December 3

John 14:22-31

[22] Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” [23] Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. [24] Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

[25] “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. [26] But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. [27] Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [28] You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. [29] And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. [30] I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, [31] but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Revelation 2:1-17

To the Church in Ephesus

[1] “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

[2] “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. [3] I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. [4] But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. [5] Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. [6] Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. [7] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

[8] “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

[9] “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. [10] Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. [11] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

[12] “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

[13] “‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. [14] But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. [15] So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. [16] Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. [17] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Job 25

Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous

[1] Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

    [2] “Dominion and fear are with God;

        he makes peace in his high heaven. 

    [3] Is there any number to his armies?

        Upon whom does his light not arise? 

    [4] How then can man be in the right before God?

        How can he who is born of woman be pure? 

    [5] Behold, even the moon is not bright,

        and the stars are not pure in his eyes; 

    [6] how much less man, who is a maggot,

        and the son of man, who is a worm!”

Job 26

Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable

[1] Then Job answered and said:

    [2] “How you have helped him who has no power!

        How you have saved the arm that has no strength! 

    [3] How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,

        and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 

    [4] With whose help have you uttered words,

        and whose breath has come out from you? 

    [5] The dead tremble

        under the waters and their inhabitants. 

    [6] Sheol is naked before God,

        and Abaddon has no covering. 

    [7] He stretches out the north over the void

        and hangs the earth on nothing. 

    [8] He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,

        and the cloud is not split open under them. 

    [9] He covers the face of the full moon

        and spreads over it his cloud. 

    [10] He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters

        at the boundary between light and darkness. 

    [11] The pillars of heaven tremble

        and are astounded at his rebuke. 

    [12] By his power he stilled the sea;

        by his understanding he shattered Rahab. 

    [13] By his wind the heavens were made fair;

        his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 

    [14] Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,

        and how small a whisper do we hear of him!

        But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Hosea 7

    [1] when I would heal Israel,

        the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,

        and the evil deeds of Samaria,

    for they deal falsely;

        the thief breaks in,

        and the bandits raid outside. 

    [2] 

    But they do not consider

        that I remember all their evil.

    Now their deeds surround them;

        they are before my face. 

    [3] 

    By their evil they make the king glad,

        and the princes by their treachery. 

    [4] 

    They are all adulterers;

        they are like a heated oven

    whose baker ceases to stir the fire,

        from the kneading of the dough

        until it is leavened. 

    [5] 

    On the day of our king, the princes

        became sick with the heat of wine;

        he stretched out his hand with mockers. 

    [6] 

    For with hearts like an oven they approach their intrigue;

        all night their anger smolders;

        in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire. 

    [7] 

    All of them are hot as an oven,

        and they devour their rulers.

    All their kings have fallen,

        and none of them calls upon me.

    [8] 

    Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;

        Ephraim is a cake not turned. 

    [9] 

    Strangers devour his strength,

        and he knows it not;

    gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,

        and he knows it not. 

    [10] 

    The pride of Israel testifies to his face;

        yet they do not return to the LORD their God,

        nor seek him, for all this.

    [11] 

    Ephraim is like a dove,

        silly and without sense,

        calling to Egypt, going to Assyria. 

    [12] 

    As they go, I will spread over them my net;

        I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;

        I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation. 

    [13] 

    Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!

        Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!

    I would redeem them,

        but they speak lies against me.

    [14] 

    They do not cry to me from the heart,

        but they wail upon their beds;

    for grain and wine they gash themselves;

        they rebel against me. 

    [15] 

    Although I trained and strengthened their arms,

        yet they devise evil against me. 

    [16] 

    They return, but not upward;

        they are like a treacherous bow;

    their princes shall fall by the sword

        because of the insolence of their tongue.

    This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Hosea 8

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

    [1] Set the trumpet to your lips!

        One like a vulture is over the house of the LORD,

    because they have transgressed my covenant

        and rebelled against my law. 

    [2] To me they cry,

        “My God, we—Israel—know you.” 

    [3] Israel has spurned the good;

        the enemy shall pursue him.

    [4] They made kings, but not through me.

        They set up princes, but I knew it not.

    With their silver and gold they made idols

        for their own destruction. 

    [5] I have spurned your calf, O Samaria.

        My anger burns against them.

    How long will they be incapable of innocence? 

    [6] For it is from Israel;

    a craftsman made it;

        it is not God.

    The calf of Samaria

        shall be broken to pieces.

    [7] For they sow the wind,

        and they shall reap the whirlwind.

    The standing grain has no heads;

        it shall yield no flour;

    if it were to yield,

        strangers would devour it. 

    [8] Israel is swallowed up;

        already they are among the nations

        as a useless vessel. 

    [9] For they have gone up to Assyria,

        a wild donkey wandering alone;

        Ephraim has hired lovers. 

    [10] Though they hire allies among the nations,

        I will soon gather them up.

    And the king and princes shall soon writhe

        because of the tribute.

    [11] Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,

        they have become to him altars for sinning. 

    [12] Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,

        they would be regarded as a strange thing. 

    [13] As for my sacrificial offerings,

        they sacrifice meat and eat it,

        but the LORD does not accept them.

    Now he will remember their iniquity

        and punish their sins;

        they shall return to Egypt. 

    [14] For Israel has forgotten his Maker

        and built palaces,

    and Judah has multiplied fortified cities;

        so I will send a fire upon his cities,

        and it shall devour her strongholds.

Seeking Truth Feeds Your Spirit

“Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.” PROVERBS 23:23

 

PONDER THIS

Truth is to your spirit what food is to your body. Truth is to your spirit what light is to your eyes. Truth is to your spirit what melody is to your ears. When you read, don’t read merely to get facts; read to get truth. You’ve only got one life. Do you want to live and die without learning the truth? To know truth is to know God. All truth is God’s truth. The devil doesn’t have any truth; he is the source of deception.

You say, “Then, Pastor, I’m just going to read the Bible and nothing else.” No, that’d be a mistake. You need to read widely. The Apostle Paul did. He was a literate man. He quoted the Greek poets and philosophers. He was familiar with all that went on because Paul knew that all truth intersects.

When you learn, when you read, you don’t read just to be a gatherer of facts. You learn to be a channel of truth. If you read and you grow in knowledge, but you don’t grow in grace, you’re going to make yourself obnoxious. You just become one of those people who parades his or her knowledge. Don’t read so you can split a theological hair into nine different sections but read so that you can be a whole person. Read for enlightenment because to know truth is to know God.

How have you been growing and learning in truth?

In what areas of your life do you need to grow in truth?

PRACTICE THIS

Read a book on a different subject than you are used to. As you read, seek, and discern the truth through prayer.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Mary’s Magnificent God

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46–55)

Mary sees clearly a most remarkable thing about God: He is about to change the course of all human history; the most important three decades in all of time are about to begin.

And where is God? Occupying himself with two obscure, humble women — one old and barren (Elizabeth), one young and a virgin (Mary). And Mary is so moved by this vision of God, the lover of the lowly, that she breaks out in song — a song that has come to be known as “The Magnificat.”

Mary and Elizabeth are wonderful heroines in Luke’s account. He loves the faith of these women. The thing that impresses him most, it appears, and the thing he wants to impress on Theophilus, his noble reader of his Gospel, is the lowliness and cheerful humility of Elizabeth and Mary as they submit to their magnificent God.

Elizabeth says (Luke 1:43), “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” And Mary says (Luke 1:48), “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”

The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are people like Elizabeth and Mary — people who acknowledge their lowly estate and are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.

John Piper 

December 2

John 14:15-21

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

[15] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

[18] “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. [19] Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. [20] In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. [21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Revelation 1:9-20

Vision of the Son of Man

[9] I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. [10] I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet [11] saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

[12] Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, [13] and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. [14] The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, [15] his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. [16] In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

[17] When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, [18] and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. [19] Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. [20] As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Job 24

    [1] “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,

        and why do those who know him never see his days? 

    [2] 

    Some move landmarks;

        they seize flocks and pasture them. 

    [3] 

    They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;

        they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. 

    [4] 

    They thrust the poor off the road;

        the poor of the earth all hide themselves. 

    [5] 

    Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert

        the poor go out to their toil, seeking game;

        the wasteland yields food for their children. 

    [6] 

    They gather their fodder in the field,

        and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. 

    [7] 

    They lie all night naked, without clothing,

        and have no covering in the cold. 

    [8] 

    They are wet with the rain of the mountains

        and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. 

    [9] 

    (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,

        and they take a pledge against the poor.) 

    [10] 

    They go about naked, without clothing;

        hungry, they carry the sheaves; 

    [11] 

    among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil;

        they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst. 

    [12] 

    From out of the city the dying groan,

        and the soul of the wounded cries for help;

        yet God charges no one with wrong.

    [13] 

    “There are those who rebel against the light,

        who are not acquainted with its ways,

        and do not stay in its paths. 

    [14] 

    The murderer rises before it is light,

        that he may kill the poor and needy,

        and in the night he is like a thief. 

    [15] 

    The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,

        saying, ‘No eye will see me’;

        and he veils his face. 

    [16] 

    In the dark they dig through houses;

        by day they shut themselves up;

        they do not know the light. 

    [17] 

    For deep darkness is morning to all of them;

        for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

    [18] 

    “You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;

        their portion is cursed in the land;

        no treader turns toward their vineyards. 

    [19] 

    Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;

        so does Sheol those who have sinned. 

    [20] 

    The womb forgets them;

        the worm finds them sweet;

    they are no longer remembered,

        so wickedness is broken like a tree.’

    [21] 

    “They wrong the barren, childless woman,

        and do no good to the widow. 

    [22] 

    Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;

        they rise up when they despair of life. 

    [23] 

    He gives them security, and they are supported,

        and his eyes are upon their ways. 

    [24] 

    They are exalted a little while, and then are gone;

        they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

        they are cut off like the heads of grain. 

    [25] 

    If it is not so, who will prove me a liar

        and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

Hosea 4

The LORD Accuses Israel

    [1] Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel,

        for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

    There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,

        and no knowledge of God in the land; 

    [2] there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;

        they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. 

    [3] Therefore the land mourns,

        and all who dwell in it languish,

    and also the beasts of the field

        and the birds of the heavens,

        and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

    [4] Yet let no one contend,

        and let none accuse,

        for with you is my contention, O priest. 

    [5] You shall stumble by day;

        the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;

        and I will destroy your mother. 

    [6] My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

        because you have rejected knowledge,

        I reject you from being a priest to me.

    And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

        I also will forget your children.

    [7] The more they increased,

        the more they sinned against me;

        I will change their glory into shame. 

    [8] They feed on the sin of my people;

        they are greedy for their iniquity. 

    [9] And it shall be like people, like priest;

        I will punish them for their ways

        and repay them for their deeds. 

    [10] They shall eat, but not be satisfied;

        they shall play the whore, but not multiply,

    because they have forsaken the LORD

        to cherish  [11] whoredom, wine, and new wine,

        which take away the understanding. 

    [12] My people inquire of a piece of wood,

        and their walking staff gives them oracles.

    For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,

        and they have left their God to play the whore. 

    [13] They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains

        and burn offerings on the hills,

    under oak, poplar, and terebinth,

        because their shade is good.

    Therefore your daughters play the whore,

        and your brides commit adultery. 

    [14] I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,

        nor your brides when they commit adultery;

    for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes

        and sacrifice with cult prostitutes,

    and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

    [15] Though you play the whore, O Israel,

        let not Judah become guilty.

    Enter not into Gilgal,

        nor go up to Beth-aven,

        and swear not, “As the LORD lives.” 

    [16] Like a stubborn heifer,

        Israel is stubborn;

    can the LORD now feed them

        like a lamb in a broad pasture?

    [17] Ephraim is joined to idols;

        leave him alone. 

    [18] When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;

        their rulers dearly love shame. 

    [19] A wind has wrapped them in its wings,

        and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Hosea 5

Punishment Coming for Israel and Judah

    [1] Hear this, O priests!

        Pay attention, O house of Israel!

    Give ear, O house of the king!

        For the judgment is for you;

    for you have been a snare at Mizpah

        and a net spread upon Tabor. 

    [2] And the revolters have gone deep into slaughter,

        but I will discipline all of them.

    [3] I know Ephraim,

        and Israel is not hidden from me;

    for now, O Ephraim, you have played the whore;

        Israel is defiled. 

    [4] Their deeds do not permit them

        to return to their God.

    For the spirit of whoredom is within them,

        and they know not the LORD.

    [5] The pride of Israel testifies to his face;

        Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;

        Judah also shall stumble with them. 

    [6] With their flocks and herds they shall go

        to seek the LORD,

    but they will not find him;

        he has withdrawn from them. 

    [7] They have dealt faithlessly with the LORD;

        for they have borne alien children.

        Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields.

    [8] Blow the horn in Gibeah,

        the trumpet in Ramah.

    Sound the alarm at Beth-aven;

        we follow you, O Benjamin! 

    [9] Ephraim shall become a desolation

        in the day of punishment;

    among the tribes of Israel

        I make known what is sure. 

    [10] The princes of Judah have become

        like those who move the landmark;

    upon them I will pour out

        my wrath like water. 

    [11] Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,

        because he was determined to go after filth. 

    [12] But I am like a moth to Ephraim,

        and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

    [13] When Ephraim saw his sickness,

        and Judah his wound,

    then Ephraim went to Assyria,

        and sent to the great king.

    But he is not able to cure you

        or heal your wound. 

    [14] For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,

        and like a young lion to the house of Judah.

    I, even I, will tear and go away;

        I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.

    [15] I will return again to my place,

        until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face,

        and in their distress earnestly seek me.

Hosea 6

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

    [1] “Come, let us return to the LORD;

        for he has torn us, that he may heal us;

        he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 

    [2] After two days he will revive us;

        on the third day he will raise us up,

        that we may live before him. 

    [3] Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;

        his going out is sure as the dawn;

    he will come to us as the showers,

        as the spring rains that water the earth.”

    [4] What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

        What shall I do with you, O Judah?

    Your love is like a morning cloud,

        like the dew that goes early away. 

    [5] Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;

        I have slain them by the words of my mouth,

        and my judgment goes forth as the light. 

    [6] For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,

        the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

    [7] But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;

        there they dealt faithlessly with me. 

    [8] Gilead is a city of evildoers,

        tracked with blood. 

    [9] As robbers lie in wait for a man,

        so the priests band together;

    they murder on the way to Shechem;

        they commit villainy. 

    [10] In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;

        Ephraim’s whoredom is there; Israel is defiled.

    [11] For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.

    When I restore the fortunes of my people,

Trusting God’s Higher Ways in Dark Days

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” ISAIAH 55:8-9

 

PONDER THIS

How many of you would like the Spirit of glory and God to rest on you? How many of you want a fiery trial? Many of us cringe at the thought of trials. We do not want troubles or hardship, but what if those trials could be the Spirit at work in and through us? Stephen was stoned for the testimony of Jesus Christ, but while he was being stoned, the Bible says that his face shone like the face of an angel. The Spirit of glory and of God was on him. When those three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were in the fiery furnace and the old king looked in there and said, “We only threw three dudes in there. I see four, and ‘the fourth is like the Son of God’” (see Daniel 3:25). The Spirit of glory was there with them.

Now, if your trouble, your heartache, your pain, causes you to know this glory, then for God’s glory, can you not thank God for it?

When we face hardship, there are some things we’ll never know. There are some things that some preachers may never be able to explain to you. Why? Because God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” He can work in ways that don’t make sense to us. He can use things that we could never imagine or never want to happen to bring us back to relying on Him.

What does it look like to trust God in the trials you face?

How have you seen God at work in trials you have faced or witnessed

PRACTICE THIS

Ask a friend to share a testimony about how he or she has seen God at work in a trial.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Prepare the Way

“He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17)

What John the Baptist did for Israel, Advent can do for us. Don’t let Christmas find you unprepared. I mean spiritually unprepared. Its joy and impact will be so much greater if you are ready!

So, that you might be prepared . . .

First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior. Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight. “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). If you don’t need a Savior, you don’t need Christmas. Christmas will not have its intended effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. Let these short Advent meditations help awaken in you a bittersweet sense of need for the Savior.

Second, engage in sober self-examination. Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24). Let every heart prepare him room . . . by cleaning house.

Third, build God-centered anticipation and expectancy and excitement into your home — especially for the children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.

Fourth, be much in the Scriptures, and memorize the great passages! “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:29)! Gather ’round that fire this Advent season. It is warm. It is sparkling with colors of grace. It is healing for a thousand hurts. It is light for dark nights.

John Piper 

December 1

John 14:1-14

I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

[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

Prologue

[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.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

[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

Job Replies: Where Is God?

[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.

Hosea’s Wife and Children

[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

Israel’s Unfaithfulness Punished

[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.

    The LORD’s Mercy on Israel

    [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

Hosea Redeems His Wife

[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.