitting strings of lights, each a different color, illuminating a breathtaking nighttime landscape. Another business decorates its building to look like an enormous, extravagantly wrapped Christmas present. It’s difficult to turn anywhere without seeing evidence of Christmas spirit—or at least seasonal marketing.

Some people love these lavish displays. Others take a more cynical view. But the crucial question isn’t how others observe Christmas. Rather, we each need to consider what the celebration means to us.

A little more than thirty years after His birth, Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13). They gave responses others had given: John the Baptist, Elijah, maybe another prophet. Then Jesus made it personal: “Who do you say I am?” (v. 15). Peter replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).

Many will celebrate Christmas without a thought about who the Baby really is. As we interact with them, we can help them consider these crucial questions: Is Christmas just a heartwarming story about a baby born in a stable? Or did our Creator visit His creation and become one of us?

By Tim Gustafson

REFLECT & PRAY

Who do you say Jesus is?

Father in heaven, may our Christmas celebrations this year, whether lavish or small, honor the Messiah who came to redeem His creation.

For more on the life of Christ, see christianuniversity.org/NT111.

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

INSIGHT

Who was Matthew, the writer of the gospel by the same name? Matthew (also known as Levi) was one of Jesus’s twelve disciples. Prior to Jesus’s call, Matthew served as a despised tax collector (9:9). Tax collectors were particularly loathed because they exacted taxes from their own people, the Jews, to pay the Romans (the oppressive rulers of Israel). And they often collected far more than required. Matthew wrote his gospel primarily to the Jews to prove that Jesus is the Messiah (Savior), the eternal King. We see Matthew’s emphasis clearly in today’s passage. When Jesus asked His disciples about His identity, Peter declared, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (16:15-16). Alyson Kieda

LIFT UP YOUR EYES

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

Lift Up Your Eyes

Read:  Psalm 121:1-8

I will lift up my eyes to the hills-from whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord.  Psalm 121:1-2

A woman whose work demanded constant reading began to have difficulty with her eyes, so she consulted a physician.  After an examination he said, “Your eyes are just tired; you need to rest them.”

“But,” she replied, “that is impossible in my type of work.”  After a few moments the doctor asked, “Do you have windows at your workplace?”

“Oh, yes,” she answered with enthusiasm.  “From the front windows I can see the noble peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains and from the rear windows I can look out at the glorious Allegheny foothills.”

The physician replied, “That is exactly what you need.  When your eyes feel tired, go look at your mountains for ten minutes-twenty would be better-and the far look will rest your eyes!”

What is true in the physical realm is true in the spiritual realm.  The eyes of the soul are often tired and weary from focusing on our problems and difficulties.  The upward look-the far look-will restore our spiritual perspective.

At times we feel overwhelmed by life’s troubles.  If we look to the Lord in His Word and in prayer, however, He will put our problems in perspective and renew our strength. 

Let’s lift up our eyes!  (Psalm 121:1).   HGB

For the right spiritual focus, fix your eyes on the Lord. 

THANKS FOR BEING YOU!

Thanks for Being You!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving.

Psalm 100:4

READ PSALM 100

When I served as my mom’s live-in caregiver at a cancer center, I got to know Lori, another caregiver who lived down the hallway from us with her husband, Frank. I would chat, laugh, vent, cry, and pray with Lori in the shared living areas. We enjoyed supporting each other as we cared for our loved ones.

One day, I missed the free shuttle that took residents to buy groceries. Lori offered to drive me to the store later that evening. With grateful tears, I accepted her offer. “Thanks for being you,” I said. I truly appreciated her for who she was as a person, not just for what she did for me as a friend.

Psalm 100 demonstrates an appreciation of God for who He is, not simply for all He does. The psalmist invites “all the earth” (v. 1) to “worship the Lord with gladness” (v. 2), being confident in knowing “the Lord is God” (v. 3). Our Maker invites us into His presence to “give thanks to him and praise his name” (v. 4). Yes, the Lord remains worthy of our ongoing thankfulness because He “is good,” His “love endures forever,” and His “faithfulness continues through all generations” (v. 5).

God will always be the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and our intimately loving Father. He deserves our genuine joy-filled gratitude.

By Xochitl Dixon

REFLECT & PRAY

Who can you share God’s love with today?

Lord, thanks for being You!

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

INSIGHT

Psalm 100 echoes the words of Psalm 95. Both begin with an appeal to shout for joy and together call for a resounding celebration in song to the God of gods, Yahweh. This personal name of Israel’s God is translated in English versions as Lord.

But beyond their similarities, the two songs tell a different story. While Psalm 95 attempts to rouse a nation that has lost its joy (vv. 7-11), Psalm 100 invites the whole earth to erupt in shouts of praise and songs of mirth. At least fourteen times the songwriter of Psalm 100 points to this God of gods by name or pronoun. With every line the psalmist invites people of all nations to enter into the presence of One who is infinitely more to be praised than was seen in the lagging joy of His dearly loved and chosen people. Mart DeHaan

GOD CARES FOR YOU

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

God Cares for You

Read:  Matthew 14:1-14

Jesus…saw a great multitude; and He was moved 

with compassion for them.  Matthew 14:14

John the Baptist had been martyred by King Herod.  John was Jesus’s cousin and friend, and his death must have touched Jesus deeply.  I believer that’s why He sought refuge from the crowds.  Matthew wrote, “He departed from there [His hometown and place of ministry] by boat to a deserted place by Himself” (14:13).

Jesus wanted to be alone to grieve, but the crowd pressed Him with their needs and wouldn’t let Him get away (v.13).  Seeing the multitudes and their pain,  Jesus was moved with compassion for them.  Despite His own heartaches, He began to heal their sick (v.14).  He didn’t let His own grief keep Him from ministering to them.

Perhaps you’re a caregiver-a pastor, a teacher, a nurse, or a counselor.  Maybe you’re a mother with small children or the spouse of an invalid.  You have your own struggles, disappointments, heartaches-and no one seems to care about you.

But there is someone who cares.  God does.  He knows your sorrow as no one else does, and He understands the depths of your misery.  You can give your cares to Him (1 Peter 5:7) and find in His presence His love, consolation, and the strength you need to move from your own grief to the grief of others.  You can care for others because God cares for you.   DHR

O yes, He cares; I know He cares,

His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares. -Graeff

Because God cares for us, we can care for others.

A SAFE PLACE

A Safe Place

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

Psalm 17:6

READ PSALM 17:1–9

My brothers and I grew up on a wooded hillside in West Virginia that provided a fertile landscape for our imaginations. Whether swinging from vines like Tarzan or building tree houses like the Swiss Family Robinson, we played out the scenarios we found in the stories we read and movies we watched. One of our favorites was building forts and then pretending we were safe from attack. Years later, my kids built forts out of blankets, sheets, and pillows—constructing their own “safe place” against imaginary enemies. It seems almost instinctive to want a hiding place where you can feel safe and secure.

When David, the singer-poet of Israel, sought a safe place, he looked no further than God. Psalm 17:8 asserts, “[God,] keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” When you consider the Old Testament record of David’s life and the almost constant threats he faced, these words reveal an amazing level of confidence in God (v. 6). In spite of those threats, he was convinced his true safety was found in Him.

We can know that same confidence. The God who promises to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) is the One we trust with our lives every day. Although we live in a dangerous world, our God gives us peace and assurance—both now and forever. He is our safe place.

By Bill Crowder

REFLECT & PRAY

Give God thanks for being your hiding place today.

Father, the world around me can feel threatening, overwhelming, and dangerous. But You give me peace, strength, and help.

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

INSIGHT

In the Psalms, we find people speaking to God about the concerns of their heart and the practical issues of everyday life. As such, there are various categories of psalms. One category is imprecatory psalms (Psalms 5, 10, 17, 35, 58, 59, 70, 79, 83, 109, 129, 137, 140). Imprecatory literally means “to pray evil against” or “to invoke a curse upon.” In these psalms, the author typically asks for vindication against an enemy for unjust treatment. These prayers can range in aggression from a request for justice and vindication to petition for the death and destruction of one’s enemies (see Psalm 17:2 and Psalms 35 and 137 for increasingly aggressive requests for God’s action). While some imprecatory psalms may make us uncomfortable, we must remember that these are human requests for God to act—requests made from the pit of despair, frustration, and hopelessness. J.R. Hudberg

STILL TRUSTING

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

Still Trusting

Read:  Psalm 139:1-16

In Your book they all were written,

the days fashioned for me.  Psalm 139:16

How could this happen?  How could God allow our beautiful daughter Melissa to be taken from us in a car accident at age seventeen?  And it’s not just us.  It’s also our friends Steve and Robyn, whose daughter Lindsay, Melissa’s friend, died nine months earlier.  And what about Richard and Leah, whose son Jon-another of Melissa’s friends-lies in a gravesite within fifty years of both Lindsay and Melissa?

How could God allow these three Christian teens to die within sixteen months of each other?  And how can we still trust Him?

Unable to comprehend such tragedies, we cling to Psalm 139:16-“In Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me.”  By God’s design, our children had a specific number of days to live, and then He lovingly called them home to their eternal reward.  And we find comfort in God’s mysterious words:  “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (116:15).

The death of those close to us could rob us of our trust in God-taking with it our reason for living.  But God’s unfathomable plan for the universe and His redemptive work continue, and we must honor our loved ones by holding on to His hand.  We don’t understand, but we still must trust God as we await the great reunion He has planned for us.        DB

Though tragedy, heartache, and sorrow abound

And many a hardship in life will be found,

I’ll put all my trust in the Savior of light,

For He can bring hope in the darkest of night.-DJD

Don’t let tragedy steal your trust in God. 

GOD HEARS

God Hears

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

READ ROMANS 12:9–21

Diane listened as the others in the group asked for prayers for their family members and friends facing challenges or illness. She had a family member who had been struggling with an addiction for years. But Diane kept her request silent. She couldn’t bear to see the looks on people’s faces or hear the questions or advice that often followed whenever she spoke the words aloud. She felt that this request was usually better left unspoken. Others simply didn’t understand how her loved one could be a believer in Jesus and still struggle daily.

Although Diane didn’t share her request with that group, she did have a few trusted friends she asked to pray with her. Together they asked God to set her loved one free from the very real bondage of addiction that he might experience freedom in Christ—and that God would give Diane the peace and patience she needed. As she prayed, she found comfort and strength from her relationship with Him.

Many of us have earnest, persistent prayers that seem to go unanswered. But we can be assured that God does care and He does hear all our requests. He urges us to continue to walk closely with Him, being “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). We can lean on Him.

By Alyson Kieda

REFLECT & PRAY

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings. Hebrews 10:22

Lord, Your Word urges us to pray continually. Help us to be persistent in prayer, and enable us to be faithful partners in prayer with others.

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

INSIGHT

In Romans 12, Paul builds on his theological teaching from chapters 1-11 and now begins to provide practical application for a gospel-based life.

 Salvation produces internal results with external impact. In response to our salvation, we are to offer ourselves as “living sacrifices” (12:1-2). The internal results are a proper sense of self-awareness (v. 3) and spiritual enablement (vv. 4-8) producing the external impact of service in Christ’s kingdom (vv. 9-13, 15-16) and to the world in which we live (vv. 14, 17-21). Paul’s clear message to the followers of Christ in Rome is that what we believe should have a profound influence on how we live.

For more on Paul’s letter to the church at Rome, check out Knowing God Through Romans at discoveryseries.org/sb221. Bill Crowder