message from God – Page 2

1 Chronicles 17:1-15 – The Promise

Read 1 Chronicles 17:1-15

There are many promises in the Bible, but this is one God made particularly for David. God knew what David needed to hear and used Nathan as his messenger. David was starting to feel guilty that he was living in such a beautiful palace while the Ark, the presence of God lived in a tent. I can understand David’s perspective wanting to honor God.

Judging from the message God gave Nathan, the time for such a grand home had not yet come. God promised David that one of his ancestors would be the one to build this place of honor, the temple. God said, “He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for me. And I will secure his throne forever.” There is a promise within a promise!

Christmas 🙏 Luke 2:1-7 – Obedience

Read Luke 2:1-7

The Christmas story never gets old. I know people that play Christmas music year round just because of the hope it brings. There is something indescribably special about the miracle of Christ’s incarnation. Knowing that God loved us that much to send his son into this world can leave you speechless if you let it. All our hopes and dreams can be met by that darling infant King.

But the Christmas story is more than the hope and promise of salvation. We shouldn’t be surprised that there are multiple layers of blessing and wisdom we can glean from this story. The lesson we’ll focus on today is Obedience.

Ezra 1:5-11 – When God Stirs

Read Ezra 1:5-11

Those returning from exile to rebuild the temple will not be empty-handed. God continues to stir the people into action. Cyrus, the Persian king, was certainly doing his part to help facilitate the good will called for in his proclamation from our last reading. Isn’t it something that God knew Cyrus by name before he was even born when the prophet, Isaiah, spoke of this moment in history? (See Isaiah 44:28)

God orchestrates this whole process. How does that make you feel? One minute the people are living their normal lives and the next some are packing up to move back to their homeland. When I think about seventy years, that’s a long time to get comfortable in the land of exile. Those being stirred by God in today’s reading have likely never even seen Jerusalem.

Mark 16:1-8 – The Empty Tomb

Read Mark 16:1-8

When is an ending not the end? When death ends in a victorious resurrection! The tomb was empty! Jesus is alive!

You also noticed that Mark’s gospel abruptly ends (in most ancient manuscripts) with verse 8. The sentences that follow here are thought to have been added to help bring a better closure to this climatic ending.

Zechariah 7:11-14 – Implications

Read Zechariah 7:11-14

This third section of Zechariah centers around the “implications” of this new age of believers. Those returning from exile will be the remnant of God’s chosen to repopulate Jerusalem and Judah. But what does that look like?

Zechariah’s first audience kept the faith in God alive for us today. There were enough of them who listened to God’s message, warning them to not fall into the same traps their ancestors had. They say “history repeats itself,” and I suppose we see evidence of that in the Bible where patterns emerge in human behavior and motivations.