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Are You Grumbling? Jesus Offers Thankfulness.

Mar 3, 2021

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Aware of it or not, we are constantly analyzing and evaluating how we think our lives are going and where they are heading.  Thanklessness usually happens when we don’t like what we see about our lives, or we fail to see God’s grace at work in our lives. If we are grumbling about what we don’t have, what we don’t like, or what we don’t understand, then we will overlook all that He is doing for us and all that He is to us.  Jesus offers us reason after reason after reason to be joyful and thankful because He offers us Himself, and He offers us His salvation.  Not perishing is a gift that is so spectacular and stunning it is impossible to comprehend its full magnitude.  Having eternal life is a gift that is of such pricelessness and preciousness it is impossible to estimate its full worth.  From these two mind-blowing, breath-taking kindnesses of God in Christ are an innumerable and inexhaustible inventory of gospel benefits and blessings for those who believe.   And we don’t deserve any of it.  It’s all because of Jesus.  It’s all because of grace.   Rejoice!  Give thanks!  Don’t you see?  If you know Jesus, your life is going unbelievably well (even if there is suffering present).  If you know Jesus, you’re heading home to everlasting good (even if things are bad on the way).  In every circumstance, you have reason to be joyful and thankful because you have Him.  You don’t have to look very far or very hard to see the reason, but you do have to look.  I’m not talking about looking on the bright side of things, looking for the silver lining, or looking at the glass as half full instead of half empty.  I’m talking about looking at reason after reason after reason for rejoicing in Jesus:  He puts good things in your life right now, He works out the bad things for good in time, and He has promised that the best possible things you could ever imagine are yet to come.

Are You Confined? Jesus Offers Freedom.

Feb 25, 2021

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  – John 8:36

Before we put our faith in Jesus, we were slaves to sin and unable to escape its powerful hold on us.  Too many of us still live as if we are imprisoned by our sin, sorrow and struggles with no way out of the cell that controls and limits us.  Too often we let our regrets from the past, imperfections in the present and fears of the future enslave us as if we are helpless and hopeless to do anything about them.  Too soon we give up, give in and give out when spiritual victory has already been secured and is almost ready to be seen.  Nothing in our story can nullify the Greatest Story Ever Told about the finished work of Jesus Who has won the ultimate triumph over all enemies for us!  He. Has. Set. Us. Free.  Free to say “no” to sin and “yes” to greater delight in Him.  With sin’s power broken, we now have the desire and ability to serve God rather than sin.  This does not deny the existence of or seriousness of what we are facing and fighting against both inside and outside of us.  Yes, our past may include terrible things we have done.  Yes, our present may be filled with setbacks.  Yes, our future may find our lives not going the way we hope they will.   But Jesus has made amends for our past, makes provision for our present and will make a way for our future until we have been fully delivered from the very presence of sin.  We have been released… from shame, from regret, from joylessness, from emptiness, from addictions, from vanity, from futility, from fear, from pride, from lusts, from idolatry, from sin, from death.  We are free to be happy in Jesus, and to the degree that we abide in His words and depend upon His Spirit and feel His presence, we will be.  No more shackles.  No more cages.  No more prisons.  Walk out of that cell and in faith follow Jesus.  Don’t live as if you are still in chains.  You have been set free.

Are You Wronged? Jesus Offers Justice.

Feb 23, 2021

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Romans 12:19-21

Actions will be unkind.  Words will be unpleasant.  Treatment will be unfair.  Neglect will be unnoticed.  Results will be unjust. People will be unloving. There will be things said and left unsaid, things done and left undone, which bruise and break our hearts and spirits.  People.  Will.  Sin.  Against.  Us.   It’s never a matter of will it happen, but when it will happen.  It’s never a matter of will it hurt, but how much it will hurt.  The question is:  what will we do about it?  The normal response is to burn with vengeance inside.  The natural reaction is to bring on vengeance outside.  When someone wrongs us, we often desire to make things right by making them pay for their wrongdoing, or at least we wish we could.  But Jesus modeled a different way of handling the wrongs of others.  The way of love.  The way of forgiveness.  The way of kindness.  The way of good.  The way of grace.  Jesus knows what it is like to be beat down, mocked, betrayed, abandoned, lied about, crucified.  He pressed on during the most difficult times anyone has ever faced, and this was His staggering kindness to sinners like you and me, overcoming our evil with His good on the cross.  We.  Have.  Sinned.  Against.  God.   And Jesus paid our debt. As a result, our role is not to mete out justice; our role is to model His grace.  Conquering evil with evil would be to allow evil to conquer us, but we are commanded to release our instinct for revenge to let God judge, punish and make all things right in His timing and in His way.  God will repay, either by accepting the payment made by Jesus on the cross should they repent and receive His grace, or by making them pay in hell if they do not.  Therefore, let us overcome evil with good and leave it to God to do the work He means to do.  We who have received grace should be the quickest to extend it.

We Are All Believers

Feb 22, 2021

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.  – 2 Corinthians 1:19-20a

There is something you and I need to understand about ourselves.   No matter how little or much we are aware of it, how little or much attention we give to it, how little or much we acknowledge it, its steady and sturdy influence upon our lives is unmistakably clear:  We are believers.  And all of life’s desires, decisions, and deeds flow from one of two basic beliefs:  we believe that we need God, or we believe that we do not need Him.  There is also something you and I need to understand about our God:  He can be believed.  This should give sound to what we say, sight to what we see, rationale to what we think, and reason to what we do.  God always keeps His promises, and His promises for His children are always good. The way to overcome every sin and struggle of the heart is to believe His promises.  Why believe God’s promises? Because God’s promises are kept, lasting, joy-producing, full, better, precious, true, timeless, situation-proof, purchased already, all-encompassing, impossible-to-fail, unbreakable, edifying, powerful, freeing, loving, gracious and are all “yes” for us in Jesus. There is such joyful victory, sweet freedom, complete rest and incredible strength when we believe the promises of God in the moments they are needed.   Listen:  You will believe something today.  When that temptation is offered, that relationship blows up, that meeting goes wrong, that diagnosis is grim, that pleasure is available, that problem shows up, that plan falls through, that sin is appealing, and that thing happens … you will believe something to be true.  Instead of believing sin’s promises that you have been abandoned by God, and you should accept a substitute for God, believe the promises of God.  Place your full weight on God’s Word, for this is the only solid ground in a world full of cleverly-disguised sinking sand.  If He says it, you can believe it.  And if you can believe it, you can experience its life-giving assurances.

Are You Ambitious? Jesus Offers Riches.

Feb 18, 2021

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.   – Ephesians 2:4-7

When I was a toddler, I could not have imagined what a rich life I had ahead of me.  I don’t mean rich in money or material possessions; I mean rich in experiences of delight, beauty, pleasure, satisfaction, happiness and wonder.  In time, I discovered the delight of playing with a puppy, the beauty of a mountaintop view, the pleasure of sex with my wife, the satisfaction of writing a well-crafted sentence, the happiness of welcoming my son into the world, and the wonder of gazing into a darkened sky dotted with stars.  These and tens of thousands of other similar, but wonderfully different discoveries only further enriched my life.  But, as good as they have been, these are measurable riches.  They are fixed and finite.  They will end for me when my time on this earth ends.  But that end is just the beginning.  Because of God’s mercy, grace and love toward me in Jesus, I have riches of His kindness awaiting me.   These riches are immeasurable.  These riches are eternal.  There is a glorious eternity looming ahead of me and all who trust in Jesus in which bad things will be eliminated, good things will be perfected and the best things will be unveiled.  What God gives to us because of, through and in Jesus is unimaginably delightful, beautiful, pleasurable, satisfying, joyful and wonderful.  We have an eternity with Him that… Never gets stale.  Never gets boring.  Never gets routine.  Never gets unappealing.  Never gets finished.  There will always be more to discover and enjoy from the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.  Don’t live for this day; live for that day.  Don’t be discouraged by this day; be encouraged by that day.  Take hope in this every day:  for those who are trusting in Jesus, the best is always yet to come.

Are You Known? Jesus Offers Love.

Feb 16, 2021

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  – Ephesians 5:1-2

We all keep secrets.  There is not a human being on the face of the earth who fully discloses every thought, feeling, motive, desire, and attitude to others.  We hide many of those things within ourselves, hoping that no one ever finds us out, because we fear that the ugliness we keep tucked away would drive others away.  So, we put on a mask, and we put on a show, make-believing we are something that we are not. But there is Someone who knows the real you and loves you with a costly, undeserved, willing, lasting, transforming, blessing love.   You are fully known by Jesus and fully loved by Jesus, even with all of your sins and shortcomings.  It’s a good thing that He knows every micro-detail about you because you don’t ever have to wonder if He loves the real you or just the sanitized-for-public version of you that others see.  Jesus loves the you behind the mask.  He doesn’t love you more on “good” days when you do all the things He wants you to do, and love you less on the “bad” days when you stray and disobey; He loves you all days and always because you are treasured by Him. To be sure, He doesn’t love your and my sin.  He doesn’t love those sinful things that are tucked away inside of us.  In fact, He hates them.  But that didn’t drive Jesus away from us; that drove Him to the cross for us, so we might be forgiven for and freed from our sins, and welcomed into the family of God.  Then, He stays with us to transform us from the inside out into people who both hide less and less and have less and less to hide.  The One who matters the most, knows us most, and loves us most.  Secure in His love for us, we are moved to love Him back and extend His love to others, knowing that when the all-seeing God of the universe looks upon us in Christ, though He sees everything about us, what He sees most is a beloved son or daughter.

I Only Know The Road Leads Home

Feb 15, 2021

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.   – Psalm 34:18

It is right to mourn over loss.  It is appropriate to grieve over injustice.  It is fitting to hurt over broken relationships.  It is correct to lament over bad test results.  It is proper to feel pain over rebellious children.  It is reasonable to ache over personal mistreatment or persecution. While there is a lot of beauty in this world, it is also plagued with much brokenness.  Sin has touched everything with its destructive contamination, and things do not operate as God originally designed.  We have all experienced the pain of things gone wrong.   Christians aren’t exempt from hurt. No matter what precautions we take to safeguard our lives, no matter how hard we work at being godly people, no matter how diligently we screen who and what we allow to get close to us… something will inevitably come uninvited, unannounced, and unwanted into our lives and cause us pain. Yet… Healing will come. Comfort will come.Justice will come. Restoration will come. Deliverance will come. Joy will come. Salvation will come.  Eternal life will come. This is all true because Jesus has come. He has come to join us in our suffering, indeed suffer in our place on the cross so that one day we can enter into a place where there is no suffering at all.  He made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can someday witness the undoing and remaking of all that sin has tainted.  Until then, He journeys with us, always cheering, always lifting, always strengthening, always guiding, and always providing all we need. We are sometimes left without answers, but we are never left without hope.  Because we are never left without Him.  Take heart and trust Him as you press on down the road that He has marked for you to travel, for the day will come when He will put an end to the hurt you experience along the way.  I cannot say when the road will end.  I do not know what is around the next bend.  I only know that the road leads home.

Are You Unsure? Jesus Offers Truth.

Feb 12, 2021

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”  – John 14:6, 18:37b

It is hard to know who is telling us the whole truth, who is withholding the truth, who is distorting the truth, who is misinterpreting the truth, and who is creating their own version of the truth. Think about all that we deal with in trying to know what is true:  fake news, empty promises, false flattery, skewed perspectives, rumors, denial, exaggeration, conspiracy theories, gossip, failed intentions, feel-good philosophies, lies, half-truths, pep talks, plagiarism, alternative narratives, propaganda, broken commitments, insinuation, omissions, and minimization.  We can easily be deceived into thinking something is true when it is not. So who can we count on to be honest with us with what we need to hear?  What is the standard by which we can evaluate all other guiding life principles and philosophies? What truth can we live by so we do not live in vain or error? Who can we believe?  Jesus.  The Son of God is Who we can believe.  We can believe His truth because He IS the truth, revealing all that we need to know about God and His ways as the absolute standard by which everything else is to be measured.  His truth forgives us, guides us, encourages us, corrects us, teaches us, gladdens us, calms us, rebukes us, frees us, reminds us, comforts us, humbles us, lifts us, equips us, empowers us, motivates us, delivers us, changes us, satisfies us and saves us. If we are meditating on and obsessing over, building our lives on and pinning our hopes to, any other truth than what He gives us, we have lost our way.  We must repent of basing our lives on man’s truth, making up our own unbiblical truths, and neglecting the truth of the Scriptures.  Instead, let us strive to read the Bible more frequently, understand it more fittingly, believe it more fully, and live it out more faithfully.    Those who listen to it will hear the sweet voice of Jesus bring words fit for the occasion, giving grace to those who hear.   We can always count on what He says to be true for us and good for us.

Are You Needy? Jesus Offers Provision.

Feb 10, 2021

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19

We will often find ourselves in places where we and our resources are inadequate, but never in any place where our need is bigger than God’s ability or reserve, for His supply is in the inexhaustible riches of His glory in Jesus.   Neither His love for us, nor His provision for us will ever run out, which means everything we really need will really be supplied in and through and by Jesus.  Not maybe.  Not probably.  Definitely.  He will provide for every need.   Not some of them.  Not most of them.  All of them, without exception.  Right when we need it, not a second too late. If we don’t have it now, it’s because we don’t need it now.  Listen: God doesn’t define “need” the way you and I do.  What He promises to supply is anything and everything that is required for us to live with joy and fruitfulness as we fulfil the plans and purposes He has for us.  Only He knows what we really need, and we can be sure that we will lack nothing that He determines would be for our good, even if that means seasons of suffering and hardship.  His grace is sufficient!  Though God will often supply our need differently than we expect, we have the promise of the sustaining presence of Jesus with us always to deliver that aid and deliver us safely to our heavenly home. Therefore, we have no reason for fear, worry, panic, discontentment, unhappiness, or whining.  God means for us not to worry about our future because we have the promise of His provision for us in Jesus.  Take heart today, take your cares to Him in prayer, and take a look around for God at work.  You need help.  You will have the help you need.  Because He is faithful, and He is for you.

Imperfect People Loving Imperfect People

Feb 9, 2021

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  – Romans 5:8

Let’s be honest, loving others isn’t as easy as it sounds.  When we say it out loud, what a beautiful ring it has:  let us simply love the people in our lives.   It not only has a beautiful ring, but it’s a beautiful thing when we look out for the best interests of those around us as we defend, pray for, welcome, involve, help, correct, befriend, equip, encourage, guide, care for, speak life to, and support them.  But it’s not so simple to simply love others, and here’s why:   others don’t always bring out the love in us.   Some of the people where we live, work and play are know-it-alls, gossips, selfish, cry-babies, back-stabbers, unforgivers, troublemakers, lazy, outcasts, judgmental, self-righteous, unkind, power-hungry, cheaters, entitled, drama queens, hypocrites, snobs, clingy, braggarts, and downright unlikeable.  Who would love people like them?  Jesus.  Jesus would love people like them.  Jesus loves people like you and me, who are just like them.  Oh, didn’t you see yourself in that list above?  I certainly felt like it was a mirror to my face for more than one entry.  But Jesus loves us anyway.  Oh, the height and depth and width of His love for sinners like you and me and them!  This is what brings out the love in us for others.  This is our reason to repent of being unloving, of loving selectively, and of being consumed with self-love.  This is the model, means, and motivation for every expression of our love toward the people God has put into our lives.  Jesus loves us.  Jesus loves us.  Jesus loves us.  When we remember and rejoice in this, this will fan into flames our love for others.  For who better to love imperfect people than those who were at their own worst when Jesus loved them anyway?  We will extend love to others when we remember how wonderfully it has been extended to us.

Are You Insecure? Jesus Offers Significance.

Jan 28, 2021

I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  – Galatians 2:20

Striving for a sense of self-worth through your own personal performance will create more unhappiness in you than you ever dreamed possible.  Why?  Because you will face disappointment in yourself when you don’t perform well, discontentment when others don’t applaud your performance, and depression when you don’t get to perform at all.  The good news is that’s not where your value comes from at all.  You have incalculable worth based on what God did, not on what you do.  You are so treasured by God that even when you were at your absolute worst (separated from Him in your sinfulness), He loved you enough to send His Son to die for you. This is the jaw-dropping reality of just how much you are worth.   Don’t you see?  Jesus gave Himself for you.  Your worth is not based on your performance; it is based on His.  He loves you.  Your worth is not based on who you are; it is based on Whose you are.   He lives in you.  Your worth is not based on your making a name for yourself; it is based on the Name of the One who lives inside you.  If you belong to Jesus, the old you is dead, and the life you now live carries a value that does not come from any personal achievement, accolade or attribute.  You are priceless because of God’s unrelenting love for you in Christ.  He doesn’t love you because you’re beautiful, witty, popular, fit, wealthy, fast, intelligent, kind, influential or talented; He loves you because you’re His. Secure in this, you can give your best effort to be the person you were made to be and do the things you were made to do, knowing that you don’t do any of it to prove your worth.  Jesus already did that.

Are You Struggling? Jesus Offers Deliverance.

Jan 26, 2021

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

There is a universal, everyday occurrence that is impossible for you and I to avoid:  we will be tempted.  Sometimes this will strike suddenly, and other times it will swell slowly, but there is never any time we are insulated from its inevitable presence in our lives.   Sin always beckons, offering a persuading argument and an appealing promise for what we will gain if we give in and give up.   Though it may deliver a temporary sweet taste, the lasting bitterness of sin will always soon follow.  Still, it proves to be such a powerful adversary with such a powerful attraction that it is irresistible to us and impossible for us to withstand on our own.  But praise God we are not alone!  God sent Jesus Who “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  We can go confidently to Him for help when we are tempted because Jesus understands our struggles, Jesus atoned for our sin, and Jesus offers us merciful and gracious deliverance in our time of need.  For those who are trusting in Him, there is pardon for sin so that we bear it no more, and there is power available so we bow to it no more.  Today there will be a tug-of-war for control of your thoughts, feelings, motives, attitudes, words and actions, pulling you in the opposing directions of what sin entices you into and what God invites you into.   The enemy wants you to give in to a life of little or no thought of God and His ways, and give up on all the wonderful things that God has for you in Jesus.   But you do not have to give in or give up! Look to Jesus for help and look for His help to arrive as a way to leave the temptation, the power to stay and say “no” to the temptation, a divine change in circumstances that removes the temptation, the arrival of someone He sends to help you through the temptation, and / or a promise of something worth waiting for that is better than the temptation.  Never lose sight of this truth:  You are never helpless against temptation as long as there is a throne of grace for you to run to for help.

Christmas Is The Gospel

Dec 25, 2020

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  – John 3:16

We will often fail to live out our faith in Jesus and stumble in our walk with Him.   We won’t always love Him most, love others best, and love rightly all the rest. Instead, we will make ourselves the center of our lives, make self-serving decisions as we plan our lives, and ultimately make a mess out of our lives.  We are prone to wander.  So, what happens when we don’t do all of the things that Christ-followers ought to do?  That. Is. What. Christmas. Is. All.  About.  Christmas is about a gift of God’s Son, a gift of forgiveness, a gift of eternal life.  Christmas is about grace. When you and I do things we shouldn’t do or fail to do things we should do, there is grace for us.  Pardon for when we have said “yes” to sins committed and power to say “no” to sins not yet committed.  Because of grace we don’t give up in our fight against sin and for holy lives; by grace we get up and fight on!  Jesus helps those who are trusting in Him to live God-glorifying, joy-producing, onward-marching lives, and when we fail to do so, He makes sure we don’t stay down for long. He picks us up.  He cleans us off.  He sends us on.   Today, let us not linger in our sin and shame and setback, but repent and rejoice in Jesus and restart moving forward in loving obedience by faith as the joyous strains of this song plays on repeat in our hearts:  “Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.”

Glory To God In The Highest

Dec 24, 2020

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  – Luke 2:20

The point of creation and Christmas and the coming new creation is that God is glorious, and He desires to be seen as such by a joy-filled, peace-filled, hope-filled people that He has made and redeemed for Himself.  The Scripture stories of Christmas are ripe with this:  Good news of… Great joy.   Peace on earth.  Light shining in darkness.  Salvation from sin.  A forever kingdom.  Everlasting life. A Savior. A Reigning King. A Son of the Most High. Christ the Lord.  Immanuel.  Glory to God in the highest.  Christmas shines brightly with God’s ultimate purpose:  that He be honored in us and we be happy in Him. While we can taste this in great measure now, we will feast on its fullness when King Jesus returns and everything that dishonors God and everything that makes us unhappy will be removed.  For now, we do as the shepherds did upon experiencing the first coming of Jesus:  They returned.  The shepherds went back to their everyday lives to tend the flock and glorified God on their way because of Jesus.   We too have been given an everyday platform to glorify God by trusting Him, thanking Him, obeying Him and loving Him as people watch our lives.  So use what you have been given to make Him look great with your life.  If it’s a blessing, use it for the glory of God. If it’s a burden, bear it for the glory of God. There is nothing too great to take on and nothing too great to let go of in showing our adoration, affection and allegiance for Him.  Until Jesus returns, let us return to live our everyday lives knowing… God is with us.  God is for us.  God is to be glorified through us.

Restoring The Image Of God In Us

Dec 23, 2020

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  – Romans 8:29

Jewelry breaks.  Toys break.  Electronics break.  You and I break.  God made us in His image but our sin fractured our likeness to Him and our relationship with Him.  But Christmas is for the broken.  God loves the broken.  He sent Jesus for the broken.  The Son of God came to do what we could not do, and die for what we could not do, perfectly bear the image of God. Then, after Jesus did what was necessary to restore our relationship with God, God began to restore His image in us by conforming us to the image of Jesus.  It is through our union with Jesus, because our faith is in Jesus, that we are made like Jesus.  God will not stop until the good work in us is done, loving us just as we are, but never content to leave us that way.  We are His beloved unfinished masterpieces, treasured works-in-progress that are always under the skilled brush of God who graciously, patiently adds His loving strokes to who we are so we can become who we were made to be. Though there are days when we look nothing like Jesus, God does not abandon us.  Therefore, confident in this, let us repent of areas of un-likeness to God and say “no” to sin, remember the promises that are “yes” for us because of Jesus, and rely on the Holy Spirit to help us live happy, holy lives.  Rejoice today! For the Christ Child left the manger and made His way to the cross where the Christmas Gift of God’s Son was broken for the broken so that we could be made right with God, made to look more like God, and made to live forever with God.

He Will Save His People

Dec 22, 2020

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.  – Matthew 1:21

We try to ignore it.  We try to downplay it.  We try to run from it.  We try to overcome it.  But no matter what we do, it is an exercise in futility, because it doesn’t change reality.  This world is undeniably broken.   From bullying to human trafficking, from idolatry to adultery, from back-stabbers to glory-robbers, from cancer to consumerism, from shattered dreams to battered women, from addictions to frustrations, from self-centeredness to unkindness, there is a never-ending, ever-increasing list of horrors and heartaches and hurts that we have created in our open rebellion against God and each other.  Our world is the inevitable ruin that comes when every person does what is right in their own eyes and chooses to do what feels good over what God says is good.   Look inside your heart and outside your window; you know it is true.  Any honest survey of our societal landscape would show that we are in trouble.  Oh, that this would create a loathing in us for our sin and a longing in us for our Savior! We need a Hero to save the day.  We need a Liberator to set us free.  We need a Healer to make us whole.  We need a Satisfier to make us content.  We need a Ruler to reign over us for good.  We need an Intercessor to stay the hand of God’s wrath. We need a Savior to save us from our sins.  We.  Need.  Jesus.  That’s why He came, to be all of these things for us and to be there for us as we await the day He comes again.  Until then, turn to Him for hope and help when you’re not alright and when things are not okay.  He will give you all that you need for all that you face so you can endure with joy until the glorious day comes when He fully relieves our burdens, rights all wrongs and reigns forevermore.

Christmas Is A Declaration Of War

Dec 17, 2020

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.  – Genesis 3:15

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Christmas is a declaration of war on everything that separates us from God and the life with Him that we were meant to enjoy now and forever.  Satan deceived Eve, she and Adam sinned against God, and the perfect relationship they enjoyed with Him in paradise was fractured, catapulting all of mankind into sin for which there is no human-merited, human-earned, or human-devised escape.  But God sent Jesus to be born, to live and to lay down His life in the fight for our salvation.  He died in battle, but did not lose the battle, because in atoning for our sins and rising from the dead, He disarmed and defeated Satan.  For those of us who entrust ourselves to Jesus, He forgives us and frees us from our sin and our enemy.  Sin no longer separates us from God!  Sin no longer has power over us! And until Jesus comes again to give us final deliverance from it, we expect, endure, hate, expose, resist and overcome evil, but we do not give in, give up or give out in our fight against it.  We have been equipped with the armor of God, the Word of God and the Spirit of God to empower us as we fight our battles, secure in the truth that Jesus has already secured our victory.  Today, by grace, through faith, for God’s glory… Fight against temptation; fight for holiness.  Fight against despair; fight for joy.  Fight against religious activity; fight for gospel living.  Fight against lies; fight for truth.  Fight against every form of evil; fight for every form of good. Never settle for less than God’s best for your life! Because of Jesus, make war not excuses.

 

The Reason For The Season And Everything Else

Dec 16, 2020

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  – 1 Peter 3:15

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Every belief, action, fact, event, spoken word, attitude, and outcome has one. There is a reason for all things.  Some are known.  Some are unknown.  But there is a basis, cause, explanation or motive for why things are what they are.  Christmastime and Christianity are based on this one:  Jesus is the reason for the season and the reason for our hope.  Not favorable conditions.  Not an optimistic outlook.  Not our resources or connections.  Simply Jesus.  And it’s not just hope that Jesus has caused for us who revere Him in our hearts as Lord.  He’s the reason we celebrate all of the amazing gifts we’ve already been given and the reason we anticipate that the future promises of God will be fulfilled for us, and we will be given even more.  He’s the source of our unending hope, joy, peace, purpose, courage, victory, security, faith, strength, truth, acceptance, approval, guidance, access, help, rest, forgiveness, blessings, provision, freedom, life, eternal life, everything.   Remember this today:  Jesus didn’t come to earth only to rescue us from sin, condemnation and hell; He also came to invite us into the most complete, most lasting, most satisfying life that begins right now and will extend into the never-ending reaches of eternity.  The greatest testimony we can give for Jesus is to submit our lives to Him because of this hope that we have in Him.  Onlookers in our lives need to see and hear us really living like our hearts are full … because of Jesus … because they really are.  Here’s the question:  Why do you have hope and happiness? Here’s the answer:  Jesus.

He Knows What You’re Going Through

Dec 15, 2020

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

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When Jesus took on flesh to dwell among us, He didn’t come with an entourage of personal attendants to ensure His well-being.  He didn’t book a suite at the first century equivalent of a Four Seasons for His stay.  He didn’t plan out an itinerary that was filled with pleasantries and luxuries.  He didn’t insulate Himself from the ugliness, brokenness and sinfulness of this world.  What He did was join us to suffer like us only a thousand times worse than us.  Jesus knows the trials, troubles, tests and temptations that we face in our daily lives because He faced them down too.  Life for Jesus on earth was filled with the same things we go through:  difficult people, difficult circumstances, difficult tasks, and difficult experiences. And the greatest difficulty always loomed in front of Him:  to be crushed on the cross to atone for our sins and secure our trial-free, trouble-free, test-free, temptation-free eternity with God.  He suffered.  He endured.  He conquered.  And now He is with you to ensure that you do the same.   Jesus knows all about your hurts; and one of the reasons He came was to help you through them and heal you from them.  Take heart today and trust in the One who loves, understands, cares and helps you live with God-glorifying, joy-experiencing, hope-filled endurance no matter what you come up against. He doesn’t just know what you are going through. He didn’t just go through it too. He went through it for you.

Receiving The Gift Of God’s Son

Dec 11, 2020

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  – John 1:12-13

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You can’t think about Christmas without thinking about gifts.  Gift-shopping.  Gift-wrapping.  Gift-giving.  Gift-exchanging.  Gift-receiving.   You recognize most of these things when they happen as you make the payment, put the bow on top, hand a box or bag to someone and take what is given to you.  But there is something more about “receiving” that must be considered.  What does it really mean for someone to receive a gift?  It means that the gift has had its intended effect in the life of the one to whom it was given.  The gift wasn’t ignored, but rather was… worn, admired, enjoyed, watched, sprayed on, driven, laughed at, listened to, eaten, put to work or played with.  In a very real sense, an unused gift is an unreceived gift.  That’s why some people become children of God and some do not … they are either changed by the Christmas gift of God’s Son that is offered to them or they live as if He isn’t even there.  People who have “received him, who believe in his name” are forever being transformed by His presence in their lives.   His grace is having its intended effect upon them as they become more like Him, walk more with Him, look more to Him and long more for Him in everyday life.  How can you and I know if we have received the gift of God’s Son?  We do not ignore Jesus.  Instead, by faith in Him we regularly-though-imperfectly look to Him to… Rule our lives.  Satisfy our hearts.  Heal our hurts.  Guide our decisions.  Lift our spirits.  Forgive our sins. Control our destiny. Meet our needs. Prompt our repentance. Fuel our hope.  Motivate our service.  Merit our salvation.  This and much more are yours today if you will just believe and receive.  For the more we embrace and experience this Gift to us, the more wonderful and beautiful it gets to us.