TAPPING THE TREASURE

Psalm 119:14-24

Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. Psalm 119:18

Stephen May discovered a treasure while teaching literature at the University of Northern Colorado. In the library, he found 150 boxes of letters, manuscripts, journals, outlines, and notes given to the school by James A. Michener.

Surprisingly, no one was using those materials to write a biography of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, known for his historical novels. May produced a new account of the life of Michener from that great treasure.

Each day, you and I are writing the story of our lives by what we say and do. Are we using the great, but often neglected, wealth of the Bible? The psalmist wrote: “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. . . Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law” (Psalm 119:14-18).

The Bible is the written record through which we get to know Jesus Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Its nuggets of truth are available to us all.

A life well-lived is directly related to a Bible well-read. As we live out our life story, let’s be sure to tap the treasure of God’s Word every day. —david mccasland

My Bible to me is a treasure house, where I can always find whatever I need from day to day for heart and soul and mind. —anon

The Bible’s treasures are found by those who dig for them.

THE CENTER OF HISTORY

Matthew 16:13-20

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16:16

On the file folders in its biographical morgue, The Washington Post identifies famous people with a single vocational notice, such as “home run king” or “motion picture star.” According to a former reporter, one of these files is marked, “Jesus Christ (martyr).”

Every individual who considers Jesus Christ makes some judgment about Him. French philosopher and historian Ernest Renan said, “All history is incomprehensible without Christ.” American author Ralph Waldo Emerson concluded, “His name is not so much written but plowed into the history of the world.”

Kenneth Scott Latourette, former chairman of the department of religion at Yale Graduate School, wrote, “That short life of Jesus has been the most influential ever lived. Through Him millions have been transformed and have begun to live the life which He exemplified. Gauged by the consequences which have followed, the birth, life, and death and resurrection of Jesus have been the most important events in the history of man.”

What label do you put on Jesus Christ? If you agree that He is who He claimed to be, then let Him who is the center of history be not only the center of your creed but also the object of your loyalty and love. —hwr

What think ye of Christ? is the test to try both your state and your scheme; you cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of Him. —newton

Your decision about Jesus determines your destiny.

GOOD QUESTION!

Acts 16:16-34

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:30-31

Finding the right questions is as crucial as finding the right answers,” says devotional writer Henri Nouwen. Yet how easy it is to run ahead of God’s Spirit as we talk to nonbelievers about Christ, giving pre-packaged answers before we listen to their questions.

This tendency was highlighted several years ago when someone scrawled the words “Christ is the answer!” on the side of a building. A cynical passerby added these words: “What is the question?”

Paul and Silas, thrown into prison for the gospel’s sake, provoked a deep spiritual question in the heart of their jailer. This wasn’t achieved, however, by preaching a three-point sermon at him. Instead, they prayed and sang hymns to God. When an earthquake opened the prison doors and broke their chains, the jailer tried to kill himself, fearing that he would be put to death if his prisoners escaped. But Paul and Silas stopped him by choosing to stay in prison for his sake. At this he cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

Today, as then, the Spirit will create the right questions in people’s hearts and make them ready for the right answer — Jesus Christ. —jey

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love, tell of His power to forgive; others will trust Him if only you prove true, every moment of you live. —wilson

Christians worth their salt make others thirsty for the water of life.

WORTH REMEMBERING

Psalm 126

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad. . . Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Psalm 126:3-5

I heard Chuck Colson say in a television interview that he would never forget the joy and peace he felt when he surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Many of us can remember times when we were ecstatic because the Lord had met our need in a remarkable way. We often refer to such times as mountaintop experiences.

Life, however, is also marked by dark and difficult valleys. At such times we can encourage ourselves by reflecting on the past and letting our mountaintop experiences be a reason to look ahead with confidence. They can reassure us that God who helped us then will not fail us now.

We saw that in today’s Scripture reading. After recounting the joy the Israelites felt when God miraculously delivered them, the psalmist asked God to be merciful again.

In so doing, he used two images to express his expectation of blessing. The first metaphor was of dry gullies in the desert that suddenly became torrents during a downpour (Psalm 126:4). The second was of fruit that develops slowly and quietly as the result of earnest sowing and reaping (verses 5-6)

God’s past faithfulness assures us that He will meet our future needs. That’s worth remembering. —vl

O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal? —watts

The better our memory, the better our praise.

TRIAL AND TEMPTATION

Billy Graham calls us to turn to God by faith, for He is our only hope:

If you’re going through a serious temptation now or a trial now, God knows how to deliver you, if you’ll turn to Him and pray by faith and believe! You see, Jesus Christ loved us so much that He went to the cross and died for us. He took all the hell and all the judgment on Him at the cross. And the Scripture says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever”—that includes you, whosoever—”believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

When you come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, you will be saved. If you would like to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, call at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, toll free, at 877-2GRAHAM. Or click billygraham.org

APOSTASY

Billy Graham quotes from Revelation chapter 3, in the New Testament:

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” This whole chapter ought to be read and pondered—this 3rd chapter of Revelation. It shows how Jesus views a compromising church. It shows how He views a straddling, equivocating, self-satisfied, proud, blind, and poor church. Even though professing wealth and broad vision, in the sight of God it is naked, shameful, and shameless, without the robe of imputed righteousness which is given only to real believers who have been born again and redeemed by the precious blood of Calvary.

As Mr. Graham says, you will be born again when you come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. To make that decision today, call at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, toll free, at 877-2GRAHAM. Or click billygraham.org

TRIAL & TEMPTATION

Billy Graham calls us to turn to God by faith, for He is our only hope:

If you’re going through a serious temptation now or a trial now, God knows how to deliver you, if you’ll turn to Him and pray by faith and believe! You see, Jesus Christ loved us so much that He went to the cross and died for us. He took all the hell and all the judgment on Him at the cross. And the Scripture says, “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever”—that includes you, whosoever—”believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

When you come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, you will be saved. If you would like to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, call at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, toll free, at 877-2GRAHAM. Or click billygraham.org.

NO HOPE

Franklin Graham speaks about a man with leprosy who came to Jesus Christ:

 

 

He was to be separate from society. But he comes, and he wants to be made clean. He wants to be whole, but you see leprosy in the Bible is a picture of sin, and the Bible says that we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory. You see, there was no cure. There was no medicine. There was absolutely no hope. And you see that’s the way it is for you. There’s absolutely no hope for you outside of Jesus Christ, and this leper realizes that his only hope, his only chance is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and so he comes to Jesus.

Jesus Christ is also your only hope. To begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and be made completely clean from your sin, call at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, toll free, at 877-2GRAHAM. Or click billygraham.org

JESUS IN PRISON

You are probably able to move around freely, going and coming as you like. There are others, however who can’t. Franklin Graham speaks to all who are in prison, literal or virtual:

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself spent time in prison. He was arrested. He was falsely accused. He was put in prison. He was beaten. He was whipped. Mock trial. And then He was sent to the cross to be executed. And the reason Jesus Christ went to the cross was for you. And for each and every one of us here. Jesus Christ came out of heaven down to this earth. You see, Jesus Christ wasn’t just a man. Jesus Christ was God Almighty in human form. God Himself came to this earth on a rescue mission. And that rescue mission was to save you and me from our sins.

To be saved from your sins, turn to Jesus Christ by faith. To begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, call at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, toll free, at 877-2GRAHAM. Or click billygraham.org.

A LIGHT IN OUR DARKNESS

This year has been a heartbreaking and difficult year for the world. Terrorism is increasing throughout the world. The price of oil is unpredictable. Wars, earthquakes, floods, the breakup of homes and the death of loved ones have plagued us. Energy and economic problems are seemingly beyond control.

 

The coming of Christ, the light of the world

 

No informed person today will deny that the human race walks in darkness. There are dilemmas and problems that seemingly have no answer. Many competent observers despair of solving the problems of the world; they suspect that we are people who not only walk in darkness but walk in darkness to our doom.

 

As we come to Christmas, we again hear the words the Prophet Isaiah spoke 800 years before the birth of Christ: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). In this passage the prophet had his first glimpse of Christmas. It is the promise of the coming of Christ and the light that was to dawn upon the world. It heralds the entrance of God into human history. It is heaven descending to earth. It is as though a trumpeter had taken his stand upon the turrets of time and announced to a despairing, hopeless and frustrated world the coming of the Prince of Peace.

 

For years people have been seeking to organize human life without God. They have tried to thrust Him out of the universe. Many secular critics attack evangelical Christianity. Because these modern critics find it hard to believe in God, they have transferred their faith to man. They have invented a creed that is the worship of humanity. “Glory to man in the highest” is their theme.

This worship of human nature has grown in popularity because it feeds on our own conceit. We have been told, especially in some of our classrooms, that there is no sin—that the human race simply has a bit of selfishness that time will correct. It flatters the egoism in us; it seems to make redemption unnecessary; it empties the cross of its meaning. People will grow better, we are told.

However, the failure to solve the problems of the world has shattered the hopes of many. We are more unsure of peace and have less freedom than ever before. In our brilliance without God we have become fools. We look at the world today and wonder at the incredible folly of it—the ignorant conceit, the puffed-up egoism of the human race. It is obvious that unredeemed man without the help of God will take the path of destruction, judgment and hell. We stand on the very edge of Armageddon.

The Hebrew prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel not only believed in God but also worshiped God. They believed that God could be seen in nature. They believed that He had made the world. But all through the centuries they seem to have been saying, “I wish that God would become personal.”

This is precisely what He did that first Christmas night. He became personal in Bethlehem. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. … No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:14, 18).

Christmas is not just a date on the calendar. It is not just another annual holiday. It is not a day just to glorify selfishness and materialism. It commemorates the day Jesus Christ was born. It is the celebration of the event that set heaven to singing, an event that gave the stars of the night sky a new brilliance.

At a specific time and at a specific place a specific Person was born and that Person was God of very God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the lips of Jesus came these words: “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Like piercing trumpets these words herald the breaking in of the Divine into human history. They declare that heaven has come to earth’s rescue and that God has not left us to stumble on earth’s pathway alone. What a wonderful and glorious hope we have because of that first Christmas!

Christ came into a world that was facing problems very much like the ones we grapple with today. We often imagine that the world Jesus came to was not complicated, that its problems were not complex. But historians tell us otherwise. They tell us that the problems of that day were similar to the problems of our day.

And right into the center of this kind of life came Jesus Christ. To the restless world Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). To those who had lost the joy of living He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). To those who bore the chafing burden of the guilt of sin He said, “Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you” (Matthew 9:2).

At this Christmas season, despite the affluent society that surrounds us, many find life a burden. Purpose and zest have fled, hearts ache with emptiness, and even the joys of this happy season leave many lonely and wistful.

Today the Lord Jesus Christ stands at the door of your heart and knocks, saying, “If you will open that door, I will come in to you and sup with you, and you with me” (Cf. Revelation 3:20). In other words, Jesus wants to have Christmas with you.

At Christmas, “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14, KJV). Christmas means that Emmanuel has come—that “the people … in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2) and that He walks with us through the shadows—it means that God is with us (Matthew 1:23). It means our sordid, failure-fraught past can be wiped out by His sacrifice on the cross and we can become members of God’s family, heirs of God and citizens of heaven. Christmas means that He comes into the night of our suffering and sorrow, saying, “I am with you. Let Me share your burdens.”

During the Korean War, Grady Wilson and I ministered one Christmas week to the troops on the front lines. On that Christmas Eve a young Marine lay dying on Heartbreak Ridge. A chaplain climbed up the slope, stooped over the Marine and whispered, “May I help you, son?”

“No, it’s all right,” he answered.

The chaplain marveled at the young man’s complacency in such an hour. Then, glancing down, the chaplain noticed a New Testament clutched in the Marine’s hand. And the reason for the young man’s tranquility was found on the page where his finger was inserted: “My peace I give to you” (John 14:27).

Today, in the midst of trouble, terrorism and war, that peace can be yours—if you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. He is offering to every one of us eternal life if we will put our trust and our faith in Him.

The gift of eternity can be yours now. Life everlasting begins not when you die but when you believe and put your faith in Jesus Christ. “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). This is the real meaning of Christmas.

Will you accept Christ into your heart this Christmas season?

 

Billy Graham

bgea.org