Author: Dave M Price

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Against Temptation

Daily Reading

Luke 4-5

Daily Thought

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” ~1John 2:16-17

Jesus went from baptism to battle, being assaulted by Satan in the wilderness. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). Perhaps Satan had been eavesdropping at Jesus’s baptism when coming out of the water heaven tore open and God spoke, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). The challenge seemed reasonable, Jesus had not eaten for forty days, but behind hunger hid the temptation to clutch again his deity for himself, the desire of the flesh. “Man shall not live by bread alone” (Luke 4:4), easier said when one is not famished.

If “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16), Satan offered Jesus an easier way and showed him what he loved, “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” (Luke 4:5), the desire of the eyes. All Satan demanded in exchange was Jesus’s heart. How often Satan need offer much less to get mine, but Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve’” (Luke 4:8). 

Finally, boastful pride, Satan set Jesus “on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here’” (Luke 4:9). The angels will protect and the world will know, but “not my will, but yours, be done” is the answer to pride and Jesus rebuked Satan, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Luke 4:12).  

Jesus knows the power of temptation and I only its sting because I so frequently give in, but I know the power of Jesus.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. ~Hebrews 4:15-16

Daily Prayer

Dear God, I pray to You because You are the One true God. There are no others. I know that You are good and powerful and wonderful. I know that You care about me. I can’t quite figure out why, but I’m glad. You cared so much that You sent Your Son to heal me.

God, I need to be healed. I cave into temptation and sin leaves me broken, but by Your grace and strength, I am made new. You are the only wise God, my Savior. To You be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forevermore.

Amen

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Peace on Earth

Daily Reading

Luke 2-3

Daily Thought

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not…” ~Luke 2:8-10 

The angels said, “Fear not,” not because they are not terrifying. They are! And not because we should not fear them. We should. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” said Solomon the wisest (Proverbs 9:10). Fear is not merely respect, but appreciation, a terrifying appreciation of God’s overwhelming majesty, his awesome power, and something even more, his wonderful goodness–and how much we fall short, how much we are outside, even at war, with his goodness. We rightfully fear the fulness of God’s majesty, his power, his justice, and his goodness, so, Jesus comes in humility to a little town of Bethlehem, to a manger, to shepherds in a field.

The angel of the Lord said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12).  God chose shepherds in the field, not kings in their palace, because kings would consider it their due. Shepherds have no illusions to their own power or majesty or position. It is only in humility that a baby in a manger will be recognized as Savior of the world. God chooses shepherds to show us the Savior.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” ~Luke 2:13-14

Peace is not something found in this world, it finds us from heaven. This is the beauty of Christmas, God finding favor in shepherds and an unwed mother and her husband-to-be and wise men from the east who kneel before their Savior. Peace comes when you fear God, and nothing else. 

Daily Prayer

Almighty God, like King David, I am amazed that you pay attention to me. That You would come to us, not in Your majesty, but in humility. I did not find You because I look in the wrong places, not Bethlehem, not a manger, so You found me in humility. You brought me to my knees and I would stay there, but You lifted me up and now I stand before You and for You. 

Thank You for the peace that passes any earthly understanding. I look forward to that day when You come again in full majesty, and peace returns to its eternal place in this world. I love You, Jesus. 

Amen

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A Virgin Betrothed

Daily Reading

Luke 1

Daily Thought

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26). Gabriel is the same angel who 600 years earlier visited Daniel. Gabriel seems to be the angel that God sends when he has a really important message. Mary, a virgin betrothed, is a pure young woman, legally engaged to be married. This is an important detail. Here is the important message.

 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ~Luke 1:30-33

This is a huge announcement, but Mary zeroes in on one detail. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. She is a virgin betrothed. She knows the facts of life. She knows how babies are made. She wants an explanation. 

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” ~Luke 1:35

That was the explanation, and it is the wonder of heaven, but Mary knew it is not going to play well on earth. Nazareth and Bethlehem are small towns. Tongues will wag, her reputation will be lost. Mary’s life will change forever. Gabriel may have called out to Mary, “Greetings, O favored one” (Luke 1:28), but Mary knew she is about to become a woman of shame. Mary is a young teenage girl, engaged to a righteous man, and she is about to be pregnant. That is the situation presented to Mary by the angel Gabriel, and this is her response. “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’” Do not miss two small words, “to me.” Mary knows what is being asked of her. “And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38). Enough said, Mary heard all she needed and so did Gabriel.

Daily Prayer

My God, You announced the coming of Your Son to humble people hidden in Judea, and they believed in You and faithfully obeyed. You showed Your great love and gave them Jesus and their life was never the same. Neither has been mine. You change everything.

God, I don’t need to know the details, I need to know You, better and better. My faith in You is not blind, even if I do not know what is to come. I know You, and that is enough. 

Amen

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See and Believe

Daily Reading

Mark 15-16

Daily Thought

The chief priests and the Hebrew council stood before Pilate, the Roman Prefect of Judea, and accused Jesus of any crime they thought might stick, the most damaging his claim to be King of the Jews, a crime that carried sentence of death. “‘Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you,’” asked Pilate. But Jesus made no further answer” (Mark 15:4-5). It was as if he was determined to go to the cross. 

Pilate thought him innocent, however, and had an idea. Each year at the Passover feast, Pilate would release one prisoner of Israel’s choice. Pilate offered Jesus, they chose Barabbas, “so Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified” (Mark 15:15), because whenever we choose to satisfy the crowds, we inevitably crucify Jesus.

Even while on the cross, Israel’s chief priests and scribes continued to jeer, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:31-32), as if he could not. It was, rather, that he would not. They were looking for the wrong sign.

“No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” ~John 10:18

What the religious leaders failed to see is what the centurion saw and believed. The centurion had seen many men die. No man, not one, had died like Jesus. “And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39).

“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” ~Hebrews 12:2

Daily Prayer

Lord God, You are awesome. You took the cross, exploded from the tomb, conquered death, defeated Satan, and rescued us from sin. You are risen, You are alive, and You are King.

You truly are the way, the truth, and the life. You are Savior. There is no other Name under heaven by which we may be saved, not because you could not, but because you would not come down. You stayed on the cross. You humbly died for me. May I boldly live for You. You are the King.

Amen

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Oil and Whine

Daily Reading

Mark 14

Daily Thought

When a woman poured a flask of very expensive ointment on the head of Jesus, he accepted her offering as fitting and good, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6), but some in the room objected, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor” (Mark 14:4-5). In criticizing the woman, they actually demeaned Jesus. The oil, they said, could have been put to better use. The woman thought it best used for Jesus, no matter the cost. Besides, you cannot waste love.

One of those in the room, Judas Iscariot, however, put a price on Jesus, and “went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. They were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him” (Mark 14:10-11). To Judas, Jesus was a commodity, worth 30 pieces of silver. He came to Jesus for what he could get out of Jesus. But the woman adored Jesus–to her, Jesus was her Savior and Lord, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. She looked to gain nothing, but to give her all. If the woman had any regrets about emptying her jar of perfume on Jesus, it would be that she did not have more.

Daily Prayer

My God and Savior, what is amazing is that You gave Your all for me before I cared. You poured out Your blood for my sake, an act of love I can barely fathom. I am learning more about You, knowing You better each day, following more faithfully, loving You more fully. It is a lifetime of growth, but there is no better life to live.

My desire, Jesus, is to empty myself for You, as You did for me; to give up my desires and replace them with Yours; to lose myself in Your love for others; and to worship You by giving myself to You completely.

Amen

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Image of God

Daily Reading

Mark 12-13

Daily Thought

Jesus had been telling stories, called parables, and in many of them the Jewish religious leaders fared badly, so badly, they wanted him gone, if not dead. To this end, they posed questions of him publicly to discredit him. Some Pharisees and Herodians came together (Pharisees and Herodians seldom come together, they do not like each other) to ask Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Mark 12:14).. The Herodians were pro-Rome, while the Pharisees were fiercely anti-Rome, and therefore pro-Israel. and there lay the trap of the question. Pay or not, either answer, Jesus would be picking a side, so he said both. 

Jesus asked for a coin, “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it”  (Mark 12:15). He did not have one, but the religious leaders do, “and they brought one. And he said to them ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this? They said to him, ‘Caesar’s’” (Mark 12:16). They handed Jesus a coin with an icon of Caesar and an inscription that read, “Caesar Tiberius, Son of God Augustus.” One King, Caesar, owns all the money in the kingdom. His picture is on every coin. One King, Jesus, has nothing at all, not even a denarius.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.” ~Philippians 2:5-7

Noting the inscription and the image of Caesar on the coin, Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). It has his picture on it, so give it to him; likewise, give to God what bears his image, “so God created man in his own image, male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26). Caesar can have his money. Caesars come and Caesars go, but there is a another…

And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed. ~Daniel 7:14

Caesar does not get you.

“And the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” ~Revelation 17:14

Daily Prayer

Lord God, I look forward to Your return. I know when You come back, it will be as victorious Savior, King of kings. You will put all things in order. Sin, evil, pain, and tears will be no more. The world will be filled with Your glory, holiness, love, beauty. It will be good.

May I be a light in this world, illuminating Your Kingdom to a world that needs to see what is ahead. When You come, Lord, may You find me living a life reflecting Your glory.

Amen

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Chase What Matters

Daily Reading

Mark 10-11

Daily Thought

A rich man ran up to Jesus “and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). He is earnest, well-mannered, respectful. Jesus told him to follow the commandments and the man claimed he had since youth. He called Jesus good. He actually thinks he is good, too. His question was sincere, but really, he wanted Jesus to assure him he was safe, keep up the good work. “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’” (Mark 10:21). Jesus loved him too much to give him the answer he wanted. Eternity demands everything, so Jesus told the man to give away the one thing he would not. “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Mark 10:22).

Chase Bank promoted their credit card with an ad showing a man standing inside a store, drooling before a big wall of big flat screens. In the background, the music blares with a song by Queen, “I want it all. I want it all. I want it all. And I want it now.” The scene changes, the man and his wife at home on their couch staring at what he bought with his Chase Bank credit card, “It’s perfect.” Appearing on the screen, big letters: “Chase what matters”

The rich man believed he obeyed the commandments, that he loved the Lord God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might” (Deuteronomy 6:5), but he would not love God with all his money.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ~Mark 8:36

Chase Bank had the right message, but got it wrong. Peter got it right, “See, we have left everything and followed you” (Mark 10:28). Chase what matters…

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” ~Matthew 6:33

…and you get it all, all that matters.

Daily Prayer

God, I think about what Your Son left to come to me. He did not consider being God something to hang on to if it meant He could save me. Your Son allowed my sin to break His relationship with You, His Father. He left what was closest to Him and became sin. He took my sin because of His love for me.

I release my hold on everything, God. May nothing stand between me and You. May my love for You be complete and full. Most of all, I give up myself. I am off the throne, and You are in charge. I die to myself, and the life I now live is Yours.

Amen

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Blessed to Bless

Daily Reading

Mark 8-9

Daily Thought

At the beginning of Mark 8, Jesus feeds a crowd of 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. It was a miracle, but if you have been following along, you might be thinking, “Wait a minute. haven’t I heard this one before?” You would be right. Almost. In chapter 6, Jesus fed 5,000 people. Now he feeds 4,000, and everything is just about the same. Mark is the shortest Gospel, yet he tells the same story twice, because there is a difference that matters.

To the Jews there were two types of people, Jews and the unclean non-Jews called Gentiles. For centuries, Israel followed a system of purity, including a special diet, some food was clean and some unclean. This kept them holy, set apart from the non-Jews. But a few days earlier, Jesus had called the disciples together “and said to them, ‘Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.’ Thus he declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:14-15, 19). They did not understand.

Now the feeding of the 4,000. Everything is the same, except they are “in the region of the Decapolis” (Mark 7:31), where lived many Jews and many more Gentiles. Jesus is feeding the unclean the same way he fed the clean, except when Jesus fed the 5,000 Jews, it was the disciples who noticed the hunger. Here, it is Jesus, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat” (Mark 8:2). The disciples, even after 3 days, do not mention the need. Jesus cares for people the Jews did not care about and Jesus treats them the same.

After the feeding, Jesus and the disciples returned to the Jewish side of the sea, and were met by the Pharisees, who “began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him” (Mark 8:11). Prove yourself, they demanded. Jesus sighed, refused, and instead, “left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side” (Mark 8:13), back to the people you are not supposed to care about. In the boat, Jesus explained, “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:19-21). Not yet.

“For God so loved the world…” ~John 3:16

Daily Prayer

My God, but not just mine, You are the God of the heavens and the earth, and all who live in this world. My love for You is displayed by my love for others–all others. When I feel blessed, I must remember why I am blessed–to be a blessing, going overboard to care for those most unlike me. Build in me that kind of love.

I’m so glad You have that kind of love, God, because without it, I would never know You. I was most unlike You, doing what I wanted, following my ways and rebelling against Yours, and You loved me and You found me. Thank You for caring.

Amen

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Jesus of Nazareth

Daily Reading

Mark 6-7

Daily Thought

His miracles, his teaching, his kindness, and his confidence set Jesus apart and above the typical celebrity and left people astonished and in awe, and then Jesus went home. You would never know of Nazareth had Jesus not grown up there. Population 500, it was a little place, 25 miles southwest of Capernaum, in the middle of nowhere. Jesus came home “and they took offense at him” (Mark 6:3). They knew Jesus and his brothers and sisters and his mom, and they do not mention his dad because it is a small town and there were rumors about his birth. He was not what they expected of a prophet, let alone a Savior. They sought majesty, he was ordinary, too ordinary to be extraordinary. They deserved better, “and he could do no mighty work there” (Mark 6:5).

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, ~Isaiah 53:2-3

Later, far from home, outside Israel, a woman fell at his feet. “Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter” (Mark 7:26). Jesus is Israel’s Messiah, the Savior of God’s children, and he rebuffs this foreign woman, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mark 7:27). I do not know how to make that sound not rude, yet the woman accepts her role as dog, and still insists on her food, “she answered him, ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs’” (Mark 7:28). She is not allowed at the table, she is not of the tribe of Israel, she does not worship Israel’s God, she does not read the Bible, she does not follow the Law. She knows she is unclean and unworthy in the eyes of Israel, and so she does not ask Jesus of Nazareth to give her what she deserves because she is good; she asks Jesus to give her what she does not deserve because he is good. “And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone” (Mark 7:30).

One of the disciples, when he was first told of Jesus, asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Another answered, “Come and see.” (John 1:46).

Daily Prayer

My God, You are righteous and good, but more than that, You are full of grace. I do not deserve Your favor, I am neither righteous nor good, and yet You looked upon me with love, and sent Your Son to bring me back into Your family. Thank You.

May I look at others as You look at me. May I see each person as a special creation, lovingly made by You, and give them the grace and the goodness You have shown me.

Amen

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Death Can Wait

Daily Reading

Mark 4-5

Daily Thought

The daughter of Jairus is at death’s door. “Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live’” (Mark 5:22-23), What an opportunity, to save the daughter of a prestigious man. This would do much to advance the mission of Jesus. You would think. “And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him” (Mark 5:24).

Then, from the crowd, a woman, we do not even get her name, “came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment” (Mark 5:27), and she was made well. For twelve years she had a bleeding illness no doctor could cure, but one touch healed her. And Jesus stopped. Jairus and his daughter and death would have to wait. “And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’” (Mark 5:30). “Everybody!” thought the disciples. “You are in a crowd. Hurry up Jesus. You have to get to the home of Jairus. This is important,” but the immediate is never more important than the eternal. “The woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease’” (Mark 5:33-34). Jairus’s was not the only daughter who needed the touch of Jesus.

While Jesus is not hurrying, while he is taking valuable time to talk to this woman, who was already healed, by the way, the news Jairus feared arrives. “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (Mark 5:35), but the limits we place on God are not God’s limits. “But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe’” (Mark 5:36). The immediate is never more important than the eternal.

A little girl on the edge of death was next on the agenda, except Jesus was interrupted by a woman. Death could wait while Jesus paused to heal this woman, but death did not wait and the little girl died. No matter, the King of kings is the Lord of life. “Little girl, I say to you, arise” (Mark 5:42), and she did.

Daily Prayer

My Great God, what an amazing story, Your Son born a baby to Mary. No earthly father, but a Heavenly Father, a poor family, peasant shepherds announcing His birth, a Friend of sinners and outcasts, and yet Jesus is King of kings and the Lord of lords. Big things come in small packages.

You came humbly and changed the world. You defeated all enemies, including the last enemy – death. You have established an eternal kingdom of peace and declared the good news of salvation. I’m listening and believing, and my life has been changed forever. Thank You, my God and Savior.

Amen