Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8.28 Lord, when I am walking in obedience to Your Word, I trust You are in control of my life. Whatever circumstances You allow to challenge me will be turned for my good. Your goal is to restore my understanding of who I am as a child of God and mature me spiritually and emotionally.
All the situations I confront are designed to help me grow and exercise Your Word and my faith. At first, they may seem overwhelming, but as I press into You in prayer and search Your Word for answers, I gain the strength I need to rise above what I am facing. Thank You for the new freedom on the other side of my difficulties. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's daily prayer. For more inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor, stay tuned to Pray.com's Sunday service.
This is Tracy V. Wilson from Stuff You Missed in History Class. The national sales event is on at your Toyota dealer, making now the perfect time to get a great deal on a dependable new car. Like a legendary Camry built for performance and available with all-wheel drive, you can count on your new Camry to get anywhere you need to go. And with available features like heated seats and a multimedia touchscreen, you can stay connected in comfort and style. Or...
check out an affordable and reliable Corolla with a trim for every lifestyle. From the hip and agile sedan to the sporty hatchback, there's a dependable Corolla built just for you. Plus, both Camrys and Corollas are available in hybrid models, so no matter your style, you can drive efficiently and affordably. So visit your local Toyota dealer and check out amazing national sales event deals on Camrys, Corollas, and more when you visit buyatoyota.com.
Toyota, let's go places. Have you made the switch to NYX? Millions of women have made the switch to the revolutionary period underwear from NYX. That's K-N-I-X. Period panties from NYX are like no other, making them the number one leak-proof underwear brand in North America.
They're comfy, stylish, and absorbent, perfect for period protection from your lightest to your heaviest days. They look, feel, and machine wash just like regular underwear, but feature incognito protection that has you covered. You can shop sizes from extra small to 4XL. Choose from all kinds of colors, prints, and different styles, from bikinis to boy shorts, thongs to high-rise. You've got to try NYX.
See why millions are ditching disposable, wasteful period products and have switched to NYX. Go to knix.com and get 15% off with promo code TRY15.
That's knix.com, promo code TRY15 for 15% off life-changing period underwear. That's K-N-I-X dot com. Hi, this is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glaser Podcast. Say yes to summer and get cash back on many of your favorite brands with PayPal, which, let's face it, comes in very handy during the summertime. Everyone is ready for summer activities, which is why using PayPal is a great way to say yes to summertime fun.
Say yes to those concert tickets to go see that band you were into back in high school. Say yes to that bikini that you are too scared to try in at the store because the lighting might be bad and you might get discouraged, but that you know you'll look amazing in when you try it on for the first time at the resort when you get there.
You can also send money to friends via PayPal, which means going halfsies with your best friend when she visits this summer. With even more cash back in your pocket when you pay with PayPal, saying yes to summertime fun just got a whole lot easier. Make sure to download the PayPal app. An account with PayPal is required to send and receive money. Redeem points for cash and other options. Terms apply.
This is Mike. I just want to wish every single person a Merry Christmas. And in Hawaii, we say mele kalikimaka. And for those of you who are watching this after Christmas, I also want to say haole maka hikiho, which means have a happy new year. So grateful to be with you 2022. And I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to a better year.
I pray God's peace, God's presence would be all over you today. And I just want to wish every single person on behalf of the Inspired Church family all over the world, Merry Christmas. We love you guys. You know, we get this opportunity not just to decorate with Christmas lights and trees, which I think are all so festive and so important, the presents and the gathering and all of that. But I also know this,
that God is doing something powerful and amazing through this Christmas. I'm praying that the peace of God, that the joy of the Lord would be your strength this Christmas holiday season in the name of Jesus. So come with me to Luke chapter two in the Bible, where we're going to read about the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And in Luke chapter two, the Bible tells us that at that time, Roman Emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. And this was the first census.
census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. And he traveled to the village of Nazareth in Galilee. And he took with him Mary, his fiancee, who is now obviously pregnant.
Here we've got a situation where
God is orchestrating things in order to allow his son to be born in Bethlehem in the city of David. Now, this is problematic. We've got a problem here because Mary is in her third trimester. She is traveling all the way from Galilee in the north to Bethlehem in the south. During that time, the Romans ruled that part of the world. So the government decreed that everybody has to go home and register for a census.
Can you imagine the movement all over Israel of people having to go from one town to the other town by foot through caravan to make sure that they were safe when they traveled. So they never traveled by themselves. I know it's beautiful and it makes wonderful Christmas cards.
But Mary and Joseph did not travel alone. Not likely. It's not likely that she was being taken on a camel. It is more likely that she was placed in a cart. More likely that they traveled with other people because of safety. And that journey was long. Imagine this if you are in your third trimester of your pregnancy. You've got to go back to your own ancestral town. What about work? Who closes up shop? Who opens up shop? What about your crops?
who's watching your herds if you are a shepherd. All of this movement is going on throughout Israel because not only because the Roman government caused it, but probably because God caused it in order to get people to go back to their town so that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.
Through all of the situations, disruptions, problematic situations that you and I have been in through the year, when we look at why did this happen, why am I here, why did that take place, and oftentimes we will see that God is behind this trying to move pieces all over the chessboard so that he can take care of business, so that we could fall into God's will.
But there are also times that God has nothing to do with it. You know, sometimes it's God is not, God's not doing anything with this. God's not causing this. But there are times that even though a situation that is beyond your control is causing you to
in your life and be in places that you never thought you would be or in a situation you never asked for, even though God did not cause it, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 8, verse 28, that God works all things for the good, for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
So God may have not caused it, but God can still use it. So Mary and Joseph are headed to Bethlehem. And the Bible tells us in verse 6 that, And while they were there, they came for the baby to be born. And she gave birth to her first child, a son, and she wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no lodging available for them.
uh we've always read that there was no room for them in the end we see pictures uh or we've seen cartoons or situations where poor mary and joseph are trying to find room in the end but there's no room in the end sorry no room door closed no vacancy signs are out there you know all those motels when we would travel as kids and go to different spots and we'd stay at motels
We'd stay at the Howard Johnson or the Holiday Inn. And the Hojo or the Howard Johnson and the Holiday Inns always had vacancy or no vacancy. And my parents and I, we loved it. We didn't go to resorts. We went camping. We were in a camper. We'd pull up a camper. All four kids would come out of the camper and we'd go to...
the inn and there would be either vacancy, no vacancy. My dad would go check in to see if there was room. He could get a room for all six of us in one room and it was awesome. But this was not the situation. The situation actually here in Bethlehem at that time was multi-level housing. People lived in not just on the ground floor or the second floor and the third floor because they would all live together and these were built one on top of the other. When the family expanded, they might build a second story or a third story.
But on the ground floor, it was like the stable. This is where you brought in the family animals to come in from the cold. If you had an oxen, if you had a cow, that was prized. You wanted to bring it in. If you were a shepherd, you had some flocks and you didn't want it outside. You wanted to bring it in. Sometimes you would bring it in. This is where Mary and Joseph were. They were at the bottom.
In fact, it's almost like disrespectful that this pregnant lady is not being given room because all the family has come and they all called dibs on the bedrooms, called dibs on the floors, what floor they wanted to sleep on. And when Mary and Joseph got there just in time to give birth to Jesus, what did they get? They got the ground floor. Here's why this is a challenge. It's because the situation in which she is pregnant, they are not married yet.
She's pregnant by the Holy Spirit, not by Joseph. She had a visitation by the angel, so did Joseph was assured as well that everything would be okay. And it wasn't until after Jesus was born that they actually physically consummated their marriage. But nobody knows this. Everybody thinks that they shacked up, they got pregnant before she was going to give birth. And so this was the problem, and this is why.
he is being born in a stable downstairs on the ground floor but the bible tells us in verse 8 that that night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby guarding their flocks of sheep and suddenly an angel of the lord appeared among them and the radiance of lord's glory surrounded them and they were terrified i would be terrified too if all of a sudden thousands of angels
appeared in the sky, hovering right above the shepherds and over the fields and the flocks. Says they were terrified, but the angel reassured them, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid, he said. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord has been born today in Bethlehem in the city of David.
And you will recognize him by this sign. You will find the baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger. Suddenly the angel was joined by a vast host of others, the armies of heaven, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth.
to those with whom God is pleased. And when the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. And they hurried to the village, verse 16, and found Mary and Joseph, and there was a baby lying in the manger. And after seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. And all who heard the shepherd's story
You know, it's awesome because shepherds were considered on the low rung of society, just above lepers, widows, shepherds. They were in their own little ecosystem, so to speak.
And so when you see that God is making the announcement not to the temple, he doesn't make it in the palace, he makes the announcement in the fields. And it is in these fields that the angel says this, and I want to camp on this just for a few moments that I have with you today, is this, I bring good news that will bring great joy to all people. Come on, everybody say good news, say great joy.
and say to all people, this is good news. Number one, I want you to write the good news. The good news is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news is God sent his one and only son to save us from ourselves and to save us from sin.
See, God loves us so much that number one, it is the good news. The angel said, I bring good news. Come on. In a world that we need good news, I welcome good news. I don't like bad news. They say, don't shoot the messenger. I totally understand that. But I don't, that's why the Bible says, how beautiful are the feet are those who bring the good news. And the good news
It's not just, hey, I've got good news for you. Things are going to get better in 2022. Hey, I've got good news for you. That business you wanted to start, you're going to get that loan. Hey, I got good news for you. You got that apartment that you've been trying to get. Hey, I got good news for you. You're going to get married this year. I got, you know, there's more than that. That's good news.
But this good news is great news and that good news on the circumstances of being under the Roman occupation and oppression of having the aristocracy class of the Herods ruling over your your country as well and
And then having the religious leaders and rulers of the day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were making life difficult by adding more burdens to people, how much more could the people take? How much more could they handle?
How much more mandates and variances that are happening that's like, I thought this was almost over and here we are again. I tell you right now that the people were ready for some good news. And the good news was more that would last for a week. It was more than something that would last for six months or a year. This good news keeps repeating itself for over 2,000 years, everybody. It's good news. And the good news of Jesus Christ,
That God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. That good news came into my life when I was 21 years old.
Seems so long ago, but I was 21 years old when I was brokenhearted. I was purposeless. I was suicidal. I was depressed. I had anxiety. I was angry. I had all of these things going on in my life because of some of the things that I created in my own life. And things were done to me as well. But I walked into a church for the very first time when my friends told me that I needed to go to church. And I did not want to go to church. I didn't want nothing to do with church. I knew I needed God, but
I didn't know what church was like. Just like maybe you. Maybe for you, some of you, that you are apprehensive about going to church because you don't know what the experience was like, but you like online. Maybe some of you that you said that you'd never gone to church before because you've been hurt before, so you never want to go to church. Or maybe you just don't understand what church is like. Maybe you just don't know. And maybe it was never a priority in your life. But I want to tell you that it was in church that
in a church that I received the good news of Jesus Christ. And I heard it for the first time. See, I'd gone to church my whole life, but it never clicked. Even though I stopped going to church from the age of 17 to about the age of 21, from that four-year period of outside of that covering did enough damage in my life that here I was walking into a church because my friends prayed for me
And they told me, you got to come to church. And finally, they were bugging me. And I had to get them off my back, if you know what I'm talking about, because they were a little bit too much pressure trying to get me to come to the church. And then they went from bugging. And finally, they went to bribing. My friend Brandon said, if you come to church, I'll buy you breakfast. And man, when you are a single father of a two-year-old daughter, and you're trying to make ends meet, and you're like living just above the poverty level, and you've got three jobs, when someone says free food, you go. Ha ha ha ha.
And I went. I went because, number one, I knew in my heart that I needed God. But I didn't realize that when I walked into church for the very first time that I would hear the good news presented in a way that I would connect with. That God loves you so much that he sent through the virgin birth, from heaven, through a woman, to earth, to take on the form of a man, fully God, yet fully man.
the Son of Man, the Son of the Most High. For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.
And when I tell you, when I heard the good news, my heart received it with great joy. Like I'm talking about, that's not even in my vocabulary at the age of 21. That's religious talk, I thought to myself, but I did. I received it with great joy that God would love me. Like, I don't know where you're at in your life right now. Maybe you're not as broken as I was, but maybe you're missing something in your life.
You know something's missing. It's not all there. You have these achievements. You have these relationships. Things are going good. Feels good. But still something is missing. You know why? Because God created us that way. The great philosopher C.S. Lewis says that in every person that God has created a God-shaped void in our hearts or in our lives that only he was meant to fill.
But we go through our life trying to fill it and fulfill ourselves with totally different things that only bring just temporary satisfaction. But Jesus said, "I come that you might have life." John 10:10, "And have it abundantly." And that,
my friends, is good news. Come on. Somebody say amen. Number one, good news. Second thing, you bring great joy. This is going to be great joy. Good news that brings great joy. Great joy. This news is where we get joyful. We rejoice because of all that God has done. Our hearts rejoice over God loving the world. This blueprint
planet here in the solar system that is going haywire and going crazy at times and not just in America but throughout the world and all of the darkness that's in this world man the joy that came forth that day is repeating itself until this day joy number one God's got good news number two
He wants to bring you great joy. You know, joy is not a feeling. Joy is a state of being. It's not a feeling, but it's a state of being. Happiness is a feeling, right? Sadness, that's a feeling. And those feelings come and go. It depends on what you ate. It depends on how you feel. It depends on what's been done to you. It depends on what you've done. Happiness, it can come, it can go. But joy lasts.
And joy is something that God gives you and comes from within. And it's also something that you choose.
Choose joy no matter what my circumstances I choose joy and I tell you what it's not faking it till you make it It's not that I'm gonna I'm gonna you know, I'll praise the Lord something terrible happened in my life, but praise the Lord No, it's it's more than that and and good for you for someone in the midst of your tragedy can still say praise the Lord because that's what job did job lost everything
And he said, yet I will praise the Lord. Yet I will praise him. David, throughout scripture, in the book of Psalms, would say, yet I praise the Lord. No matter, oh, wake up my soul, I praise the Lord. And in these times, that you can have the joy of the Lord. You know why? Because if you have the joy of the Lord, the Bible says in Nehemiah, that the joy of the Lord will be your strength. Number one, good news, Jesus came. Two, great joy, keeps giving it to this day.
And here's the third thing, for all people. For all people. For you, for me, for everybody in this world, God has brought great news that'll bring great joy for all people. He came for Jews and he came for Gentiles. He came for Hawaiians, he came for Haoles. He came for every ethnicity in the world. Because why? Because he so loved the world. He loves the people. God loves you.
and god loves humanity that's why he sent his son not to into the world not to condemn the world not to judge the world but to love the world that's why he sent his son
Because why? Because it's good news. Have you accepted this good news? Can you receive it with great joy? Do you realize that it's for you too, for all people? Oh no, that's for those people who are broken. Oh no, that's for those people. Maybe one day I'll be one of those people, but right now, no, no, no, no, no. For all people, you, right now, where you're at, watching this, God loves you. God loves you more than you realize.
More than he said, more than she's expressed, more than what you've been told. God loves you and you're all his people. But you have to receive it. Under these trees, in Christmas trees all over the world are gifts.
And the gifts that are under these trees are something powerful, something amazing, something majestic. But you have to take it and you have to unwrap it and you have to open it. You can't just say when someone gives you a gift, oh, here's a gift. Merry Christmas. And you're like, oh, thank you. And then you put it in the closet and you never open it. That would be what? Disrespectful, number one. And number two, you'd be crazy not to open it because you never know what's in it, right? Doesn't matter. But here's the deal.
God has sent his son into the world and he has wrapped him up
as a gift for you, but you have to receive it and you have to open that gift. Are you ready to open that gift today at Christmas? If you've already given your life to Jesus, let's open it again. Let's realize what he's done for us. If you've never done that before, no matter how old you are, how young you are, no matter what your religious background is, no matter where you came from, no matter your socioeconomic status, you could be on the high or on the low, you could be on the third floor, you could be in the stable, it does not matter. God is no respecter of persons. What he does is
is that He loves you and you have to open and receive this gift. So receive that gift today. Because why? Because He loves you. The Bible says we love Him because He first loved us. God loves you. If that's you today, this Christmas, unwrap the gift. And what comes with that gift? Salvation. Forgiveness of all of our sins. Everything washed clean.
by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sins of the world. And that's why he came, to pay the price and the penalty for my sin and for your sin. Because he wants us to repent. What's repent? Repent means to have a change of mind. It's the word, the Greek word, metanoia, to have a change of mind. God wants you to change your mind because he loves you so much. He wants to forgive you, he wants to receive you, and wants to be in your life from this moment forward.
So if that's you, would you repeat this prayer with me? Say, Jesus, thank you for loving me. Thank you for expressing that love for me that you came to this world and you lived as a human being. You suffered on that cross. You died and you rose again and you're seated at the right hand of the Father. You are my Savior. You are my Redeemer. You are my brother. And today, I invite you
to come into my life, to change me from the inside out, to set me on a firm foundation when the world is shaking, that I can trust you with my life to change me, to lead me, to guide me, to mold me, to shape me, to love me just as I am from this moment forward, to change my life, not just on the inside, but also on the outside, around me,
Come into my life. Take care of my family, my loved ones. Guide us and protect us. Thank you that I'm born again. Say this, I'm born again. The old is past. The new has begun. I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus, created to serve you and to love you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen. Hey, listen, if you have prayed that prayer this Christmas, this Christmas season, I want to welcome you into the family of God. Come on. That's the most important decision that you have ever made in your life. And you will never regret it. And you will be grateful and you'll be thankful. In a world like this, to have Jesus in you and with you, nothing like it. Nothing like it.
So congratulations. I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. From the Kai family, from the Inspire family all over the world, here in Hawaii, in Manila, God bless you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord turn his countenance toward you. May he cause his face to shine upon you, to be gracious to you, and grant you peace. God bless you. We love you. And aloha.
The podcast, The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham, is a moving and inspiring biblical audio experience that will help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you'll learn to apply biblical principles to everyday life.
Each cinematic episode is a journey through the Bible's most profound stories that will strengthen your appreciation of the Word and inspire you to keep learning. Listen to The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ready to illuminate your beauty routine? Introducing the Lit Up Highlight Stick from Westman Atelier. This translucent gel highlighter imparts skin with facial fresh, radiant clarity. Flattering, light-catching undertones and skin-firming ingredients leave a glassy, unforgettable finish. A quick, hydrating way to perk up dull skin. This multitasker does it all. Get glowy summer skin with Lit Up Highlight Stick, consciously crafted by Gucci Westman. Shop now at westman-atelier.com.
So your skin gets to enjoy that feeling. Pick up a pack of Water Wipes Hydrating Clean Wipes today at Walmart.
Hear that? Pumpkin. That's fall calling. And the pumpkin spice latte is back at Starbucks. From that first sweater to late autumn weather, it's all a fall in just one sip. Order ahead on the Starbucks app.
