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Issue #486
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December 18, 2017 |
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Dear Friends,
Thank you for your encouragement and support. We pray you will be blessed daily through the Word. Please freely share this email with others.
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| Catch Don!
www.bibleteachingresources.
org 
Philippines radio
(MPR 105.3 FM)
Contact
Bible Teaching Resources
Donald Anderson
PO Box 6611
Tyler, TX 75711-6611
903-939-1201 (office)
1.877.326.7729 (toll free)
903.939.1204 (fax)
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The Centerpiece of God's Plan is Jesus
Scripture
How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, and says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Isaiah 52:7 (NASB)
The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. Nahum 1:7 (NASB)
Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life."
John 8:12 (NASB)
But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
Galatians 4:4 (NASB)
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|  The Centerpiece of God's Plan is Jesus |
| The birth of Jesus was the start of the first great movement toward the restoration of man with God. It is no wonder the angels sang on that first Christmas morning! The birth of the Lord Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise in Ephesians 1:10. Paul tells the Ephesians, "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him" (KJV). The birth of Jesus is the reckoning point (division) of all time: B.C. before Christ; A.D., anno domini, signifying the "year of our Lord," the time period after Christ's birth. "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness; He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory" 1 Timothy 3:16 (ESV). The God who is referred to in this verse is Jesus. He is the only one who did all these things. "There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them" Acts 4:12 (NLT). The work of redemption is the second great step. The cross is the redemptive gift of Jesus to cleanse us from our sin. We cannot have a relationship with God until we accept by faith the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. Colossians 2:14 states: "He (Jesus) canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross" (NLT). He wipes our sins from the slate. He erases the record. The Spirit of God witnesses to the redemption of our Lord Jesus and draws us to Him. I find joy in singing Jesus Paid It All: "For nothing good have I Where by Thy grace to claim, I'll wash my garments white in the blood of Calv'ry's Lamb. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." How precious He becomes as we walk with Him. A song special to me is Jesus is the Sweetest Name I Know: "And some day I shall see Him face to face to thank and praise Him for His wondrous grace, which He gave to me, when He made me free, the blessed Son of God called Jesus. Jesus is the sweetest name I know, And He's just the same as His lovely name, and that's the reason why I love Him so; oh, Jesus is the sweetest name I know." Happy Birthday Lord Jesus Christ - Son of God. Thank You for Your birth, coming to earth, A gift of salvation for us, A gift of love to teach us Your way, A gift of eternal life - Your death on the cross. |
What was God up To?
My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
(ISAIAH 55:8, NLT)
When God began to reveal His plan of redemption, He started with a lowly peasant couple trudging to Bethlehem to pay taxes, a baby born in a stable and cradled in a manger. That boy grew up to be the Savior of the world-but spent most of His thirty-three years on earth in a carpenter's shop!
What was God up to?
What if we had masterminded that Advent? Would we not have sent Him to Rome, Alexandria, and Athens? What a chance for press agents when the boy Jesus confounded the sadduces in the Temple! What the news media of today could have done blowing up that boy preacher into a world celebrity! It is enough to make all reporters weep.
When Jesus finally began His public ministry, it was a matter of walking around in Galilee with a few fishermen disciples. His brothers urged Him to go up to Jerusalem and get before the public, but He was thumbs down on that. When He healed people, he sometimes said, "Don't tell about it." When He rose from the dead, He missed the greatest opportunity of going before Pilate and the priests to show Himself. We've been trying to prove to this day that He rose, and that would have settled it once for all! He put on no show, just said "Mary" to a weeping woman, broke bread in the home of two grieving disciples, and, to other sad followers, He merely said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some [fish]" (John 21:6). What commonplace ways of breaking the greatest news ever made known to man!
God didn't do it our way.
VANCE HAVNER - December 20
How Great Thou Art: A Daily Devotional
by Steve Halliday & William Travis
Left alone, without God's help, what can a man do but think and think, plan and scheme to weariness all night and carry a heavy heart as he sees by daylight how futile his plans are?
p. 119
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Psalms-Volume I- Psalms I-XXXVIII
by A. Maclaren, D.D.
But at the end of our life the disjointed pieces will suddenly come together, and we shall see the symmetry and beauty of the Divine thought. Then we shall be satisfied. In the meantime let us believe that God's love and wisdom are doing the very best for us. In the morning ask God to show you His plan for the day in the unfolding of its events, and to give you grace to do or bear all that He may have prepared. In the midst of the day's engagements, often look up and say, "Father, is this in the plan?" At night be still, and match your actual with God's ideal, confessing your sins and shortcomings, and asking that His will may be more perfectly done in you, even as in heaven.
p. 25
The Gift of Suffering
by F. B. Meyer
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Prayer Requests
& Praises
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1. Praise: God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9 (CSB)
2. Pray: O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. Psalm 89:8 (NASB)
3. Pray: O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. Psalm 98:1 (NASB)
4. Pray: The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation. Psalm 33:11 (NASB)
5. Pray: Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)
6. Pray: Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
7. Praise: "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)
8. Pray: Continue to pray for the completion of the Preservation Project.
Prayer: Lord, in the words of the wonderful old hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness": "Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; as Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be."
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Blessings,
Pearl Anderson
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
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