December 7

John 16:1-11

[1] “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. [2] They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. [3] And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. [4] But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. 

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. [5] But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ [6] But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. [7] Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. [8] And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: [9] concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; [10] concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; [11] concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Revelation 4

The Throne in Heaven

[1] After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” [2] At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. [3] And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. [4] Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. [5] From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, [6] and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. 

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:  [7] the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. [8] And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, 

    “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

        who was and is and is to come!”

    [9] And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

    [11] “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

        to receive glory and honor and power,

    for you created all things,

        and by your will they existed and were created.”

Job 30

    [1] “But now they laugh at me,

        men who are younger than I,

    whose fathers I would have disdained

        to set with the dogs of my flock. 

    [2] 

    What could I gain from the strength of their hands,

        men whose vigor is gone? 

    [3] 

    Through want and hard hunger

        they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; 

    [4] 

    they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,

        and the roots of the broom tree for their food. 

    [5] 

    They are driven out from human company;

        they shout after them as after a thief. 

    [6] 

    In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,

        in holes of the earth and of the rocks. 

    [7] 

    Among the bushes they bray;

        under the nettles they huddle together. 

    [8] 

    A senseless, a nameless brood,

        they have been whipped out of the land.

    [9] 

    “And now I have become their song;

        I am a byword to them. 

    [10] 

    They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;

        they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me. 

    [11] 

    Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,

        they have cast off restraint in my presence. 

    [12] 

    On my right hand the rabble rise;

        they push away my feet;

        they cast up against me their ways of destruction. 

    [13] 

    They break up my path;

        they promote my calamity;

        they need no one to help them. 

    [14] 

    As through a wide breach they come;

        amid the crash they roll on. 

    [15] 

    Terrors are turned upon me;

        my honor is pursued as by the wind,

        and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

    [16] 

    “And now my soul is poured out within me;

        days of affliction have taken hold of me. 

    [17] 

    The night racks my bones,

        and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest. 

    [18] 

    With great force my garment is disfigured;

        it binds me about like the collar of my tunic. 

    [19] 

    God has cast me into the mire,

        and I have become like dust and ashes. 

    [20] 

    I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;

        I stand, and you only look at me. 

    [21] 

    You have turned cruel to me;

        with the might of your hand you persecute me. 

    [22] 

    You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,

        and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. 

    [23] 

    For I know that you will bring me to death

        and to the house appointed for all living.

    [24] 

    “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,

        and in his disaster cry for help? 

    [25] 

    Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?

        Was not my soul grieved for the needy? 

    [26] 

    But when I hoped for good, evil came,

        and when I waited for light, darkness came. 

    [27] 

    My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;

        days of affliction come to meet me. 

    [28] 

    I go about darkened, but not by the sun;

        I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. 

    [29] 

    I am a brother of jackals

        and a companion of ostriches. 

    [30] 

    My skin turns black and falls from me,

        and my bones burn with heat. 

    [31] 

    My lyre is turned to mourning,

        and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

Joel 2

The Day of the LORD

    [1] Blow a trumpet in Zion;

        sound an alarm on my holy mountain!

    Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

        for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, 

    [2] a day of darkness and gloom,

        a day of clouds and thick darkness!

    Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains

        a great and powerful people;

    their like has never been before,

        nor will be again after them

        through the years of all generations.

    [3] Fire devours before them,

        and behind them a flame burns.

    The land is like the garden of Eden before them,

        but behind them a desolate wilderness,

        and nothing escapes them.

    [4] Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,

        and like war horses they run. 

    [5] As with the rumbling of chariots,

        they leap on the tops of the mountains,

    like the crackling of a flame of fire

        devouring the stubble,

    like a powerful army

        drawn up for battle.

    [6] Before them peoples are in anguish;

        all faces grow pale. 

    [7] Like warriors they charge;

        like soldiers they scale the wall.

    They march each on his way;

        they do not swerve from their paths. 

    [8] They do not jostle one another;

        each marches in his path;

    they burst through the weapons

        and are not halted. 

    [9] They leap upon the city,

        they run upon the walls,

    they climb up into the houses,

        they enter through the windows like a thief.

    [10] The earth quakes before them;

        the heavens tremble.

    The sun and the moon are darkened,

        and the stars withdraw their shining. 

    [11] The LORD utters his voice

        before his army,

    for his camp is exceedingly great;

        he who executes his word is powerful.

    For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome;

        who can endure it?

    Return to the LORD

    [12] “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,

        “return to me with all your heart,

    with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 

    [13]     and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

    Return to the LORD your God,

        for he is gracious and merciful,

    slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

        and he relents over disaster. 

    [14] Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,

        and leave a blessing behind him,

    a grain offering and a drink offering

        for the LORD your God?

    [15] Blow the trumpet in Zion;

        consecrate a fast;

    call a solemn assembly; 

    [16]     gather the people.

    Consecrate the congregation;

        assemble the elders;

    gather the children,

        even nursing infants.

    Let the bridegroom leave his room,

        and the bride her chamber.

    [17] Between the vestibule and the altar

        let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep

    and say, “Spare your people, O LORD,

        and make not your heritage a reproach,

        a byword among the nations.

    Why should they say among the peoples,

        ‘Where is their God?’”

    The LORD Had Pity

    [18] Then the LORD became jealous for his land

        and had pity on his people. 

    [19] The LORD answered and said to his people,

    “Behold, I am sending to you

        grain, wine, and oil,

        and you will be satisfied;

    and I will no more make you

        a reproach among the nations.

    [20] “I will remove the northerner far from you,

        and drive him into a parched and desolate land,

    his vanguard into the eastern sea,

        and his rear guard into the western sea;

    the stench and foul smell of him will rise,

        for he has done great things.

    [21] “Fear not, O land;

        be glad and rejoice,

        for the LORD has done great things! 

    [22] Fear not, you beasts of the field,

        for the pastures of the wilderness are green;

    the tree bears its fruit;

        the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

    [23] “Be glad, O children of Zion,

        and rejoice in the LORD your God,

    for he has given the early rain for your vindication;

        he has poured down for you abundant rain,

        the early and the latter rain, as before.

    [24] “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;

        the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 

    [25] I will restore to you the years

        that the swarming locust has eaten,

    the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

        my great army, which I sent among you.

    [26] “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

        and praise the name of the LORD your God,

        who has dealt wondrously with you.

    And my people shall never again be put to shame. 

    [27] You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

        and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.

    And my people shall never again be put to shame.

    The LORD Will Pour Out His Spirit

    [28]  “And it shall come to pass afterward,

        that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

    your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

        your old men shall dream dreams,

        and your young men shall see visions. 

    [29] Even on the male and female servants

        in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

    [30] “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. [31] The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. [32] And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Joel 3

The LORD Judges the Nations

[1]  “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, [2] I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, [3] and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

[4] “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. [5] For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. [6] You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. [7] Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. [8] I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.”

    [9] Proclaim this among the nations:

    Consecrate for war;

        stir up the mighty men.

    Let all the men of war draw near;

        let them come up. 

    [10] Beat your plowshares into swords,

        and your pruning hooks into spears;

        let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

    [11] Hasten and come,

        all you surrounding nations,

        and gather yourselves there.

    Bring down your warriors, O LORD. 

    [12] Let the nations stir themselves up

        and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;

    for there I will sit to judge

        all the surrounding nations.

    [13] Put in the sickle,

        for the harvest is ripe.

    Go in, tread,

        for the winepress is full.

    The vats overflow,

        for their evil is great.

    [14] Multitudes, multitudes,

        in the valley of decision!

    For the day of the LORD is near

        in the valley of decision. 

    [15] The sun and the moon are darkened,

        and the stars withdraw their shining.

    [16] The LORD roars from Zion,

        and utters his voice from Jerusalem,

        and the heavens and the earth quake.

    But the LORD is a refuge to his people,

        a stronghold to the people of Israel.

    The Glorious Future of Judah

    [17] “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,

        who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.

    And Jerusalem shall be holy,

        and strangers shall never again pass through it.

    [18] “And in that day

    the mountains shall drip sweet wine,

        and the hills shall flow with milk,

    and all the streambeds of Judah

        shall flow with water;

    and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD

        and water the Valley of Shittim.

    [19] “Egypt shall become a desolation

        and Edom a desolate wilderness,

    for the violence done to the people of Judah,

        because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 

    [20] But Judah shall be inhabited forever,

        and Jerusalem to all generations. 

    [21] I will avenge their blood,

        blood I have not avenged,

        for the LORD dwells in Zion.”

Listen for God’s Direction

“Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, ‘Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.” ACTS 8:26-28

 

PONDER THIS

God never leaves a fully surrendered, cleansed vessel unused. You want to be used? Would you like to be a witness? Would you like to be an evangelist? Would you like to meet the Lord Jesus Christ bringing your sheaves with you? Would you like to rejoice in this life and in the world to come? I know you would. Say, “Yes, Lord, yes.”

You need to be sensitive to the direction of the Spirit. We’ve been talking today about following Christ. If Christ is leading and you’re not listening, then you’re in difficulty. From a human viewpoint, what the Holy Spirit told Philip to do did not really make a lot of sense. He’s in this incredibly wonderful revival in Samaria, and God tells him to leave Samaria and go to Gaza.

God’s ways are often unexplained. I mean, God did not say, “Now Philip, I want you to go here. There’s a man of great importance that I want you to meet.” God just said go, and it’s as if Philip went under sealed orders. Now, I don’t mean that you’re to go off willy-nilly, here and there, but are you sensitive enough that if the Holy Spirit of God tells you to go, you’ll go? When you are open and willing, God is faithful. He will show you where to go.

Have you ever felt God’s direction of the Holy Spirit? What was that like?

Are you open and willing to be used by God? What is holding you back from living fully for Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Seek God’s direction through prayer and ask Him to show you who to share your faith with today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Peace to Those with Whom He Is Pleased

“And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:12–14)

Peace for whom? There is a somber note sounded in the angels’ praise. Peace among those on whom his favor rests. Peace among those with whom he is pleased. But without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). So, Christmas does not bring peace to all.

“This is the judgment,” Jesus said, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). Or as the aged Simeon said when he saw the child Jesus, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed . . . so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34–35). Oh, how many there are who look out on a bleak and chilly Christmas day and see no more than that — a sign to be opposed.

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11–12). It was only to his disciples that Jesus said, “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” (John 14:27).

The people who enjoy the peace of God that surpasses all understanding are those who in everything by prayer and supplication let their requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6–7).

The key that unlocks the treasure chest of God’s peace is faith in the promises of God. So, Paul prays, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13). And when we do trust the promises of God and have joy and peace and love, then God is glorified.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! Everyone — from every people, tongue, tribe, and nation — who would believe.

John Piper 

December 6

John 15:18-27

The Hatred of the World

[18] “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. [21] But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. [22] If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. [23] Whoever hates me hates my Father also. [24] If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. [25] But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

[26] “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. [27] And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Revelation 3:14-22

To the Church in Laodicea

[14] “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

[15] “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! [16] So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. [17] For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. [18] I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. [19] Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. [20] Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. [21] The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. [22] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Job 29

Job’s Summary Defense

[1] And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

    [2] “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,

        as in the days when God watched over me, 

    [3] when his lamp shone upon my head,

        and by his light I walked through darkness, 

    [4] as I was in my prime,

        when the friendship of God was upon my tent, 

    [5] when the Almighty was yet with me,

        when my children were all around me, 

    [6] when my steps were washed with butter,

        and the rock poured out for me streams of oil! 

    [7] When I went out to the gate of the city,

        when I prepared my seat in the square, 

    [8] the young men saw me and withdrew,

        and the aged rose and stood; 

    [9] the princes refrained from talking

        and laid their hand on their mouth; 

    [10] the voice of the nobles was hushed,

        and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. 

    [11] When the ear heard, it called me blessed,

        and when the eye saw, it approved, 

    [12] because I delivered the poor who cried for help,

        and the fatherless who had none to help him. 

    [13] The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,

        and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. 

    [14] I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;

        my justice was like a robe and a turban. 

    [15] I was eyes to the blind

        and feet to the lame. 

    [16] I was a father to the needy,

        and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. 

    [17] I broke the fangs of the unrighteous

        and made him drop his prey from his teeth. 

    [18] Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,

        and I shall multiply my days as the sand, 

    [19] my roots spread out to the waters,

        with the dew all night on my branches, 

    [20] my glory fresh with me,

        and my bow ever new in my hand.’

    [21] “Men listened to me and waited

        and kept silence for my counsel. 

    [22] After I spoke they did not speak again,

        and my word dropped upon them. 

    [23] They waited for me as for the rain,

        and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain. 

    [24] I smiled on them when they had no confidence,

        and the light of my face they did not cast down. 

    [25] I chose their way and sat as chief,

        and I lived like a king among his troops,

        like one who comforts mourners.

Joel 1

[1] The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

An Invasion of Locusts

    [2] Hear this, you elders;

        give ear, all inhabitants of the land!

    Has such a thing happened in your days,

        or in the days of your fathers? 

    [3] Tell your children of it,

        and let your children tell their children,

        and their children to another generation.

    [4] What the cutting locust left,

        the swarming locust has eaten.

    What the swarming locust left,

        the hopping locust has eaten,

    and what the hopping locust left,

        the destroying locust has eaten.

    [5] Awake, you drunkards, and weep,

        and wail, all you drinkers of wine,

    because of the sweet wine,

        for it is cut off from your mouth. 

    [6] For a nation has come up against my land,

        powerful and beyond number;

    its teeth are lions’ teeth,

        and it has the fangs of a lioness. 

    [7] It has laid waste my vine

        and splintered my fig tree;

    it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

        their branches are made white.

    [8] Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth

        for the bridegroom of her youth. 

    [9] The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

        from the house of the LORD.

    The priests mourn,

        the ministers of the LORD. 

    [10] The fields are destroyed,

        the ground mourns,

    because the grain is destroyed,

        the wine dries up,

        the oil languishes.

    [11] Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil;

        wail, O vinedressers,

    for the wheat and the barley,

        because the harvest of the field has perished. 

    [12] The vine dries up;

        the fig tree languishes.

    Pomegranate, palm, and apple,

        all the trees of the field are dried up,

    and gladness dries up

        from the children of man.

    A Call to Repentance

    [13] Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;

        wail, O ministers of the altar.

    Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,

        O ministers of my God!

    Because grain offering and drink offering

        are withheld from the house of your God.

    [14] Consecrate a fast;

        call a solemn assembly.

    Gather the elders

        and all the inhabitants of the land

    to the house of the LORD your God,

        and cry out to the LORD.

    [15] Alas for the day!

    For the day of the LORD is near,

        and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. 

    [16] Is not the food cut off

        before our eyes,

    joy and gladness

        from the house of our God?

    [17] The seed shrivels under the clods;

        the storehouses are desolate;

    the granaries are torn down

        because the grain has dried up. 

    [18] How the beasts groan!

        The herds of cattle are perplexed

    because there is no pasture for them;

        even the flocks of sheep suffer.

    [19] To you, O LORD, I call.

    For fire has devoured

        the pastures of the wilderness,

    and flame has burned

        all the trees of the field. 

    [20] Even the beasts of the field pant for you

        because the water brooks are dried up,

    and fire has devoured

        the pastures of the wilderness.

Why Obligated Obedience Falls Flat

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.’”

DEUTERONOMY 6:4-9

 

PONDER THIS

We are called to live for Christ no matter what it costs. You cannot compromise with obedience. This is inflexible obedience—when we obey God no matter what. These apostles knew that to obey God could mean death. They were preaching with the cloud of a death sentence over their heads.

Selective obedience is not obedience at all. A man was bragging about his dog. Someone said, “What kind of a dog is he?” He responded, “Oh, he’s a very smart dog, very well trained.” She said, “Show me what he can do.” He said, “Well, when I go somewhere, all I have to say to the dog is ‘Are you coming with me or not?’ and either he does or he doesn’t.” It is silly but that’s the way some of us are. We decide what we want to do. We make the decisions for ourselves, but at the end of the day, selective obedience is not obedience at all.

Our obedience must be impassioned obedience; we must do the will of God from our hearts. Telling these men not to preach and not to share the Lord Jesus Christ was futile, because they were full of burning, blazing, emotional passion for the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you have a zeal for God? God forgive our lukewarm, half-hearted, indifferent obedience. If you’re going to serve Him, serve Him with joy.

What is the most difficult part of obeying God wholeheartedly?

What is the difference between obedience that comes from the heart and obedience that comes from obligation?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to someone who has a passion for God. Ask what whole-hearted obedience to God looks like for him or for her.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

No Detour from Calvary

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:6–7)

You would think that if God so rules the world as to use an empire-wide census to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, he surely could have seen to it that a room was available in the inn.

Yes, he could have. He absolutely could have! And Jesus could have been born into a wealthy family. He could have turned stone into bread in the wilderness. He could have called 10,000 angels to his aid in Gethsemane. He could have come down from the cross and saved himself. The question is not what God could do, but what he willed to do.

God’s will was that though Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor. The “No Vacancy” signs over all the motels in Bethlehem were for your sake. “For your sake he became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

God rules all things — even hotel capacities and available Airbnbs — for the sake of his children. The Calvary road begins with a “No Vacancy” sign in Bethlehem and ends with the spitting and scoffing of the cross in Jerusalem.

And we must not forget that he said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross” (Luke 9:23).

We join him on the Calvary road and hear him say, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).

To the one who calls out enthusiastically, “I will follow you wherever you go!” Jesus responds, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:57–58).

Yes, God could have seen to it that Jesus have a room at his birth. But that would have been a detour off the Calvary road.

 

John Piper