December 1

John 14:1-14

[1] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. [4] And you know the way to where I am going.” [5] Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” [6] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

[8] Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” [9] Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? [10] Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. [11] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

[12] “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. [13] Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Revelation 1:1-8

[1] The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, [2] who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. [3] Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

[4] John to the seven churches that are in Asia: 

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,  [5] and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. 

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood  [6] and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. [7] Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

[8] “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Job 23

[1] Then Job answered and said:

    [2] “Today also my complaint is bitter;

        my hand is heavy on account of my groaning. 

    [3] Oh, that I knew where I might find him,

        that I might come even to his seat! 

    [4] I would lay my case before him

        and fill my mouth with arguments. 

    [5] I would know what he would answer me

        and understand what he would say to me. 

    [6] Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?

        No; he would pay attention to me. 

    [7] There an upright man could argue with him,

        and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

    [8] “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,

        and backward, but I do not perceive him; 

    [9] on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;

        he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. 

    [10] But he knows the way that I take;

        when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. 

    [11] My foot has held fast to his steps;

        I have kept his way and have not turned aside. 

    [12] I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

        I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. 

    [13] But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?

        What he desires, that he does. 

    [14] For he will complete what he appoints for me,

        and many such things are in his mind. 

    [15] Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

        when I consider, I am in dread of him. 

    [16] God has made my heart faint;

        the Almighty has terrified me; 

    [17] yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,

        nor because thick darkness covers my face.

Hosea 1

[1] The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

[2] When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” [3] So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

[4] And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. [5] And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

[6] She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. [7] But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

[8] When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. [9] And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

[10]  Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” [11] And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Hosea 2

[1]  Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”

    [2] “Plead with your mother, plead—

        for she is not my wife,

        and I am not her husband—

    that she put away her whoring from her face,

        and her adultery from between her breasts; 

    [3] lest I strip her naked

        and make her as in the day she was born,

    and make her like a wilderness,

        and make her like a parched land,

        and kill her with thirst. 

    [4] Upon her children also I will have no mercy,

        because they are children of whoredom. 

    [5] For their mother has played the whore;

        she who conceived them has acted shamefully.

    For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers,

        who give me my bread and my water,

        my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 

    [6] Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns,

        and I will build a wall against her,

        so that she cannot find her paths. 

    [7] She shall pursue her lovers

        but not overtake them,

    and she shall seek them

        but shall not find them.

    Then she shall say,

        ‘I will go and return to my first husband,

        for it was better for me then than now.’ 

    [8] And she did not know

        that it was I who gave her

        the grain, the wine, and the oil,

    and who lavished on her silver and gold,

        which they used for Baal. 

    [9] Therefore I will take back

        my grain in its time,

        and my wine in its season,

    and I will take away my wool and my flax,

        which were to cover her nakedness. 

    [10] Now I will uncover her lewdness

        in the sight of her lovers,

        and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 

    [11] And I will put an end to all her mirth,

        her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths,

        and all her appointed feasts. 

    [12] And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,

        of which she said,

    ‘These are my wages,

        which my lovers have given me.’

    I will make them a forest,

        and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 

    [13] And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals

        when she burned offerings to them

    and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,

        and went after her lovers

        and forgot me, declares the LORD.

    [14] “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,

        and bring her into the wilderness,

        and speak tenderly to her. 

    [15] And there I will give her her vineyards

        and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

    And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,

        as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

    [16] “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ [17] For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. [18] And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. [19] And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. [20] I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.

    [21] “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,

        I will answer the heavens,

        and they shall answer the earth, 

    [22] and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,

        and they shall answer Jezreel, 

    [23]     and I will sow her for myself in the land.

    And I will have mercy on No Mercy,

        and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;

        and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

Hosea 3

[1] And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” [2] So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. [3] And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” [4] For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. [5] Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

The Law of the Harvest

PRAY OVER THIS

“You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds.” Psalm 99:8

 

PONDER THIS

David experienced the law of the harvest. David reaped the same thing he planted. He found out that he reaped more than he realized he planted. He found out that he reaped later than he planted. And he found out that he reaped it all because he was the guy who put it into motion. He was the guy who implemented the plan.

Now, God had forgiven David of his sin. That brings up a real question. Why didn’t God just cancel out the law of the harvest? That is not the way God has made the world work. When God forgives, the law of the harvest goes right on. This is crucial for us to understand. We can be forgiven by God for eternity and still face the ramifications of our decisions in this life. Our sin does have natural consequences outside of our separation from God. There are many people who think they can sow their wild oats and then pray for crop failure. But that’s not the way it works. The law of the harvest goes right on.

When have you confessed your sin before God but still dealt with earthly ramifications?

How does this remind you again of why God takes sin so seriously and wants us to do the same?

PRACTICE THIS

Think back on a time in your life where you dealt with earthly consequences of your sin, even if God forgave you and took away your eternal consequences. Thank God for His forgiveness and ask Him to help you to have a renewed perspective on the seriousness of sin.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Triumphant Shame of the Cross

[Christ did not] offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:25–26)

It is not to be taken for granted that there should be a welcome for sinners in heaven.

God is holy and pure and perfectly just and righteous. Yet the whole story of the Bible is how such a great and holy God can and does welcome dirty, unholy people like you and me into his favor. How can this be?

Hebrews 9:25 says that Christ’s sacrifice for sin was not like the sacrifices of the Jewish high priests. They came into the holy place yearly with animal sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people. But these verses say Christ did not enter heaven to “offer himself repeatedly . . . for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 9:26).

If Christ followed the pattern of the priests, then he would have to die yearly. And since the sins to be covered include the sins of Adam and Eve, he would have had to begin his yearly dying at the foundation of the world. But the writer treats this as unthinkable.

Why is this unthinkable? Because it would make the death of the Son of God look weak and ineffective. If it has to be repeated year after year for centuries, where would be the triumph? Where would we see the infinite value of the sacrifice of the Son of God? It would vanish in the shamefulness of a yearly suffering and death.

There was shame in the cross, but it was triumphant shame. “[Jesus despised] the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

This is the gospel of the glory of Christ, the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). I pray that no matter how dirty or unholy with sin you are, you will see the light of this glory and believe.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Hebrews 1:2-3

[2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. [3] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Hebrews 9:12-14

[12] he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. [13] For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, [14] how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1 Peter 3:18

[18] For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

1 John 3:5

[5] You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

What Are You Sowing?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7

 

PONDER THIS

God has promised we will reap the same as we sow. The Bible says in Genesis 1:24 that the plants and the animals bring forth their kind. You cannot sow one thing and reap another thing.

For example, you don’t reap figs from an olive tree. You don’t plant corn and reap wheat. And you cannot plant discord and reap unity. You cannot plant hypocrisy and reap holiness. You cannot sow to the flesh and reap to the spirit. As Job 4:8 says, “Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.” There’s no way to get around this in the good and in the bad. Whatever you need, you ought to plant. The question for each of us is: what is it that we are sowing?

If you only reap what you sow, what should you expect to reap from your life?

If you are unsure of this, how might looking at the fruit of your life help you see how you are sowing?

PRACTICE THIS

Plant something today, whether a tree, a flower, or a seed for food. Do this as an act of worship before the Lord, meditating on the truth that we will only reap what we sow.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Only Conscience-Cleanser

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14)

Here we are in the modern age — the age of the Internet, smartphones, space travel, and heart transplants — and our problem is fundamentally the same as always: Our consciences condemn us and make us feel unacceptable to God. We are alienated from God. And our consciences bear witness.

We can cut ourselves, or throw our children in the sacred river, or give a million dollars to charity, or serve in a soup kitchen, or a hundred forms of penance or self-injury, and the result will be the same: The stain remains and death terrifies.

We know that our conscience is defiled — not with external things like touching a corpse, a dirty diaper, or a piece of pork. Jesus said it is what comes out of a man that defiles, not what goes in (Mark 7:15–23). We are defiled by attitudes like pride and self-pity and bitterness and lust and envy and jealousy and covetousness and apathy and fear.

The only answer in this modern age, as in every other age, is the blood of Christ. When your conscience rises up and condemns you, where will you turn? Hebrews 9:14 gives you the answer: “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

The answer is: Turn to the blood of Christ. Turn to the only cleansing agent in the universe that can give you relief in life, and peace in death.

John Piper 

Bible Study

1 John 1:7

[7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Revelation 7:14

[14] I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Romans 6:13-14

[13] Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. [14] For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

1 Peter 4:1-8

[1] Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, [2] so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. [3] For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. [4] With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; [5] but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. [6] For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

[7] The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. [8] Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.