December 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Readings:

1 Chronicles 20:1. 3-7, 10-13, 18, 20-22, 26-30, King James Version:
¹It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle....
³And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
⁴And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
⁵And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
⁶And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
⁷Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?...
¹⁰And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;
¹¹Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
¹²O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.
¹³And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children....
¹⁸And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD....
²⁰And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established....
²¹And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
²²And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten....
²⁶And ... they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.
²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.
²⁸And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.
²⁹And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.
³⁰So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

Mark 12:28-30, KJV:
²⁸And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
²⁹And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
³⁰And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Colossians 3:16-17, 23-24, KJV:
¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
¹⁷And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him....
²³And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
²⁴Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

TItus 2:11-14, KJV:
¹¹For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
¹²Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
¹³Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
¹⁴Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Revelation 3:14-22, KJV:
¹⁴And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
²⁰Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
²¹To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
²²He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Devotional:

To the church of the Laodiceans God spoke stern words, "because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue ther out of my mouth." Insipidity is disliked by men but how much more by the Almighty God who judges the thoughts and hearts of men. And yet there is always the danger of our falling into mere formalism in our worship. It is surely distasteful to God to be taken "for granted" in worship.

How may we guard agaiiist half-heartedncss in our praise of the Lord? Looking at the experience of Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah we arc struck with the elaborateness of their plans for the worship of God. An enemy was about to attack. This should have called forth detailed military strategy. Instead, clanger at their door urged the worship of God and His praise upon His people. This then is the lesson for us. Realization of our weakness and the ever-present enemy, Satan, should drive us to God. Where there is no deep sense of need there will also be no earnest attempt to get aid. In praise of God that is true acknowledgment of His great power and grace, combined with supplication, strength will be supplied for the war of the soul.

Paul writes to the Colossians, "whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." God would have us mean what we say. How much more will our spiritual life prosper when with singleness of heart we cry out to the Lord. Few words of sincere adoration of God's goodness and greatness surpass in value and effectiveness thousands of anthems sung to display the abilities of men. "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord negligently." Jeremiah 48:10 (R.V.).

We are very happy to make available to you this month these devotionals by the late Rev. LeRoy B. Oliver. They originally appeared in The Presbyerian Guardian during the late 1940's.

The description of his "Your Family Altar" page in The Presbyterian Guardian also fits this Web page: "The page is designed for both private and family use, whichever is most convenient in your case. If you do not have family worship in your home, we hope you will begin, and suggest using these readings. They should not, however, take the place of reading books of the Bible, or the Bible itself, through in regular course." It is those who abide (continue) in the Word who are truly Christ's disciples, who know the truth, and who experience freedom in Him (John 8:31-32). May these devotionals be used for the building up of God's people and to the glory of God.