“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, although you are small among the tribes of Judah, from you will come forth for Me one who will be ruler over Israel. His origins are from of old, from ancient days.”

— Micah 5:2

Before Jesus was born, there were hundreds of texts found in the Old Testament describing His birth and life and ministry and passion and death and resurrection. There is nothing vaguely like this anywhere else in the world.

We find many of these prophecies in Isaiah; so much so, that some have called it the Gospel of Isaiah. And yet it was written seven hundred and some years before Jesus Christ was born. Absolutely phenomenal! This is proof positive the Scriptures were inspired by Almighty God, who alone knows the end from the beginning and all things that will come to pass.

The Bible tells us the name of the very town where Jesus would be born, as we see in Micah 5:2. There were two Bethlehems. This particular one is spelled out: Ephrathah.

Some might say, “Jesus lived there for only a couple of years, at most. What about the fact that He grew up in Nazareth, and, furthermore, that He did most of His ministry out of Capernaum on the coast of the Sea of Galilee, and not in Bethlehem? Why doesn’t the Old Testament say anything about Nazareth?” There is one good reason: No such city existed when Isaiah lived and didn’t for several hundred more years.

God of heaven and earth, we thank You for the prophecies that show us so clearly Your foreknowledge and omniscience. Thank You for sending Your only Son, and telling us about it, hundreds of years before it came to pass…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
SEE AND KNOW THE TRUTH.

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’”

— Matthew 16:15

A Christless Christmas is what many will have again this year. Perhaps the first person listed, at least indirectly, who had a Christless Christmas would be the innkeeper. The Bible says there was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn.

The innkeeper probably said, “Oh, folks, I am so sorry. I can see you are in a bad way, but this is enrollment time. Caesar has issued an edict, and we are just jam-packed. That is true of every hostel in town. I only wish you would have let me know you were coming.” Why did the innkeeper have a Christless Christmas that day? It was because he just didn’t know.

There are millions in this country today who will have a Christless Christmas this year because of spiritual ignorance.

Some of our TV staff took our cameras out on the street and interviewed people. They asked all sorts of people the question: “Who would you say that Jesus is?” We got some of the most incredible statements you have ever heard.

There are millions of people in America who do not know that He is the incarnate God, the Creator of the universe, the second Person of the Trinity, the Maker of all things, the Judge of heaven and earth—that He is God Almighty, incarnate in human flesh. They don’t know why He came.

This Christmas, let us pray for opportunities to tell others about Jesus, so they will no longer have a Christless Christmas.

Lord, give us strength today so that we may share Who You are with someone who does not know You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN KNOW
THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.

“Jesus replied, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.’”

— Matthew 8:20

There are two very touching texts found in the Bible that are touching only when they are touched together. Most people never see the connection because they are separated by a chapter heading. These are John 8:1 and John 7:53. In 8:1 we are told that Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and in 7:53 we read, “Then everyone went to his own house.”

Jesus had been teaching the multitude, and when evening came they all went to their own homes. He had no place to go. Not even the homes of the foxes or the nests of the birds.

Someone put it very well when he said that Jesus was born in another man’s stable, laid in another man’s manger, preached from another man’s boat, rode on another man’s colt, ate the final supper in another man’s room, died on another man’s cross for other men’s sin, and He was laid in another man’s tomb. There was just not any place for Him in this world—not at His birth (no room in the inn), not during His life, not even at His death. We never even provided for Him a place to die. We lifted Him up off the earth and between heaven and earth He hung and He died. There was no room for Him here on this earth—an earth that He created, an earth that He gave life—but there was no room for Him. He became poor for us that we might become rich. What a Savior!

Lord, give us the strength to be ever thankful and mindful of what You did for us when You lived and died in this world…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE HAVE A
HOME IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS.

“And she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in strips of cloth, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

— Luke 2:7

There are probably few, if any, words more poignant than these: “…because there was no room for them in the inn.” How sad, indeed, that when the supreme Potentate of paradise condescended to make a visit to this sin-cursed world, there was no room to be found for Him in the inn.

Infinitely lesser kings of infinitely lesser domains visit this nation and there are dignitaries waiting at the airport, there are bands playing, there are whole suites of rooms reserved for them at the finest hotels. I remember reading of one visit when three floors at one of the finest hotels in New York was reserved for the retinue of some potentate of some pipsqueak country somewhere that most people never even heard of.

But when the King of heaven was born, there were no dignitaries waiting to receive Him. Oh, yes, there was a band sent by the king—but it was a band of soldiers sent to kill Him, not to welcome Him. How tragic that when Jesus was born into this world, there was no room for Him here on earth.

Jump ahead to our time, and even though He rules on high and will one day call each of us to give an account to Him, there is still no room for Him—in our schools, our government, our malls (which ironically cash in on His birthday, no less), or the public square. Blessed are those who make room for Him in their lives.

Lord Jesus, give me strength for today to unashamedly embrace You as my own. Forgive me for any inkling of denying You, Savior, before people because it’s not the “in” thing to embrace You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ARE HONORED
TO BE CALLED CHRISTIANS.

“…whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report…think on these things.”

— Philippians 4:8

As we continue with devotional messages on this beautiful verse, we see that Paul tells the Philippians to think on good and positive things. They include:

• Whatever things are honest. Those things which are respectful, these are the kinds of things that he is saying we should think about.
• Whatever things are just. Though we as Christians are not of this world, we do live in it. We must live our lives justly and fairly, above reproach.
• Whatever things are pure. The Bible exhorts us frequently to purity of heart and mind. The Bible says that the pure in heart shall see God. If God seems distant, it could be because of impure thoughts (and actions).
• Whatever things are lovely. Now this means not only amiable, lovely, but also amicable as well, as opposed to discordant, loveable. The lovely and the beautiful draws us to God.
• Whatever is of good report. We ought to be thinking good things of people, and we ought to be speaking well of people because these are the kinds of things that build people up instead of tearing them down. Indeed, we can be not only good finders but good tellers as well, and as we share good reports we build up the body of Christ, instead of ripping it apart.

We choose our thoughts. Let us choose wisely.

Oh Lord, You who are the Altogether Lovely One, give me the strength to think wholesome thoughts. As the hymn says, May Your mind, Oh, Christ my Savior, live in me from day to day…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN DWELL
ON WHAT IS WHOLESOME AND GOOD.

“…casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

— 2 Corinthians 10:5

Christianity involves our actions, our words. Every thought is to be brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ. This is a tremendous statement.

This kind of thought is reiterated, even the wise Solomon said many centuries before, “…for as he thinks in his heart so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). What you really are is what you think in your heart. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies,” and so on, said Christ (Matthew 15:19).

If people continue to think negative thoughts, those channels seem to be worn down as it were in the mind, and the thoughts like streams running down the side of a mountain find a channel to run in and so our thoughts will run more and more in those kinds of channels. If they are spiritual and heavenly and positive and loving, they will tend to flow more in those directions.

Therefore, it is so important that we learn to control our thoughts because it is out of the thoughts, the heart, and the mind that our lives proceed. You have no doubt heard the old maxim: Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny. Ultimately your destiny will be determined by what you think. There is no way you can escape that. You are what you think.

Lord, give us strength today to think Your thoughts and not sin against You in our mind today. Please break the bad habits of wrong-thinking within us…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
LOVE THE LORD WITH OUR MIND.

“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

— Romans 5:5

The Bible has a good bit to say about the matter of our thinking. The Bible teaches that we have the power to govern our thoughts and, therefore, we are responsible for our thinking. Now most people don’t think that we are. They believe that thinking is just something that goes on all of the time and is almost beyond our control.

And there certainly is a steady stream of thinking that goes on and I suppose it goes on in everyone. It goes on in my head—I can’t see what is going on in yours. I trust you are not like the young farm boy who came to work at a farm and the owner was a little concerned about this young fella and he said to him, “John, what do you do in your spare time?” “Well,” he said, “sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.”

But we can control our thinking. We can just let the chips fall where they may or we can choose to hope in God. As the prayer states: “God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Prayers go up. Blessings come down. Believe it, receive it, one day closer to home.”

The Bible tells us that whatever comes our way, we should put our hope in God. As has been said, we should not doubt in the dark what God has shown us in the light. This is hope anchored in reality. It is a hope based on the very character and revelation of God, who confirmed His Word, and who raised Jesus from the dead. By God’s grace, we need not think of things that cause us to be despondent, but to instead, hope in God.

Give us the strength today so that our thoughts and the meditations of our hearts will be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord our strength and our Redeemer…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE
CAN HOPE IN THE LORD.

“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things.”

— Philippians 4:8

Norman Vincent Peale is best known for his famous book The Power of Positive Thinking. Now he has been criticized by evangelical Christians for simply playing on one string of a harp, and there is perhaps a little truthfulness to this in that he left many of the great doctrines of the Christian faith not denied, but more or less ignored, while he played on the string of the power of positive thinking. But let me say this, he played better on that string than anybody else has, and he certainly helped many people.

I remember a young man who worked on our custodial staff here at the church who was one of the most negative, downcast, self-reproaching individuals that I have ever met. So I took out of my library my copy of Peale’s book and I told him that if anybody ever needed to read this book he did, and I gave it to him with the

hope that he profited from it. But long before Peale stressed positive thinking, the Apostle Paul was sounding the very same note. Perhaps the note from which Peale got his inspiration for his book, I don’t know that for certain, but the text that we read today is certainly one of the most positive thinking kinds of texts that there is. So certainly Paul was a man who knew the importance of positive thinking. You could not have a greater text for a message or book on true positive thinking than Philippians 4:8.

Beautiful Savior, give us the strength to take every thought captive and to think of the good and the lovely…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT.

“Brothers, I could not speak to you as to spiritual men… I have fed you with milk and not with solid food. For to this day you were not able to endure it…”

— 1 Corinthians 3:1a-2

The late Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse pastored Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Barnhouse was the gentleman through whom I first heard the Gospel on the radio and through whom Christ was pleased to reveal Himself in me. And so he has been a person whom I have always appreciated, though I only met him one time. At that time, I told him who I was and that I had been converted about 4 years prior to that through one of his radio broadcasts.

He had preached for 16 years on the book of Romans and he got me at Romans 3:19 and 20. He generally preached on one or two texts at a time and went into them with a great deal of depth. Obviously the more texts that you try to preach on in a sermon the shallower will be the digging that you do. He believed in trying to go deeper and dig a deeper hole over a smaller area. So one or two texts a week took him 16 years to get through the book of Romans and so he had a great love and delight for the Apostle Paul.

There are different preaching styles. Dr. Barnhouse’s style may be too slow for some, but it does show that we can deeply plumb the depths of God’s Word and still come up with treasures. The meat is there for those who want to find it.

Lord, give us strength, insight, and wisdom to dig deep into Your Word. Let the Holy Spirit feed us the meat of Your Word…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN FIND
THE TREASURES IN GOD’S WORD.

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

— Romans 1:16

Too many of us have an unusual problem. We have too many powers. We have powers of intellect, physical prowess, academic accomplishment, athletic trophies, business success, professional advancement, and social standing. The problem with all these superfluous powers is that they can prevent us from finding the power of God—which alone can bring ultimate success in life. As Jesus asked, What if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?

But power does not originate with us, does it? The physical strength that we have is derived from the food we eat. We have intellectual abilities. From whence did they come but from God? Even the power station does not make power. It simply finds it in one form and converts it to another. It may find it in a river and change it into electricity. It may find it in coal, and change it into steam. Or in the atom and change it into nuclear power.

That power is outside of us and all around us. The power of God is out there, around us like radio and television waves. But it is not until we turn on the dial that we can take hold of those powers and appropriate them and receive them for ourselves. The power of God is available to you and me. We need to receive power through Christ, who strengthens us. Then we will be able to achieve, to do all things. That is the secret.

Oh, God, Source of all strength, grant us today Your power and cleanse away all things that hinder Your power from flowing in our lives…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN LET THE
POWER OF THE GOSPEL CHANGE US.