“For the leader. By David: In Adonai I find refuge. So how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains! See how the wicked are drawing their bows and setting their arrows on the string, to shoot from the shadows at honest men. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:1–3, CJB)
Have you ever been so stressed because of the constant attacks from your adversaries and enemies? You do have enemies, don’t you? If not, you’re not a child of God. For His children have a legion of enemies in Lucifer and his armies of fallen spirits (demons).
Here David refocuses us on the truth: We have a foundation and that foundation is God!
“Adonai is in his holy temple. Adonai, his throne is in heaven. His eyes see and test humankind.” (Psalm 11:4, CJB)
Today, don’t get so focused on the enemies and the attacks that you miss seeing the Almighty God and His watch care over you! There is nothing to fear, for He is here!
Attacks come from all sides! You just suffered a huge personal loss and NOW your enemies jump you in your darkness. What does the disciple of King Jesus do?
David responds prays! “He said: “I love you, Adonai, my strength! “Adonai is my Rock, my fortress and deliverer, my God, my Rock, in whom I find shelter, my shield, the power that saves me, my stronghold. I call on Adonai, who is worthy of praise; and I am saved from my enemies. “For the cords of death surrounded me, the floods of B’liya‘al terrified me, the ropes of Sh’ol were wrapped around me, the snares of death lay there before me. In my distress I called to Adonai; I cried out to my God. Out of his temple, he heard my voice; my cry reached his ears.” (Psalm 18:2–7, CJB)
Note this isn’t one of those soft, churchy, powerless prayers. This is an all-in, loud distress call to the Almighty God sitting on the Throne of Mercy! When David “called on and called to” Adonai (Hebrew word replacing the too-holy name, Yahweh), he tells us what that meant: I cried out to my God.
That must have been some prayer! It was heard all the way into Heaven! And what did God DO in response to David’s drained, desperate, and determined call for mercy and to find help in his time of need? The passage goes on to say, Adonai …
Heard David (7
Got angry with David’s enemies (8
Blazed against David’s enemies (9
Came down to David (10
Flew on a cherub (type of angel) (11
Stormed against David’s enemies (12-13
Thundered His voice against David’s enemies (14
Scattered and routed David’s enemies (15
Rebuked David’s enemies (16
Rescued David (17-18
Supported David (19
Moved David to safety (20
Rewarded David (21-25
So when you have had enough. When you are too down to look up! Make some noise before God! Cry out to your God. Out of his temple, he will hear your voice; your cry will reach his ears!
– Faith or Fear – Courage or Cowardice – Walk or Talk – Do or Excuses – Responsible or Blame – Benefit or Lose – Significance or Shame – Pleasure or Guilt – Favor or Trouble – Focus or Confusion – Diligence or Laziness – Blessed or Cursed
America, and I am sure most countries right now, could use an Ezekiel or three in this current world devolution, this beastialization of humanity.
Here is what God said to Ezekiel … may God speak to someone soon!
The Text of Ezekiel 2
He said to me, “Human being! Stand up! I want to speak with you!” As he spoke to me, a spirit entered me and put me on my feet, and I heard him who was speaking to me. He said,
“Human being! I am sending you to the people of Isra’el, that nation of rebels who have rebelled against me—they and their ancestors have been transgressing against me to this very day. Because they are defiant, hardhearted children, I am sending you; and you are to tell them, ‘Here is what Adonai ELOHIM says.’ Whether they listen or not, this rebellious house will still know that a prophet has been among them!
“As for you, human being, don’t be afraid of them or their words, even if briars and thorns surround you, and you sit among scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words or be upset by their looks, for they are a rebellious house. You are to speak my words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are very rebellious.
But you, human being, hear what I am telling you: don’t you be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat what I am about to give you.” When I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, holding a scroll. He spread it out in front of me, and it was covered with writing front and back. Written on it were laments, dirges and woes.”
Christmas reminds us that God visits the willingly obedient (Luke 1:38)
This Christmas, remember, many will say, “Happy Holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!”
Don’t be upset at them … they are just professing that the Jesus Christ of Christmas hasn’t come to them yet!
Love them, pray for them and share that devotion, that faith, that favor you know in the God who does the impossible and visits the obedient with them.
Who knows, perhaps THIS will be the year Christmas will change everything for them as well!
Prayer
Father in Heaven,
Thank you for sending your son to be our Savior, but not ours alone, but for everyone who will accept your love and leadership through your Son, Jesus!
Thank you for reminding us that you are real, that you love our devotion and reward our faith!
Thank you for reminding us that you favor the sexually pure, by accomplishing the seemingly impossible in their lives by visiting them because they are willingly obedient to follow your will and word.
For the glory of your story in our daily lives, Amen
Sexual purity today is mocked and ridiculed as “Puritanical” and “Victorian”
The trouble is, those who do such things are the sexually immoral, those who have chosen to reject the wisdom of God for the foolishness of humanity.
Such a life course leads to eternal damnation, not eternal life, as Paul repeatedly tells us in the New Testament letters.
Mary’s question, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” is answered in Luke 1:35–37 …
35And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37For with God nothing will be impossible.”
How often we forget that last line …
37For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Has your God lost His ability to overcome any “impossibility”?
I hope not! Because the God of the Bible has not … he can impregnate a virgin and He can create out of nothing!
As Jeremiah said so long ago:
“‘Ah Lord Yahweh! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you,” (Jeremiah 32:17, LEB)
God wants faith from us; God expects faith from us!
We may not have an angelic visitation, but we have a Biblical revelation – we have the Word of God right here at our fingertips … the Words of God, the will of God, are always available!
God is so real, He loves our devotion to Him!
But the story of God’s glory in the lives of His people continues, for God is up to something.
And when God is up to something, He works on many fronts at once using many people to accomplish His will and whim!
In Nazareth, the Virgin Mary
Luke 1.26-56
Christmas shows us God is on the move in History!
He is looking for men and women who, by their track record, prove their devotion and obedience to Him.
As the promise of the coming Savior of Humanity unfolds, we see six months have passed since the angel met up with Zach.
Turn to Luke 1:26–34 and follow with me …
26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
Gabriel, the angel, comes to Mary, calling her highly favored and blessed.
As he continues to reveal God’s plan to send His Son to the world THROUGH her, she considers the impossibility of such an event.
While she could understand that God could use anyone, she also knows that its physically impossible for her to have a child, since she is a virgin.
Note again her question,
34Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
As you start to prepare for the upcoming holiday, Dr. Matthew Lee Smith would like to remind you that
Christmas interrupts our lives with the reminder, “GOD IS REAL” (Luke 1:7–17)
When God arrives, he changes lives!
God wants to change your life … He wants to do INCREDIBLE things with you and through you!
Let me ask you today, Has God broken into your life? Has he spoken to YOU?
If he has, what was your reaction?
Unfortunately for Zach, his reaction was doubt!
Remember, Luke 1:18–25 …
18And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
19And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
20But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
21And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple.
22But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
23So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house.
24Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,
25“Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
I am sure that you can see the mix of disappointment, comedy, contrition, repentance and faith in this part of the account.
Eventually, despite his shame for doubting the message from God, He chooses to reveal all to his wife, Elizabeth, and, by faith, they set forth to create this special baby! Which happens!
I once worked with a guy named George who, for Christmas, gave his wife, for her big gift – and I am not making this gift up – a chain saw. (As he later explained: ‘Hey, we NEEDED a chain saw.’) Fortunately, the saw was not operational when his wife unwrapped it. – Dave Barry
How many of you have made such a terrible mistake? We know what happened to this man, he thought about himself too much and his wife too little.
That’s normal for most of humanity … after all, we are human and we think about ourselves … a lot!
And, all too often, when we think about ourselves too much, like in marriage, we pay the consequences for our failure to think of another.
But Christmas changes everything … whether we realize it or accept it. When Jesus came, He came for a simple purpose:
“I didn’t come to call righteous people but sinners to change their hearts and lives.”” (Luke 5:32, CEB)
Jesus actually came for you and I, people who mess up and think too much of ourselves too often!
The amazing thing about the Christ of Christmas is that Jesus came from Heaven to help us!
“The Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14, NLT)
And since Jesus came from heaven to help us, and He is God’s Son, we understand that He is also
“King of all kings and Lord of all lords.” (Revelation 19:16, NLT)
In other words, He’s the boss, and we are not! Which is a good thing, considering how often our selfishness gets us in trouble!
As a result, His coming to Earth changes everything!
Agendas – we all have them and, if we are bluntly honest, we all work from our own most of the time. But when Jesus comes into our lives, He changes our focus; He breathes life into our schedules!
In this very intimate message, I want to show you how the revealing of God’s presence changes everything in our lives.
Join us as we notice that Christmas, the coming of Jesus, the Christ, refocuses our lives, provides purpose to our existence and births hope in our hearts!
In Jerusalem, the Priest Zechariah
Luke 1.5-25
God sends us six reminders at Christmas that should cause us to restructure our daily agendas!
You may be familiar with the Christmas story, but I thought that this year we would simply walk through the story, and as we do, we would be reminded of what God longs for us to remember every year and every day!
So, let’s open our Bibles to Luke 1 and start this Christmas at verse 5 …
“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:5–6)
Can you see this older couple? Can you see their life’s devotion to God?
Zach has dedicated his entire life to the work of God; it is his calling, not his job. (I can so relate to this guy!)
You can tell its his calling because of his passion to follow the words of God:
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:5–6)
Lifestyle shows a lot about one’s values!
It is evident, since God is about to visit them in a special way (you know the story, right?), that …
Christmas approves our lives with the reminder, “GOD LOVES DEVOTION” (Luke 1:5–6)
Entering Into Death’s Shadow Valley is Dr. Matthew Lee Smith’s journey through the horrific process of losing his life-partner, Melodee Joy. It is meant to help others who enter this treacherous and often perilous path.
These books will help guide your daily Bible reading with insights into each passage you read.
This series is a practical, passionate, Biblical mentoring journey for individuals, small groups, leadership teams and congregations who desire to win their world for Christ.
These journals will help you keep track of your daily reading and prayer requests.
Hope Enabler is the real-life story of one Christian parent’s struggle with a runaway child and the hope that God enabled her to have during the darkest moments of that struggle.
