Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / December 22 - Mystery, Fire, and the Messenger

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December 22 - Mystery, Fire, and the Messenger · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, December 22nd,
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  Mystery, Fire, and the Messenger.
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  There are moments in life that feel like a mystery.
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  Things you can't explain, can't predict, and can't fully
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  control. Proverbs chapter 30 verses 18 to
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  19 says 3 things are too wonderful for me for I do not
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  understand, and it lists the wonder of an eagle in the sky, a
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  ship on the sea, and even the way of a man with a virgin.
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  It's like scripture is saying some things are bigger than your
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  understanding. And that's exactly where the
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  Christmas story begins. God doing something beyond human
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  explanation. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3 says a
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  voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord,
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  make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
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  That's not just poetic, that's a call to get ready, to make room
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  to clear the clutter. Then Malachi chapter 3 verse one
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  says, behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare
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  the way before me. God wasn't silent, He was
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  setting the stage. He was sending a messenger
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  before he sent the Messiah. And in Matthew Chapter 11, Jesus
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  explains that John the Baptist is that messenger.
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  He even says among those born of women, there has arisen no one
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  greater than John the Baptist. John wasn't polished.
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  He wasn't trying to be popular. He was bold, intense, and
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  completely focused on one thing, pointing people to Jesus.
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  That's what preparing the way looks like.
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  It's not just knowing facts about God.
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  It's letting him rearrange your life.
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  It's choosing honesty over pretending, repentance over
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  excuses, obedience over comfort. And here's the crazy part.
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  God still uses messengers. Sometimes it's a parent, a
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  friend, a pastor, a random conversation, or even a moment
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  where God convicts you quietly in your own heart.
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  The question isn't whether God is speaking.
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  The question is whether you're willing to listen, and whether
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  you'll live in a way that points others to Jesus, too.
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  Let's pray, Heavenly Father, help me recognize your voice and
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  respond when you're calling me to prepare the way for you in my
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  life. Remove what's distracting me,
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  soften what's hardened in me, and straighten what's crooked in
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  me. Make me brave like John, someone
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  who points people to Jesus with my words and my life, even when
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  I don't understand everything. Help me trust that you are
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  moving in Jesus name, Amen. Imagine stepping into a new year
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  with clarity in your spirit, strength in your soul, and the
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  supernatural backing of heaven behind every step you take.
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  That's what the Foundations for a Flourishing Year series
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  unlocks. This seven book prayer and
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  devotional journey covers every dimension of a powerful God
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  aligned year. Faith for the Year helps you
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  strengthen your trust and confidence in God's promises.
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  Focus for the Year brings clarity, direction, and divine
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  purpose to every decision. Favor for the Year activate
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  supernatural opportunities and blessings you couldn't
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  manufacture on your own. Fortitude for the Year equips
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  you with courage, resilience, and strength for every battle.
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  Fruitfulness for the Year empowers you to produce results,
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  prosper and multiply in every assignment.
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  Freedom for the Year breaks limitations, delays, and
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  spiritual resistance. And Fortress for the Year covers
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  your life with unshakable divine protection, 210 Scriptures, 210
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  prophetic prayer scripts, and daily declarations.
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  You'll build spiritual momentum aligned with God's voice and
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  step boldly into purpose, provision, breakthrough, and
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  victory. Start the year prepared.
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  Start the year position. Start the year flourishing.
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  Pre-order your copies today on Amazon or visit
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  prayerscripts.org. Now I invite you to spend time
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  with God in today's three-year Bible Reading plan, Proverbs
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  3018 to 20. World English Bible.
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  There are three things which are too amazing for me, 4 which I
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  don't understand. The way of an eagle in the air,
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  the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle
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  of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden.
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  So is the way of an adulterous woman.
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  She eats and wipes her mouth and says, I have done nothing wrong.
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  Isaiah 41 to 8. World English Bible.
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  Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
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  Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her
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  warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that
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  she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins.
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  The voice of one who calls out. Prepare the way of Yahweh in the
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  wilderness. Make a level highway in the
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  desert for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
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  and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
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  The uneven shall be made level, and the rough place is a plain.
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  Yahweh's glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall
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  see it together. For the mouth of Yahweh has
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  spoken it. The voice of one saying, Cry
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  out. One said, What shall I cry?
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  All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of
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  the field. The grass Withers, the flower
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  fades because Yahweh's breath blows on it.
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  Surely the people are like grass.
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  The grass Withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God
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  stands forever. Malachi, 3125.
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  World English Bible. Behold, I send my messenger, and
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  he will prepare the way before me.
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  The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.
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  Behold, the messenger of the covenant whom you desire is
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  coming, says Yahweh of armies. But who can endure the day of
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  his coming? And who will stand when he
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  appears? For he is like a refiner's fire
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  and like launderer's soap, and he will sit as a refiner and
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  purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and
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  refine them as gold and silver, and they shall offer to Yahweh
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  offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and
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  Jerusalem will be pleasant to Yahweh as in the days of old and
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  as in ancient years. I will come near to you to
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  judgement. I will be a swift witness
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  against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the
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  perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his
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  wages, the widow and the fatherless, and who deprive the
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  foreigner of justice. And don't fear me, says Yahweh
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  of armies, Malachi 4. World English Bible.
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  For behold, the day comes burning like a furnace, when all
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  the proud and all who work wickedness will be stubble.
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  The day that comes will burn them up, says Yahweh of armies,
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  so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
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  But to you who fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness
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  arise with healing in its wings. You will go out and leap like
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  calves of the stall. You shall tread down the wicked,
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  for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet.
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  In the day that I make, says Yahweh of armies, remember the
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  law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for
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  all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.
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  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great
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  and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
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  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
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  hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike
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  the earth with a curse. Matthew 11, Seven to 15 World.
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  English Bible. As these went their way, Jesus
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  began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What did you go
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  out into the wilderness to see? A Reed shaken by the wind?
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  But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing?
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  Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in King's houses.
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  But why did you go out to see a prophet?
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  Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet, for this is he
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  of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger
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  before your face, who will prepare your way before you.
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  Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women
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  there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer.
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  Yet he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater
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  than he. From the days of John the
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  Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and
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  the violent take it by force for all the prophets in the law
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  prophesied until John. If you're willing to receive it,
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  This is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him
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  hear. Thanks for joining us on Bible
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  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
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  If today's devotional encouraged you, share it with a friend and
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  be sure to follow the podcast so you won't miss the next
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  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
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  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with Jesus.