Tag: Living as God Lives

“A Sermon in Shoes.” Aligning Our NEW New Year’s Resolutions With The Bible. Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14The Message

The Final Word

9-10 Besides being wise himself, the Quester also taught others knowledge. He weighed, examined, and arranged many proverbs. The Quester did his best to find the right words and write the plain truth.

11 The words of the wise prod us to live well.
They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together.
They are given by God, the one Shepherd.

12-13 But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else. The last and final word is this:

Fear God.
Do what he tells you.

14 And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 TO ONE, TO ALL!

Last year at this time, most of us were making promises to ourselves saying;

“This year, things are going to be different!

“I do not know what needs too change, but I’m definitely going to change it!”

I’m going to be a better spouse.

I’m going to be a better Parent or Grand Parent.

I’m going to spend more time with my family.

I’m going to be a better neighbor.

I’m going to spend more time reading my Bible.

More time loving God.

More time praying to God.

More time loving others besides myself.

More time serving others besides myself.

More money in my tithing.

This is the year I get my ducks in a row!”

Just by a simple show of hands, (remember we are operating on an honor system – God is watching!) who has stuck to their new years resolutions?

You know what they say about New Year’s resolutions?

They usually go in like a lion the new year and out like a lamb on the other!

Here is a link to a recent article of the most popular Resolutions for Year 2023:

https://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2022/12/28/americans-new-years-resolutions-2023-poll

How do your own personal 2023 resolutions stack up against the articles?

Surprised or Nor Surprised?

On your highest honor as a Baptized Christian ….

Remember – God is watching you and is right now definitely reading your soul!

A new year gives us an opportunity to start fresh and better ourselves.

Come the middle of January (or sooner) we somehow forget our resolutions and go marching straight as an arrow right back into our old barely flexible ways.

It is so easy to forget the commitments and resolutions we make at New Year’s.

This is quite literally the the very first day – the 1st Sunday of the New Year.

We’re going to begin by hitting the ground with both feet in perpetual motion.

January 1st of any year is a popular time for humanity to reset habits and goals.

It’s important for us to align our New Year’s resolutions with the Bible, but for us mommas, or you daddy’s we often use this as a time to think about all of the things we want to change about our self image, our parenting, our marriage.

We then take this list of our self-style discontents and make goals to fix them.

After all, that’s what New Year’s resolutions are all about – bettering ourselves, our short and long term circumstances and our short and long term situations.

Your list might include some version of the following:

  • I want to be healthier and more active, maybe go to the beach more often this summer so I’ll set a weekly routine where I go to the gym three times a week.
  • I want to be skinnier and lose 20 pounds, so I’ll stop eating desserts every day.
  • I want to be little more patient with myself, my spouse my kids, my co-workers, my boss or supervisor at my job so I’m going to work on effective communication skills.
  • I want a more family household income, so I’m going to work towards a promotion or find a new client or find a way to become self-employed and to work from home.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with setting goals and wanting to better yourself and move your family forward.

But as women and men who are striving to center ourselves around the gospel, we need to tread cautiously.

It’s important to know how to align our New Year’s resolutions with the Bible.

  • Are your goals aligned with God’s Word?
  • Are your motivations coming from a heart focused on things above or set on worldly things?
  • Are you focused too much on the one or two areas that YOU think need improvement while ignoring what God is trying to show or teach you?
  • What do your New Year’s resolutions directly or indirectly teach your children?
HOW TO ALIGN YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS WITH THE BIBLE

As you sit down to write your New Year’s Resolutions this year, consider these 6 questions and scriptures to align your goals with God’s Word.

1. DO YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS GIVE GOD THE GLORY?

Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your faithful love, because of your truth. Psalm 115:1 (CSB)

Everything we do first and foremost needs to give God every ounce of glory.

Every decision. Every action. Every breath.

Can you continue to give God glory while working towards your New Year’s resolution?

Will the result of achieving your goals give God glory, or take away from it?

2. DOES YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION HONOR YOUR BODY, A TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

I’m going to dive a little deeper into this one because men and women tend to put a lot of downward pressure on themselves with this particular topic.

If you have a New Year’s resolution that is about your body, whether it’s losing weight or dressing yourself in a new wardrobe, quitting smoking, or dying your hair, looking like an Olympic weight lifter -ask self – is it giving God glory?

Bottom line: It’s God-honoring to want your body to be healthy.

It’s worldly to want our bodies to look a certain way just because someone else says it should. Set resolutions that produce a healthy body and a content heart.

3. CAN YOU COMPLETE YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION AND KEEP GOD FIRST IN YOUR LIFE?

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:31-33 (NIV)

It’s good to be diligent about reaching our goals, but nothing should ever take priority over our relationship and obedience to God.

Don’t push God to the back burner while you’re working on your New Year’s resolutions.

Achieving your New Year’s resolutions will never fulfill you like God will.

4. IS YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION BUILDING ETERNAL VALUE?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:19-24 (NIV)

Making money isn’t a bad thing.

Striving to “store up treasures on earth” instead of treasures in heaven is the issue.

Verse 21 is key here. It’s easy to figure out where your heart is – the things you hold most dear point straight to it.

Is money (or something that money can buy) taking a hold on your heart?

Is your New Year’s Resolution revealing a heart issue or building eternal value in Christ’s kingdom?

5. IS YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION GOING TO BE A SOURCE OF ANXIETY FOR YOU?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

If you are going to be worrying about your progress and obsessing over your past history of successes or failures in achieving any previous resolutions, it’s probably not a very good or very realistic goal for you.

God calls us to put our anxieties on him, through prayer, not squarely upon us, we can resolve to live square in His peace which transcends all understanding.

Why would we want to put anything unrealistic between us, that kind of peace?

6. HAVE YOU PRAYED ABOUT YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION?

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (CSB)

Prayer is God’s way of communicating directly to us.

Pray before, during, and after writing your New Year’s Resolutions asking God to reveal to you any issues with your goals.

Before tackling them, pray about the best way to work towards them.

Ground yourself in the Word of God in fervent prayer.

Then get started!

Ecclesiastes 12:9-11New Living Translation

9 Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. 10 The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.[a]

11 The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd[b] drives the sheep.

True resolutions are supposed to point the way home to God.

But some choose to believe that getting lost in their self-image is the aim of spirituality: forget that you exist, that the world exists, that good and evil exist.

Just shed these illusions, immerse your self image into the image of God which God gifted exclusive to you as He knitted and weaved you together before birth.

dissolve yourself in the divine ocean like a grain of salt.

Many people today want to either “get high” on God, or “get high” on self, in a big noisy “in” crowd, with big lights and music, in an experience as popular, as mesmerizing as, the effects of an injection of a powerful psychedelics’ drug.

God calls us to be devoted to his Word and to follow the example of Jesus, taking up the cross of kingdom service.

Being resolved to Being found in Savior Jesus Christ is what perfects human life.

When we are found in Christ, we come to terms with his death as well as our own. Christ’s wisdom grounds us like embedded nails, helping us to make peace with our frailties even when we are young and we feel immortal.

In Christ, we also find life to the fullest— with freedom from fear, shame, and soul-crushing perplexities.

Life becomes a meaningful adventure, a race, a journey filled with awareness of God’s love for us all.

Citizens of Heaven or Denizens of the World

Philippians 3:20-21The Message

20-21 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

C.S. Lewis observed that if you aim to be successful only on earth, you may never get to heaven even as the things of earth slip away.

But if you aim for the things of heaven, not only will the Lord graciously bring you there; Jehovah will also make your life on earth something wonderful.

So if you aim only for the self-images born of life on this earth, you get nothing.

But if you aim for heaven, you get everything—Abundant life to the Maximum.

This is Paul’s point too as he rounds out Philippians 3.

We all are citizens of one country or another here on earth.

But believers in Christ have a far more important status as citizens of heaven.

God Resolved: All of our identity falls into line under our heavenly citizenship.

Paul pointed this out for the Philippians because then—and now—there are all kinds of ­influences distracting us from giving God’s kingdom first place in our New Years Resolutions and in sum total, our hearts, our souls and our lives.

We receive messages like this every day: live for the moment, go for the gusto, do whatever feels right, look out for number one – that being our self-image.

All this, Paul claims, makes people enemies of the cross.

It all amounts to self-centered living and reflects none of Christ’s selflessness.

But if we live “created in the image of God” as Christ’s people, then one day we will be made like Jesus, ­arrayed in all the glory and majesty of God’s kingdom!

ULTIMATE RESOLUTION FOR THE YEAR 2023 – FULLY RELY UPON GOD, THE FATHER, AND GOD THE SON AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

Your ONLY Resolution for This Coming New Year

9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other. John 15:9-17 NLT

Would you or I resolve to totally depend upon Jesus Christ?

I mean totally depend upon Him?

Here’s the way you can tell—are you resting in Him today?

I reflected much on that vain desire, which had pursued me for so many years, of being in solitude in order to be a Christian. I have now, thought I, solitude enough; but am I therefore the nearer being a Christian? Not if Jesus Christ be the model of Christianity. Reverend John Wesley, Founder of Methodism

You see, when you are totally committed to Jesus Christ, you rest in Him. You realize that for your every need, it is necessary for Him to supply all of it.

Have you ever looked at a branch? It has no other source of life than the vine.

If you asked that branch, “What’s your secret for your healthy leaves and fruit?” the branch would answer, “My secret is that I’m resting in the vine.”

“But what about your needs?” you ask.

“I know I have needs, but that’s not my responsibility.

My resolution, My ONLY Resolution, is to rest in the vine’s ability to provide.

I don’t produce the fruit. I just bear it.”

Are you resting in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ today and all tomorrows?

Will you choose to rest in Him for the next 365?

Obey His Commandments?

Remain in His Love?

Be Filled with HIS Joy?

Be Filled to Overflowing?

Love one another as Jesus FIRST loved Us?

Make a Friend?

Be a Friend?

Bring a Friend to Christ?

Choose God, the Father?

Choose God the Son?

Choose God the Holy Spirit?

Choose Ministry and Mission, Mercy and Service unto your neighbors?

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. Reverend John Wesley, Founder of Methodism

John 13:34-35 Amplified Bible

34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you [a]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”

I remembered that there’s an old song with the words ….

“Do you know, O Christian, You Are A Sermon in Shoes?”

These words have stuck with me as a powerful illustration for life.

Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?
Do you know, Oh Christian, you’re a sermon in shoes?
Jesus calls upon you, to spread the gospel news,
(1) So walk it, and talk it, a sermon in shoes.
(2) Live it, and give it, a sermon in shoes.
(3) Teach it, and preach it, a sermon in shoes.
(4) Know it, and show it, a sermon shoes.
(Ruth Harms Calkin)

The children’s song is a reminder that where ever a Christian walks, or talks he or she is expected to share the Gospel news to others.

Whether it be by one’s actions, attitudes, or personal testimony, by their own Baptism, Life in Christ, every single Christian is always “a sermon in shoes.”

It goes along with something that American evangelist Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) once said:

“Unquestionably, The preaching that this world needs the most is the sermons in shoes that are walking with Savior Jesus Christ.”

Throughout my years as a pastor, I worked diligently to deliver sermons that help people hear God’s Word, but what about showing myself to be a sermon?

Through my longer years trying to be a “good Christian” I have often been told that I may be the ONLY Gospel anyone ever reads or tries to model their life by.

That is an enormous responsibility to be 100% accountable to God for!

When Jesus taught, “I am the true vine,” he made clear that all the work of fruit bearing was to the glory of God, his Father.

As Jesus’ followers, we are called to bear fruit for God’s glory also.

This means showing that we are Jesus’ followers, connected to him by the promised Holy Spirit.

And by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, we will “bear much fruit.”

This fruit bearing takes shape in a variety of ways.

However, it is always motivated by our friendship and our love for our Lord.

Be it, therefore, Resolved – My Only Resolution for the Year of Our Lord 2023;

To Fully Rely on God who is always and forever will be: NUMBER ONE!

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

Let us Pray,

We Pray… 
For healing…prepare us for surprises.
For strength…prepare us for surprises.
For vision…prepare us for surprises.
For transformation…prepare us for surprises.
For messengers and messenges…prepare us for surprises.
For community…prepare us for surprises.
For acceptance – of ourselves and others…prepare us for surprises.
For making room at our tables…prepare us for surprises.
For Truth-seeking…prepare us for surprises.
For support…prepare us for surprises.
For Common Ground…prepare us for surprises. 

Be it therefore Resolved ….

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be ….

In our Homes, Families, Neighbors, Neighborhoods, our Work across the Globe ….

Upon the Oceans and the Seas, Upon Continents, in Worlds Without End ….

Walk beside us, O Holy One,
as we question and welcome,
as we challenge and invite,
as we discover and understand,
as we see, touch, taste, smell, and listen for the Newness awaiting us in 2023.

May we, Your Beloved Children, Your Body, walk forward together side by side.

Glory Be to The Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ….

Adeste Fidelis, Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Confident Expectations! The Songs of Christmas: The Servant Songs and the Greatest Service of All. Isaiah 49:1-13

Isaiah 49:1-13Amplified Bible

Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth

49 Listen to [a]Me, O islands and coastlands,
And pay attention, you peoples from far away.
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the body of My mother He has named Me.
2 
He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
In the shadow of His hand He has kept Me hidden;
And He has made Me a sharpened arrow,
In His quiver He has hidden Me.
3 
And [the Lord] said to Me, “You are My [b]Servant, Israel,
In Whom I will show My glory.”
4 
Then I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity (pride, uselessness);
However My justice is with the Lord,
And My reward is with My God.”

5 
And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him,
—For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God is My strength—
6 
He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the [c]survivors of Israel;
I will also make You a light to the nations
That My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 
This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,
To the thoroughly despised One,
To the One hated by the nation
To the Servant of rulers,
“[d]Kings will see and arise,
Princes shall also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

8 
This is what the Lord says,
“In a [e]favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people,
To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands,
9 
Saying to those who are bound and captured, ‘Go forth,’
And to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, ‘Show yourselves [come into the light of the Savior].’
They will feed along the roads [on which they travel],
And their pastures will be on all the bare heights.
10 
“They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them,
And He will guide them to springs of water.
11 
“And I will make all My mountains a roadway,
And My highways will be raised.
12 
“In fact, these will come from far away;
And, lo, these shall come from the north and from the west,
And these from the land of [f]Aswan (southern Egypt).”
13 
Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
And break forth into singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
And will have compassion on His afflicted.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

I am impressed by good service.

Good service at a restaurant I eat at, good service by the plumber who fixes the plumbing in house when I need it – day and night, good service from teachers in our schools where children are educated, Service from all of First Responders in times of need when we require protection, emergency medical and health care.

Whenever, Wherever it may be, if I receive good service I am impressed by it.

I am very impressed because good service surpasses my expectations for not just the everyday, give-and-take interaction, but also those life saving ones.

In difficult situations or making critical choices, we are often told to trust God.

Trust is necessary to have a relationship with Him.

If you can’t trust God, you aren’t going to willingly obey His calling on your life.

Every time we worry about something, it is showing a lack of trust in God.

Every time we try to take a situation into our own hands, it shows a lack of trust.

Every time we question what God is calling us to do, it shows a lack of trust.

So, what does it mean to constantly, and confidently, expectantly trust in God?

When you take the word back to its origins, we find that one of the earliest uses of Trust was to express “confident expectation” of someone.

That is what it means to trust God: to have confident expectations of what He is going to do.

We are confident in who He is and what He can do, and we are expectant of His working.

The power of that phrase has the ability to strengthen our faith and deepen our relationship with God.

What if we faced every difficult situation and critical decision by saying,

“I have continuously confident expectations of what God is going to do.”

The power of that sentence is palpable and tangible.

So how do we apply this?

How do we act in confident expectation?

To go back to the origin, four words round out our understanding of Trust: help, confidence, protection, and support.

If you trust someone, you believe that that person is going to help you when you are in need or in danger.

Proverbs 3:5-8Amplified Bible

5 
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 
[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
7 
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
8 
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

When you trust in the Lord, He will help you.

He will direct your paths and guide you.

It will be health to your body – and refreshment to your bones ….

To trust in the Lord is to acknowledge His ability to help and to seek His help.

Trust brings with it a sense of confidence in the person.

Isaiah 12:2 expresses this by saying,

“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For YAH, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”

There is the expectation of confidence in God’s strength and His salvation.

When we are confident in God’s power, we are no longer afraid—we are bold.  

There is an assurance of protection in trust.

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us,” states Psalm 62:8.

He is a sure and certain refuge.

He protects us, we feel confident in that protection when our trust is in Him.

There is support in trust because you believe that the person is going to be there for you and they will be with you the whole time.

When you think of support, you think of the environment or people around you—that which is going to sustain you.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 illustrates what this support from God looks like. It says,

7 
“Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord
And whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord.
8 
“For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters,
That spreads out its roots by the river;
And will not fear the heat when it comes;
But its leaves will be green and moist.
And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought
Nor stop bearing fruit.

When a tree is planted by water, it has the support of the water to thrive.

That is what it is like for us when we confidently, expectantly trust in God—we have the confident expectation of maximum support from Him that we need.

Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, founder of Methodism wrote the Advent Hymn titled “Come, Thou Long – Expected Jesus.”

It is pretty much sung at some point during each and every Advent Season.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

1. Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

2. Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

The first verse speaks to the repeatedly expressed, confident expectations, of the Prophets of the Hebrew Testament that at some God Appointed time – a Messiah would come to be born on earth – to ultimately console, restore Israel.

The 2nd verse speaks to that moment having actually occurred, we hear in the background – a confident chorus of those ancient Prophets singing: Alleluia!

At Christmas each year we read and hear the Gospel story of Jesus’ birth.

For those of us who have been involved in church, planning church worship, walking the Christian life for some time, we can take this story for granted.

Instead of being impressed by the actual “long expected coming” of the truths of Immanuel’s incarnation, we often become blasé and apathetic to the season.

Yet, as I daily delve into scripture in greater depth, I become more and more impressed at how God’s handiwork throughout the Old Testament speaks into the birth of Jesus. And lately, for me, this has come from the book of Isaiah.

Miraculously, we read that seven to eight hundred years prior to the birth of Jesus, we read the prophecies and teaching of God through the person of Isaiah.

He speaks to the leaders of God’s people with admonishment and judgement upon their rebellion toward God, but also (like all Hebrew Testament prophets) Isaiah provides a growing sense of confidence, promises of hope for the future.

Through what is known as four ‘Servant Songs’ (Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-13; 50:4-9; 52:13-52:12), God’s message through the long expectant, long confident Isaiah, depicts a person who will absolutely, definitely come to serve the people of God.

This person will come from within Israel, and is to serve them as one who has been called and consecrated by the Lord. Through this ‘Servant of the Lord,’ there will come restoration, consolation, hope, and salvation for God’s people.

Isaiah 49:5-6Amplified Bible

5 
And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him,
—For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God is My strength—
6 
He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the [a]survivors of Israel;
I will also make You a light to the nations
That My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah’s words confidently, expectantly speak of how the Lord will form this servant from the womb, will provide him with strength to unite God’s people.

The Lord then seems to be speaking to this servant directly when he says,

 “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (See also Isaiah 50:10; 52:13; 53:11).

Through what we could call this ‘Servant-King’, God will enact his mission in reconciling the world to himself once again.

No longer will God’s people be ruled by inept human leaders, but will be governed by a selfless, humble, and perfect Servant-King.

And this Servant-King, as we understand from the New Testament, is Jesus, is Immanuel, God with, within us, the birth of whom we celebrate each Christmas.

As we come together, as believers and non-believers in our worship services, and as we sing “Come All Ye Faithful” and “we sing Silent Night, Holy Night,”

Celebrating Jesus, celebrating Immanuel, God With Us and Within Us, this Christmas it is 100% worth considering at least 1 of these four Servant Songs,

because through them we find how important they are for understanding the incarnation event.

These Servant Songs – written several centuries before Jesus’ birth – reveal just how confidently, expectantly, specifically the prophetic scriptures speaks to the undeniable truth of who the expected “soon to arrive” Messiah would truly be.

In Isaiah 42:1-4 it reads:

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.

These words of Isaiah give us insight into the Servant-King.

We are told of what this person will do and what he won’t do.

This prophecy speaks to the heart of who Jesus is and why he has been sent.

Here are words which bring maturing confidence and expectation, hope and encouragement to the people of God, both at the time of writing and today.

Through these four verses we begin to prophetically envision a picture of the character and mission of the absolutely expected coming Servant-King Jesus.

This coming Servant-King:

  • is a specific person chosen and upheld by the Lord (verse 1)
  • is one who is delighted in by the Lord (verse 1)
  • will have the Spirit of God upon them (verse 1)
  • will bring justice to the nations and peoples of the world (verse 1)
  • will not cry aloud and lift his voice in the streets (verse 2)
  • will not break people, abuse them, or squash them (verse 3)
  • will not tire nor be discouraged from pursuing his mission (verse 4)

And when we read these, knowing our New Testament scriptures, we find that Jesus meets each aspect of this criteria.

Jesus was chosen, upheld, and delighted in by God.

He had the Spirit upon him, and has come to be the perfect just judge.

Through his ministry he worked in humility and with patience, seeking to serve, to be kind and compassionate, and tender toward others.

And finally, he did not grow discouraged or stop the work he was called to do, not even unto the point of death.

Seven hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words, they find fulfillment through the Servant-King Jesus.

Through his birth Jesus comes as the great justice-giver.

Jesus comes to bring justice to the nations, establish justice upon the earth.

Jesus achieves these words of justice through his life and ministry, ultimately turning that justice upon himself, making himself the conduit of justice by taking upon Himself the maximum measure of all of the sins of the world.

Through the cross Jesus achieves and establishes justice for the nations, and for us personally.

He serves as the Servant-King,

reminding us of the words of

Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The faithfulness of God’s Words ….

The confidence, expectations of the ancient Prophets God will absolutely COME!

The courage of the ancient Prophets to write these expectations down, not just for their coming generations of readers to remain hopeful, but for our very own coming generations too!

The confidence, the faithfulness of God’s Prophets in their Obedience to the Will of God for their times and trials and tribulations, seasons of their lives ;

But, ultimately, it comes down to ….

The faithfulness of God toward his people,

the confident delivery of true restoration,

the long expected provision of hope for the future,

and the eternal salvation for souls finds culmination at the cross.

Jesus, the Servant-King, provides us with the greatest service.

And this Christmas Eve, as we turn our hearts and souls toward the celebration of his birth may we be wonderfully expectant, impressed, strengthened in faith, and humbled through His grace, because of God’s Words through his Prophets.

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

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your perfect plan of redemption and that by grace, You formed the Lord Jesus from the womb to be Israel’s suffering Servant and eternal King. Thank You for the lives of Your Prophets, for their words spoken and written for their people and for us, through their complete obedience to Your Will. It is only by their confidence in You, by the surest certainty, the surest expectations of Your future actions in the lives of coming generations, we have these Servant Songs. Thank You for fulfilling these ancient prophetic words, Thank You that You chose to reveal that fulfillment through the songs of the Shepherds, Mary and Joseph, Zacharias and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna. Thank You that You chose me to be part of that ancient chorus, through the Body of Christ, so that in Him we might show forth the praises of Immanuel, Him Who came to us, called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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“It is truly ALL Within all our Doing!” Zachariah’s Testimony of Faith. The Story Before the Story! Luke 1:5-17

Luke 1:5-17The Message

A Childless Couple Conceives

5-7 During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.

8-12 It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the shift assigned to his regiment, it came his one turn in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense. Zachariah was paralyzed in fear.

13-15 But the angel reassured him, “Don’t fear, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you—many will delight in his birth. He’ll achieve great stature with God.

15-17 “He’ll drink neither wine nor beer. He’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother’s womb. He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics—he’ll get the people ready for God.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Every story has a preface – it is what needs to be said before diving in.

It often sets the stage, the tone, for the masterpiece ready to unfold.

Sometimes it is direct author commentary, and many times it explains the story before the story –

as famed Radio Broadcaster, Commentator the late Paul Harvey might say;

“There Will Always be a Story before the Rest of the Story.”

Luke 1:1-4The Message

1 1-4 So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught.

Narrator Luke begins his Gospel, lays the foundation for why he is writing this letter to Theophilus, he shares with us an amazing moment in history.

So that we can know “beyond the shadow of doubt” the truth of the stories we have read, been told, our whole lives, the reliability of what we were all taught.

To that much desired end, Luke introduces us to a righteous priest named Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth. We are told that they are obedient to God’s law, and have grown old, past the years they could have had any children.

Zachariah, a priest in the line of Aaron, happens to be on his regular rotation duty at the temple in Jerusalem, and is “set apart” chosen as the priest to enter and burn incense before the Lord – this is his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

This would be the one and only time Zechariah would enter the Holy Place.

What a responsibility and privilege! As he enters, he brings the incense, representing the prayers of God’s people, before the presence of the Lord.

Zechariah also brings his own prayer, the desires and longings of his heart.

This is incredibly refreshing to me.

When approaching the throne room of God, Zachariah is honest.

He quietly tells God what is really on his mind and in his heart.

Too often, when we are in church and given an opportunity to share a prayer request, we first default to sharing other people’s troubles and not our own.

We don’t come right out and shriek that we struggled with reading God’s Word this week, or that we messed it up as parents or as human beings that morning, or we desperately need God to show up in the midst of a shredded relationship.

Even in our own private time, when we are supposed to be communing with God alone, we first give a glossed over report so we can make things quick and easy.

Why is that?

Why are we afraid to spend the time to be real, to be broken and raw, why are we so timid about unleashing all of ourselves before the One God we know loves us?

It’s exhausting being “all clammed up, neat-and-tidy, its all okay” Christians.

In Luke’s Narrative, Zachariah is clammed up, he offers no prayers for himself.

Maybe Zechariah was tired, long the righteous man before God, but where were the expected “abundant rewards” and “heavens open floodgate of blessings?”

Zacharias had no children to pass his priestly knowledge and experience to.

There was no hope of any coming generations to further his family lineage.

He loved and served the Lord his God with everything he had for many years.

He loved his wife Elizabeth with the same fervor he loved and served His God.

In this hushed place where few people ever enter, Zechariah cannot help but share his burdens when he has been charged with interceding for his people.

God’s answer for Zachariah’s faith – breaks the 400-year silence of heaven.

Luke 1:13-17 The Message

13-15 But the angel reassured him, “Don’t fear, Zachariah. Your prayer has been heard. Elizabeth, your wife, will bear a son by you. You are to name him John. You’re going to leap like a gazelle for joy, and not only you—many will delight in his birth. He’ll achieve great stature with God.

15-17 “He’ll drink neither wine nor beer. He’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment he leaves his mother’s womb. He will turn many sons and daughters of Israel back to their God. He will herald God’s arrival in the style and strength of Elijah, soften the hearts of parents to children, and kindle devout understanding among hardened skeptics—he’ll get the people ready for God.”

A son…with the spirit and power, style and strength of faith of the great Elijah the Prophet….heralding….preparing the people for the coming of the Lord…

Emmanuel, God with us, God within us, the promised Messiah, is coming soon.

And, Zechariah’s son will lead the way, pointing the Jews back to their long-awaited Savior – softening the hearts of parents to children. kindling devout understanding among even the very hardest, harshest of scorners and skeptics.

God raised up Elijah during a dark time in Israel’s history, where their most evil king prevailed to lead the people’s hearts to betray the God who loved them.

God gave Elijah the gift of fervent, powerful, intercessory prayer (James 5:17-18)

Elijah obeyed God’s plan and stood up, alone, to face those idol-worshippers on Mount Carmel. He called down fire from heaven, and God demonstrated His great power, proving He was God, and the people turned back to their Sustainer.

However, Elijah was also threatened, became fervently scared and ran away to the very deepest wilderness, to the mountain of God, seeking direction, help.

God sent His ravens to feed Elijah when Elijah had 100% given up on himself.

God Himself miraculously answered, comforted him and gave him instructions.

All of this will come to life in new ways as Zachariah’s coming John “will turn many Israelites back to the Lord their God, back to a devout understanding!”

But long years of personal doubt, of severe questioning, of God, had dulled his faith, had made Zacharias cynical and critical of himself and critical of God.

He openly questioned the angels words of prophecy – threw them back into the angels face – probably with not so much as even a respectful glance upward.

The angel responded and disciplined Zachariah for his actions towards him.

Zechariah can’t speak when he leaves the temple because he doubted God’s word, he will not be able to say a word until he sees with his own eyes the birth of his son, until he hears the baby’s cry and holds his son in his own hands.

Now, he has a little more than nine-months to quietly meditate on the angel Gabriel’s words, to “to talk and to walk back” his own behaviors and actions.

The story before the story is about to collide with the One who wrote them all.

God caught Zechariah in the fulfillment of divine promises — fulfillment that occurred with the coming of the Messiah. God had chosen Zechariah, along with his wife Elizabeth, to play crucial roles in God’s great coming story of His grace.

Zechariah experienced the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a priest to burn incense [1] at the great Temple in Jerusalem.

While performing his duties, a heavenly messenger visited him and revealed that he and his aged and barren wife Elizabeth, like Abraham and Sarah would have a son and that son would bless many, would lead many to their Messiah.

Despite being well past the age to have children!

Zacharias had a significant story to tell that would reverberate over all history!

God was answering their prayer.

The messenger told Zechariah to name their son, John. He obeyed, and God used Zechariah’s “simple” testimony of faith, obedience to bless the world.

Zacharias gets only the briefest of mentions in the pages of holy scripture.

But, his story transcends the ignominy of that very briefest of mentions ….

His lonely, quiet and much reserved story now transcends generations ….

Adds enormously, magnificently to that “great cloud of witnesses” who have come before this generation, live now in this generation, born into future ones.

Zacharias’ story becomes a great lesson for anyone of our own faith journey’s.

As but the briefest of testimonies to turn our hearts back to God’s, provide for us that great Holy Spirit opportunity to gain more understanding of God’s plan.

In this Christmas season, indeed in all coming seasons, We have a story too!

A God favored, indescribably prized and abundantly valued story to tell to our family, friends, and co-workers, our neighbors in God’s own neighborhood,

God, our Father Matters!

Immanuel, God with us and Within us Matters!

God, the Holy Spirit, our Intercessor, Matters!

We have our Doubts and those Doubts Matter to God, our Father!

We have our faith, steadfast or wavering or absent, and that Faith matters!

We have our fellowship, Koinonia, with God, our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

That fellowship, that connection, that Koinonia, absolutely matters to God!

Our faith or absence thereof in that Koinonia, absolutely matters to our God!

Become more humble and more devout in our praise, prayers, our worship, of the One who abundantly blessed, who’s coming again to take us unto Himself.

Become more aware of, to acknowledge, to recognize, to act upon the relevance and significance, the great privilege, and greater responsibility of our humble role as the Body of Christ, God’s accountable church ministering into the world.

Faith of our fathers, living still,
in spite of dungeon, fire, and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy
whene’er we hear that glorious word!
Refrain:
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.

2. Faith of our fathers, we will strive
to win all nations unto thee;
and through the truth that comes from God,
we all shall then be truly free.
(Refrain)

3. Faith of our fathers, we will love
both friend and foe in all our strife;
and preach thee, too, as love knows how
by kindly words and virtuous life.
(Refrain)

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 113English Standard Version

Who Is like the Lord Our God?

113 Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
    praise the name of the Lord!

2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised!

4 The Lord is high above all nations,
    and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
    who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
    on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
    making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

Father, my Creator, Perfecter of Faith and faithfulness, please accept my meek efforts at learning and living obedience, including in the little, clear, and simple things, as an offering of my love to you. Grant me such grace as I can handle in the moments of my doubts and failures, to turn back to such testimonies as Zacharias’, to become more devout, more understanding. Take that and my obedience and bring glory to your name and a blessing to your people whether others know of my part in your plan or not. In Jesus’ name, to his glory, I offer you this humble prayer and my life. Adeste Fidelis! Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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An Indescribable Joy, An Undeniable Presence: We Were Made to Reflect the Glory of the Lord! Created in the Image of God to Shine Forth! Exodus 40:34-38

Exodus 40:34-38Amplified Bible

The Glory of the Lord

34 Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God’s visible, dwelling presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained on it, and the glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey on until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

“I just want to give all the glory to God.”

We’ve all heard athletes and artists on T.V. who have made this statement.

After winning a championship, or a Grammy, they point it all back to God.

Their words are correct but what does that mean?

At the end of the day, we are either living for God’s glory or for our glory.

We are either building God’s kingdom or building our own kingdom.

Making Jesus famous or living to make ourselves famous.

Our goal as Christians should be to make Jesus famous.

Living for God’s glory simply means living for Jesus and inviting Jesus into every area of our lives.

This means that our aim should be to please God in all we say and do.

It is this posture and attitude of praise and worship which brings God glory.  

We go to church and we bring the weight and the burden and the glory of all the stuff which occurred during the week prior – all of our personal stuff, all of our family stuff, all of our children’s stuff, all of our work stuff and after worship we hope to leave church with a significantly less burdened shoulder and soul.

We have all had experiences where we have left church on Sunday or a worship retreat or Bible study of some kind, felt the presence of God as we worshiped Him – a wonderful experience and we did not ever want that feeling to end.

But yet, how long does it take until we fall back into sin or go back to living like before – our shoulders are burdened again, our backs and souls are bent over?

Usually not too long – Monday morning – thirty seconds before our first coffee.

If the presence of God was visibly and tangibly around us before that first cup, and again all day, every day, do we think we’d fall into the same trap of sin?

By the time we walked out the door of our house and to our vehicles to start the day, we were reflecting the glory of that first cup of coffee and not that of God?

Before you’re too quick to answer, let’s look at the cloud of the Lord and Israel.

The Bible tells us that throughout all of Israel’s journeys, the glory of God’s presence was continually with them – in quite a remarkably tangible way.

They could see His glory in the cloud that filled the tabernacle by day and fire was on it by night.

From the moment they left Egypt all the way through the books of the prophets who foretold of yet another exodus out of Babylonian captivity, the Cloud of the glory of the Lord our God held both great theological meanings and functions.

It represented the following, and probably much more in their ancient context:

  • guidance and leading Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness into the promised land (Exodus 13:21; Numbers 14:14, Nehemiah 9:12; Psalm 78:14)
  • a sign that the nations was to break camp and continue their journey or to stop and set up camp (Exodus 40:36-37; Number 9:17-23)
  • protection from Pharaoh and his army (Exodus 14:19-20)
  • the personal presence of God/the angel of the Lord was among them (Exodus 13:22; Exodus 14:19, Exodus 14:24, Exodus 40:38, Numbers 9:15-16)
  • it summoned them together to battle (Numbers 10:34-35)
  • it summoned them to together to prayer, praise and worship (Exodus 33:10)
  • it both concealed God glory and was a manifestation of it (Exodus 16:10, Exodus 19:9, Exodus 19:16; Exodus 20:21, Exodus 24:15-18, Exodus 34:5, Deuteronomy 4:11, Deuteronomy 5:22)
  • provided revelation (Exodus 33:9, Psalm 99:7)
  • a dwelling place of God (Numbers 9:18, Numbers 9:22, Numbers 10:11)
  • God dwelt over the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:2)
  • a visible manifestation of God for installing the 70 elders and Joshua into service (Numbers 11:25, Deuteronomy 31:15)
  • inaugurated the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35)
  • provided shade from the sun and protection from storm (Number 10:34; Psalm 105:39, Isaiah 4:5)
  • at night it became a pillar of fire to give them light (Exodus 14:20)

Wherever they went, the cloud of the glory of the Lord their God led them.

And still, despite God’s obvious presence the nation ended up turning to idols.

As they left Egypt and met God at the mountain, they stood as a nation and said they would do what God wanted them to do – they would obey his commands.

They said that God would be their only God and they would be His people.

They said God’s glory would be their only glory and that glory would shine!

But when Moses goes to the top of the mountain for 40 days they get Aaron to make a ‘god’ – a Golden Calf – for them to serve and to pray and to worship too.

When God recognizes what is going on, He nearly removes an entire mountain in rage, Moses is left to try, convince God the people are still worthy of mercy!

Throughout the Hebrew Testament those ancient Israelites struggled mightily with idol worship – nearly all of the ancient Prophets condemned them harshly.

Bringing this into the New Testament,

Bringing this into the time of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus our Savior …

John 14:1-12New Living Translation

Jesus, the Way to the Father

14 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.[a] If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”

5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is.[c] From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

John 14:23-26New Living Translation

23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Ephesians 2:11-22New Living Translation

Oneness and Peace in Christ

11 Do not forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

A Temple for the Lord

19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20  Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

As believers, God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit dwells within us. (John 14:23)

We are His temple. (Ephesians 2:19-22)

We are carefully joined together in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Together, we the Body of Christ, are His house, built on the foundation of the Apostles, the words, deeds of the Prophets – Christ Jesus is our cornerstone!

Yet, I cannot help but wonder ….

Even in these most uncertain of times when our faith is tested every which way to Sunday by the glory of our socio-economic, socio-political shenanigans’ ….

Why should our hearts be nearly as troubled as those of the ancient Israelites?

Are we any less different than those ancient Israelites with our own idols?

Are we more or less worthy of our own condemnation for our idol worship?

If it came right down to it, if we were brutally honest with ourselves, whose glory do we reflect and shine forth- that of our idols or that of the Lord God?

If each of us walked around God’s neighborhood with the cloud of the Lord by day and fire by night as a meter for how much our lives reflected God’s glory, would there be a big cloud or a tiny one or worse yet, a totally empty blue sky?

Would the fire by night be burning bright or just a little flicker or not at all?

The glory of God isn’t just a feeling, an event or an Old Testament experience—

Its a towering spiritual tsunami of everything contained in the character of God.

The word glory is literally translated “heavy weight,” meaning the heaviest, biggest, grandest thing about someone.

It has been called the manifested presence of God, but it is far more than just a presence, it’s power.

The kind of power which redeems, resurrects, delivers, overcomes, transforms.

It is infinitely greater and infinitely stronger than any other power in existence.

And it belongs to us.

Yet, maybe you feel like the glory of God is untouchable, unreachable.

Maybe you think of the manifestation of the glory of God as something reserved for special church services or an extraordinary circumstance.

All the while, though, you long to see the power of God manifest in your life, your family, friends, communities, neighborhoods, church and your country.

But did you know that the glory of God is available to you 24/7?

It’s built-in.

That’s how God designed it—it’s how He designed you.

Because you were born of God (John 1:13), that glory is inside you right now!

All things that the Father has—including His glory—belong to you and to me.

This means His glory isn’t too far out of reach.

It’s right within your grasp!

Below are four ways you and I can tap into the glory of God by faith.

  1. Look for the Glory

“But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God.” –Acts 7:55, NKJV

If we aren’t expecting to see the glory of God, we probably won’t reach for it.

Just like anything in the kingdom of God, it takes faith to see a manifestation.

The glory of God is a visible power.

In the Hebrew Testament, the glory appeared as a cloud, smoke or fire.

This visible power is also known as Shekinah glory, which is the Hebrew name given to the presence of God dwelling on the earth.

The nation of Israel saw the glory when God came down to meet them on Mount Sinai.

Exodus 24:17 (KJV) says, “The sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount.”

The prophet Habakkuk got a glimpse of that fiery glory, too.

He described it as like the sun, blazing in the sky:

“His brightness was as the light; he had horns [or shafts] coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power” (Habakkuk 3:4, KJV).

The same glory that raised Jesus from the dead was manifested as fire by night and a cloud by day in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21).

This same glory separated Israel and the land of Goshen from the rest of Egypt when there was light in the land of Goshen, but not in Egypt (Exodus 10:23).

What was that light?

The glory.

The glory of God’s presence.

Can we see those same physical manifestations of God’s glory today?

Yes!

There are countless testimonies of individuals and groups of believers having seen visible evidence of God’s glory – up to and including both yours and mine.

  1. Pray for the Glory

“For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” –Romans 8:18, NKJV

How do you pray for the glory of God?

First, pray that the glory will be revealed to you and in you.

You and I can see and experience the glory of God, but we must diligently ask and seek for it to be revealed.

When we pray the glory into the earth, miracles, signs and wonders will occur in the Body of Christ, God’s own Church and in our own personal lives also.

When Moses saw the glory of God, he asked, saying, “Please, show me Your glory” (Exodus 33:18, NKJV). 

When believers gathered together in a spirit of unity, seeking the Lord, the glory appeared in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost, and sat on the head of each person there (Acts 2:1-4).

Each born-again believer has the ability to manifest God’s glory here on earth, but we must steadfastly believe when we fervently pray. (James 5:12-18)

That’s why Jesus told Martha that if she would believe, she would see the glory of God (John 11:40).

Finally, pray Ephesians 1:17-18—that you would know the hope of His calling, which is the hope of His glory.

Pray that you will understand the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

When we inherited Him, glory was deposited in us, but we have to receive revelation of what it means to walk in that glory.

  1. Prepare for the Glory

“…the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” –Romans 5:5, NKJV

Did you know there are degrees of the glory?

If we want to experience the fullness of God’s glory, we must prepare our spirit.

How?

By walking in faith hope and love. (Romans 12:10-13, 1 Corinthians 13)

It takes faith to receive and operate in the glory—and faith works by love (Galatians 5:1-7).

That means the glory of God will increase in us in direct proportion to how we walk our walk and talk our talk all in the maximum glory of God in His love.

So, to increase the amount of the glory in your life, we must walk in love.

Put simply—more love, more glory.

The spirit of strife and division is always there, lurking and looking for an opening and a way into your life and mine. 

Never, ever let our love guard down!

Then you and I are on our way to being filled with the glory!

  1. Walk in the Glory

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” –2 Corinthians 3:18, NKJV

The glory of God looks for a dwelling place.

The original house for the glory of God was the tabernacle.

But under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit builds a temple in every believer.

First Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (NKJV). 

We are God’s house—His temple. Only, this temple is no longer in a fixed location.

This is a house where serious amounts of multi-tasking takes place ….

This house can walk and talk and live and love and correctly preach the gospel!

Now, it’s one thing to have the glory, but it’s another to know how to walk in it.

The good news?

You and I have everything you and I need inside you and me to do so.

When the believers experienced the glory of God at Pentecost, they didn’t just go back to living normal lives.

They emerged from that place as separate from the rest of the world and as light in the midst of darkness.

They went out and started turning the world upside down for Jesus.

They preached the gospel; worked miracles, signs and wonders; and the Lord added thousands to the Church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).

That’s the glory we need to be operating in!

The early Christians were no different than Christians today.

But here’s the key: Those first believers received the same Spirit we did when we got saved and baptized with the Holy Ghost.

Christians today are carriers of God’s glory just as surely as they were!

When we walk in the glory of God, we have a fire in us which the devil himself cannot withstand. (John 1:1-5)

We are told to put on the armor of God, which includes the shoes of the glorious gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15).

There’s glory in your feet and in mine!

That’s what gives you and me the power to walk on Satan.

That’s why the only thing the devil is to the Church is a footstool.

Start practicing these four ways to tap into God’s glory by looking, praying, preparing and walking, and watch the glory of God be revealed in you!

Don’t live without understanding God’s glory and what it means to your life.

Start saying by faith right now:

“The glory is in me! I receive it! I’m walking in it!”

Get more God-inside minded,

Start acting, being, doing, like a glorious temple of the Lord of glory today!

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

Let us Pray,

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Alleluia! Amen.

Heavenly Father, you have called me to glorify You, to model a life of love and service and sacrifice to those around me. Teach me to live and minister in Your glory, to love and serve my fellow believers, neighbors, coworkers, and those you have brought into my sphere of influence. I realize I have been uniquely wired and placed where I live and work. Teach me to love well. You are my perfect example of walking in love. You sent your son to die on the cross for me. Teach me to be sacrificial in how I treat and love those around me. This brings you glory, and my heart’s desire is to bring you the recognition you deserve. I pray the world will see your love in me. I long to bring you glory through the way I treat each person. Help me to see everyone as humans made in your image. And help me extend the love that’s been extended to me through your son Jesus. It’s in Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Father, fill us with your glory and may it go forth, shine bright in a lost world that desperately needs you.

https://translate.google.com/

Hark, the Herald Angels and Shepherds Sing: “The Glory of the Lord has Shone All Around Them.” Luke 2:8-11, Luke 2:12-20

Luke 2:8-11Amplified Bible

8 In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for [a]all the people. 11 For this day in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah).

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The way all too many of us approach Christmas has not changed in years.

Consider this illustration I just received from a friend ….

A family during the great depression was unable to afford anything but the bare necessities, and even then, barely.

One day the news came that a circus was coming to town.

Tickets cost one dollar.

The little boy came running home excited with the good news and eager to get the money from his dad, he jumped up onto his fathers lap as he read the paper.

The father regretfully told his son that he could not provide him with that much money, but if he went out and worked on some odd jobs, he might make enough to purchase a ticket on his own.

The dad promised to match what the boy could earn.

The boy worked feverishly around the neighborhood and, just a few days before the circus came to town, he found that he had just enough, including his dad’s contribution, so, He took the money and ran off to town to buy his circus ticket.

The day the circus came to town, he grabbed his ticket from his dad and rushed out to the main street, where he stood on the curb as the circus parade went by.

He was so thrilled to watch the clowns, elephants, and all of the performers. A clown came dancing over to him and the boy put his ticket in the clown’s hand.

He eagerly watched as the rest of the parade went by.

After the parade, the boy rushed home and told his father that he had been to the circus and how much fun it was.

The father, surprised that the boy was home already, asked him to describe the circus.

The boy told of the parade that went down the main street and of giving his ticket to the passing clown.

The father sadly took his son in his arms and said,

“Son, you did not see the circus; all you saw was the parade.”

That boy reminds me of myself and so many other people at Christmas time.

They get caught up with “stuff of the season,” the carols, trees, lights, gifts.

They think that they are experiencing what Christmas is all about.

But the reality of it all is this, all they are doing is seeing the parade passing by and do not realize they are missing the main event, the true joy of Christmas.

More importantly we go through life thinking everything is good with our souls – we walk like ducks, smell like ducks, quack like ducks but we are not ducks…

get the picture?

Good time to remember that the first Christmas night:

“The glory of the Lord shone around them”

This season of Christmas let us be more aware, make it about God’s glory.

Luke 2:8-11Complete Jewish Bible

8 In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, 9 when an angel of Adonai appeared to them, and the Sh’khinah of Adonai shone around them. They were terrified; 10 but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. 11 This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord.

Let’s go through the passage and comb through to learn…

We will make pit stops and pickup 7 words to help us take it in.

I. LUKE 2:8. SHEPHERDS

“IN THE SAME REGION THERE WERE SHEPHERDS…”

The greatest event yet on the face of planet earth has just happened in Bethlehem; and we read that in that “same region” there were shepherds.

A. Same region:

i. In the same region: The divine dignitary shares the same space.

I understand the narrative requires this telling but I had to pause to take it in.

This is the first pit stop.

Let me explain what caught my attention…”same region”

This ‘divine dignitary’ invited the shepherds to share his space —“in the same region”.

ii. In the same region: Translation = This was David’s city.

The fields were probably the same area where he kept watch – fought the lion and killed the bear and confronted with God’s aid, the Philistine giant Goliath.

Now in this same city is now born another Shepherd like no other.

A shepherd who is also a lamb – the Lamb of God. [John 1:29; John 10:11].

B. The Shepherds:

i. The Status

Shepherds were the lowest on the social ladder.

They lived in the fields and cared for the sheep 24/7 and so could not keep the Mosaic law, the Sabbath, the other traditionally required temple ceremonies.

Not very different from all those long years ago from a land called EGYPT.

Genesis 46:33-34Complete Jewish Bible

33 Now when Pharaoh summons you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 tell him, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our ancestors.’ This will ensure that you will live in the land of Goshen — for any shepherd is abhorrent to the Egyptians.”

“Shepherds were an utter abomination to the Egyptians”. Genesis 46:34.

They were infinitely worse than social outcasts.

ii. The privilege accorded to the shepherds

Why is this important?

Many years later when Jesus begins His ministry we read how crowds were amazed at Jesus’ teaching.

…”How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” [Jn 7:16].

This statement was not about being literate but about being a Scholarly Rabbi which took years of disciplined learning.

They had come to believe only such will receive and explain the revelation of God.

This first Christmas the privilege accorded to the Patriarchs, the Pharisees the Priests and the Rabbis was now granted to shepherds.

The first proclamation of the glad tidings was to those who were poor and social outcasts.

C. Fulfillment of the Isaiah 61 Prophecy

This beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 61 starts with the lowly shepherds.

This is what the Lord reads in Nazareth when the scroll was given to Him.

“The Lord has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor,” [Isaiah 61 / Luke 4 / Luke 2].

“IN THE SAME REGION THERE WERE SHEPHERDS…”

All praise and thanks be to God that even today just as the shepherds, you and I are invited to “the very same region,” watch the Divine unfolding, centre stage.

Then this story that happened 2000 years ago is something you and I can be a part of.

II. SILENT NIGHT

LUKE 2:8. “…KEEPING WATCH OVER THEIR FLOCK BY NIGHT.”

This is our second pit stop.

It was a ‘silent night’ as the carol goes.

That night seemed no different from any other night – except of course that the hands of Almighty God pulls apart heaven’s veil for all those glorious moments.

However, on earth it was a different story.

There were political and social rumblings that’s worth noticing.

A. Augustus Caesar’s taxation:

Luke Chapter 2 opens with the news of taxation.

Bethlehem was probably swarming with ‘Censees’ and ‘Censors’—those who came to give their census and those who were there conducting the census.

However, I sincerely doubt that the census experience was a pleasant one.

Years later as Luke’s readers would read or hear about the birth of Jesus they would be confronted with the context or the time when Jesus was born; and it would have undoubtedly brought up past memories that were not pleasant.

Let me explain:

i. Taxation changed from ‘kind’ to ‘coins’:

Paying taxes in kind was acceptable in some sense by the Jews but the coins contained the image of Caesar which led to a revolt by Judas and his bands.

Acts 5:34-37English Standard Version

34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

Gamaliel refers to Theudas when confronted with the issue of Peter and John and the Council determining the acceptable disposition of the other Apostles.

Theudas and his group had believed God will give them victory for opposing the coin taxation since they were standing up against idolatry.

However, the uprising was squelched by the Romans.

The Jewish rulers were increasingly cautious not to upset the Romans and thus lose their temple and their land and their livelihoods if not their very lives too.

But the issue of coin taxation continued to be a contentious even 30 years later.

Luke 20:19-25English Standard Version

Paying Taxes to Caesar

19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality,[a] but truly teach the way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius.[b] Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

That was the ‘trap’ question that Jesus was asked, “Is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar?”

We know the Lord’s classic answer –

whose image does it bear? And whose do you bear?

Luke 20 verse 25: He said to them “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s ….”

ii. Poll Tax:

Poll tax is a tax not on the income of the person but on the number of heads in the family.

Apparently Joseph was not a ‘clever’ businessman but an obedient servant.

Joseph did not wait till after the census for him to avoid having to pay for two additional heads.

2000 years ago we read about the timing, Quirinius was governor of Syria, the lives of all those so affected are wonderfully connected to the Gospel narrative.

Truth be said: Whether AD First Century or our 21st Century the incident that occurred that silent night is something that will 100% change our lives forever.

Get this:

It is in the ‘light’ of those darkest socio-economic, socio-political moments the rest of the first Christmas story unfolds before every single coming generations.

We can be thankful to God the silence of that night [indicative of the silence for the past 400 years of the inter-testamentary period between Malachi and the Gospels] was torn apart by the angels long awaited announcement of Messiah.

III. SH’KHINAH OF THE ADONAI [GLORY OF THE LORD]

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [Luke 2:9-10].

This is our third pit stop.

A. NOT THE GLORY OF THE ANGEL

In the two appearances of Gabriel, Gabriel prefaced his announcements with “fear not”.

While we do not know the identity of this angel, we still hear the phrase “fear not”.

However, we are now not confronted by a “mere” angel but by the glory of the Lord – which is certainly, definitely, a more fearful experience than any other.

We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, about their Mt. Sinai experience that the children of Israel had:

Hebrews 12:19. and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them.

Here now for the first time, the revelation of God’s glory was with ‘glad tidings of great joy’.

• A ‘terrible thing’ that froze the feet and the vocal cords of their fore fathers and killed their priests, suddenly, is now, an indescribable matter of great joy.

B. UNDERSTANDING GLORY

We have a terrible time wrapping our head around the theme of “Glory of God”.

i. What is Glory?

Manifestation of His holiness

Isaiah 6:3. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, the whole earth is full of His… [not holiness] but glory.

• Glory of God from this passage is the inherent quality of God.

• Glory is the manifest beauty of God’s holiness.

No wonder it has been a terrible thing.

How could sinful men ever meet a glorious God?

God’s answer is Jesus Christ.

ii. Glory of God in Jesus Christ

Though we cannot know what the shepherds experienced that night,…

We too are given the privilege to experience the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

We read:

Hebrews 1:3.

 He is the radiance of the glory of God and

• the exact imprint of his nature,…

John 1:14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory,

[whose glory?]

• glory as of the only Son from the Father,

• full of grace and truth.

A PASSAGE BY REVEREND DR. JOHN MAC ARTHUR:

Excerpt from: Thou Long Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas.

“..…God only whispers in His creation. He revealed a shadow of His glory in the Shekinah. But He speaks with absolute clarity in his Word.

“God…spoke” [Hebrews 1:1] – and not in a whisper but in full voice.

Still, there was an incompleteness in it all until,

“[God] has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. [Hebrews 1:2].

Now that is God shouting.

You cannot mistake it.

John 1:1-5Amplified Bible

The Deity of Jesus Christ

1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ([a]Christ), and the Word was with God, and [b]the Word was God Himself. 2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. 4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines on in the [c]darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].

Christ is 100% God, and you see every attribute of God manifest in Him: His judgment, His justice, His love, His wisdom, His power, His omniscience.

It is all there in person as we read and study and pray through these Gospels, we see Him physically walking through the world, working His work, living His life.

The fullness of God may be seen as it was never seen before in Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ?

He is the glory of God. He is the “express image” of God’s glory.

He is the embodiment of the brightness of God’s glory. [John 1:14].

Jesus is the shining forth of God.

– Just as the bright untouchable radiance of the Sun reaches the earth to light us, to warm us, to give us life and growth, so in Christ do we sense the warmth and fullest radiance of the glorious light of God touching on the hearts of men.

– The sun is never without its brightness.

The radiant brightness of the sun cannot be separated from the sun and yet it is distinct.

And so, Christ is God and yet distinct.

– He is God and yet He is the manifestation of God.

– He is the glory of the Lord who shouts the reality of God, which was only whispered in time past.

God’s answer to the dilemma of sin is Jesus Christ – the glory of God made manifest in human flesh.”

We are thankful that the Son of God became the Son of man that first Christmas.

C. No common ground

In the old Hebrew covenant, when the glory of the Lord came down, all business stopped.

• Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle [Exodus 40:34-35].

• When Solomon built his temple for the Lord as a place to offer sacrifice and the glory cloud came down, the priests were so overwhelmed with its presence that they could not do their priestly duties. [1 Kings 8:10-11].

In the old covenant the glory cloud and the presence of the Lord did not abide in the same space that was occupied by men.

Moses: The glory of the Lord left Moses wanting more. Even though Moses had personally witnessed such astounding miracles and the coming of the cloud on Mt. Sinai, on the Tabernacle, his true longing was to see the glory of the Lord.

He had to be “merely satisfied” with “seeing” the “back” of the goodness of the Lord, and obviously ONLY after the Lord fully passed by where he was standing.

D. A promise that “all flesh will see the glory of the Lord”

Isaiah 40:3-6.

The first part was fulfilled by John the Baptist [Luke 3:4-7]; and the later part by Jesus Christ though its complete fulfillment is still in the future.

A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, the rough places a plain.

And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

E. This coming of the ‘glory of the Lord’ is the good news of great joy

The angel announces the Gospel – “the euaggelizō”.

The original expression is: “I evangelize unto you great joy”.

• Jesus is the “Good news”

• Jesus is the matter of great joy.

• Jesus makes possible for the revelation of the glory of God to all flesh.

In Jesus, heaven’s gate have been opened wide – the news is to “all people”.

• You are now no more the outcasts of the society.

• You and I can now become the citizens of heaven.

IV. THE SAVIOR

Luke 2:11. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

A. The gift: Jesus is our Christmas Gift

• “Unto you”: God’s gift to us on Christmas day is Christ Himself.

• Born…City of David: Christ is born in the city of David, so that Psalm 87 will be true for us with regards to the city of God:

Speaking about the city of God,

we read in Psalm 87.4.

“This man was born there.”

This possibility for man and woman to be born in the City of God opens up because of the incarnation, death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• Christ the Lord: Your savior is Christ the Lord.

He is Immanuel, God incarnate.

B. The Result: Our transformation, as we “Behold the glory of the Lord in Jesus Christ”

2 Corinthians 3:18. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image [the image of Christ] from one degree of glory to another.

John Owen: One of the greatest privileges and advancements of believers, both in this world, and unto eternity, consists in their beholding the glory of Christ.

If the glory of the Lord does not grip our attention exactly today and in this exact world, we are exactly eternally lost.

C. The Warning: Consequence of rejecting the glory

Woe to the one who rejects the glory of God made manifest to us.

We read in Romans chapter 1.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (Romans 1:22,23, NASB).

Earlier, we read about the children of Israel:

Psalm 106:20. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of a golden ox that eats non existent grass.

The nation of Israel, having seen and experienced the glory of God thought Him being no more glorious than a golden calf utterly incapable of eating or moving.

The natural expression of glory of God is praise that must bubble over; an over zealous thanksgiving that cannot, under any circumstance, ever be contained.

• Anything less is spiritually dangerous.

• Anything less indicates that we are still dead in our sins.

Luke 2:12-20Complete Jewish Bible

12 Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.” 13 Suddenly, along with the angel was a vast army from heaven praising God:

14 “In the highest heaven, glory to God!
And on earth, peace among people of good will!”

15 No sooner had the angels left them and gone back into heaven than the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go over to Beit-Lechem and see this thing that has happened, that Adonai has told us about.” 16 Hurrying off, they came and found Miryam and Yosef, and the baby lying in the feeding trough. 17 Upon seeing this, they made known what they had been told about this child; 18 and all who heard were amazed by what the shepherds said to them. 19 Miryam treasured all these things and kept mulling them over in her heart.  20 Meanwhile, the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen; it had been just as they had been told.

V. A SIGN

Luke 2:12. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

This is our fifth pit stop.

Sign is “Semeion” in Greek means the “finger-marks” of God.

A. The paradox

Not sure if you caught the paradox of this passage yet?

Paradox ….

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

a statement or proposition that, despite its sound (or its apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems utterly senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.

Shepherds had just seen the great display of Divine glory.

What could be the next possible steps?

• That they would have expected now to be invited to the palace?

• That they would witness the transformation of Bethlehem – the city of David because the Messiah is now here?

We all probably expect to see something that would top this experience or at least something that somehow or in some minimal was, almost matched it.

Instead, they are invited to go and find “a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”.

Notice 3 things that’s in stark contrast to what they just observed:

a. It’s a baby.

• How can a baby be a savior? The Christ?

b. In swaddling cloths

• A baby just like any other. For they were all wrapped just the same. You wouldn’t be able to identify the Messiah if laid in a nursery together.

• If they had not witnessed the grand spectacle they would never have identified this baby as the Savior of the world.

c. Lying in a manager

• Something is terribly wrong with this picture – a picture framed by human mindset.

Notice: the revealed Glory of God by His angel armies on one hand; and the humility of a lowly mom and dad, the baby in a feeding trough on the other.

No wonder we sing:

Wisdom unsearchable, God the invisible. Love indestructible in frailty appears.

Lord of infinity stooping so tenderly.

Lifts our humanity from our own lowly troughs to the heights of His throne.

O what a mystery meekness and majesty.

Bow down and worship for this is your God.

Beloved Brothers and Sisters,

Cherished Sons and Daughters of the Most High God,

This is our God.

B. The sign screams He is now one of US.

The sign screams out that He who is the Christ has become one of you.

Not just a human but one whom even the poor can associate with.

The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is this that none of us are excluded in the glad proclamation.

We all can be a part.

VI. THE SONG/SHOUT

Luke 2:13-14. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!

This is our sixth pit stop.

A. And Suddenly with the angel…

R C Sproul:

“All heaven broke loose… [and I think that hell must have frozen over]”

This angelic choir would make Handel’s Messiah concert look like a class of kindergarten singing.

B. “Glory to God in the Highest; and peace on earth”

A praise that rose heavenward; and a peace that came downward.

“Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.”

Peter talking to Cornelius and his household says:

Acts 10:36. This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Angels in heaven praise the Lord.

But now even the shepherds – so you and I can say:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”

VII. THE SPONTANEITY

Luke 2:17, 20.

verse 17. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.

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

The seventh and final pit stop.

A. The speech of the shepherds

[verse18] What do you make of the phrase “all who heard”?

• Was it Joseph and Mary?

• Was it the milling of those who like Joseph had come to Bethlehem for the census?

Who saw the baby but had not idea what they were beholding till the shepherds told them.

• Was it crowding of the heavenly hosts in that cramped cavern or the open courtyard, trying to catch a glimpse of Deity.

The shepherds were hyper excited to tell the story:

• The shepherds didn’t seem to care that they would not be believed for such an improbable story.

• They didn’t seem to care that no one would listen to them.

They just could not an would not stop talking.

• They had just seen the ‘fingermarks’ of God – a baby laid in the manger.

That’s the timeline of the Gospel story isn’t it?

• The Gospel story reminds me that the one who was laid in the manger by Mary [Luke 2:12] is the one who was, some 30 years later crucified upon a wood cross.

Three days after being sealed into an impenetrable tomb, HE walked out ALIVE!

• Hallelujah!

However, the story neither begins in the manger nor ends in the grave.

My response is therefore to rejoice. I cannot and will not ever keep quiet.

VIII. WHAT’S YOUR STORY?

Why this unnatural silence?

Why isn’t our spirit extolling in the glory of the Lord?

If the shepherds were UNABLE BUT to talk about the what they saw, why is it that we are silent?

A. Telling all who will hear

We often wonder how can we can tell our neighbors about Jesus?

Our excuse!

• I don’t know where to begin?

• I don’t know what to say?

If those are your questions, then learn from the shepherds.

• They said what they saw.

• They repeated what they heard.

And so can you and so can I.

Let me end with two closings.

A. Remember the Shepherd was also the Lamb

Because of Jesus, I can face anything.

That is something I will share.

1954 film, White Christmas:

“When I’m worried and I can’t sleep.

I count my blessings instead of sheep.

And I fall asleep Counting my blessings.

When my bankroll is getting small.

I think of when I had none at all.

And I fall asleep Counting my blessings.

If your worried and you can’t sleep.

Just count your blessings instead of sheep.

And you’ll fall asleep Counting your blessings.

B. Remember that gratitude cannot be silenced.

Shepherds and the glory of the Lord in the same sentence.

Shepherds enjoyed a great heritage in Israel with Abraham, Moses, and David as notable shepherds, God being identified through Psalm 23 as a great shepherd.

But by this time in Israelite history, they were not highly regarded.

They smelled like sheep.

They spent their time with sheep.

They were not really clean and religious enough to be considered spiritual.

So when God chose to announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds with his contingent of angels he makes his point clear: Everyone is loved by God, everyone has immediate access to God, and everyone is desired by God.

Because of Jesus, I am grateful.

That is why I will share.

Let your gratitude and praises last forever!

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

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You in Jesus’ name for purposing to redeem mankind, by sending Him to be born in Bethlehem of Judea on that astonishing night, while shepherds watched their flocks. Thank You for the good news of great joy, which is for all people who trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. Thank You, Father, that You did not leave us dead in our sins, but purposed from the foundation of the world, to give Jesus as the perfect Lamb of God, Who would take away the sin of the world and become the good Shepherd of the sheep, for all who would trust in His holy name. Thank You that in my Savior Christ I have nothing to fear and everything for which to be thankful. Thank You in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

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Christmas Joy! Christmas Characters! Joy of the Shepherds, Joy of the Angels We Have Heard on High. Luke 2:8-15

Luke 2:8-15 World English Bible

8 There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. 11 For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.” 13 Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    on earth peace, good will toward men.”

15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

As you and I have read these scriptures each year, have we ever seriously noticed how the characters in the Christmas story tend to respond to angels when they show up? 

If we rewind to Luke 1:11-18, the angel came to Zacharias as he was going about his priestly duties in the temple and announced the pregnancy of Elizabeth, his wife who has long been barren of child and is beyond her child bearing years.

Zacharias was initially afraid, but then almost immediately settled back down to fulfill his responsibilities.

Then in response to the angelic announcement, he seemed to casually brush the announcement aside incredulously asking; “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” (verse 18)

It seems that the angel expected Zacharias to suddenly raise up, “jump for joy,” start running around the temple telling everyone, everywhere of his good news.

Zacharias expresses his disbelief with a loud “harrumph,” basically telling the angel to go back to where ever the angel came from and to “leave me alone!”

To which the angel replied – “because you have disbelieved, you will have no voice to speak to anyone until the time of your son’s birth. then you will sing!”

When his wife Elizabeth had given birth to their son, John – Zacharias had his voice restored and then indeed did sing his prophetic song …. Luke 1:67-79

If we rewind to Luke 1:30 when the angel Gabriel visits Mary, he tells her, “do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

Mary said, “so be it!”

Here, in Luke 2, we read that these rough tough shepherds are instantly “filled with fear” at the sight of an angel and are quickly told to “fear not…”

Angels play an important role throughout the entire birth narra­tive of Jesus.

An angel visits Zechariah to announce the coming of John, who would prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry (Luke 1:11-20).

An angel appears to Mary to announce the coming of Jesus, the Son of God (Luke 1:28-38).

An angel appears to Joseph in a dream, urging him to stay with Mary because she is carrying the baby Jesus, who will “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

Then, when Jesus is actually born and an angel announces his birth, a crowd of angels appears, lighting up the night sky in the fields near Bethlehem.

“A great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God. . . .” This was no simple birth announcement—the Savior of the world had come!

“Angels We Have Heard On High” tells the story in a beautifully lyrical way.

And the refrain picks up the angels’ song, using the Latin phrase “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” which means “Glory to God in the highest.”

The angels could not contain their praise.

As we celebrate Christmas this season, we are reminded of God’s great love for us in the birth of Jesus.

Like the angels, we too have the opportunity to burst into praise. And let’s invite others to join us as we give glory to God, for the Savior has come!

With all of these angelic proclamations of “Good News!” and “Great Joy!”

This should just maybe make us wonder why they were initially frightened?

Maybe viewing angels as cute, cuddly versions of cupid is completely wrong.

If we scan the the scope of scripture, it appears that whenever angels showed up on the scene they were on a mission to bring a message from God; quite often to announce, that is “open wide the can” of the good news of God’s judgement.

Some type of serious destruction often followed their arrival.

Luke writes that as this angel is sharing the news of Jesus’ birth with the shepherds, that suddenly, a “multitude of the heavenly host appears.”

For some reason, this multitude is often displayed as a white robed angelic choir, sometimes with song books in hand.

Ironically, the word “host” gives a radically different picture

https://www.blueletterbible.org/web/luk/2/13/t_conc_975013

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4756/web/tr/0-1/

— it’s translated from the Greek word stratia, and literally means a military encampment or a band of soldiers.

This was not a choir of cupids but an angelic army straight from heaven.

God had sent His army to announce that the Messiah had arrived and the rescue mission for humanity had begun.

This army had no intention of dethroning an arrogant Caesar in Rome or removing a corrupt High Priest in Jerusalem.

They weren’t about to wipe out the Roman army or restore Israel as a world power.

They had arrived to announce “a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”— an undeniably unexpected way for God’s rescue mission to begin.

Why do you think God sent an angelic army to announce the birth of Jesus?

The good news this angelic choir delivered was for ALL humanity.

For God loved the whole world so much that His gave His only begotten Son into the world, not to condemn but to be the ONE sacrifice for the sin of the world –

Not Judgment!

Not Condemnation!

But unconditional, undeserved LOVE so that everyone in the world who would believe on Him would not remain at enmity with God, but would be forgiven of their sin, regain fellowship with God, the Father and receive life everlasting.

This message of goodwill to all men, is particularly remembered when we celebrate the birth of Immanuel – God with us, God within us – recalling the beautiful story of a young virgin, her espoused husband, entrusted with the upbringing of God’s only begotten Son – Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.

But the true message that was shared on that ordinary Bethlehem hillside, was that these extraordinary good tidings which spoke of joy to mankind, peace on earth were for a particular group of people – the Shepherds – men of good will!

The good tidings of great joy and lasting peace about which the angels sang, were for MEN OF GOODWILL.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men – the MEN, with whom God is pleased. Peace on earth to people who enjoy God’s favour.” 

We read that on earth there will be peace… among men of goodwill.

God has promised peace to men with whom the Lord is well-pleased – those that are saved by grace through faith in Christ.

Although the gospel message these angels shared continues to be available to ALL men, only those that enjoy goodwill before the Lord, by believing on the infant Immanuel, the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and trusting in the name of the only begotten Son of God for the forgiveness of sins, will enjoy the peace on earth that this heavenly choir proclaimed.

Only they will discover the joy of the Lord in their hearts and peace with God in their lives.

Although the message of salvation was for all people –

the Messiah had to be Jewish.

He had to be the Son of God, born of a Jewish virgin, in the little town of Bethlehem, as a descendent of David and Abraham.

He had to fulfil these and numerous other prophecies to fulfil Scripture, and thus He became qualified in two distinct areas

1) as Messiah of Israel and

2) Saviour of the world.

Christ came to fulfil both the Law and the prophets and not one prophetic scripture relating to Christ’s first advent was broken – and every prophecy relating to His second coming will likewise be fulfilled, to the glory of God.

Although this extraordinary good news which was delivered by the army of angels is open to ALL who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ – nowhere in Scripture is it specifically taught that peace on earth is “for all men.”

Peace with God and the favour of God comes by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

Peace WITH God is received when one is justified by faith.

The peace OF God within and peace ON earth, during Christ’s millennial reign, is only given to – men of goodwill.

Only those that trust in the name of the only begotten Son of the Father are identified in this verse as, “men of goodwill.”

John 14:19-31World English Bible

19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me. 25 I have said these things to you while still living with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. 28 You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I. 29 Now I have told you before it happens so that when it happens, you may believe. 30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from here.

Come, and let us arise and join with Jesus, the author, perfecter of our faith!

Come, let us join our voices and our lives with that angelic army, with that angelic chorus, and hearken unto souls that are dead in their sins the truth.

Let us hearken unto the song of the angels, tell all who are at enmity with God,

the extraordinary good news of the gospel of grace – that Christ died for their sins, and rose again.. so that ALL who believe on Him would not perish, but receive peace with God and will be granted the peace of God in their heart.

Only those who have been saved by grace, will be among the joyful congregation witnessing the glory of the coming of our Prince of Peace, when He finally comes to set up His everlasting Kingdom – when true peace on earth will be governed in righteousness, Jesus is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords.

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

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, Giver of every good and perfect gift. Thank you for Immanuel, thy Son! Thank you for the Host of Angels with their message of the coming good news. Let us hearken unto their song of peace to those for whom You have found favor. Thank You for the revelation of your Son to your biblical servants, and their ancient responses which have set the best example of faithfulness for all generations to come.

Thank You that I have peace with God, and as Your born-again child, that I have received Your goodwill and grace, not only in this age but in the ages to come. Thank You that because I am positioned in Christ and clothed in His righteousness, I am identified with Him, have found favour in Your sight, and the peace of God in my heart. I know that without Jesus there is nothing I could have done to warrant peace with You, for I acknowledge that I am a sinner, deserving of death – but glory to God in the highest, that peace has been granted to men with whom You are pleased.

Beloved Immanuel, beloved God with us and within us, Dear Jesus, may we celebrate your birth by rejoicing and joining voices with others in singing your praise. Amen.

Praise Your holy name that both peace with God and the peace of God, is available to who place their faith in the only begotten Son of God, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.

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How Am I Living Out all of my Joy in My Lord? Ordinary Shepherds being made Extraordinary Missionaries. Seeing all of our God’s Extraordinary Inclusiveness. Luke 2:15-20

Luke 2:15-20World English Bible

15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough. 17 When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child. 18 All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

David, the king who had led the nation of Israel to greatness a thousand years earlier, spent much of his boyhood as a shepherd in the outlying fields around Bethlehem.

While he was leading his father’s flocks into hills and valleys, he witnessed firsthand how a shepherd’s care is a fitting picture of God’s care for his people.

He summarized with imagery in a song he wrote, saying, “The Lord is my shepherd . . .” (Psalm 23:1).

Ten centuries after David, other shepherds were in those outlying fields outside Bethlehem, and one night they were met by a chorus of magnificent angels!

One of the angels spoke of a baby, born in the town of David, a child who was Christ the Lord.

The other angels, with voices that exploded into the night, cried out: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

God had found favor with these Shepherds. God was still shepherding his people! And now God would begin doing that through these Shepherds and a newly born baby lying in a manger who would become a Savior of His People.

Later, after seeing the child, the shepherds at Bethlehem became the Lord’s first missionaries, declaring, spreading the word about all that had happened.

God sent to the citizens of Bethlehem, simple shepherds—people trained in the not so glamorous art of tending clueless, helpless animals, not so glamorous art of defending and protecting those clueless helpless animals against predators, and thieves whose intent is clearly to cause great discomfort and harm.

With this new found purpose, the Shepherds rose up from the ground and with a newfound determination and passion and God given, God driven plan for life.

Perhaps they were inspired, pushed by God into finally believing in themselves.

Being pushed by God to finally believing they could move beyond the ordinary;

With a new found confidence in themselves, with the strength of God in them;

Perhaps they remembered the most timely words of their ancestor King David:

Psalm 18:31-35World English Bible

31 For who is God, except Yahweh?
    Who is a rock, besides our God,
32     the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?
33 He makes my feet like deer’s feet,
    and sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to war,
    so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation.
    Your right hand sustains me.
    Your gentleness has made me great.

Psalm 144World English Bible

By David.

144 Blessed be Yahweh, my rock,
    who teaches my hands to war,
    and my fingers to battle:
2 my loving kindness, my fortress,
    my high tower, my deliverer,
    my shield, and he in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues my people under me.
3 Yahweh, what is man, that you care for him?
    Or the son of man, that you think of him?
4 Man is like a breath.
    His days are like a shadow that passes away.
5 Part your heavens, Yahweh, and come down.
    Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
6 Throw out lightning, and scatter them.
    Send out your arrows, and rout them.
7 Stretch out your hand from above,
    rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters,
    out of the hands of foreigners,
8     whose mouths speak deceit,
    whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to you, God.
    On a ten-stringed lyre, I will sing praises to you.
10 You are he who gives salvation to kings,
    who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword.
11 Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hands of foreigners,
    whose mouths speak deceit,
    whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

12 Then our sons will be like well-nurtured plants,
    our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
13 Our barns are full, filled with all kinds of provision.
    Our sheep produce thousands and ten thousands in our fields.
14 Our oxen will pull heavy loads.
    There is no breaking in, and no going away,
    and no outcry in our streets.
15 Happy are the people who are in such a situation.
    Happy are the people whose God is Yahweh.

Lowly ordinary shepherds of Bethlehem, mightily, extraordinarily stirred up by God began to stir up their latent much suppressed curiosity, their hearts, souls and vocal cords to now announce the arrival of the Good Shepherd from heaven.

Whenever we read the story of Jesus’ birth or attend a church Christmas play, we expect the shepherds to play a prominent role.

Every nativity scene includes a cute “little angel” and “gentle shepherds.”

They are just an ordinary, traditional part of the seasonal Nativity package.

We may easily embrace shepherds as key characters in the story, but a Jewish person 2000 years ago would have found this echelons beyond incredulous.

For the birth of the Messiah, surely God would invite kings or chief priests, political influencers, scribes or religious insiders, but never shepherds.

God would not “stoop so fully, and completely, utterly low,” invite shepherds.

Shepherds were social outcasts.

They were poor, uneducated, uncultured, filthy in their hygiene and uncouth.

They were rough characters in a small town on the furthest fringes of society, so much so their testimony was not even admissible in court.

If you were with your family, walking through town, and took even minimal notice of you would very likely go to the other side of the street to avoid them.

Shepherds were religious outsiders.

Because of the incredibly disagreeable work of caring for the sheep made them ceremonially unclean, they were just not allowed into the temple courts or the temple community, no expectation to be an active part of synagogue worship.

Religious leaders often considered them on the same level as prostitutes.

When it came to religion, they were always kept on the outside looking in.

Into this most disagreeable scene of exclusion, God has just invited a group of guys who had been labeled as outcasts and outsiders by everyone, and placed them at the tip top of the invite list for the most important birthday in history.

This early in Luke’s Gospel Narrative, this introduces our ordinary existence to an extraordinary theme we will see continue throughout the story of Jesus’ life:

An extraordinary theme we should know today as extraordinary inclusiveness.

  • Jesus dines with and hangs out with religious outsiders, social outcasts, and “sinners” so much that He is accused of being a glutton and a drunkard.
  • Jesus casually crosses across the path of the much hated tax collectors, to offer them something extraordinary, which no one had previously dared: Salvation!
  • Jesus heals a man with leprosy—considered contagious and religiously unclean— by touching him. Most people would have avoided lepers altogether.
  • Jesus “crosses borders” previously, traditionally, left uncrossed, intentionally, directly, decisively walking His disciples into “no man’s land” – into Samaria.
  • Jesus chooses an inner circle of followers that includes uneducated fishermen, a former tax collector who has sold out countrymen, a zealot who wants to kill the Romans, and even a former prostitute.
  • Jesus consistently looks beyond hindrances, the shouts of the gathered crowds to see those who would otherwise not be recognized, to their needs for God.
  • Jesus sees those whom we would ordinarily push away, not associate with.
  • Jesus consistently seeks out all those who are considered social outcasts and religious outsiders and invites them all to be at the very center of His ministry.

Those who have been relegated to the outside, excluded for one rationale or reason, are not only focus of His rescue mission—they become its leaders.

The shepherds had nothing to offer Jesus.

They were not religiously trained or socially polished.

Unlike the wise men who would arrive later, they did not have exquisite gifts.

These guys lived under the stars with only the clothes on their backs, a staff to guide the sheep to still waters and meadows for food, and a rod for protection.

They had nothing of ordinary value to bring to Jesus except for themselves.

That’s exactly what He wanted, and what He still wants today.

Who are “shepherds” in your community— social outcasts and religious outsiders?

Do you believe God can use them to impact your community, point people to Him?

Can God use your “ordinary” to invite them to extraordinarily join Him in mission?

Bringing the light of God’s extraordinary inclusiveness into the not so extraordinary darkness of man’s exclusiveness – creating extraordinarily extraordinary disciples?

Edifying the Kingdom of God – that His Kingdom is the ONLY one being Revealed?

Imagine all the extraordinary “GOD” possibilities which await us ordinary people!

All of those God sized possibilities for all other “ordinaries” just made available!

Are we too, tired of our ordinary?

Are we, too, tired of the extraordinary finding another reason to pass us by?

Seeking something or someone who is a wee bit more extraordinary?

Seeking an awareness of a glory infinitely more purposeful than our own?

This close to Christmas, feeling strangely warmed by a baby in a dirty trough?

Stirred, to engage in the extraordinarily extraordinary works of the Lord God?

The Word of God for even the most extraordinarily ordinary among us says;

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16World English Bible

A Poem by David.

16 Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in you.
2 My soul, you have said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord.
    Apart from you I have no good thing.”
3 As for the saints who are in the earth,
    they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god.
    Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,
    nor take their names on my lips.
5 Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup.
    You made my lot secure.

6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places.
    Yes, I have a good inheritance.
7 I will bless Yahweh, who has given me counsel.
    Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
8 I have set Yahweh always before me.
    Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.
    My body shall also dwell in safety.
10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,[a]
    neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life.
    In your presence is fullness of joy.
In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

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What Ordinary Joy is there left for us in our Extraordinarily Extraordinary God? Ode to Joy? Where Exactly is all of our Extraordinarily Extraordinary Joy in our One Extraordinarily Extraordinary God? Luke 2:15-20.

Luke 2:15-20Authorized (King James) Version

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Two words which best describes the actual day before, the true day of, and the beginning of the night infant Lord Jesus was born – extraordinarily ordinary.

The sky was extraordinarily ordinary. 

An occasional, ordinary gust of stirred the leaves and chilled the air.

The stars were sparkling like diamonds sparkling on ordinary black velvet.

Fleets of ordinary clouds floated in front of the moon.

It was a beautiful night – a night worth peeking out of your bedroom window to admire – but not necessarily an unusual or an extraordinary one as it all began. 

No reason for anyone to expect an extraordinary surprise.

Nothing out of the ordinary as this night began designed to keep you awake.

An ordinary night with an ordinary sky. 

The sheep were ordinary too.

Some fat.

Some scrawny.

Some with barrel bellies.

Some with twig legs. 

Common everyday ordinary animals probably owned by ordinary people.

No fleece made of gold.

No history makers.

No blue-ribbon winners.

They were simply ordinary sheep – sleeping silhouettes on an ordinary hillside.

And the shepherds?

Ordinary peasants they were.

Ancestors of today’s Bedouin.

Wearing all the ordinary clothes they ordinarily owned.

Ordinarily smelling like the ordinary sheep and looking just as woolly.

True they were conscientious, and hardy as well, to spend every night outside guarding their ordinary flocks.

But you won’t ordinarily find their staffs in a museum.

You won’t ordinarily find their writings in a library.

No one asked for their extraordinary opinion on social justice or meaning of the Torah – after all – they were exactly this: anonymous, simple, ordinary people.

An ordinary night with ordinary sheep and ordinary shepherds.

And were it not for the extraordinary God who delights in transforming the ordinary, the night would have ordinarily gone unnoticed and unrecorded.

No breaking news event expected here for the first Jerusalem Press- the sheep would have been forgotten, the shepherds would have slept the night away.

Except an extraordinary God, lost in the ordinary, dances amidst the common.

The black star lit sky suddenly exploded with an extraordinary brightness.

Ordinary rocks and trees previously hidden in shadow jumped into clarity.

Sheep that had just a few moments before been ordinary and silent became a extraordinary chorus of extraordinary curiosity.

One minute, these ordinary shepherds were fast asleep, the next they were rubbing their eyes, staring into the face of an extraordinary angel of the Lord.

This ordinary night was ordinary no more.

It was indescribably extraordinary ….  

The angels came in the night because that is when light is best seen and when light is most needed.

An extraordinary God transforms the ordinary for the same reason.

That’s also probably why the announcement came first to the shepherds.

They did not ask God if he was sure he knew what he was doing.

Had the angel first gone to the scribes, the leading theologians of the times, they’d have first run headlong into committee consulted their commentaries.

Had the shepherds first gone to their local politicians, they would have looked around to see if anyone was watching, finding none – gone back to “so what?”

Had he gone to the influential and powerful they’d have checked their sundials.

So?

Guess what?

Our extraordinary God went straight to the ordinary fields, ordinary shepherds.

People whose testimony ordinarily did not count in a law court.

People who did not have a reputation to protect, or an ax to grind, or a ladder to climb, or an opinion to express, or a sword to swing.  

Three simple observations we can make from this story.

Three observations about how the Lord brought glory to the ordinary, when he brought heaven to earth.

Three ordinary observations about how the extraordinary Lord ordinarily longs to work in and through an extraordinarily ordinary you and extraordinarily me.

1. The Shepherds Searched for Jesus

“the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby.” (Luke 2:15-16)

The shepherds were probably several miles away from Bethlehem in the Judean wilderness.

Their ordinary curiosity was extraordinarily peaked – they obeyed the angel.

They went looking for the infant Jesus, in the dark, leaving their flocks behind.

The word ‘found’ in verse 16 means ‘found after a search’.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/luk/2/16/t_conc_975016

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It must have taken some considerable time to find Mary and Joseph and the baby.

They searched and they searched and searched until they finally found Jesus.

They heard the Word of God and they obeyed. 

They wanted to see whether what they had been told was true.

It took an extraordinary amount of time and effort to find Jesus, but boy was the extraordinary effort they made ever much worth it for generations of believers.

In this respect, the ordinary shepherds are extraordinary role models.

Let me ask, have you (lately) extraordinarily searched for Jesus – personally?

Let me ask, How extraordinarily desperate are you to extraordinarily find Him, to extraordinarily know Him, and to be with Him extraordinarily? 

Jesus said,

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3).

It is extraordinarily important that we search the scriptures for ourselves.

The three most extraordinarily important questions we will ever ask are these:

1. Who is Jesus?

2. Why did Jesus come?

3. What does it mean to follow him?

A secondhand faith based on what our parents or family believe will not be strong enough to withstand the storms of life.

A secondhand faith will not ordinarily save us.

We must each develop extraordinarily deep personal convictions based on the historical facts. Based on the extraordinary eyewitness testimony of those who first encountered Jesus. They extraordinarily searched for Jesus. We must too.

  1. The Shepherds Shared News of Jesus

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” (Luke 2:17-18)

Perhaps because they had no fixed address, like Bedouin today, shepherds could not testify in court.

How extraordinarily Ironic therefore that God choose these shepherds to be the first human witnesses to tell others that prophecy had been fulfilled, that God’s extraordinary angels had appeared and that the Messiah had finally been born.

And they didn’t need to go on an evangelism course first.  

Their extraordinary testimony was extraordinarily spontaneous. 

The ordinary shepherds spoke from the heart and their extraordinary words extraordinarily connected with generations of the deepest needs of others.

When you hear extraordinarily exciting news, it’s hard not to share it isn’t it?

You don’t think about your ordinary self or the ordinary words to say – you are simply consumed by the extraordinarily good news and you cannot keep it in. 

When a baby is born in the family, you can’t stop talking about your child or grandchild, you can’t resist pulling out the photos, can you?

It brings an extraordinary smile to your face, a skip to your walk, and you find your ordinary self sharing with anyone, even strangers, who will stop to listen.

The more extraordinarily exciting, the more extraordinarily amazing the news, the greater the extraordinary eagerness to extraordinarily share.

The gospel is the greatest news on earth.

If we ordinarily feel reluctant or embarrassed to share it, perhaps we have not really understood what “extraordinary” Jesus has extraordinarily done for us.

The more extraordinary time we spend with Jesus the more extraordinarily infectious we become.

We are His extraordinarily extraordinary ordinary witnesses exactly right now!

These ordinary shepherds extraordinarily searched for our extraordinary Jesus.

After an extraordinary discovery – The shepherds shared news of Jesus.

And ….

  1. The ordinary Shepherds extraordinarily Praised God because of Jesus

“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:20)

Worship is simply our high praising our extraordinarily extraordinary God for exactly who he is and our giving our extraordinary thanks for what he has done.

That is why worship and evangelism flow from the same heart attitude.

The more we extraordinarily understand what our extraordinary God in Jesus has extraordinarily done for us, the more we will praise him and thank him.

Perhaps that is why some of the most extraordinarily beautiful and memorable Christian hymns are actually Christmas Carols.

Perhaps that is why at this time of year they are even extraordinarily played on TV and radio stations, in shopping centers, even in elevators and Dental offices.

If our ordinary hearts have been extraordinarily warmed in the fire of God’s love, how can we not extraordinarily sing in spontaneous thanks and praise?

The ordinary shepherds extraordinarily searched for an extraordinary Jesus.

And extraordinarily, when they found Jesus, the shepherds extraordinarily praised God for Jesus and shared the news of Jesus with all who would listen, “and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them”.

Maybe you feel rather ordinary yourself today.

Behind the ordinary festivities, maybe you secretly feel rather self conscious, insecure, unsure how you would respond to such a visitation from angels.

Then remember our extraordinarily extraordinary God delights in the ordinary.

Today, a small unassuming church building marks the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem.

It is the oldest church in the world.

Underneath the altar is a cave, a little cavern lit by silver lamps.

Crusader crosses are etched into the marble pillars, witness to countless generations of ordinary “shepherds” and ordinary pilgrims.

Unlike many of our Cathedrals, you can freely enter the building and admire this ancient church.

You can even step down into the quiet cave where a star embedded in the floor denotes the place where the Savior of the world was probably born.

But there is one condition, one requirement, one stipulation.

You have to stoop.

The entrance to the church is so low only a child can enter standing up.

A most profound an extraordinary parable.

To view the place where Christ was born, we must humble ourselves.

We must bow to enter his presence. 

On our ordinary TV screens and in our ordinary newspapers, we see the world standing tall, ordinarily the taller, ordinarily the more impressive, but to bear witness to our extraordinarily extraordinary Savior, you get on your knees.  

On your ordinary knees.

So… While the ordinary theologians were ordinarily sleeping,

While the ordinary elite were dreaming and while the successful were snoring, the extraordinarily extraordinary ordinary meek were ordinarily kneeling.

They were ordinarily kneeling before the extraordinarily extraordinary One only the extraordinarily, extraordinary, ordinarily meek will ever truly see.

Extraordinarily, ordinary shepherds were extraordinarily kneeling before Jesus.

They were the first to worship and they were the first to share the good news.

“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them… glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:17-18, 20)

May our extraordinary God extraordinarily bless you and may the extraordinary infant, Emmanuel, God extraordinarily with us, extraordinarily keep all of you.

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

Let us Pray,

An Ode to Extraordinary Joy ….

Psalm 150

1 Praise ye the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary:
praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts:
praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:
praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance:
praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.

Praise ye the Lord.

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Advent Week Two: What Joy in the Lord? Turning Christmas Chaos into Christmas Joy, Embrace Uncertainty! Luke 2:8-20

Luke 2:8-20 Common English Bible

Announcement to shepherds

8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. 11 Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14 “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”

15 When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” 16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. 18 Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully.  20 The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

It’s better to give than to receive, as the saying goes.

This Christmas season, however, I must definitely admit that I find both giving and receiving quite difficult.

Some people – my wife. for example – seem to have no problem buying gifts, giving gifts and receiving gifts all with the very same wide smile on her face.

I, however, am pretty much the polar opposite, I prefer being self-sufficient.

That feels safer somehow.

It does not seem to matter what the gift is: someone’s time, money, or material possessions, there are definite moments when I genuinely fear that one feeling of being incredibly burdensome or way over the top indebted to the gift-giver.

On the other side of the equation, I want to have a generous heart in giving, but worry that whatever my gifts to someone else will be, they will be insufficient.

Truth is this … Buying, Giving and Receiving all require personal vulnerability.

They are foundational expressions of love, and love requires vulnerability. 

Deep within our hearts, this need to express our love as buying, giving and receiving is essential at all times of the year, but the Christmas holidays can be a very great reminder to recommit to practices that have fallen by the wayside.

As I reflect on God’s generous love and faithfulness to me this past year, I am compelled to not only pass that generous love along to others, but to try to allow them to pass it back on to me in the spirit I originally passed it to them.

Faithful to this call to love, I must surrender my fears and insecurities to God.

In receiving God’s gift of love – His Son, to me, I have to be able to acknowledge that God often chooses to express that same measured love through His people.

It may come in the form of a kind word, an investment of time, an act of service, or a material gift – it may come some other more quieter way – this devotional.

But, it all requires a very definite, decisive and intentional act of vulnerability!

And that very definite, decisive and intentional act causes great internal chaos.

Right Gift – Right Intentions – Right Time?

Right Gift – Right Intentions – Wrong Time?

Right -Gift – Right Intentions – Insensitive to the Moment Wrong Time!

Right Gift – Wrong Intentions – Insensitive to the Moment Wrong Time!

Wrong Gift – Wrong Intentions – Insensitive to the Moment Wrong Time!

Wrong Gift – Heartless Intentions – Deliberate Infliction of Great Distress!

How can we know the true nature of our hearts when that moment arrives?

How prepared are we to receive that moment, under what and whose mindset?

Much Fear and Trembling, Stressed Out and uncertain degrees of Uncertainty?

With “Joy to the World” “Ear to Ear Smiles” Tidings of Good News, Great Joy?

I mean who wants Christmas to be that time of the year when friendship is lost?

Who wants Christmas to be that one time of the year when God’s greatest gift of the very tiniest of miracles goes, unrevealed, unnoticed, untried, unembraced?

Luke 2:8-14New English Translation

The Shepherds’ Visit

8 Now[a] there were shepherds[b] nearby[c] living out in the field, keeping guard [d] over their flock at night. 9 An[e] angel of the Lord[f] appeared to[g] them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified.[h] 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully,[i] for I proclaim to you good news[j] that brings great joy to all the people: 11 Today[k]  your Savior is born in the city[l] of David.[m] He is Christ[n] the Lord. 12 This[o]  will be a sign[p] for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”[q] 13 Suddenly[r] a vast, heavenly army[s] appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory[t] to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among people[u] with whom he is pleased!”[v]

The shepherds were going about their every day business of being a shepherd.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord took over their senses and shone around them and they were absolutely terrified!

Friend to Friend

How many of us take some medication for stress-related causes each week.

During the holiday season, how many millions of people battle what experts refer to as the holiday blues?

Being a retired Psychiatric Nurse I am very familiar with anxiety, depression and the amount of pain it holds, must constantly battle to stay out of that pit.

Now, what can we do to turn it around – maybe bring out the Joy of the Season?  

To correctly address anxieties and depression and other mental health issues, we must first come to a place of total surrender to God and His plan of healing, even if, in our current mental states we cannot see or understand that plan.

Remember that the bottom line of God’s heart is always toward His children is always about a safe, secure connection, relationship restoration and healing.

Always seek out professional help from Licensed Mental Health Professionals.

I thoroughly believe in my God’s power of bringing restoration and Shalom. I can say that I have been healed and can reflect upon many “mini-miracles!”

However, I also deeply believe that we also need the presence of Mental Health Professionals to help us sort out what is real from what is not, to talk things out with another human being and if we need Medication, then it can be prescribed.

We are each given by God certain spiritual gifts which God expects us to use to compassionately give support, build up and edify the Children of His Kingdom.

Over time, God brings together those whom He uniquely gifts with patience and love and brings together those who have been uniquely gifted with the ability to sit still and listen with those who find themselves in highest need of those gifts.

Our own benevolent and charitable God gave some the gift of compassion which they deeply, and desperately want nothing more than to give it away to another.

God has a definite plan for healing and restoration, we just need to give Him the time, season, the circumstance upon which we finally experience His Presence!

But will we on this day, this season, receive the gift in the spirit in which it was first given – will we even consider allowing ourselves to be healed of ourselves?

Luke 2:15-20New English Translation

15 When[a] the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord[b] has made known to us.” 16 So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger.[c] 17 When[d] they saw him,[e] they related what they had been told[f] about this child, 18 and all who heard it were astonished[g] at what the shepherds said. 19 But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean.[h] 20 So[i] the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising[j] God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.[k]

My own experience ….  

While I am not a big fan of television, perusing all of the myriad channels of this programmatic offering or that, I do enjoy watching home improvement shows.

On a recent program, an interior decorator and homeowner were discussing a list of great big changes that needed to be made in order to update their home.

“First, foremost, we have to do something about those windows,” the decorator announced. I was surprised that she listed this task first – until I saw the house.

The existing glass was not only a seriously ugly shade of gold, but it was thick and chunky as well.

The windows let in no light and made it virtually impossible to see in or out.

The result was a dark isolated home.

The distressed homeowner protested, “But I like my privacy.

And if I thought anyone could see in, I feel totally exposed, and vulnerable.”

When it comes to dealing with mental health, many people feel the same way.  

Sometimes without even trying, sometimes quite purposely, we will construct walls over which no one would climb because the cost of friendship is too high.

We fill the windows of our soul with emotional excuses in order to avoid dealing with pain.

The result is darkness, loneliness, and missed opportunities for restoration.

We do not always want to understand our mental health when things trail off, depression or find the treasures of that darkness; we simply want to be rid of it.

Many people will only try to cope, understand and deal with their mental health issues on a superficial level – just refusing to confront head on, to face painful experiences, difficult relationships, and the broken places where darkness lives.

We have this tendency to only look for the nearest, quickest exit, hoping to ease by, to subtly bypass transparency because the price is just far too high to pay.

Emotional integrity is an essential step to dealing with mental health issues.

Embracing the critical importance of taking care of our mental health issues.

Embracing God with the same fervor and Joy as God is Embracing Joyfully Us.

Luke 2:15New English Translation

15 When[a] the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord[b] has made known to us.”

As God revealed His Glory to the Shepherds,

God is revealing His Glory to us even today ….

At least He is trying to reveal it to us ….

God showed the Shepherds where to look ….

God even told the Shepherds what and who to look for ….

God told them and showed them exactly where their mini-miracle was,

God is always trying impossibly, indescribably hard to get our attention!

We must be real with God as God is being real with us

We must be real before God we can be right with ourselves.

We must be willing to raise ourselves up and go and see this “mini-miracle!”

Leave the places where we are used to being both comfortable, uncomfortable.

Actively, with great and greater and greatest intention, seek our miracle of joy.

Until we are willing to risk everything with being 100% transparent with God, we can neither be transparent with ourselves, understand nor effectively deal with our mental health issues during the holidays or any other time of the year.

The holiday season always seem to tug harder and harder at the masks we carefully hold in place, push the emotional buttons we desperately try to hide.

The arrival of certain family members can resurrect uncomfortable and painful issues that have just kind of wallowed in our souls, never really been resolved.

Financial pressure to “get up and go” travel, try to buy all of those “right gifts” opens up like a widening sinkhole, waiting to steal our joy, destroy our peace.

Personal schedules, meeting all our demands, demands of family, of friends demand every ounce of energy, false expectations leave us empty and hollow.

The dark and ever widening and deepening pit waits for us to stumble, fall in.

We can choose to make this Christmas different.

We can choose to embrace God as God embraces us ….

We can choose to embrace baby Immanuel as baby Immanuel longs for and desperately needs and requires the embrace of His mother and his father.

Immanuel, God with us ….

Immanuel, God within us ….

Immanuel, God within us …. the miracle of life soon to be revealed in us ….

We can choose to embrace His Son Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

We can choose to embrace God the Holy Spirit as we are embraced, prayed for.

We can choose to give God praise.

We can choose to give Jesus our presence ….

We can choose to give the Holy Spirit our prayers ….

Choose to focus on the victories and joys we have experienced during the year, and then intentionally find new ways to share that victory and joy with others.

This season of Christmas can be a miracle of true celebration of fresh starts and new beginnings if we choose to focus on the miracle of a tiny little baby born in a manger, who came with a miraculous message, to save us and give us true life.

The darkness can be effectively addressed if we will deliberately, intentionally raise up from our places and go, choose to face and deal with whatever it holds.

Now It’s Our Turn to Get Up and Raise up ….

Read Luke 2:1-20.

Invite that infant into your life ….

Sit down next to that infant, Immanuel ….

Sit with Mary and Joseph ….

Sit in the coldness and the darkness of night which they did ….

Together, answer these questions after reading with them the Christmas story.

  • What was the attitude of Mary and Joseph as they traveled to Bethlehem?
  • How did the shepherds react to the news of Jesus’ birth? What did they do?
  • How would you describe the emotions and thoughts of Mary, of Joseph, of You?
  • How can your choice to “ponder” the miracles of Jesus’ birth change theirs and your personal perspective of the holiday season?

Get to know the true God and His Son, Immanuel through the Holy Scriptures.

Write a letter of commitment to that infant Jesus, asking Him to empower the choices you have made.

Make a plan or a list of “dos” and “don’ts” that will help you experience the best holiday season of your life.

Include this “first family”, and your family in making this plan, and make the prayerful commitment to covenant with God, to hold each other accountable.

Right now, choose the attitude of those shepherds, choose an attitude of joy by focusing your mind on the tiny things of heaven – not earth, and by fixing your heart on baby Jesus Christ -our Christmas chaos will turn into Christmas joy!

This year be determined to give gifts generously and to receive them graciously, because God was highly determined to give us the very best gift possible. I know both the acts of giving and receiving reflect God’s generous love unto the world.

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

Let us Pray,

42 As a deer[c] longs[d] for streams of water,
so I long[e] for you, O God!
2 I thirst[f] for God,
for the living God.
I say,[g] “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?”[h]
3 I cannot eat; I weep day and night.[i]
All day long they say to me,[j] “Where is your God?”
4 I will remember and weep.[k]
For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God,
shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival.[l]
5 Why are you depressed,[m] O my soul?[n]
Why are you upset?[o]
Wait[p] for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[q]
6 I am depressed,[r]
so I will pray to you while in the region of the upper Jordan,[s]
from Hermon,[t] from Mount Mizar.[u]
7 One deep stream calls out to another[v] at the sound of your waterfalls;[w]
all your billows and waves overwhelm me.[x]
8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love,[y]
and by night he gives me a song,[z]
a prayer[aa] to the God of my life.
9 I will pray[ab] to God, my high ridge:[ac]
“Why do you ignore[ad] me?
Why must I walk around mourning[ae]
because my enemies oppress me?”
10 My enemies’ taunts cut me to the bone,[af]
as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”[ag]
11 Why are you depressed,[ah] O my soul?[ai]
Why are you upset?[aj]
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[ak]

Father, I want this holiday season to be filled with light instead of darkness. Please help me discard my emotional masks and be real before You as well as my family and friends. Father, help me make this holiday season an offering of praise to You.

In Immanuel’s most blessed and precious Name,
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Advent Week Two: What Joy in the Lord? I will Recall the Works of Our Lord, all the Power of God’s Miracles. Psalm 77

Psalm 77English Standard Version

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

77 I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

4 You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
6 I said,[a] “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”[b]

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

16 When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.[c]
20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

A Psalm of Asaph ….

Reckoning with God what was weighing so heavily on his heart, upon his soul.

The passage of time stretched out like an unending journey.

Light had vanished and left me afraid.

Prayers went unanswered, and I cried out for the Lord to do something, but every day I faced the same struggles.

My heart felt frozen, my mind numb, I went through the motions of my daily tasks. I doubted God’s presence in my life and accused him of ignoring me.”

At times it can feel like we have been sidelined.

We pray for healing in our bodies or relationships, and things get worse and worse, we wonder to ourselves when it will finally be our turn for a miracle.

We cry and plead, but God seems silent.

The agony of silence gives way to an outburst of anger or disappointment.

Psalm 77 helps us to reckon our negative thoughts with God’s Truth, helps us to express our utter frustration, but also points our hearts toward God’s goodness.

Everyone faces days of trouble because trouble is part of our world.

It serves several purposes.

It’s an opportunity for our spiritual roots to go deeper as we choose to trust God with the unknowns that lie before us.

The thing with troubles is that we do not have any kind of guaranteed outcome, and we like positive outcomes we can all count on, in the end, the victory is all ours, but when the beginning seems long ago, the middle can seem unending.

What do we do when the middle seems long and victory far off?

Losing seems ever more imminent and retreat the only real way forward.

We remember that our miracle unfolds day by day and we turn to the past to propel us forward.

Sometimes we can’t see God clearly in our own lives, but that’s when we can turn to the Bible for ancient words of encouragement, hope, undeniable joy.

We find encouragement as we trace God’s faithful heart and his miraculous deeds throughout the Old and New Testaments.

When we remember how he parted the Red Sea for the Israelites, we can look for how he made a way in our lives too.

Our parting of seas might look like the strength to walk into any doctor’s office, unsure and uncertain and wholly afraid of the “news” we are about to receive.

It’s this maxed reliance on the ancient Words of God for the very next step that reveals so much more of the unfolding miracle he does in our day-to-day lives.

Luke 2:25-35New Living Translation

The Prophecy of Simeon

25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace,
    as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31     which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
    and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

Our hearts grow stronger when we remember aged and devout Simeon who was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.

The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

How long had he been waiting and wondering for the miracle to take place in his life – that God would actually remember his name, remember His promise?

How consumed was Simeon with the thoughts that he would live long enough to see the Messiah but not be living long enough to see actual Messiah crowned?

How had he lived his life differently or the same trusting God would bless him above all others with hope, a miracle of blessed assurance, spiritual comfort?

Who was Simeon before the Holy Spirit came upon him – a despondent but too devout man like Asaph who had long desired for the Lord to make a difference?

His journey to this spiritual healing lasted years and cost him a place in society,

No one could help him wait.

His way was probably darkened with great discouragement.

Yet the infant Jesus was brought to the temple for ritual purification by his mom and dad, Simeon, convinced that a single touch of Jesus’ young body would heal him of his despondency and his impatience, perhaps failing faith.

His staunch persistence led to his miracle healing.

Simeon’s example of his steadfast trust in his God’s promise gives us courage to persist, helps us see where we stayed the course, even though we felt defeated.

Our persistence is part of the anticipated joy of our miracle of waiting for Jesus.

We may find ourselves in situations that seem as impassable as a wide sea.

There’s no way around it, and our despondency, defeat, grow ever closer.

We can surrender, or we can keep searching for a way through, trusting the ancient prophesies of God will miraculously come true, be with us, thru it all.

That’s just as much of a miracle as the seas parting and our despondency and defeat disappearing from taking center stage at the forefront of our thoughts.

The miracle of Immanuel, God with us!

The miracle of Immanuel, God within us!

The miracle of Immanuel, God goes with us.

He is our strength and companion for the troubled waters ahead.

For more years than I care to confess to (thirty) God carried me through that time when I felt discouraged and abandoned by him all those 20+ years ago.

There was very little hope of anything significant happening in my life. My joy was my pride in my ability to remain off the grid, all alone in my despondency.

Like Simeon, I somehow persisted in seeking him. And the miracle was a slow unfolding of grace as he met me, drew me closer to him, and renewed my heart.

Maybe, like the Psalmist Asaph, like I did, you are feeling this spiritual trough.

Intersecting Faith and Life:

If you find yourself in a situation where you feel like you’re in deep trouble and God seems far off, continue to call on him and remember what he has done.

When you couple that spiritual trough with an intentional time of remembering what he has done with you crying out to him, you might learn God strengthened your faith so that you too can see your miracle unfold as he carries you through.

Big splashy miracles are exciting testimonies of God’s power. Quiet miracles that unfold slowly are enduring testimonies of God’s glory revealed in you.

Right now, in this exact and God exacting moment, we are the sum total of all the practically unnoticed mini – miracles which God has performed in our lives.

Mini-Miracles!

Mini -Miracles …. which I agree wholeheartedly strikes me as oxymoronic. 

Miracles, after all, are defined as acts of God, amazing and marvelous events, and “seals of a divine mission” (Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary).

Generally speaking, there’s nothing small about them.

What I’m talking about then, are instances of heavenly intervention in the lives of believers impacting what we would consider “minor” areas of our existence,

the things that cause us to make statements like: “It showed me that God cares about even the minutest things in our lives,” always as if that’s a profoundly shocking proclamation.

Those passing moments None of us ever responds to by saying, “Well, duh…”

I believe it’s because it never stops being a mind-blowing concept – the Creator of the universe, who hears every single one of the prayers, praises of billions simultaneously and loves each one the same, provided, perhaps, just the right amount of money for a struggling single mom to buy her child a pair of shoes.

It’s not the ancient grand parting of the Red Sea to preserve for Himself a people, or the resurrection of His son to purchase the redemption of humanity.

It’s, for lack of a better term, nearly imperceptible moment – a mini-miracle!

Which almost certainly finds its ancient roots in scripture written thousands of years ago – ancient truths, revealed to ancient writers, affecting ancient lives!

Mark 6:30-44New Living Translation

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. 33 But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. 34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”

37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money[a] to buy food for all these people!”

38 “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”

They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.

41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. 42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 43 and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. 44 A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.[b]

I remember one time in our Adult Bible Fellowship class I stepped in to teach our continuing series in Mark’s gospel.

We were in Chapter Six, focusing primarily on the Feeding of the 5,000.

As I began my carefully crafted, well thought out, well researched lesson, I had admit that I had never quite been able to visualize this scene, or to understand exactly what the miracle was meant to reveal to me 2 thousands of years after.

I mean, there is the lesson of provision, but the human body can go without food for quite some time. 

Jesus Himself fasted in the wilderness for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-4).

So it’s not like life and death were hanging in the balance if all of those people who had followed Him to this “desolate place” went without dinner that night.

It could be, as I suggested, Jesus just didn’t want the people to go away – He had just suffered the death of His cousin John the Baptist, and recently endured the “prophesized unbelief” (Mark 6:6) of those from His hometown of Nazareth.

It could be, I mentioned, Jesus took great, immense delight in this multitude foregoing their bodily needs to attend to His every wisdom and every Word.

It very well could be our Lord simply wanted to do something “just for them.”

Maybe, I said, that’s why I said I always tended to overlook significance this miracle hidden in these short few verses of Mark’s Gospel a little bit too much.

“You know how sometimes when God does something that you know was ‘just exclusively for you,’ and you tell someone else about it, and they’re like, ‘That’s cool and all,’ but it just does not carry the same weight or meaning for them?”

I knew exactly what that was like, and the class liked where I was going. I could sense an even greater personalization in mini-miracles, in God drawing delight from blessing our socks off in ways that speak to our individual hearts.

The idea also gave me greater permission to attribute to the Lord all sorts of mini-transpiring’s I had always chalked up to my own efforts, happenstance, or even worse, brushed them off, “gone, completely “so what”” without noticing.

Today, I write this devotion and I wonder how many mini-miracles I’ve missed out praising and thanking the Lord for by being impatient, or plain inattentive.

Count on your own fingers and count on your toes, count on all your neighbors fingers and toes at exactly how many of those “mini-miracles” “imperceptible works of the Lord our God” have passed by you – how many miracles missed?

Romans 1:19-22 New Living Translation

19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

Moses told those worshipping the golden calf: “Your problem is not that God is not fulfilling, your problem is that you are spoiled”

Romans 1:19-22 would seem to indicate that the Lord’s hand is always evident everywhere – “all people can clearly see all His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So, ergo, they have no excuse for not knowing God”

I like these verses very much, because, when it comes right down to it I like to see of myself as being constantly on the lookout for the smallest works of God.

But that brings me to the other ways to miss miracles – by not accepting them, anticipating or expecting them, by resenting them, or wanting to earn them.

“I love to give to charity, but I don’t want to be charity. This is why I have so much trouble with grace.”

Can we get past the affront of accepting a free gift?

If we can, we might see the Lord trying to say through the Feeding of the 5,000 and even today, “Here I Am, stay here, spend more time, no need to go away, please accept this, put yourself in My hands, keep your eyes open, I will feed and love you.”

After all, says Matthew 7:11,

“If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him?”

Mini-miracles are the “good gifts” “baskets of bread crumb” treats God brings home to His beloved Children, those who will and do seek him with a childlike faith, those who consider themselves “the little ‘mini miracle’ things in life.”

Well, duh…

Today, try bringing some ‘mini-miracle’ something or other home to a loved one, remind yourself, them, how much indescribable joy God gets from giving.

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

Let us Pray,

O Lord my God, Mighty in Power, Mighty in Word and in Deed. You say that I should have unshakeable faith in You so that I will be upheld. I believe I do, Mighty Lord. I place all my faith in You. You strengthen me. Your holy force keeps my spirit alive and burning fiercely for You. I know that with You I can overcome anything. Thank You for remaining faithful to Your chosen people. Thank You for guiding me in my life and helping me to become a vessel for Your will. I pray that I continue to put my faith and trust in You because You know all things. You know what the hearts of Your people need, and I know You will help me through whatever this life brings. Amen.

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