"And Every Virtue We Possess"

. . . All my springs are in you —Psalm 87:7

Our Lord never “patches up” our natural virtues, that is, our natural traits, qualities, or characteristics. He completely remakes a person on the inside— “. . . put on the new man . . .” (Ephesians 4:24). In other words, see that your natural human life is putting on all that is in keeping with the new life. The life God places within us develops its own new virtues, not the virtues of the seed of Adam, but of Jesus Christ. Once God has begun the process of sanctification in your life, watch and see how God causes your confidence in your own natural virtues and power to wither away. He will continue until you learn to draw your life from the reservoir of the resurrection life of Jesus. Thank God if you are going through this drying-up experience!

The sign that God is at work in us is that He is destroying our confidence in the natural virtues, because they are not promises of what we are going to be, but only a wasted reminder of what God created man to be. We want to cling to our natural virtues, while all the time God is trying to get us in contact with the life of Jesus Christ— a life that can never be described in terms of natural virtues. It is the saddest thing to see people who are trying to serve God depending on that which the grace of God never gave them. They are depending solely on what they have by virtue of heredity. God does not take our natural virtues and transform them, because our natural virtues could never even come close to what Jesus Christ wants. No natural love, no natural patience, no natural purity can ever come up to His demands. But as we bring every part of our natural bodily life into harmony with the new life God has placed within us, He will exhibit in us the virtues that were characteristic of the Lord Jesus.

And every virtue we possess
Is His alone.

my utmost for his highest

Wrong Worship
by Dave Branon

Read: Acts 19:23-41

This trade of ours [is] in danger of falling into disrepute. —Acts 19:27

If you really want to get folks upset, threaten their economy.
A bad economic picture gets politicians voted out of office, and the threat of a downturn nearly got the apostle Paul kicked out of Ephesus.

Here’s what happened. Paul came to town and started “reasoning and persuading concerning . . . the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). For more than 2 years he shared the gospel, and many began following Jesus.

Because Paul was so successful in getting people to see that there is only one true God, many Ephesians stopped worshiping the goddess Diana. This was bad news for the local silversmiths, who made their living creating and selling Diana statuettes. If enough people stopped believing in her, business would dry up. A commotion and an uproar broke out when the craftsmen figured this out.

This Ephesus incident can remind us to evaluate our reasons for worshiping God. The silversmiths wanted to protect their worship as a way of protecting their prosperity, but may that never be said of us. Don’t ever let your worship of God become an avenue to good fortune.

We worship God because of His love for us and because of who He is, not because loving Him can help our bottom line. Let’s worship God the right way.

We worship God for who He is,
And not because of what we’ll get;
When we acknowledge what we owe,
We’ll thank Him that He paid our debt. —Sper

Don’t worship God to gain His benefits— you already have them.

our daily bread

near
by winn collier

Matthew 1:18-25

Immanuel . . . means, “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23).

A musician friend of mine has a cousin named Emmanuel. My friend wrote a song alluding to Emmanuel’s fairytale-like wedding. The ceremony was outdoors in a picturesque setting with fine weather and wooded surroundings.

As the time to commence neared, however, many grew nervous because no one had seen the groom all day. Soon, however, a distant figure came through the field. It was the groom on a white horse, dressed in full silver armor with a purple plume waving atop his head. Emmanuel desired to make a dramatic appearance because he wanted all to know he loved his bride—and was coming for her.

The knighted groom’s name couldn’t have been more perfect. The Old Testament narrative tells us that all history had waited for another Immanuel to come, to come for us. Matthew (echoing the prophet Isaiah) makes sure we hear the name of this One who is coming for us: Immanuel. There’s a whole world of hope in that name. Immanuel, we are told, means “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23).

In Immanuel (Jesus), God has come near. God walked our streets. God breathed our air. God felt our pain. God laughed. God cried. God—in Jesus—was among us, next to us, right beside us.

Our loss and shame and sorrow have built walls around our heart. Few see who we truly are. Few know what makes us sing or dance. Few know what makes us want to run away, or what fills us with dread. We may fear that if another ever saw all that was in us, they would turn away in disgust. Distance, disconnection, loneliness—unfortunately, these are common descriptors of our relational experience.

How powerful, then, to know that the purposes of God are centered on this desire—for God to be near us. God with us.

our daily journey

cradle, cross, and crown
by k.t. sim

read>
Luke 1:26-35 
You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you will name Him Jesus. . . . The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David (Luke 1:31-32).

What do you consider to be a good representation of Christmas? The potbellied Santa Claus? The nativity scene complete with baby, hay-filled manger, and donkeys? The iconic Christmas tree? For Luke, Christmas was best represented by a cradle, a cross, and a crown.

A cradle. The angel Gabriel told a confused young virgin that she “[would] conceive and give birth to a son” (Luke 1:31). This supernaturally conceived (Luke 1:34- 35) baby would be Mary’s own flesh and blood. Imagine, the all-powerful Creator in a cradle as a helpless infant, a real baby with a belly button! Mary’s boy child is the human (albeit sinless) son of Mary (Luke 1:31) and the divine Son of God! (Luke 1:32,35). This picture is profoundly mystifying.

A cross. “You will name Him Jesus” (Luke 1:31). Jesus, the Greek equivalent of Joshua, means “the Lord saves” or simply “Savior.” The angel reiterated Jesus’ name in an appearance to Mary’s fiancé, Joseph, and spoke of His mission: “You are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus became our Savior “when He was hung on the cross” (Galatians 3:13).

A crown. “The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David” (Luke 1:32). Some 1,000 years before, “God had promised . . . that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne” (2 Samuel 7:11-13; Acts 2:30). This baby would be born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2). “And He will reign forever; His Kingdom will never end!” (Luke 1:33).

Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and nativity scenes will be common sights this month. But Jesus is the One we must seek and celebrate. Let’s bow before the Son of God in the cradle, the Savior on the cross, and the King on the throne (Philippians 2:10-11).

our daily journey

The Focus Of Our Message

I did not come to bring peace but a sword —Matthew 10:34

Never be sympathetic with a person whose situation causes you to conclude that God is dealing harshly with him. God can be more tender than we can conceive, and every once in a while He gives us the opportunity to deal firmly with someone so that He may be viewed as the tender One. If a person cannot go to God, it is because he has something secret which he does not intend to give up— he may admit his sin, but would no more give up that thing than he could fly under his own power. It is impossible to deal sympathetically with people like that. We must reach down deep in their lives to the root of the problem, which will cause hostility and resentment toward the message. People want the blessing of God, but they can’t stand something that pierces right through to the heart of the matter.

If you are sensitive to God’s way, your message as His servant will be merciless and insistent, cutting to the very root. Otherwise, there will be no healing. We must drive the message home so forcefully that a person cannot possibly hide, but must apply its truth. Deal with people where they are, until they begin to realize their true need. Then hold high the standard of Jesus for their lives. Their response may be, “We can never be that.” Then drive it home with, “Jesus Christ says you must.” “But how can we be?” “You can’t, unless you have a new Spirit” (see Luke 11:13).

There must be a sense of need created before your message is of any use. Thousands of people in this world profess to be happy without God. But if we could be truly happy and moral without Jesus, then why did He come? He came because that kind of happiness and peace is only superficial. Jesus Christ came to “bring . . . a sword” through every kind of peace that is not based on a personal relationship with Himself.

my utmost for his highest

Breathtaking
by Julie Ackerman Link

Read: Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

A man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life. —Ecclesiastes 8:15

A popular slogan says, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” I see the phrase everywhere, on everything from T-shirts to pieces of art. It’s a catchy phrase, but I think it’s misleading.

If we measure life by breathtaking moments, we miss the wonder of ordinary moments. Eating, sleeping, and breathing seem “ordinary” in that we do them every day, usually without much thought. But they are not ordinary at all. Every bite and every breath are miracles. In fact, having breath is more miraculous than anything that takes our breath away.

King Solomon may have had more breathtaking moments than anyone. He said, “I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure” (Eccl. 2:10). But he expressed cynicism about it by saying, “All of it is meaningless” (v.17 NIV).
Solomon’s life reminds us that it’s important to find joy in “ordinary” things, for they are indeed wonderful. Bigger is not always better. More is not always an improvement. Busier doesn’t make us more important.
Rather than look for meaning in breathtaking moments, we should find meaning in every breath we take, and make every breath meaningful.

All that I want is in Jesus;
He satisfies, joy He supplies;
Life would be worthless without Him,
All things in Jesus I find. —Loes

Breathing is more miraculous than anything
that takes our breath away.

our daily bread