Today's Verse : Matthew 2:6

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December 20, 2007

VERSE:
[As the prophet has written:] "But you, Bethlehem, in the land
of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out
of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people
Israel."
-- Matthew 2:6

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+2:6

THOUGHT:
The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is no accident. The Almighty God
had foretold this many years earlier through his prophets. Even
Herod's religious lackeys could determine that the Messiah was to
be born in the quaint old city of David. The human birth of the
promised Messiah would occur in the city of Israel's great King,
poet, and shepherd. This was God's plan. It is also a reminder that
God keeps his word and fulfills his promises.

PRAYER:
Loving God, I find it hard to complete my plans and fulfill my
promises. This makes the unfolding of your plans, foretold
throughout the winding story of the Old Testament, so amazing to
me. Please use your Spirit to remind me during the darker moments
of my soul that you do fulfill your promises and will bring your
deliverance right on time. Please give me patience to wait
faithfully, and to live courageously, for your salvation to be
fully revealed. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20071220

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Today's KJV Verse : Matthew 2:6

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December 20, 2007

VERSE:
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among
the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that
shall rule my people Israel.
-- Matthew 2:6

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+2:6&translation=kjv

THOUGHT:
The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is no accident. The Almighty God
had foretold this many years earlier through his prophets. Even
Herod's religious lackeys could determine that the Messiah was to
be born in the quaint old city of David. The human birth of the
promised Messiah would occur in the city of Israel's great King,
poet, and shepherd. This was God's plan. It is also a reminder that
God keeps his word and fulfills his promises.

PRAYER:
Loving God, I find it hard to complete my plans and fulfill my
promises. This makes the unfolding of your plans, foretold
throughout the winding story of the Old Testament, so amazing to
me. Please use your Spirit to remind me during the darker moments
of my soul that you do fulfill your promises and will bring your
deliverance right on time. Please give me patience to wait
faithfully, and to live courageously, for your salvation to be
fully revealed. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20071220&ver=kjv

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THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE, by Rick Warren
Takes the message of The Purpose-Driven Church and shows us how to
apply it to our individual lives.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?222

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Daily Wisdom NIV : Psalm 146:5-6

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Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in
the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and
everything in them-- the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

Psalm 146:5-6, New International Version
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Psalm+146:5-6

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Daily Wisdom KJV : Psalm 146:5-6

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Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope
is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea,
and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever.

Psalm 146:5-6, King James Version
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Mustard Seed Thought: Nativity 3

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. Luke 2:18

A couple of weeks ago our city's Christmas attraction opened in town. We are a river city and the city has decorated the trees along the river and placed lighted decorations on the river bank. In the trees are speakers which play Christmas music. We have heard it is a lovely walk at night, but we haven't made it there yet. We can't wait to get there.

What would you do if someone told you a Savior had just been born in your town? Would you race to go see Him? Or, would you just "wonder"?

The shepherds had experienced Christ! They had heard "Glory to God in the Highest"! They were witnesses to the presence of the King of Kings in Bethlehem! Yet, when they tried to tell others about Jesus, no one came!

Can you believe it? A town, full of people, and all of them miss the miracle birth of Jesus!

Sure, these were exciting times. The census had brought together families who hadn't seen each other in years. There were parties and banquets. People were heavily involved with their social calendar. (Does that sound familiar today?) But, the fact is, they missed the greatest single event in the history of mankind! They missed the birth of all times! They missed Christmas!

Oh my friend, it is a busy time of year. Christmas, as great a time as it is for Christians to renew their faith, often becomes a time when we experience more stress than usual. We often fail to reflect on the real meaning of the season. Let's not be like the town of Bethlehem this year! Let's slow down enough to see Christ in the Christmas!

Let's celebrate the birth of our Lord!

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Quotemeal: "Faith is unutterable trust ..."

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Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that
He will not stand by us.

-- Oswald Chambers

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HOUSE, by Frank Peretti & Ted Dekker
Best-selling authors Peretti and Dekker join forces for an
adrenaline-laced thriller!
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Daily Heartlight -- December 19, 2007

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December 19, 2007

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Real Community, by Steve Ridgell

We all want to be part of real community: a place where we are loved,
accepted, and taken care of in times of stress and struggle. We live in
a world where it is increasingly difficult to find this kind of
community. Our physical families are sometimes split and often are
scattered across a wide geographic area. We barely know the people
where we work. We rarely know our neighbors. However, I saw community
in action the other day.

I went to a funeral. As a minister, that is not unusual. In fact, I
conduct more funerals than many people attend. But this funeral was
different. A couple had lost their thirty-two year old, single son to a
hit and run accident. The parents arranged the funeral and five men
conducted it. None of them were preachers, though they all went to
church together. Three of the men were part of their fellowship group
at church. One of the men was an elder of the church they all attend.
The other man was in an accountability group/recovery group with the
Dad.

The service was not very polished. It was not very professional. It was
different than most. But it was real community; not just words, but in
action. These men were brothers. There was a physical family present at
the funeral, but I was struck by the "real" family. The community that
cried, prayed, gave, hurt, hugged, and together sent one of their
family home. That was the term they used: home. They didn't talk about
death, or the grave. They talked about seeing their son again and
living forever.

We all long to part of something authentic...real community that
connects to each other.

Just in that group of men there were ones that had lost children of
their own, men who had marriages fail, men who battled addictions, and
men facing incurable illness. But what I saw was Jesus. That is the
community I want to be a part of…and I am.

You can be too. I can put you in touch with people committed to being
that kind of community in this world. They would love to have you join
them.

Write me at steve@hopeforlife.org.

(Expressed written consent must be obtained prior to republishing,
retransmitting or otherwise reusing the content of this article. Email
info@hopeforlife.org for information.)

Are you presently experiencing a new life? God's word says, "if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!"

This new life is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. If
you want to know more about this life that only Jesus can give you,
sign up for one of our Bible courses. Wherever you are in life,
whatever you've done, you can begin again.

You may also contact us at info@hopeforlife.org if you have questions
about becoming a new creation.

---------
(c) 2007 Herald of Truth Ministries

RELATED LINKS:
* Invited into the Family

http://hopeforlife.org/resources/invited.asp
* Let Me Tell You About Jesus and His Church

http://www.hopeforlife.org/resources/jesuschurch.asp
* My Grandchildren Really Are Most Amazing

http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200709/20070912_mostamazing.html
* Hope for Life!

http://www.hopeforlife.org

This article can be found on the web at:
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SIMPLY CHRISTIAN: WHY CHRISTIANITY MAKES SENSE, by N. T. Wright
Destined to become a classic alongside Lewis's Mere Christianity - a
fascinating and accessible apologetic for modern seekers.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?255

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Morning & Evening -- Proverbs 16:33 and Revelation 21:1

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

MORNING:

"The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord."
-- Proverbs 16:33

If the disposal of the lot is the Lord's whose is the arrangement of
our whole life? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by him, how
much more the events of our entire life-especially when we are told by
our blessed Saviour: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered: not
a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father." It would bring a
holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were always to remember
this. It would so relieve your mind from anxiety, that you would be the
better able to walk in patience, quiet, and cheerfulness as a Christian
should. When a man is anxious he cannot pray with faith; when he is
troubled about the world, he cannot serve his Master, his thoughts are
serving himself. If you would "seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness," all things would then be added unto you. You are
meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own when you fret
about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying "providing" work
and forgetting that it is yours to obey. Be wise and attend to the
obeying, and let Christ manage the providing. Come and survey your
Father's storehouse, and ask whether he will let you starve while he
has laid up so great an abundance in his garner? Look at his heart of
mercy; see if that can ever prove unkind! Look at his inscrutable
wisdom; see if that will ever be at fault. Above all, look up to Jesus
Christ your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while he pleads, can your
Father deal ungraciously with you? If he remembers even sparrows, will
he forget one of the least of his poor children? "Cast thy burden upon
the Lord, and he will sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous
to be moved."

My soul, rest happy in thy low estate,
Nor hope nor wish to be esteem'd or great;
To take the impress of the Will Divine,
Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

EVENING:

"And there was no more sea."
-- Revelation 21:1

Scarcely could we rejoice at the thought of losing the glorious old
ocean: the new heavens and the new earth are none the fairer to our
imagination, if, indeed, literally there is to be no great and wide
sea, with its gleaming waves and shelly shores. Is not the text to be
read as a metaphor, tinged with the prejudice with which the Oriental
mind universally regarded the sea in the olden times? A real physical
world without a sea it is mournful to imagine, it would be an iron ring
without the sapphire which made it precious. There must be a spiritual
meaning here. In the new dispensation there will be no division-the sea
separates nations and sunders peoples from each other. To John in
Patmos the deep waters were like prison walls, shutting him out from
his brethren and his work: there shall be no such barriers in the world
to come. Leagues of rolling billows lie between us and many a kinsman
whom to-night we prayerfully remember, but in the bright world to which
we go there shall be unbroken fellowship for all the redeemed family.
In this sense there shall be no more sea. The sea is the emblem of
change; with its ebbs and flows, its glassy smoothness and its
mountainous billows, its gentle murmurs and its tumultuous roarings, it
is never long the same. Slave of the fickle winds and the changeful
moon, its instability is proverbial. In this mortal state we have too
much of this; earth is constant only in her inconstancy, but in the
heavenly state all mournful change shall be unknown, and with it all
fear of storm to wreck our hopes and drown our joys. The sea of glass
glows with a glory unbroken by a wave. No tempest howls along the
peaceful shores of paradise. Soon shall we reach that happy land where
partings, and changes, and storms shall be ended! Jesus will waft us
there. Are we in him or not? This is the grand question.

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CAPTIVATING: UNVEILING THE MYSTERY OF A WOMAN'S SOUL, by John & Stasi Eldredge
Many Christian women are tired, struggling under the weight of the
pressure to be a "good servant," a nurturing caregiver, passionate
lover, or capable home manager. What Wild at Heart did for men, this
book can do for women.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?251

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each purchase you make, you're helping to support Heartlight's
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My Utmost For His Highest : "What To Concentrate On"

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December 19, 2007

WHAT TO CONCENTRATE ON

I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Matthew 10:34

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=mt+10:34&sr=1

Never be sympathetic with the soul whose case makes you come to the
conclusion that God is hard. God is more tender than we can conceive,
and every now and again He gives us the chance of being the rugged
one that He may be the tender One. If a man cannot get through to God
it is because there is a secret thing he does not intend to give up -
I will admit I have done wrong, but I no more intend to give up that
thing than fly. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with a case
like that: we have to get right deep down to the root until there is
antagonism and resentment against the message. People want the
blessing of God, but they will not stand the thing that goes straight
to the quick.

If God has had His way with you, your message as His servant is
merciless insistence on the one line, cut down to the very root,
otherwise there will be no healing. Drive home the message until
there is no possible refuge from its application. Begin to get at
people where they are until you get them to realize what they lack,
and then erect the standard of Jesus Christ for their lives - "We
never can be that." Then drive it home - "Jesus Christ says you
must." "But how can we be?" "You cannot, unless you have a new
Spirit." (Luke 11:13.)

There must be a sense of need before your message is of any use.
Thousands of people are happy without God in this world. If I was
happy and moral till Jesus came, why did He come? Because that kind
of happiness and peace is on a wrong level; Jesus Christ came to send
a sword through every peace that is not based on a personal
relationship to Himself.

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SEE THE MORNING, by Chris Tomlin
Award-winning artist Tomlin offers a whole new set of soul-inspiring
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Praying with Paul : "Alive in Christ"

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ALIVE IN CHRIST

Colossians 2:13-19

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Colossians+2:13-19

Dear Father,

Thank you for redeeming us. You took us out of deadness and gave
us life. You made us alive together with Christ. You cancelled the
debts that we owed you because of our sinfulness.

You disarmed the powers that work against us, triumphing over them
in Christ for our sake.

How gracious and wonderful you are. To you we owe eternal praise.

Help us to withstand anyone who might seek to disqualify us,
seeking to bind us to any principle of action at all except faith
in Jesus Christ, for he is the head, and he determines how the body
will grow.

Help us to hold fast to Christ, who is our head, in whose name I
pray. Amen.

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CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE: LIVING IN YOUR SWEET SPOT, by Max Lucado
In Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado offers practical tools for
exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, putting your strengths
to work, and living in your "sweet spot" for the rest of your life.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?256

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WJD! -- Daughters of Jerusalem -- Luke 23:26-31

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Daughters of Jerusalem

The soldiers led Jesus away {to be killed}. At that same
time, there was a man coming into the city from the fields.
His name was Simon. Simon was from the city of Cyrene. The
soldiers forced Simon to carry Jesus' cross and walk behind
Jesus. Many, many people followed Jesus. Some of the women
were sad and crying. They felt sorry for Jesus. But Jesus
turned and said to the women, "Women of Jerusalem, don't cry
for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children too! The
time is coming when people will say, 'Happy are the women
that cannot have babies! Happy are the women that have no
children to care for.' Then the people will say to the
mountain, 'Fall on us!' The people will say to the hills,
'Cover us!' If people act like this now when life is good,
what will happen when bad times come?"

-- Luke 23:26-31 (ERV)

KEY THOUGHT:
Some of the key sets of figures in Jesus' passion and resurrection are
"the women." While Jesus' male disciples abandon him, "the women" are
there on the way to Golgotha, at the foot of the Cross, and at the tomb
on resurrection Sunday. They are also there in the days awaiting the
coming of the Spirit in the early chapters of the book of Acts. "The
women" are faithful examples of true followers of Jesus through his
whole ordeal. They are the first to know about his resurrection. These
women are the great reminder that often the most faithful and loyal of
Jesus' disciples are not those who are best know to us. However, they
are treasured and honored by God. All around us are heroic, faithful,
and exemplary disciples who love the Lord, yet so often we focus on
those who fail. Let these women be a reminder that our heritage is not
just built on the faith of the well known, but also on the faith of the
loyal, courageous, and less-known heroes of faith.

TODAY'S PRAYER:
Father in heaven, the Almighty God, thank you for your women of faith
who have been examples through the ages. Thank you for their courage,
loyalty, and strength. Thank you for their willingness to play
important roles in your story of grace and yet not have to be in the
spotlight of history. Thank you, O God, for the women of faith who have
played such a vital and powerful role in my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

>> NEW: Phil's What Jesus Did devotional is now
>> available as a book. Click below to order!

http://images.ultracart.com/aff/ACU9/1414/108/185/575/0/index.html

>> The WJD! web page has related scriptures and the
>> full text of today's key passage. Read it at:

http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/luke/1219-wjd.html

>> For further study of today's passage, use our
>> online Bible study site: SearchGodsWord.org!

http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Luke+23:26-31&sr=1&t=erv

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WOW HITS 2006, by Various Artists
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WHAT JESUS DID! from HEARTLIGHT /\/\
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What Jesus Did! is a 365-day devotional through the book of Luke.
It is written by Phil Ware <phil@heartlight.org> and is part of
HEARTLIGHT Magazine, the leading Christian living e-zine on the
Web. Visit HEARTLIGHT on the web for even more articles, plus
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