In the Bible, Jesus had a gift for taking everyday situations and using them to illustrate eternal truths. Not much has changed. Every day you and I encounter situations that point us back to biblical truth; if we'll just take the time to pay attention. That's what The Good News of the Day is all about; helping you notice how everyday circumstances illustrate the good news of the Bible. You may be surprised at the ways God will speak to us through the ordinary events of everyday life. The Good News of the Day; eternal truths from everyday life.

 

Good News of The Day - Luke 2:10
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2/3/2012
 Acts 8:27 NASB “So he got up and went…” It may not seem like there’s all that much in this passage to unpack. After all, an angel told Philip to go somewhere and so he did. Yet I couldn’t help but think as I read this passage of all the times when I didn’t do that: when I didn’t get up and go (not that I’ve ever had an angel tell me to go anywhere, but I’ve had plenty of promptings from God, as I’m sure you have). Recently in a book on prayer that I’m reading it was pointed out that in the battle against evil we don’t just need prayer, but prayerful action. In short, we need to get up and go. We need to pray about stuff, but when God takes those prayers and says, “Now you do something about it”, we need to get up and go. Philip’s obedience resulted in someone getting saved, and perhaps, the gospel arriving in Africa (at least according to tradition). That wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been willing to “get up and go” when the Lord told him to. Truth be told, it’s scary sometimes to obey God, it’s intimidating and uncomfortable and blah, blah, blah. We need to get past the excuses because the results of our obedience could be more impactful than we’ll ever know. If we really want to see our world changed with the good news, we need to “get up and go”.
 
2/2/2012
 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” I really have to credit to today’s good news to my oldest daughter; she’s the one who came up with the idea. You see, she was telling me about how much she was looking forward to her “Clean Card” party at school. That sounded a little odd to me, so I asked what a “Clean Card” party was. She said it was a party for all the students who don’t get marks on their cards. You avoid getting marks by doing good work, being good listeners and obedient, and just generally staying out of trouble in class. Well, that got me thinking about heaven. Heaven is the ultimate “Clean Card” party, but the problem is none of us have clean enough cards to get there. Only perfectly clean cards will get us into that heavenly party, and the simple fact is none of us are perfect. However, the good news is that Jesus is perfect. He lived a perfect life, and through his death and resurrection, we get to share in that perfection. In short, Jesus allows us to use his clean card to get into the ultimate “Clean Card” party. Now my daughter was saying it’s kind of sad because some of her friends won’t be at the party because they don’t have clean cards. Well, let’s make sure that isn’t true of heaven. Let’s make sure everyone knows they can make it to the party because of what Jesus has done for them.
 
2/1/2012
 Deuteronomy 28:9 “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.” Videos and photos emerged last Friday showing three people apparently flying through the air over the Hudson River in New York City. As you may have guessed, the figures weren’t actually people, but rather uniquely designed radio controlled planes. The planes were designed for a viral advertising campaign for the new movie Chronicle, in which three high school students discover they have super powers, including the ability to fly. Well, the stunt certainly got a lot of attention, which got me think about us as Christians. Just like those human-like flying planes grabbed people’s attention, we should also soar above the rest where everyone can see us. How do we do that? By being different. By being set apart. By being holy. I know there’s a desire to better relate to this world in order to share the good news, but it’s been well said that we can seek to relate to our culture without being worldly. We need to stand out, we need to soar above the crowd, and the only way we can do that is when completely surrender in obedience to Jesus, when we let Christ shine through us without any inhibitions. When we do that, people can point and stare all they want because all they’ll see is Jesus in our lives. Think of it as a viral campaign to invite people into heaven.

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1/31/2012
 Isaiah 40:2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” In the tales of King Arthur as written by Stephen Lawhead, Arthur spares the life of an Irish king who had come to raid Britain in return for an oath of fealty and tribute. The following year, that king returned with his tribute; four exquisitely made torcs of the finest precious metals and gems. He also brought his champion to serve Arthur, and his daughter for Arthur to wed. This, perhaps, was the most extravagant gift, because it would rightfully give Arthur claim to the throne of Ireland as well as Britain. Arthur said the tribute was too much, too extravagant, but the Irish king simply replied, “I owe my life, and I know what my life is worth.” I wonder how many of us could claim the same; that we know what our life is worth? You see, like that Irish king, we owe our lives to the mercy of another. God saved us and spared us through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus, and although he doesn’t require it, I can’t help but think that if we understood just how much our life was worth, that we would desire to bring him a worthy tribute for his grace and mercy. How might our worship, our times of prayer and devotion, our generosity towards other, our willingness to serve and to proclaim his glory change if we simply understood how much our life was worth, and what a marvelous thing it was for God to redeem it and give it back to us? That’s good news worthy of a most excellent and continuous tribute, don’t you think?
 
1/30/2012
 Exodus 20:20 “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” I think this passage is rather interesting. For starters, it’s kind of funny that Moses tells the people to not be afraid and then tells them that God’s going to test them so they will have the fear of God. It’s like he’s saying, “Don’t be afraid, but be afraid.” More interesting, however, is that this passage tells us how to prevent sin our lives; fear God. Whether you want to define that as reverential awe, as actually being a little afraid, or perhaps a bit of both, it certainly makes sense that fearing God would deter sin. Think about it; a lion looks majestic and beautiful when it’s just lying around, but you wouldn’t want to intentionally antagonize it, would you? That’s kind of scary. Well, when we don’t take sin seriously, when we fail to realize how much it hurts and angers God, when we fail to truly grasp the cost of our sin, Jesus on the cross, it’s like taunting a resting lion; scary stuff. However, when we do understand those things, that’s when the fear of God will be with us and as a result will help us to sin less. Sounds like good news to me.