Key Verse: 2 Samuel 7:16
And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

Let’s fast forward to Luke 2:1-7. Jesus, the Seed of David, is born in “The city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he (Joseph) was of the house and lineage of David.” The “forever” King has arrived. No doubt, as the assistant to Paul, Luke had at least two years to research the material for his Gospel during Paul’s custody in Caesarea. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was still living. Bethlehem is only five miles south of Jerusalem. This careful physician, Luke, would have no doubt interviewed shepherds who were now 60 or 70 years old. Their memories of when they were 15 or 30 would still be sharp. It’s worthwhile to notice that no one, not even those who were enemies of Christ Jesus, questioned, in any writings, the truth of these reports. The promise of God to David through the Prophet Nathan has been fulfilled, and because “He ever lives” (Hebrews 7:25), it continues to be fulfilled. God promised that David’s son would build the Temple in Jerusalem, but David’s greatest Son would build the eternal Temple.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, You are building a Temple of “living stones.” I thank You that I have the faith to believe I’m one of those stones. I pray for grace to always be strong and in place as part of the mighty eternal structure You are building. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:
When I drive north on Highway 69 into the city known as the nickel capital of the world, Sudbury, Ontario, I can’t miss the church building known as “Glad Tidings.” It’s on the left just across from a number of high-rise apartment buildings. The former Glad Tidings, where I was pastor during its construction, is there on the right atop the next high rock. It’s now “All Nations Baptist Church.” Every time I pass that structure, I see the large retaining wall which keeps the parking lot from falling down onto the highway. I arranged to strengthen that wall with steel rods from the rolling mills of INCO, the International Nickel Company. In the process of grinding the ore into a powder, these rods, which helped do the job, were ground down from a four-inch diameter to about a one-inch diameter, and then discarded. Of course I got them free, and along with volunteers from the congregation, we placed hundreds of them into the concrete retaining wall. That was in 1966. The building was dedicated to God on July 1, 1967, as a centennial project celebrating Canada’s 100th birthday. The emblem of the maple leaf is chiseled into the granite cornerstone. To make me as strong as I can be, I believe that, like the steel rods, God has put the steel of His strength up and down my backbone. David, in Psalm 16:8, wrote, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” Amen!

Yours for an unshakable, absolutely solid confidence in the eternal Son of God and Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ!

David