But Would We Dare To Consider Ditching New Years Resolutions? Micah 7:7

Micah 7:7 English Standard Version

⁷But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

For as long as I can remember, the days between Christmas and New Year’s were spent assessing, evaluating the previous year and planning all the ways I would promise myself I would do better, would improve in the following year.

I crafted a detailed mindset with goals, timelines, and rewards if I hit the target.

Rarely did I just focus on one resolution.

Instead, I filled every line on my mental calendar with a new achievement.

Then every year around the first of February, exhausted, overwhelmed, and utterly irritated, I threw my resolution in the trash and immediately penned another, this time, a more reasonable, obtainable list–except it was just as expensive, irrational, ridiculous and unrealistic to maintain as the first one.

But with all that has happened to me medically over the last year, I decided to ditch those resolutions for good and focus on a word or Scripture for the year.

Setting goals, working towards improving oneself is definitely not a bad thing.

But, we mustn’t let our identity be rooted in what we achieved ( or didn’t).

This year I decided to focus on three words, Scripture, and prayer and action.

My hope is to spend a few minutes each day to meditate and abide in Christ, using these words to prompt my quiet time – to then motivate me to action.

Feel free to use the below phrases to encourage you this year, and remember, it’s not about what we did in 2023, will do in 2024 but Whose glory we do it for.

Be it Resolved: Steadfast Meditation Upon God

Psalm 51:7-15 The Message

^7-15Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
    scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
    set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
    give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
    I’ll let loose with your praise.

Every day I am bombarded with decisions that beg for my highest attention.

For the sake of my surgically repaired heart and my wife, what will I eat?

Will I be able to do daily the exercising my Cardiologist and Primary Care want?

Do I have the money to get my basement checked, my electric, or my gutters?

Considering all of the events of the past year, all of the appointments I know I will have to make and then keep, my wife’s appointments and all of her needs, will there be any real time for the both of us to schedule our husband wife time?

As I go about creating and then slaying my to-do list, I often forget to address the most critical decision of my day: will I be able to choose to live a godly life?

A part of managing the high demands of my life, my living a truly godly life is my seeking daily redemption and my daily morning renewal of my heart and mind so that I can be able to somehow spend my day, be steadfast in the Lord.

I thank God that God graciously gives His Children a heart that longs for, yearns to spend every waking moment loving Him and a spirit of steadfast obedience.

Before I go about my day, l take time to call on the name of the Lord and ask for a clean heart that flees from evil and a right spirit that glorifies God in all I do.

Lord, I pray that you will renew my heart every day, give me a steadfast spirit that aches to choose to live for you faithfully. Amen.

Be it Resolved: Pleasing God and in return, displeasing Culture

Romans 12:1-2 The Message

Place Your Life Before God

12 ^1-2So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Growing up, one of my favorite restaurants had the slogan, “we aim to please.”

Yeah, I know, it’s the service industry; should not they always aim to please?

But pondering that now, I believe I have always somehow missed the point.

The restaurant was not desiring a one-and-done transaction, but providing a series of pleasurable experiences that would lead into a lasting relationship.

How often do I treat my relationship with God like a one and done transaction to be completed before moving on to the next thing?

God finds great pleasure in the continuous relationships with His Children.

I can worship and honor the Lord by simply making a habit of abiding in Him.

Lord, renew me that may I daily live in a way that is holy and pleasing to you. Amen.

Be it Resolved: Fighting against My Powerful Weaknesses and God’s Power

Ephesians 6:10-12 The Message

A Fight to the Finish

^10-12And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

During these last months of realizing I am only as strong as my heart permits me to be, if it is not strong then neither really am I, since my surgery, all my doctors, my exercise people and my wife and my friends and my Pastors have encouraged me to prepare both physically and spiritually for the rest of my life.

I am beginning to tailor my workouts at rehab and at home to focus on the muscles that helped deliver on that very well meaning, thought out advice.

However, mentally, I was anxious. I confessed to my wife, “there is just too much going on all at once and I just simply don’t have the power to do this.”

And by myself, I didn’t have the strength.

But, as a child of God, I had the power of Christ living inside of me.

My strength comes from an all healing, all loving, all-powerful Father, and He graciously gives to those who call on His name acute awareness of His presence.

Lord, as I get stronger, help me be strong in you, to rest in your mighty power. Amen

Intersecting Faith and Life:

Micah 7:7 The Message

⁷But me, I’m not giving up.
I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
I’m counting on God to listen to me.

Please take a few minutes today and read through your favorite Bible verses.

Is there a Word of God that speaks to you, where you are in this exact moment?

Resolve to meditate and ponder on that place, moment and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal more pieces of Scripture, phrase, prayers as you embark on a new year.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 121 The Message

121 ^1-2I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

^3-4He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.

^5-6God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.

^7-8God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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The Always Unresolved Resolution, A Task That Is Always Left Unfinished. Can God Get Even One Witness Today. Luke 24:44-49

Luke 24:44-49 New King James Version

The Scriptures Opened

⁴⁴Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” ⁴⁵And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

⁴⁶Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, ^[a]and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸And you are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city ^[b]of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Resolution: “I Will Finally Pray God Opens My Eyes”

After rising from the dead, Jesus met several times with his followers.

On the road to Emmaus, while he walked along with two of them, they didn’t know who he was while he taught all about himself from the Scriptures.

Only later, when he broke bread with them, were their eyes finally opened to see Him as the Messiah, God’s truly Anointed One, the Savior (Luke 24:13-35).

These two heavily enlightened followers ran back to the disciples in the Upper Room to testify to their miraculous experiences with the resurrected Jesus.

Then later that same day, in Jerusalem, resurrected Jesus met with a large group of his disciples – not bothering to knock on the heavily locked door.

And after he opened their eyes to see that He had risen in the flesh, Jesus then explained that all of the Scriptures—“the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms”—were fulfilled in him.

For us to see and understand Jesus in the Scriptures, for us to testify, to witness to the resurrection truths revealed in those days, we too need our eyes opened.

As the Psalmist writes …

Psalm 119:17-24 New King James Version

ג GIMEL

¹⁷Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
¹⁸Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law.
¹⁹I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
²⁰My soul ^[a]breaks with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
²¹You rebuke the proud—the cursed,
Who stray from Your commandments.
²²Remove from me reproach and contempt,
For I have kept Your testimonies.
²³Princes also sit and speak against me,
But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
²⁴Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.

Although the ancient psalmist when he penned these words couldn’t see Jesus or know what we know about Jesus today, the psalmist certainly understood the need for all generations of followers eyes be opened to understand God’s Word.

One of the more traditional, and probably the one left the most unresolved of all resolutions followers of all maturity levels will make as they are all resolving to do at least one thing better entering the new year-to learn more of God’s Word.

Without first resolving to have our eyes opened, God’s Word can seem like a giant legalistic code to measure how others—and we—fail to live righteously.

With this first resolution first and foremost on our prayer list, taking time with Jesus, taking time to converse with Jesus, taking time to listen to Jesus, with our hearts fully exposed, two eyes become fully opened as on the Emmaus Road, we will see in God’s Word the living God who is graciously revealing himself to us.

Be it Resolved that we will learn more how to live the way God intends for us.

Be it Resolved …

We ultimately find the “wonderful things” of God’s grace and mercy—above all, in God’s gift of Jesus—and we live in gratitude for all he has done for us.

A Resolution, A Task That Is Always Left Unfinished.

Matthew 28:16-20 New King James Version

The Great Commission

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. ¹⁷When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

¹⁸And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹Go ^[a]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” ^[b]Amen.

“When they saw Him; they worshiped Him; but SOME DOUBTED. ”

By the words of the resurrected Jesus Himself, being the Great Commission, we are called to a task that we cannot accomplish alone: to be witnesses to Christ.

Following His death and resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples in the Upper Room, dispelling their fear and doubt by revealing the nail marks in His hands and His feet (Luke 24:39), reminding them of all that had been written concerning Him (v 44), and opening their minds to the truth of Scripture (v 45).

And before He returned to His heavenly throne He gave them one single task: to witness to the outside world what they had seen Him do and heard Him teach.

The truth about Him needed to be proclaimed “testified to all nations” (v 47).

Since that task is as yet unfinished, and will always remain unfinished, God’s people today are called to witness no less than God’s people of that day were.

Hebrews 12:1-2 New King James Version

The Race of Faith

12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking unto Jesus, the ^[a] author and ^[b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We may not be able to physically go out and testify with the apostle John, “That which … we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life … we proclaim also to you” (1 John 1:1, 3) – but we are each still called to be among the great clouds of witnesses who laid aside every weight, ran the race of faith.

But from the first verse Genesis to the last verse of Revelation, we have God’s very spoken word, which we are called not only to believe but also to proclaim.

Be it resolved to finish what God has commissioned-yet we are so very limited!

We are steadfast and immovable, resolute and resolved, yet one minute we are faithfully believing; then the next minute our minds are filled with uncertainty.

It is never really our conscious intent to allow it to happen, inevitably Human frailty, somehow, somewhere, always and forever gets in the way of divinity.

We too soon lose our resolve often step back in fear rather than forward in faith.

Matthew 10:27-31 New King James Version

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God

²⁷“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. ²⁸And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^[a]hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a ^[b]copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ³⁰But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

We find ourselves unable to overcome ourselves, not quite knowing what we are should be, saying about communicating the gospel message to those around us.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows this.

He knows His sheep—He knows our propensity for fear and timidity—and He assures us that we do not have to speak or act merely by our own power.

No, but we have each received what Jesus told those first disciples to wait for:

“the promise of the Father,” His Holy Spirit, so that we are “clothed with power from on high.”

Jesus gives us His Spirit in order that we might be involved in kingdom business—in order that we might each take the good news to the nations and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Matthew 10:32-33 New King James Version

Confess Christ Before Men

³²“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ³³But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Don’t give in to fear and timidity.

What we cannot accomplish alone we can do in the power He has given to us.

So, go out in complete dependence on the Spirit of God, prayerfully commit, to resolving, to be playing your part in the great, unfinished task of proclaiming, of exalting the name and glory of Jesus Christ to all the nations near and far:

Facing a task unfinished that drives us to our knees,
A need that, undiminished, rebukes our slothful ease,
We who rejoice to know Thee renew before Thy throne
The solemn pledge we owe Thee to go and make Thee known.[1]

1 Frank Houghton, “Facing a Task Unfinished” (1931).

Be it resolved …

– if you cannot connect with the world, then start with your own family, then move on to your neighbors, your friends – maybe start a home bible fellowship.

Be it resolved …

-into your church-with your Pastor, begin a small group bible fellowship there.

Be it resolved …

-make plans to expand your current small group bible fellowships, connect them with other churches in your area-exalt God, create bible communities.

Be it resolved …

-believe that with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, all things are always possible!

Be it resolved …

Can God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit get even ONE WITNESS to make their testimony?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 119:33-40 New King James Version

ה HE

³³Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.
³⁴Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
³⁵Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
^36 [a]Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
³⁷Turn^[b] away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in ^[c]Your way.
³⁸Establish Your word to Your servant,
Who is devoted to fearing You.
³⁹Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
⁴⁰Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me in Your righteousness.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Seasons With God, My Days With My Savior Jesus, A Prayer of Surrender to Jesus’ Calling. Mark 8:34-38

Mark 8:34-38 New King James Version

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

³⁴When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? ³⁷Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Preparing ourselves for the coming of the new year of 2024 …

As part of that preparation …

Have you ever prepared for and practiced the discipline of dieting?

Have you ever prepared for and practiced the discipline of fasting?

Have you ever prepared for and practiced the disciplines of self denial and of self sacrifice?

Have you ever prepared for and practiced the discipline of talking to God?

Although most followers of Christ agree that the discipline of prayer is a highly valuable practice, there’s some debate about the practicing discipline of fasting.

Fasting is the disciplined practice of refraining from normal activities to focus our full attention on God, the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Most commonly, fasting is about avoiding food for a certain period of time.

In today’s verses from Mark’s Narrative, Jesus tells his disciples that following Him will require His disciples to disciplined practice of self-denial and sacrifice.

We might be able to intellectually understand, agree with the call to self-denial.

We might be able to see the benefit of obeying Christ, even when it contradicts our better more worldly desires.

We might even sincerely pray we would have the self discipline, the strength to discipline ourselves to overcome our “not so glorious worldliness” to obey Him.

However, when that time and that season arrives, summoned by God, called our by Jesus, comes to lay aside our desires and obey God’s commands, we’ll falter.

If we would ever get around to telling ourselves the God’s honest truth, it is not easy to say no to our own desires, especially when we have the means to satisfy our whims – the discipline of fasting helps us practice saying no to ourselves.

We do not gain virtue points by saying no to wolfing out on our favorite foods or not eating gobs of chocolate during the season of Lent, but we do learn the habit of setting aside our desire to make room for praying for, pursuing of, God’s will.

Self-Discipline: Prayer of Surrender to Jesus’ Calling

Mark 8:34-38 The Message

^34-37Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?

³⁸“If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I’m leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you’ll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.”

Most days, my day to day life feels like a back-and-forth battle with control.

One day I’m easily relinquishing my own way in favor of God’s plan.

Other days I have to physically, spiritually, struggle to keep surrendering over and over because of my weakness, the pull of being in control is just too strong.

“Give up your own way…”

That phrase sounds ridiculously easy – some days even – embarrassingly easy.

Truth Be Told …

My Confession for today …

“Not so much … If at all …”

“Who am I trying to run a con game on today, who am I trying to scam?”

Those five simple words Master Rabbi Jesus spoke to the crowd are probably the very ones I wrestle with the most.

Even after my heart surgery, I get too attached to my own way of doing things.

Even so, too soon afterwards, self-sufficiency rises and I start making decisions in my own former strengths, I am trying way too hard, and wearing myself out.

I end up exhausted instead of welcoming the peace Jesus offers.

Surrender.

³⁴When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Surrender is a hardcore concept to grasp because God gave us the will to choose.

Surrender means to give up complete control.

To yield to the power of another.

Surrender is an amazing gift offered to us.

Wouldn’t when we are at our weakest physically and spiritually, not rather hand over control of our lives to our Creator who literally holds power over all things?

Then why, in our great strengths, do we struggle to surrender when Jesus calls?

God designed us to hope, dream, create, and build.

Do not we long to do great and little things and make an impact on our world.

Do we not desire to great and little things, make an impact in God’s Kingdom?

So whether from our strengths or weaknesses, we must discipline ourselves to pray and find our purpose using the gifts God gave us, while daily surrendering, while daily disciplining our lives and daily subjecting our whole hearts to Him.

Mark chapter 8 tells us about Jesus’ ministry—from feeding four thousand people to healing one blind man.

After a private word with his disciples, Jesus turned to a crowd and explained how to surrender. Jesus said,

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mark 8:35-36)

In our efforts to do good, let’s not forget the presence of our Holy God.

Jesus is calling us to release control and follow His ways instead of our own.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Dear Heavenly Father,

I hear your precious son Jesus gently calling me, yet I realize I’ve let the temptation of control keep me from responding to his voice. Forgive me for trying to do things on my own when I know your ways are best. I resolve to surrender to Savior Jesus today.

Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to draw me back to you in those times when I’ve relied on my own strength. Your Word in John 14:26 says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Thank you for reminding me that if I want to follow Jesus, I need to release my own way resolve to surrender to my Savior.

I have felt the weaknesses in my own body mind, spirit, I have felt your Holy Spirit tugging at my heart. So I am laying down my own plans, desires, and goals. I replace those right now with total surrender to your will. I am grateful for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that Jesus never stops pursuing a deeper relationship with me.

Your will be done in my life, Lord. I will follow where you lead me. In Jesus’ name,

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Reflecting On the Teachings of God: Learning the Value of One Single Day. Psalm 90

Psalm 90 New King James Version

BOOK FOUR

Psalms 90–106

The Eternity of God, and Man’s Frailty

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

90 Lord, You have been our ^[a]dwelling place in all generations.
²Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You ^[b]had formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³You turn man to destruction,
And say, “Return, O children of men.”
⁴For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
And like a watch in the night.
⁵You carry them away like a flood;
They are like a sleep.
In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
⁶In the morning it flourishes and grows up;
In the evening it is cut down and withers.

⁷For we have been consumed by Your anger,
And by Your wrath we are terrified.
⁸You have set our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
⁹For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
¹⁰The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
¹¹Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
¹²So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³Return, O Lord!
How long?
And have compassion on Your servants.
¹⁴Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!
¹⁵Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,
The years in which we have seen evil.
¹⁶Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
¹⁷And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

As the present year of 2023 draws to a close we are reminded once again of the relentless unstoppable procession of time.

Whether we like it or not, we are being carried onward through the years of our life, until inevitably, in one moment, in one day we’ll finally reach the end of it.

As the years come and and as the days and years go, there comes a day when our time in this world will be no more – our moments, our days, our years, will have passed away for ever into eternity depths, we will never ever see them again.

So what should we do?

Psalm 90:12 Moses prays to God reflecting on his long life (120 years) “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Moses had quite the life – born into slavery, set afloat on a river by his mother to protect his life, raised into the royal house of Egypt to the highest places of riches and prestige and military leadership – being groomed to be a Pharaoh.

Then one day, what does not collapse around him?

Realizes his birth origins, returns to his slave family, afflicted by the severity of a life of slavery, kills an Egyptian, runs away a fugitive under a death warrant.

With minimal provisions, he walks, trudges across the sun baked wilderness to a place of refuge called Median where he finds his rest, where he settles down, where he gets married, has children, gets a long term secure job, makes a home for himself and his family – no longer having to think about a murder charge.

Then God shows up – a burning bush – and a mission: “set my people free!”

The mission of all missions – back to Egypt, face the dangers, the Ten plagues.

Servant of God – into the crucible – eighty years old and he must now lead all of those former slaves – all five plus million of them – into the wilderness and to the mountain of God and His laws – but first comes the part where he must lead he must protect, all those five plus million people through the parted Red Sea.

Then he must repeatedly climb up and down mountain peaks, receive the Law of God, deal with all of the impossible messes a golden calf can give raise to.

Intercede with God – to keep God from wreaking His unimaginable wrath on the nation of former slaves-for their impossible measures, degrees of disobedience.

I could go on and on and on – as Moses led this nation an additional 40 years in the wilderness – until standing on the brink, in full view of the promised land, God deliver’s to him the worst possible news for all of his years of leadership:

“Sorry, Moses, you can see the promised land, but you will not enter the land!”

The sum total of all that effort over a life span of 120 years of devout service?

A wonderfully reflective poem – reflecting on God work and our brevity of life.

Reflecting, Numbering Our Days: The Value of Today

Life is filled with opportunities, but the big question is what we do with them.

Do we let them so casually slip by, saying, “Maybe next time. There is always another day”? Expecting to live as long as Moses did-or, should we seize them?

We may not have as much time as we think.

Late English Theologian Dr. Leslie Weatherhead, calculated the average length of a life using the hours of one day to illustrate the importance of recognizing the brevity and value of time.

He concluded that if your age is 15, the time is 10:25 a.m. If your age is 20, the time is 11:34. If your age is 25, the time is 12:42 p.m. If you’re 30, the time is 1:51. If you’re 35, the time is 3:00. If you’re 40 the time is 4:08. At age 45, the time is 5:15. If you’re 50, the time is 6:25. By age 55, the time is 7:24. If you’re 60, the time is 8:42. If you’re 65, the time is 9:51. And if you’re 70 the time is 11 p.m.

Psalm 90:12 reminds us, “Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom” (NKJV).

Or as the Living Bible puts it, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.”

To number your days is to keep careful watch over your time with the same kind of care and attention that we would give to budgeting, balancing your accounts, making sure there are always enough funds to make payments for the housing loan, the utilities, telephone bill, daily provisions, medicine and vehicle costs.

The more limited our income is, the more we would want to ensure that we are making the very best use of it.

‘Numbering our days’ is simply applying that same kind of discipline, but now with time instead of money.

It means optimizing the limited time we have left, planning your activities carefully and deciding what activities deserve more time and what deserve less.

It also means trying to save time whenever possible, so no hour is ever wasted.

As the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:15,16, we should “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

If you do not keep careful track of where your time is spent, you will find it difficult to accomplish everything that you need to do.

You will always be complaining that you do not have enough time.

Perhaps there have been “more than your fair share of those times when the twenty four hours of the day do not seem to be ever enough for you and you’ve heartily wished that you had a few thirty-six hour days or an eight-day weeks.

But the problem is often not a lack of time, but poor time management.

If you find yourself unable to fulfill your responsibilities because of what seems to be a shortage of time, it probably means you’re not managing your time well.

Jesus told the story of a man who went on a journey and left his money with his servants.

This was not an uncommon thing in those days.

A wealthy man or a ruler would have many servants in his household, from those who performed basic labor to those who managed the financial affairs of his household, even his business.

In many cases some of the man’s servants would be better educated and skilled than he was.

Those highly trusted slaves had a virtual free hand within their prescribed areas of responsibility while the owner was at home.

the owner would go on a journey, he would leave full authority in the hands of these key servants, who’d have the ancient equivalent of a power of attorney.

So Jesus described a scenario in which a wealthy man went on a journey and left the key servants in charge of his possessions.

It’s difficult for us to know exactly what sum he left them, but one possibility is that he gave the equivalent of $5,000 to the first servant, $2,000 to the second servant, and $1,000 to the third.

What Are You Investing Your Days & Time In?

What is Jesus’ story saying to us?

I think it’s quite obvious. Jesus is like that wealthy man who goes on a journey, which spans the day he left this earth to the far day he which he returns in the Second Coming.

We are the servants he has invested in, and we are to take what he has given us and use it for his glory while we await his return.

In the New Testament, a word that is often used for “slave” or “servant” is the Greek word doulos.

It’s a term that describes a unique class of servant, not someone who was made that way by constraint or by force.

A doulos was someone who had been freed by their master yet still chose to continue their service out of their love for their master.

The servant was so thankful for this pardon that he or she would willfully choose to serve.

The apostle Paul often referred to himself as a doulos, and that is what we are as followers of Jesus Christ.

Christ has paid an incredible debt for us.

He has pardoned us.

He has forgiven us.

And now we should become his voluntary servants, not because we have to but because we want to – because we love him.

We recognize that he has instilled certain things in our lives that we are to use for his glory.

Certain gifts.

Certain talents.

Certain resources.

Everything.

Paul wrote, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NLT).

Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23 NLT).

This doesn’t mean that we must take a vow of poverty.

It simply means we recognize that it all belongs to God. Our lives belong to God.

Our families belong to God. Our possessions belong to God. Everything is his.

In Jesus’ story, the first servant took what he had, invested it, and received a 100 percent return.

He doubled his master’s investment.

The second, though he had less, did the same thing.

This demonstrates that it isn’t a person’s talent that matters as much as how he or she uses that talent.

God never demands from us the abilities we don’t have.

But He does demand that we should use, to the full, the abilities that we do possess.

We may not be equal in talent, but we should be equal in effort.

Take what God has given to you, do the most that you can with it for his glory.

God can do a lot with a little.

If you don’t believe me, just ask the boy with the five loaves and two fish who gave everything he had to Jesus.

It didn’t seem like a lot, but Jesus used them to feed a hungry multitude.

Jesus can take a little, bless it and multiply it.

He can use it beyond our wildest dreams.

How to “Number Your Days”

If we will humble ourselves, take what we have and offer it to God, if we will be willing to do to the utmost what He has placed before us and be faithful in the utmost to the little, littler, littlest things, then He will give us more to do.

I would rather try and fail than never try at all.

Any time you take a chance, you can fail.

But it’s better to try than to never take chances and never have anything happen in your life.

So seize the day.

Seize the moment.

Seize the opportunities before you.

Don’t put it off too long, because you may not have as much time as you think.

Be productive with your life.

Be productive with your time.

Seize the opportunities God has given you.

Seize God, the Father!

Seize God the Son!

Seize God the Holy Spirit!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 90 The Message

90 ^1-2God, it seems you’ve been our home forever;
long before the mountains were born,
Long before you brought earth itself to birth,
from “once upon a time” to “kingdom come”—you are God.

^3-11So don’t return us to mud, saying,
    “Back to where you came from!”
Patience! You’ve got all the time in the world—whether
    a thousand years or a day, it’s all the same to you.
Are we no more to you than a wispy dream,
    no more than a blade of grass
That springs up gloriously with the rising sun
    and is cut down without a second thought?
Your anger is far and away too much for us;
    we’re at the end of our rope.
You keep track of all our sins; every misdeed
    since we were children is entered in your books.
All we can remember is that frown on your face.
    Is that all we’re ever going to get?
We live for seventy years or so
    (with luck we might make it to eighty),
And what do we have to show for it? Trouble.
    Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.
Who can make sense of such rage,
    such anger against the very ones who fear you?

^12-17Oh! Teach us to live well!
    Teach us to live wisely and well!
Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?—
    and treat your servants with kindness for a change.
Surprise us with love at daybreak;
    then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.
Make up for the bad times with some good times;
    we’ve seen enough evil to last a lifetime.
Let your servants see what you’re best at—
    the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
    confirming the work that we do.
    Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Our Seasons Spent With God Seeking Jesus: Great gains through Godliness. 1 Timothy 6:6-8

1 Timothy 6:6-8 New King James Version

⁶Now godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into this world, ^[a]and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

In a surprising program on HGTV, people go looking for tiny homes.

They don’t want an enormous monthly mortgage payment, and they don’t want to accumulate all kinds of unnecessary junk in their lives.

So they look at 200-squarefoot homes instead of 2,000 square-footers.

Some of these have a master bedroom you crawl into under the rafters, a children’s bedroom under the other end of the roof, and a kitchen, dining room, bath, and living room cleverly squeezed into one surprisingly small area.

Sometimes the biggest question they have to contend with is “Do we really need that bathtub? A shower takes up less space.”

In Japan, an old farmer’s futon was folded and stored in a closet each morning.

Presto! The bedroom became an instant living room!

“If we have food and clothing,” says Paul, “we will be content with that.”

Of course, if we live in daily colder climates, we might need a place to get in out of the icy blasts and a nice sized wood burning stove to stave off the cold nights.

If we are living daily in a more tropical climate, we might want to make more of a provision for places to keep cool – perhaps jury rig some kind of refrigerator?

I don’t know – because I have never lived year round in any tropical climate so I have no idea how they would create conditions to make ice cubes for lemonade.

But whether cold, warm or neutral climates, Apostle Paul’s point is well-taken.

Materialism sets all kinds of traps and temptations that can lead us astray from seeking after the things of God, after the life of my Savior upon the path of faith.

I know as most people do The tenth commandment which says that we — Do not covet our neighbors stuff (Exodus 20:17)— points the way to contentment.

If we always have a roving eye, hankering for our neighbor’s house, car, or power tools or lawnmowers, spouse, there will be no end to feeling unsettled.

But with the Holy Spirit living deep within our hearts, filling the void that would otherwise drive us to distraction, we should all have peace, contentment within.

Seasons With Our God: Great Gains through Godliness

1 Timothy 6:6-8 The Message

^6-8A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.

When you and think of devoutly “gaining greatness” what comes to mind?

Personally, I have found in different seasons of my life that I’ve unknowingly picked up the view that “greatness” is only measured by my degrees of success over my degrees of my failures or how my abilities match up to someone else.

However, the Bible teaches us a completely different narrative, it teaches a more humbles truth about devout greatness.

This biblical view of greatness is radically different than what we encounter and what we would typically measure in the standards of living inside our world.

We are taught through the Word of God our greatness is steeped in Godliness.

Greatness in these eyes of God through the living Word of God, is directly tethered to the Gospel, who Jesus is and who He has called us to be in Christ.

We are reminded that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:19-26 New King James Version

To Live Is Christ

¹⁹For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I ^[a]cannot tell. ^23 [b]For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. ²⁴Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. ²⁵And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, ²⁶that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

Ponder that passage of text written from within a Roman prison for a moment!

That passage, the context of that passage alone, reveals how different we must more devoutly, humbly, view greatness and that it must be viewed through the lens of eyes, through eardrums and beating hearts set on a Kingdom mission.

We’re promised in the Word that we will find true contentment when we have a beating heart swelled with love, pumping out love and max desire for the Lord.

In 1 Timothy 6, the Apostle Paul has listed for his protégé Timothy, a detailed instruction about what living for Christ with a heart of contentment looks like.

It reveals that those seeking after God, seeking after, pursuing Christ will have peace and contentment with what they have and where God has placed them.

They will trust the Lord’s provision and timing.

They will know the difference between truth and lie.

Most importantly, they will know who is of God and who is not.

This is something of great gain.

This portion of scripture is just one of the many places where we see how we should be more devoutly, humbly, measuring out of our life’s “greatness”.

It isn’t based on us – it never should be, but on how Christ has called us to live.

This biblical perspective also changes everything for you and me when it comes to devoutly seeking after and finding contentment in the seasons God has us in.

It again realigns how we value “great things”.

Personally, as a brother to three sisters, an uncle to a niece, a step father to an adult son with his own growing son, I find myself in a season of life where I’m left giving far more than I am receiving – but even that paradigm is challenged.

In my season of recovering and rehabilitating from major Cardiac Surgery, I am in a season of having to receive an extra measure of care from my loving wife.

Most of the time my familial roles comes without accolades and pats on the back most days, and without bear hugs (praise God – ouch)and that’s okay.

However, this can sometimes leave me wondering if am I really making any lasting impact on the Kingdom of God God has me currently engaged with.

Does devoutly, humbly doing my daily tasks really lead to great gain for Jesus?

Truth be Told, somedays I find myself wondering exactly how long will it take to see, bear witness to the fruit of this labor of love that I do day in and day out.

I’m sure each of you readers have in some season of God experienced this too.

Regardless of what you do on a daily basis, have you found yourself asking of God through His Son Jesus, if what you’re doing is really making an impact?

The answer to that question is this, if you are devoutly, humbly seeking the Lord and His Son and on mission and ministry for His kingdom, then YES!.

Though it is probably unseen, we are making an impact and we are making great gains towards Godliness as you and I live for Christ where He has us.

My prayer is that in these our current seasons and circumstances in life, we will freely give God the space in our hearts to step in and take hold of all our hearts.

Let Him alone be the one to remind you that greatness is steeped in Godliness.

Let Him be the one who fills you with contentment in the roles He’s given you.

Covet the Gospel! Take the gospel forth! Covet, share the love of Jesus, and remind those around you that their “great gains” are found in Christ alone.

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 King James Version

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Lord, thank you for giving us your Word which paves the way for great gains in Godliness. Help me to look to you rather than my abilities and milestones. Help me to rest in the truth that you have called me to a life rooted in the Kingdom mission and how that alone is a great gift that will come with eternal reward – a lifetime of celebration with you. To live is Christ, to die is gain. Thanks be to God! Jesus’ name,

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Seasons of Reflection: Seasons With God, Seasons Seeking After Our king or OUR KING, Jesus. Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12 New King James Version

Wise Men from the East

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, ^[a]wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

⁶‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

⁷Then Herod, when he had secretly called the ^[b]wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

⁹When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. ¹¹And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Many people in ancient Judea were aware that the prophets of God had spoken of a Messiah who would one day come and finally, ultimately, set things right.

Most of these residents of Judea eagerly anticipated the wonderful things this Messiah would do for God’s people.

But, ironically, in the natural course of human events, most of them missed the arrival of Jesus – most had long since stopped praying with the expectation of their receiving an actual answer from God – actual physical, viewable, answer.

But far to the east there were Magi, scholars who studied the stars, and one night they noticed something new in their observations shining in the heavens.

Were they aware of prophecies about a Messiah?

Did they have the assumption that somewhere under that heavenly event, this promised Messiah, who would bring salvation for God’s people, had arrived?

To these scholars, a sign in the heavens meant something important, like the arrival of a new king, they started on a journey, a season of seeking after a star, a season of seeking God with inquiring minds to see what God might be doing.

Others Were Not So Eagerly Seeking Messiah’s Arrival

Matthew 2:3-6 New King James Version

⁵So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

⁶‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ”

Isn’t it ironic that we can think we have every intention to seek God, but we ultimately have ulterior motives for doing so and we miss what he is doing?

When Jesus was born, seven centuries after the prophet Micah had prophesied where He would appear, His arrival was met with a variety of different reactions—and those responses are much the same today as they were then: hostility, and jealousy – perceived threats to our power base, indifference, or no faith.

King Herod was the epitome of hostility toward Jesus.

He stands for everyone who says to themselves, “I don’t mind some religious person sitting quietly in the back seat, but I don’t want anybody driving the car of my life.” “I am the “king of the kingdom, the one who is in authority here!”

A “king of their hill” who keeps quiet is acceptable; the one who makes higher claims on any person’s life, does not agree with what they already think, is not.

King Herod did all he could to ensure there would be no other authority, no other king to rival him and his authority over his kingdom (Matthew 2:16-18).

And many do so still today.

Jerusalem’s religious professionals of the day responded to the arrival of Messiah with prophetic indifference – some with well established fears.

Fears for their lives and personal safety – fears for what Herod would do to anyone – man, women or child – to ensure that Herod would remain #1.

When King Herod asked them about the coming of the Christ, they were able to go to the temple search their scrolls answer his questions with great specificity.

They were aware Micah had prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem; but they were indifferent, they were so helpless to help, simply didn’t care.

Notice they wouldn’t make the effort, even take the time to make a six-mile journey to meet and worship the newly born, long-awaited King of the Jews.

They completely disregarded Him – perhaps in fear of him or to protect him.

Were they too busy with their religion to make time for their rescuing King?

Or were they welcoming and protective of the child, protective of the people?

Then there were the arrival of the wise men to the kings throne room, this group of foreign kings (?), astrologers who saw a star in the heavens, worked out what it was announcing, packed their bags, and responded to Jesus in faith.

What moved these powerful men who were authorities in their field, to presume on their king’s time, not to bow to him but to bow down at the cradle of a child?

How in these seasons of expectation and seeking a “king” does that happen?

How in these seasons of anticipation, of expectation and seeking “after one whose authority over a kingdom and its citizens is literally second to no one?”

Only by the power of God. And it was the wise, not Herod or the priests, who were the ones who “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2:10).

There is only one true dividing line between people.

It has nothing to do with ethnicity, skin color, intellect, sexual orientation, or political correctness or social justice or social status, authority of government.

Which “king or KING” do we the people seek after?

1 Samuel 8:1-12 New King James Version

Israel Demands a King

8 Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. ²The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. ³But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. ⁷And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. ⁹Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

¹⁰So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. ¹¹And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹²He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

It is the chasm, the grand canyons, raging rivers, between unbelief—whether or not that unbelief manifests itself as hostility or indifference—and unbelief.

We may take note, make harsh commentary that the Western world grows in hostility to a God who insists on ruling His world, but we should also note that “religious” people are also at risk of unbelief: the unbelief of high indifference.

Proverbs 3:5-8 New King James Version

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall ^[a]direct your paths.

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
⁸It will be health to your ^[b]flesh,
And strength^[c] to your bones.

Those of us “wisest of the wise ones” who have all heard the Christmas story countless times, who know our Old Testaments, and who are in church Sunday by Sunday are not immune to the indifference that is seen in a lack of joy over the Lord and a lack of response to His word when it calls us to change our plans.

And whoever we are, or however wise we believe we are if we won’t have Jesus as our King in this life, we won’t live in His kingdom on the other side of death.

If we choose to ask Jesus to leave us alone, either in our hostility or in our wise only and alone in our own eyes, religiosity, He will leave us alone—forever.

Our response to our seasons of seeking after Jesus has high eternal significance.

Look highly upon Him who came to die for hostile and indifferent sinners, then, and in that season of “king gazing” allow His great love to soften your heart so that you may respond to Him in real, joyful, obedient faith, today and every day.

Psalm 13 New King James Version

Trust in the Salvation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
⁴Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

We either seek after a king or we seek after a KING to have #1 authority over us.

But, will we recognize and acknowledge and confess we all know the difference?

We pray for healing but might not recognize healing that has already occurred.

We will ask for prosperity without pausing to give thanks for the ways God has already provided.

The good news of Jesus is far too magnificent to be contained, yet it can still be missed if we ourselves are complacent or indifferent in our search for our king.

The king of this world?

The KING of all the expanse of the heavens above, our hearts, the earth below.

But when we are open to seeing what God is doing, the wonder of his mighty acts can move us from seasons of being so very far away from his presence we are no heavenly good to seasons of our approaching him with sincere worship.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 27:1-9 New King James Version

An Exuberant Declaration of Faith

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
²When the wicked came against me
To eat^[a] up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
³Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

⁴One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the ^[b]beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
⁵For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.

⁶And now my head shall be ^[c]lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of ^[d]joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

⁷Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
⁹Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.

Father in heaven, separate me from my wisdom, keep me from having such a narrow view of your saving grace that I miss the wonderful things you are doing. By my Jesus

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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On This Another Christmas Day, Do I Still Believe in Christmas Miracles? Matthew 1:20-23

Matthew 1:20-23 Authorized (King James) Version

²⁰But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. ²¹ And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. ²²Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ²³Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The Miracle: What If God Were to Disrupt Your Life?

Like that emergent need for Open Heart Surgery …

Like suddenly listening to the news, trying to absorb the impact of learning that my “Widow Making” Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery is 99% blocked.

Like learning from the Cardiac Surgeon my much troubled heart will be 100% stopped for some period of time during my Triple Bypass Open Heart Surgery.

Some things in life insert themselves like hard claps of thunder into our lives and can take us completely by surprise, stun us into complete insensibility.

Sometimes things happen that seem to turn our world utterly upside down.

I learned I needed emergent surgery on my heart July 14, 2023 – I had no choice but to be admitted to the Hospital for my Open Heart Surgery on July 17, 2023.

God brought me through my heart being stopped – God gave me my life back!

That is what essentially happened to a man named Joseph, a builder living in the town of Nazareth in Galilee about 2,000 years ago.

A blessed disruption: engaged to be married to a young woman named Mary, he was so looking forward to when they would become husband and wife, to have children, to make a home together, to be surrounded by their extended family.

But then Joseph learned that Mary, his future wife, was expecting a child.

Could there have been a more sudden and unexpected disruption to his life?

To Joseph’s mind, that meant that somewhere young Mary had been unfaithful.

Could Joseph’s life be turned more upside down – all those plans of a family?

Rush to a decision-protect the families – act, work to salvage their reputations.

Now what to do about this thunderclap news – to keep her from being publicly disgraced, he intended to “divorce her quietly” and then simply send her away.

Planning all the steps needed, but that same night, an angel came to Joseph in a dream, telling him that the child to be born was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Now, what kind of thunderclap news was this – another brand new disruption?

How much more hardcore disruption to his life could this Joseph deal with?

The angel told Joseph to believe the unbelievable and to take Mary as his wife.

God Himself stepped directly into his life and disrupted many of Joseph’s plans.

God Himself would make sure that Joseph’s life would never ever be the same.

Miracle of Miracles!

Wonder of Wonders!

Mystery of all Mysteries!

The Disruption of all Disruptions!

Matthew 1:20-21 Authorized (King James) Version

Instead of allowing Joseph to brood for too long, to make this disruption into an obsession – so to make bad plans, God caused a deep sleep to come upon Joseph.

As God went to King Solomon in a dream, God sent his angel unto Joseph and in a divine, much needed moment of divine disruption-“It is all going to be okay!”

When Joseph woke up from his dream, he did what the angel commanded him.

Perhaps God has disrupted your life as He disrupted mine, as He did Joseph’s.

Perhaps he turned your life upside down.

Are you ready to accept the miracle, that miraculous disruption of God’s will for your life? Miraculous turnaround? ready to surrender to Him and to Serve Him?

Like Joseph, Do You Believe in Christmas Miracles?

Matthew 1:20-23The Message

^20-23While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic revelation to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

Have you noticed how many Christmas movies focus on receiving a Christmas miracle?

The miracle of Santa Claus coming at exactly the right moment into someone’s life – bringing the miracle of exactly the right and perfect gift – always exactly the right time in exactly the right place-disrupting the negative expectations?

Although many center on Santa Claus making things happen, still Christmas is always portrayed as a time for long-awaited hopes and dreams to be fulfilled.

Rightly so, too, because Christmas is all about disrupting the negative impact of all the sudden or not so sudden bad news we received – hardcore disrupting all of them inside one fell swoop with miracles whose origins can only be of God!

It’s a heavenly celebration of the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus, God comes to earth in human form, to live among mankind and save people from their sins.

What could be more miraculously hardcore of hardcore disruptive than that?

So how do you approach Christmas?

Are you hoping for God to do the impossible in your life?

Do you believe what the angel told Mary, that all things are possible with God?

Luke 1:36-38 Authorized (King James) Version

³⁶And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. ³⁷For with God nothing shall be impossible. ³⁸And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

If you aren’t expecting God to do the impossible at Christmas or any other time of the year, perhaps because of past disappointments, of times where you had great hope, anticipation but didn’t see your life disrupted – prayers answered?

If so, pick up your Bible, ask God to first disrupt your expectations then renew your expectancy in Him, to revive your faith despite all your disappointments.

Choose to disrupt your life – choose to base what you believe about God on what Scripture says about Him, rather on those of the past discouraging experiences.

If former letdowns are what’s holding you back from having faith in God, James 1:6 encourages you to hardcore disrupt your unbelief, believe with all your heart and all your soul and do not doubt God because doubt inhibits the impossible.

James 1:5-8 The Message

^5-8If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

Scripture explains what happened when Jesus visited His hometown and the residents doubted Him.

Their disbelief affected what they were able to receive from Jesus.

As Matthew 13:58 explains, “And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

If you are lacking faith in believing God is able to do the impossible, ask Him to increase your faith.

Hebrews 11:1 explains, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1-2The Message

Faith in What We Don’t See

11 ^1-2The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

Consider how everything you see created was once impossible without God.

As John 1:3 explains, “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”

As Jeremiah 32:17 describes, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.”

Colossians 1:16 further describes, “For in Him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

At Christmas and all year long, choose to believe that disruption is okay, that nothing is too difficult for God to bring about in your life by stepping out in faith and praying to Him to transform your impossibilities into possibilities.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

¹The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Father in heaven, help us to accept your will for our lives, even when it turns our world upside down. Help us always to acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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A Prayerful Christmas Eve Reflection: Praying For A ‘Silent Night.’ Luke 2:9

Luke 2:8-20 GOD’S WORD Translation

Angels Announce the Birth of Jesus

⁸Shepherds were in the fields near Bethlehem. They were taking turns watching their flock during the night. ⁹An angel from the Lord suddenly appeared to them. The glory of the Lord filled the area with light, and they were terrified. ¹⁰The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. ¹¹Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city. ¹²This is how you will recognize him: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly, a large army of angels appeared with the angel. They were praising God by saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those who have his good will!”

¹⁵The angels left them and went back to heaven. The shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph with the baby, who was lying in a manger. ¹⁷When they saw the child, they repeated what they had been told about him. ¹⁸Everyone who heard the shepherds’ story was amazed.

¹⁹Mary treasured all these things in her heart and always thought about them.

²⁰As the shepherds returned to their flock, they glorified and praised God for everything they had seen and heard. Everything happened the way the angel had told them.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Silent Night, Holy Night is a beloved Christmas carol with humble beginnings which dates back to 1816.

It was written by a young priest in Germany after a longstanding war and fall in political and social status, this song was inspired when he took a long walk one cold winter night, noticing the cold stillness and peacefulness of his little town.

Since then, it has risen, been picked up by multiple composers and performed in a ton of churches all across the world, from quaint churches in small towns into the largest of majestic cathedrals, and even presenting it to the King of Prussia.

All that to say, there is a beautiful message intertwined between the beautiful words in this song.

It touches each of us who sing it on a different level and in an intimate way.

Calling us to pause and reflect and take notice of what is a silent, a peaceful, and calm, in the ultimate revelation of the glory of God in the highest – a holy night.

In the midst of all the political ruckus, in the midst of a government census to raise more taxes, to gain more wealth and more prestige for the government,

In the midst of all the subsequent consequences – whole families are uprooted to travel vast distances to places where they were born as Joseph, Mary were.

All kinds of hoops to jump through at the very utmost inconvenient of times.

Mary is ready to give birth – how is it to ride on the back of a donkey, mile after mile, up and down as the donkey walks upon and over the sandy and rocky soil?

All this supporting the weight of a child in her womb, near end term pregnancy.

The weight of mine months weighing heavily already upon her teenage body.

Would Joseph had made her walk any of that distance leading the donkey as he sat on the donkey’s back – we would have a much different opinion of Joseph.

Up and down off the donkey so Mary could walk around all through the night.

The weight of all that responsibility upon both of their lives, generations more.

Can we read their minds right now – when will the night ever come to an end?

And just when they hope they have come to their desired end – a place of rest and a place where they could attend to the labor and delivery and care of their newborn son – what do they hear that night – “Sorry, but no room at the Inn!”

And somewhere off in the distance, in the middle of the night there are a bunch of shepherds going about their regular rotations of guarding someone’s sheep.

A quiet night for them – like any other night which has not created for them a regular routine – suddenly a host of angelic beings explodes great light into the darkness – praising God – bursting into song, singing loudly ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will!”

How is that for a senses shattering wake up call in the middle of the night?

How does that put your “regular ho hum hum drum” routines on the edge of “Danger, Danger, and pending doom and all out “fight or flight” sheer panic?”

Then just as fast – the night settles down as the angelic hosts disappear.

And the shepherds are left wondering what just happened?

Wondering about the mysterious words the angelic host just left them with:

¹⁰The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. ¹¹Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city. ¹²This is how you will recognize him: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

So much to sort out – actually too much to sort out in the middle of what had started out to be just another quiet and relatively peaceful regular night shift.

Just another of those quiet and relatively peaceful regular night in Bethlehem?

A family in need of a place to bring their first born son into the world – but there is no place – there is no room in the inn – so they’re on their own to find a place.

The noise coming from the inside all of those occupied rooms in the at night?

An explosion of the brightest light anyone had ever seen, night eyes having to suddenly accommodate themselves to that light, ears which a long tuned into the long expected sounds of the silent darkness – on alert for all the dangers – now have been rocked, shocked by the songs of “Glory to God in the highest!”

Reading these words in the year 2023, it does something to our weary souls.

So, lets try to settle all this down “was it a silent night holy night?” a bit …

Just the words of the first verse sets the much needed, required tone for us all;

Silent Night. Holy Night. All is calm. All is bright. round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.

These words are so easy to utter, but truly being silent and seeking His holiness in a season that is wrapped and consumed with all the pressures and demands to do more, be more, get more, can drive us to a place of unforeseen busyness and even disappointment – unfortunately, the end result can steal our peace!

Stepping away from it all, recalling the history of this hymn reminds us to step away from all the noise, open our hearts in a way to receive the gift of stillness.

2. Silent night, holy night, shepherds quake at the sight; glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!

3. Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love’s pure light; radiant beams from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

4. Silent night, holy night, wondrous star, lend thy light; with the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King; Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born!

1. In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Text: Christina G. Rossetti, 1830-1894

In the bleak midwinter, may you and I find time to seek the silent moments this season, where you and I are met with the very highest glory of our Holy Creator.

Let the sound of that “silent” beautiful interaction allow us to lean in and rest, prompting us to praise Him for His faithfulness and rejoice in His Son’s birth!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father God,

We come to You with weary but humble hearts full of thanksgiving. You are a kind and gracious Father, with such unspeakable love for us, giving Your one and only Son to take on our sins so that we can have a life with You outside this one (John 3:16).

Lord, I lift up those that are in need of rest. Those who are craving a silent night. I lift up the mom who is striving to make special memories for her children, only to just become overwhelmed by the stress of it all. I pray for the parent rocking a fussy baby to sleep in the wee hours of the morning, in need of much physical rest. I pray for the dad crunching the numbers, wondering how he is going to financially afford all the items on his child’s Christmas list. My heart and prayers go out to the lonely grand parents missing their children and wishing they were closer – as you are close to us.

O Gracious not so silent God, You know each and every one of us intimately and our dire situations that pull us away from You. Please remove the distractions, heavy burdens, and demands, and grant us Your peace. Replace the fallacies with Truth found in Your Word. Give us grace and space in our schedules to meet with You and be refueled by Your tender love. Create vacancies, make room in our hearts to receive that precious gift of stillness, silence, born from a night of your glory being revealed.

In the coming stillness of the night, We stand upon Your promise to extend rest for not just our physical, mental, and emotional well-being but to meet us and grow us spiritually as well. This is not just a gift we want to receive at Christmas but year-round as You extend Your mighty hand to those in need, calling us to take hold.

Please make room open our hearts and minds to accept the image of Your pure rest when we fall into the patterns of this World and become consumed with things that keep us restless. Things that keep our minds swirling all night. When we do this, we fail to recognize the nature of Who You are, distracts us from the good You are doing.

Thank you, God, for offering us the gift of a silent night and a bright and brighter and holy night in the gift of the birth of Your precious Son, as well as an invitation to call silently upon You to meet with us intimately. You deserve all our thanks and praise.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Advent Reflection: Do We Know With a Certainty How Silent a Night it Was? Luke 2:1-7

Luke 2:1-7 English Standard Version

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration when^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[b] who was with child. ⁶And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.^[c]

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

“Silent Night” is a favorite Christmas song for many people around the world.

Its gentle swaying melody suggests a “heavenly peace” in which “all is calm.”

But let us listen again to this calmness

Do you hear what I hear? that our usual picture of Jesus’ birth is far from calm.

Above the fields near Bethlehem, sometime in the night, out of nowhere, an angel army disturbs the shepherds calmness, breaks into their evening, shocks them out of their senses, sings out, announcing good news – the glory of God.

The Good News: somewhere back in town, shepherds and wise men and sheep, cows, camels, and gifts are all crowded together around a family inside a stable.

And somewhere in the midst of all that burst of commotion is the baby Jesus.

Trying to stay warm in its swaddling cloths, trying to sleep with cattle lowing.

But hold on.

Let us take a step back for a “silent” moment to sort this exciting business out.

According to Matthew’s Narrative, the three wise men don’t show up until later.

So let’s take them out of the picture, along with their gifts.

And there’s no mention of a stable—just a manger, a hay filled feeding trough.

So there might not be animals making any of their natural sounds there either.

Now let’s back up to the first hour or two after Jesus’ birth.

Commotion will come later, when the shepherds find “Mary and Joseph, and the baby . . . lying in the manger” (Luke 2:16).

But for now, as lamplight flickers, all we can see is Mary, the baby and Joseph.

Hurting, exhausted, Mary is fast asleep. Joseph might be a bit tired too and perhaps, he is able to find somewhere where he can get warmed, and rest too.

Meanwhile, Mary’s snugly wrapped baby, now content from his first first life experience, feeding, sees light, shadow, and movement with his newborn eyes.

Let’s stay right where we are, “silent as the night with the newness of the light just born, shining brighter and brighter and brighter still, in the deep darkness.

And let’s pause here, for just as much time as is needed to take in that picture.

The God of all Creation is the Light – a newborn baby watching shadows sway.

Against What We May Call “Silent Night Holy Night”

Like most people, both believers and non believers, once or twice a year folks, I have sung “Silent Night” hymn many times, often on Christmas Eve in church.

Yet lately, since my open heart surgery, contemplating my life as I do now, the “silence” referred to in the iconic carol recently took on new meaning to me.

The word “silence” appears many places in Scripture.

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=silence&version=AMP

but I found much more than just an absence of sound in several references.

STARTLING SILENCE

In Revelation chapter 8, silence creates a uniquely powerful scene.

John writes, “When he [the Lamb] opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour” (Revelation 8:1 NIV).

While John describes many things, creatures and beings in heaven prior to this, it is suddenly unfathomable that it all goes silent as described in this moment.

In this silence is a depth of awe, deep reverence, reflection, and anticipation like nothing before, as the revelation of Jesus Christ is about to come to fulfillment.

THE PRAISE OF SILENCE

In the prophetic book Habakkuk, we see another reminder of the reverent place of silence – The Word says, “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20 NIV).

And in the prophetic book Zephaniah, we see “Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near” (Zephaniah 1:7 NIV).

There is mounting, maturing praise within the silence of a God-fearing heart.

A SILENT NIGHT?

Luke 2:6-7 Amplified Bible

⁶While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for her to give birth, ⁷and she gave birth to her Son, her firstborn; and she wrapped Him in [^[a]swaddling] cloths and laid Him in a ^[b]manger, because there was no [private] room for them in the inn.

The popular carol declares that the night of Jesus’ birth was a “silent night,” a “holy night” with all “calm and bright.”

But, think about it has any woman ever given birth in complete silence or calmness, what would her smile sound like, her joy, her tears sound like?

It’s hard for me to imagine that the animals weren’t making their natural sounds, especially among the sudden unrest, unexpected commotion in the stable; the sound of a newborn crying or that Joseph wasn’t offering a word of encouragement, a prayer, or a declaration of praise as Mary was giving birth.

Was that ancient setting really like an inanimate, decorative tabletop nativity set that we are used to seeing in our homes, our churches, or live nativities ?

Knowing what is in my heart right now, rehabilitating from my heart surgery, looking even deeper than ever before into the eyes of my wife, listening to my dog barking -it seems unlikely that the momentous night was literally silent.

The lyrics of the song simply frame the event in wonderfully poetic terms.

Luke 2:6-7 Amplified Bible

But perhaps what is true, what is hidden, waiting to be revealed in us, from deep within us, is that there was this ever growing and maturing holy atmosphere of silent praise, would be an indescribably raucous act of worship pleasing to God.

Realize: on that ancient night, in that ancient time, there was so much more to observe, to listen to, to speak of this particular silent night than a lack of sound.

A CHALLENGE

My challenge, then, as Christmas Eve, Christmas approaches, as we get all of ourselves ready to go to evening or midnight church, as we sit in all our pews is for us not to, as we hold lighted candles or even fake ones, sing “Silent Night” envisioning only a perfectly still and orderly scene with everyone comfortable and content – for in reality – comfortable and content were far from the truth.

Instead, let’s intentionally try to grasp deep in our hearts what was surely the ultimate awe, reverence, reflection, and anticipation that humankind had ever experienced as God Himself entered the world in human form – a crying child.

This Christmas, let us not be without praise even if we can somehow be without the usual noise and commotion – within the silent night, let us declare a godly silence as the true act of worship at the revelation of He who is worthy of it all.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 King James Version

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

1. Silent night, holy night,
all is calm, all is bright
round yon virgin
mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.

2. Silent night, holy night,
shepherds quake at the sight;
glories stream from heaven afar,
heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

3. Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
radiant beams from thy holy face
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

4. Silent night, holy night,
wondrous star, lend thy light;
with the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Text: Joseph Mohr, 1792-1848; trans. by John F. Young, 1820-1885 (sts 1, 2, 3) and anon. (st 4)

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Advent Reflection: Something Truly Wonderful Happens When Your Heart Grows Three Sizes! Ezekiel 36:24-28

Ezekiel 36:26-28 The Message

^24-28“‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Our passage from Ezekiel speaks comforting words.

Here the Sovereign Lord promises to use his people to declare his holiness among the nations.

But the question is: were the people of Israel up to this most difficult task?

Already in Egypt we have seen their repeated hesitation to follow God.

They grumbled and complained, twisting and turning against God’s will, refusing to trust him.

And then once they established their home in the promised land, their disobedience spiraled out of control – read the book of Judges.

We these words for ourselves and we wonder if it was even going to be possible for the people of Israel, on their own, reveal the holiness, righteousness of God.

And TBT, the sad fact was that it was completely impossible for them to do so.

But in this passage, as well as others sprinkled throughout Ezekiel and the other prophets, we will find God’s own promise to bolster the hearts, minds, and wills of his people by putting His Spirit in them.

He promises to cleanse them from their impurities and give them a new heart.

To take hearts of the hardest stone and create in them a heart of flesh for God.

God himself, through the Holy Spirit, makes his people a witness to the nations.

Just as the people of ancient Israel fell short in following God, so each one of us struggles to be holy – our hearts are no less than theirs – made of hardest rock.

When a Child Smiles Your Heart Grows Three Sizes

In Dr. Seuss’s classic Christmas tale, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch suffers from having a small heart.

The source of his heart problem is his severely negative outlook on life, an absence of feeling joy clear, a lack of understanding the meaning of Christmas.

Only the very most negative feelings give him the greatest satisfactions in life.

Anything that might bring even 1% joy or happiness is to be immediately gone.

As the story goes, the Grinch tries to put a stop to Christmas, but in the end, as a little child smiles at him, he comes to understand what Christmas is all about, his heart grows three sizes! This heart change makes a big difference in his life.

I’m not very sure what Dr. Seuss’ intentions were when he wrote the story back in 1957, it was a few years before I was born, but it certainly comes across as a Christian parable to me that parallels the change that takes place in a person’s life when he or she comes to understand the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Immanuel, God’s only Son, was born to save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

Matthew 1:20-23 The Message

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

When the light of the Good News of Jesus dawns upon the heart of a person, God replaces the heart of stone, with a new, fleshy heart – a new person emerges.

As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“Welcome Christmas – While we stand – Heart to heart – And hand in hand.”

It might just make all the difference in the world.

Holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in;
Be born in us today!

We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
(from O Little Town of Bethlehem)

We celebrate the real meaning of Christmas because of the power Jesus brought to change our hearts-the power of a child to smile at us, to melt our cold hearts.

Going Deeper with God and your families, your friends, your neighbors too:

Give an example of a time when you changed your mind about something.
How did the words or actions of others influence your change of heart?
Towards the end of the story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” what happened that caused the Grinch to change his mind about Christmas? What lessons might we learn from the story?
How has understanding the true meaning of Christmas made a difference in your life?

Even more Quality Family Time:

Gather your family together and watch the classic half-hour Christmas cartoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Then, using the content above, pick up your bibles and lead your family in a devotional discussion about how Jesus has the power to change our hearts.

Pray the Spirit into your family time,

Emmanuel

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
His name is called Emmanuel
God with us, revealed in us
His name is called Emmanuel
We love Him so, we love Him so,
His name is called Emmanuel

Author(s): Bob McGee

1976 C.A. Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Call on the Holy Spirit today and ask Him to fill you, your family, friends and neighbors’ hearts so that you can be holy and reflect his holiness in his world.

He will turn hearts of hardest stone into a heart of truest love and goodness.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, I thank you for all you’ve done for me. I just pray that you would change me, oh God. Please guide my heart, from stone to flesh, and help me to grow into the person you want me to be. Rather than me following my own ways, please purify my heart and make me more like you. Please guide my path and help me take steps that will guide me toward your plan for my life and not my own whims. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

https://translate.google.com/

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Psalm 119:17-24 New King James Version

ג GIMEL

A Resolution, A Task That Is Always Left Unfinished.

Matthew 28:16-20 New King James Version

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ה HE

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Mark 8:34-38 New King James Version

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Mark 8:34-38 The Message

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Psalm 90 New King James Version

BOOK FOUR

Psalms 90–106

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Psalm 90 The Message

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1 Timothy 6:6-8 New King James Version

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1 Timothy 6:6-8 The Message

Philippians 1:19-26 New King James Version

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Psalm 27:1-9 New King James Version

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Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

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Luke 2:8-20 GOD’S WORD Translation

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Luke 2:1-7 English Standard Version

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Against What We May Call “Silent Night Holy Night”

STARTLING SILENCE