We Are Each a “Sermon in Shoes”: Our Acknowledging The Vine: Recognizing the Fruit God Produces in Our Lives. John 15:1-8

John 15:1-8Amplified Bible

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “^[a]I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. ³You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. ⁴Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. ^5 [b]I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

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

We are going to begin the New Year of 2023 by addressing the Resolutions I pray we made – the resolutions to Know God better, acknowledging our Savior more.

Maybe if God can catch us early enough in our zeal to plan out, think through, pray up, read up and study up, He can achieve a momentum in us to accomplish that which we said we covenanted to do – that others may know our Savior too.

Remember I wrote yesterday about the distinct possibility that we may be the only Gospel anybody reads or has any real chance of modeling their lives upon.

I also mentioned from our Baptism, of our being a “Sermon in Our Shoes.”

As a reminder, here are the Lyrics to that children’s song again ….

Again, when I was in Sunday School, I fondly remember singing one of my favorite choruses called, “A Sermon in Shoes.”

The lyrics went like this:

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

Whether it be by one’s actions, attitudes, or personal testimony, a Christian is always a sermon in shoes.

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

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

Indeed, it’s only fitting we are a sermon in shoes if we are walking with Jesus.

Several passages in the Bible refer to God’s people Israel as a vine planted by God – perhaps the most familiar words of reminder are those from Psalm 80.

Complete Jewish Bible Version ….

80 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. Set to “Lilies.” A testimony. A psalm of Asaf:

^2 (1)Shepherd of Isra’el, listen!
You who lead Yosef like a flock,
you whose throne is on the k’ruvim,
shine out!
^3 (2)Before Efrayim, Binyamin and M’nasheh,
rouse your power; and come to save us.
^4 (3)God, restore us!
Make your face shine, and we will be saved.

^5 (4)Adonai, God of armies, how long
will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
^6 (5)You have fed them tears as their bread
and made them drink tears in abundance.
^7 (6)You make our neighbors fight over us,
and our enemies mock us.
^8 (7)God of armies, restore us!
Make your face shine, and we will be saved.

^9 (8)You brought a vine out of Egypt,
you expelled the nations and planted it,
^10 (9)you cleared a space for it;
then it took root firmly and filled the land.
^11 (10)The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
^12 (11)It put out branches as far as the sea
and shoots to the [Euphrates] River.

^13 (12)Why did you break down [the vineyard’s] wall,
so that all passing by can pluck [its fruit]?
^14 (13)The boar from the forest tears it apart;
wild creatures from the fields feed on it.

^15 (14)God of armies, please come back!
Look from heaven, see, and tend this vine!
^16 (15)Protect what your right hand planted,
the son you made strong for yourself.
^17 (16)It is burned by fire, it is cut down;
they perish at your frown of rebuke.
^18 (17)Help the man at your right hand,
the son of man you made strong for yourself.

^19 (18)Then we won’t turn away from you —
if you revive us, we will call on your name.
^20 (19)Adonai, God of armies, restore us!
Make your face shine, and we will be saved.

The overall idea is that, before Jesus came, Jehovah God took this rag tag group of chosen people and made a home for them where they could grow healthy and prosperous in a relationship with him.

But despite all that God did for his people, they failed to thrive.

Time after time, they wandered away from God in their sin.

They worshiped the gods of other nations.

They strayed from the path that God had placed them on.

Now, from John’s narrative we read Jesus is switching up the imagery about the vine saying that, ultimately, He has come as the true vine to give people the new opportunity to grow in a relationship with God, the way God always intended.

Practically speaking, the church has understood that this happens through spiritual disciplines, such as reading and studying Scripture and spending time in prayer, worship, confession, and fellowship an service within community.

And these things are never about scoring points with God or trying to make up for our sin.

Instead, they are all about staying connected to the vine so that we can thrive.

When we draw near to Jesus, we are supported, nourished, and sustained and able to bear for Him a high quality fruit in our day to day relationship with him.

Recognizing The Fruit God Produces In Us

Jesus compared genuine believers to branches that are grafted into Him so that they bear His good fruit.

He therefore warned that without Him, we can do nothing.

In fact, any branch that is not grafted in will be thrown into the fire to be burned.

The question becomes, what sort of fruit was Jesus referring to and how do we recognize if we are bearing His good fruit?

John 15:5-8 English Standard Version

⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

The Fruit of God in our Lives

The Bible gives us a good indication of the type of fruit that God produces in us.

Good fruit of God’s light — a life that produces what is good, right, and true | Ephesians 5:8-9 ESV For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),
Good fruit of obeying God’s commandment — love for another | John 15:12,16-17 ESV “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you… go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
Good fruit of God’s wisdom — wisdom that is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, merciful, impartial and sincere | James 3:17 ESV But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
Good fruit of the Holy Spirit — the presence of the Holy Spirit who brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control | Galatians 5:22-23 ESV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Good fruit of God’s discipline — holiness and righteousness that is peaceful and good | Hebrews 12:10-11 ESV For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Good fruit of knowing and conviction about God’s will — a life that is pleasing to God, filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding | Colossians 1:9-10 ESV … you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Good fruit of God’s righteousness — love, knowledge, and discernment that ensures our hearts remain pure and blameless before God | Philippians 1:9-11 ESV And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Good fruit of becoming “slaves” of God’s righteousness, set free from the bondage of sin — sanctification and eternal life | Romans 6:22 ESV But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

This good fruit is birthed from within us, through the Holy Spirit’s regeneration and renewal work in our hearts, minds, and souls.

Only God can make such fruit grow in us.

Titus 3:5-7 ESV he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

1 Corinthians 3:7 ESV So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

On our part, we need to maintain an honest and pure heart that abides in, or remains grafted to, Jesus so we continue to be nourished and protected.

Luke 8:15 ESV As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Abiding in Jesus Christ

The act of grafting attaches a branch that has been carefully cut from a weak tree and fitted into a branch of another tree with strong, robust roots.

The grafted branch is held tightly in place for a period of time until it bonds with the tree and becomes one with it.

As it receives nourishment from its new roots and is pruned by an experienced gardener, it will bear an abundance of fruit, bursting with rich nutrients and flavor.

John 15:2 ESV … every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

The tree that receives the new grafted branch inevitably suffers momentary damage because it loses a healthy branch in order to receive the new one and shares its resources with it.

This is the act of abiding in Jesus — staying loyal to and holding on tightly to Him so that we are nourished by Him.

Jesus also paid a price for each one of us to be grafted in and He graciously shares His inheritance with us.

At the same time, He also corrects and shapes us to become more like Him.

Such pruning does not always feel pleasant but it always bears “the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Hebrews 12:10-11 ESV … he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

This is a picture of us becoming one with Jesus in our hearts, so that we come to heavily desire what Jesus desires and that is to do our Heavenly Father’s will.

John 6:38,40 ESV For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Not all grafts, however, are successful.

The attempted union can be broken off or destroyed by bacteria or disease.

Un-diseased branches can sometimes be successfully re-attached if they remain tender, but calloused hardened branches can only be discarded.

Ephesians 4:18-19 ESV They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul gave us another picture of grafting.

He described Gentile (non-Jewish) believers as branches from a wild olive tree that now receive rich nourishment from God’s special olive tree.

Romans 11:17 NLT And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.

Paul warned us to not be complacent about abiding in Jesus because God can decide to break us off, if our hearts stop trusting and obeying Him.

We will slowly wither and die off, even if we were once alive in Him and bore some fruit in the past.

It is therefore important that we regularly resolve to check, re-check, if our graft into Jesus is still alive and well or is in any danger of coming apart.

Romans 11:20-22 NLT Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either… But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.

What Affects Our Graft into Jesus?

When our hearts are not fully grafted into Jesus’, we experience fruitlessness, immature fruit, and fruits for death.

This happens because we are still:

Satisfied only by our own desires | Jude 1:12,16 ESV … shepherds feeding only themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.
Caught up with the cares of this world | Luke 8:14-15 ESV And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
Seduced by worldly riches | Luke 8:14-15 ESV And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
Intoxicated with the pleasures of life | Luke 8:14-15 ESV And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
Led by sinful desires eg. revenge, hatred, judgment, condemnation etc. | Romans 7:5 ESV For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

These are the things which will inevitably cut us off, away from Savior Jesus.

Staying Grafted In ….

The good news is that we can ask God to search our hearts and convict us when we are in danger of diverging from His will and losing His nourishment.

This calls for tender humble hearts that are willing to re-bind to Jesus.

Psalm 139:23-24 ESV Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

God will always welcome us as we:

Luke 9:23-24English Standard Version

Take Up Your Cross and [DAILY] Follow Jesus

²³And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Become more resolved in our daily walk with our Lord and Savior Jesus to ….

Repent of our sins | Matthew 3:8 ESV Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Turn away from a life defined by this world | John 12:24-25 ESV Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Grow in knowing and discerning God’s will for us | Philippians 1:9-11 ESV And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Seek to live out God’s Word with the right understanding | Matthew 13:23 ESV As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

God the Father is the perfect vinedresser and He will guide us continually, watering us when we feel dry and restoring our strength.

This is how we can recognize the Vine and Vine-Dresser, remain part of His well-watered, flourishing garden that bears numerous good and tasting fruits.

John 15:1 ESV “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

Isaiah 58:1-11 ESV

True and False Fasting

58 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
    lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
²Yet they seek me daily
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
    and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they delight to draw near to God.
³‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,^[a]
    and oppress all your workers.
⁴Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
    will not make your voice to be heard on high.
⁵Is such the fast that I choose,
    a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
    and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.

Therefore, Oh Baptized Christian, in 2023, Let it Be it resolved ….

My God, My Savior, My Most Precious Holy Spirit ….

“Open mine eyes that I may see, visions of truth God hath for me ….”

“Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free….”

“Open mine eyes, Illumine me, Spirit Divine ….”

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

Let us Pray,

God of Grace, Creator of all life,
plant us in the soil of your grace.
Nurture us with the strength of Christ,
the vine of everlasting life.
Enlighten us with the wisdom of your Spirit,
which flows through us today and all days.
Abide in us,
that we may abide in you
and live in your love.
In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

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

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“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

^9-10Besides 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.

¹¹The 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.

^12-13But 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.

¹⁴And 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

⁹Keep 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. ¹⁰The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.^[a]

¹¹The 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

^20-21But 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. ¹⁰When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! ¹²This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. ¹³There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I 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. ¹⁶You 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. ¹⁷This 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

³⁴I 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. ³⁵By 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.

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.

Alive and Our Being Alive in God: Part Two – Our Inevitable Struggle Between Faith and our Failures. Genesis 12:10-20

Genesis 12:10-20Amplified Bible

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to live temporarily, for the famine in the land was oppressive and severe. ¹¹And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Listen: I know that you are ^[a]a beautiful woman; ¹²so when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me [to acquire you], but they will let you live. ¹³Please tell them that you are ^[b]my sister so that things will go well for me for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.” ¹⁴And when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. ¹⁵Pharaoh’s princes (officials) also saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken [for the purpose of marriage] into Pharaoh’s house (harem). ¹⁶Therefore Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

¹⁷But the Lord punished Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and go!” ²⁰So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him on his way, with his wife and all that he had.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

ABRAHAM’S FAITH AND FAILURES

The time between God’s promise to Abraham and its fulfillment spanned about twenty five years! During that time, Abraham made several wrong attempts to help God fulfill His promise. There were times, also, when Abraham made some decisions that revealed a definite lack of faith and decisive distrust in God.

ABRAHAM FAILS! GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

Despite obvious failings amidst his successes, Abraham is a wonderful example of a man who lived by faith but continued to make mistakes in judgement. The bottom line is we’ll fail yet God continues to remain faithful to His promises to Abraham, even in the midst of Abraham’s bad decisions and faithless choices.

OUR FAILURES AND GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

We are told there are two ‘inevitables’ in life: death and taxes.

In leading with your life as a follower of Christ, I believe there are two other ‘inevitables’ we need to be more acutely aware of as well: faith and failure.

As Abraham’s descendants today, we will still inevitably and faithfully fail our God. Thankfully though God’s faithfulness in the face of our inevitable failures is, only but by the indescribable grace and faithful mercy of ABBA God still true.

For His promise to us is still, “Let not your hearts be troubled” “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (John 14:1; Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5).

Our failures in our faithfully living for God will never deter God’s promises!

But now we come to Genesis 12 verses 10-20 to a time of failure in Abram’s life.

II. The Failure of Abram (Genesis 12:10-20)

Though he began with faith, a time of trouble leads to disobedience and doubt.

It all begins with growing, maturing sense of desperation, a time of famine.

12:10. Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.

I do not know if Abram should have gone to Egypt or not.

The way this part of the story reads, it sounds to me like it was a bad decision on Abram’s part to go to Egypt.

Nowhere do we read in the scriptures is Abram directly or indirectly condemned for his decision to go down to Egypt, but later developments, as made evident in this passage from Genesis, makes it clear his actions did not stem from faith.

Abram did not consult God, but acted independently.

No altars were built in Egypt which are mentioned, nor are we told that Abram ever called upon on the name of the Lord that he and Sarai should journey there.

His request of Sarai [later in the passage] also reflects his spiritual condition. It would thus be safe to say that Abram’s faith failed in the face of that famine.”

So we can’t be certain, but it seems that God wanted Abram to stay in Canaan – even with a famine.

Where God guides, He provides.

It was not God’s intention for Abram to leave Canaan and go to Egypt.

Now a time of testing had come upon Abram.

Not a time of plenty, but a time of wanting.

A time of famine.

Abram faced a choice.

He could stay in the land God had called him to, and trust in God to provide, or he could leave the land and trust in man, specifically the Egyptians, to provide.

Abram did what most of us do in times of trouble.

Abram trusted in man.

Abram stopped believing in God’s promises, and left for Egypt.

Through this whole chapter, we read of God speaking to Abram to tell him where to go.

We read of God appearing to Abram.

We read of Abram building altars and calling on the name of the Lord.

We read none of those things here.

In a time of trial, Abram ignored the promises of God, turned to Egypt for help.

This will become a pattern for Israelites.

Later, in another famine, Jacob and his entire family moves to Egypt.

This eventually leads to the enslavement of the Israelites to the Egyptians.

During the time of the kings, many of them made alliances with Egypt through marriage or treaties rather than trusting in God for help.

Many of the prophets warned the people of Israel about turning to Egypt for help rather than turning to God.

All of this began when Abram, the man of faith, turned to Egypt rather than turning to God.

This shift in trust leads to another failure.

He begins a pattern of lying.

Genesis 12:11-13. And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”

Abram knows that his wife is beautiful, and that Egyptians are notorious for wanting to marry the most beautiful women.

If there was a husband in the way, it was okay to murder that husband.

So Abram concocts a lie to tell the Egyptians.

He is going to ask his wife to lie for him, so he asks her by beginning with a compliment.

Hopefully, we men compliment our wives more often than just when we want something from her.

Here, Abram wants Sarai to lie for him.

It really is only a half lie, for Sarai is Abram’s half sister (Genesis 20:12).

This is how Abram justified his lie.

It’s a little white lie.

What could it hurt?

It is also a pragmatic lie.

If Abram tells the truth, he might end up violently losing his life.

But notice what this lie does.

It not only reveals a lack of trust in God’s promises, but it also threatens their fulfillment.

In Genesis 12:10, Abram begins to trust in the Egyptians to keep him alive, now Abram is trusting in his wife.

I heard one pastor preach, “Abram was clinging to his wife’s petticoat for protection and blessing, rather than to the promises of God.”

Not only this, but his actions were a direct threat to his wife’s purity and the fulfillment of God’s promises.

God promised descendants to Abram.

Inherent in this promise is a promise that neither Abram or Sarai would not die until this promise is fulfilled.

20/20 hindsight being what it is with all of the commentaries we have to judge,

We can probably say Abram was not wrong in considering the possibility that someone would appreciate his wife as more beautiful and desire her for a wife.

Absent the cultural, historical context, we can probably also judge that it was not even wrong to suppose that someone might even kill him to marry her.

If we were doing an after-action debriefing with him, Abram was wrong to assume that this would happen and that the only way to prevent it was to lie.

Nowhere is the sure, certain promise and the protection of God considered.

Sinful deception is therefore begun before any real danger is ever experienced.

Abram has stopped trusting in God, and is fearful of a some danger not even encountered yet, and so turns to his own plans to provide his own protection.

Notice from Genesis 12:12 that Abram only thought the Egyptian men would find Sarai attractive.

And it was a common occurrence for men to murder other men just to get their wives.

Abram wanted to avoid being murdered so he decided to use this half truth about Sarai being his sister.

In such a situation, Abram, posing as Sarai’s brother, could agree to a marriage, but would insist on a long betrothal period.

Then, when the famine in Canaan was over, they could just pick up and leave.

No harm done.

It was the perfect plan.

But as the saying goes, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

In verse 14, things seem to begin just fine.

Genesis 12:14. So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

Abram was right.

He had a beautiful wife.

The Egyptian men saw her and thought she was beautiful.

Many of them are probably thinking of marrying her.

So far, Abram’s plan was working out just right.

But something happens in Genesis 12:15 that Abram never counted on.

Genesis 12:15. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.

It never entered Abram’s mind that Pharaoh might be interested in Sarai.

While Abram could put off the plans of other men, Pharaoh would not take no for an answer.

He took her into his palace, awaiting the time of the consummation of the union.

Part of this involved giving gifts to Abram.

Genesis 12:16. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

During this time, Sarai would likely undergo a relatively long period of preparation for her presentation to Pharaoh very similar to the preparation Esther went through before presenting herself to King Ahasuerus (Esther. 2:12-14).

Can you or I imagine the lonely, agonizing nights Abram must have spent, wondering what was going on in the palace?

Abram had asked Sarai to lie so that it would go well with him (verse 13).

And it did go well.

Pharaoh sent many gifts to Abram and treated him royally.

The only thing which kept Abram from enjoying his treatment was the realization of what it meant.

Pharaoh was giving these things to Abram as a dowry.

It did go well with Abram, but without Sarai, his wife.

I believe you and I can see ourselves doing an intervention here: Prosperity is never a blessing without the peace which comes from being right with God.

But God is not thwarted by lies, doubt or our mistakes.

His promises are not so easily broken by man.

He made promises to Abram, and although Abram has stopped trusting in those promises, and is living in sin and deception, God intervenes, not only to protect Sarai and Abram, but also protect the faithful fulfilling of His promise to them.

Genesis 12:17-19. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”

Abram was confronted by Pharaoh and soundly rebuked.

Abram had no excuse or explanation.

So far as we are told, he did not utter a word in his defense.

No doubt this was the wise thing to do in the light of Abram’s offense.

Pharaoh was not one to be challenged or angered unnecessarily.

Today, we can see the raging irony of the situation is obvious.

Here is a pagan correcting a prophet (cf. 20:7).

It was a sharp royal rebuke that Abram would painfully remember.

How sad, however, that Abram could not dare to speak, for this no doubt hindered any testimony to his faith in the living God Who had called him.

Christian conduct in the face of adversity does greatly affect their credibility.

Genesis 12:20. So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

We see here the patience of God with Abram, for Abram comes away from his mistake with more blessings and riches than when he came.

Abraham becomes richer than he was.

This is a curious discipline.

You would think that God would discipline Abram in a different way.

Rather than make Abram richer because of his lack of trust, you would think God would make Abram a bit more poorer and then to make him more wiser.

Well, these extra riches are double-edged.

Negatively, this is probably how Abram received Sarai’s maidservant Hagar.

When it comes down to it, every failure significantly impacts a relationship because any degree or measure of personal failure in life involves people.

We will read later his marriage to Sarai was negatively impacted. how Hagar inevitably becomes a great stumbling block to Sarai and Abram later in life.

for it is through Hagar that Abram risks making his greatest mistake ever.

But the positive aspect of this blessing is that it shows God’s great love and patience with Abram.

God is not out to destroy and punish Abram for his lack of trust.

No, God is showing Abram love and patience.

God is showing Abram longsuffering and kindness.

Even when Abram stops trusting in God, and makes his bad decisions, God continues to watch over Abram, and even bless him despite those decisions.

Today, we might even conjecture as to how foolish Abram’s fears must have appeared in the light of history.

In order to avoid a famine, Abram was forced to face down a Pharaoh.

The might of Egypt was not employed against him, but was commanded to assure his safe arrival in Canaan.

Indeed, Abram left Egypt even richer than he had come.

But none of this was the result of Abram’s faithless and dishonest actions.

It was the product of undeserved grace and mercy and providential care.

I am not saying you should go out and sin to see if God will bless you even though you’ve sinned.

That’s not the lesson of this story.

Possibly, Abram would have been much more blessed if he had stayed in Canaan.

Maybe many of the Canaanites would have left, and Abram would have received some of the land right then – we really don’t know what would have happened.

The point of this devotional account is God remains faithful to us, even when we are faithless.

Above it all, most of us literally have no desire to be known as ‘failure experts’.

And He can bless us, even when we are “experts,” have PhD’s in being wrong.

Hebrews 12:4-11Amplified Bible

A Father’s Discipline

⁴You have not yet struggled to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; ⁵and you have ^[a]forgotten the divine word of encouragement which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not make light of the discipline of the Lord,
And do not lose heart and give up when you are corrected by Him;
⁶
For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves,
And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”

⁷You must submit to [correction for the purpose of] discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons; for ^[b]what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸Now if you are exempt from correction and without discipline, in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate children and not sons [at all]. ⁹Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we submitted and respected them [for training us]; shall we not much more willingly submit to the Father of ^[c]spirits, and live [by learning from His discipline]? ¹⁰For our earthly fathers disciplined us for only a short time as seemed best to them; but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. ¹¹For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems sad and painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness [right standing with God and a lifestyle and attitude that seeks conformity to God’s will and purpose].

Sometimes He does discipline us, for He disciplines those He loves.

But sometimes He wins us over with grace and mercy.

He teaches us to be faithful to Him by revealing His faithfulness to us.

This is a step forward in Abram’s faith development.

He has learned that God is a God of love, not of fear.

He has learned that God is a God of abundant blessing, not of destruction.

He has learned that God keeps His promises, even when we do not.

When our faith no longer knows where to look, God’s eyes are 100% upon us!

When our faith slides, slips and stumbles, God does not!

When our faith falls asleep, enters a coma on us, God remains awake!

When our faith plants us on our faces on the ground and fails, God does not!

Abram has learned when God promises the end, He also provides the means.

You and I do not, and cannot, accomplish God’s will with evil methods.

These are wonderful truths for Abram to have learned, and will aid him as he continues to grow and develop into the father of faith we all know and love.

As we close out 2022 and prepare ourselves to enter upon a New Year in 2023;

Are you and I anticipating, expecting, facing a time and a season of testing?

Can you and I safely say God has called you and me to something, and all it seems is He has called you and me into a time of true faith versus famine?

Keep trusting.

Do not short circuit the test.

If you and I try to bypass the test, God will just make you and me face a different test in a different way in a different place to achieve the same outcome for God.

If Abram had been given the choice of tests – a life lived through a famine or his wife in a Pharaoh’s harem – we can rest sure he would have chosen the famine.

And then in the end, Abram had to go back to living through a famine anyway.

Of course, he had been abundantly blessed by God with more animals and more servants to aid him, but the famine just made it more difficult to feed them all.

When God puts you and me in a faith versus famine test, do not try to bypass it.

Just pass it.

Do not sidestep it.

Walk through it.

Abram has gone from faith to failure, and now back to faith.

It is an oft-repeated, much cyclical lesson, we can learn much from ….

by our inevitable faults, the magnitude of our failings and failures ….

– by our faithfulness to God in prayer – we will see how long it lasts.

Immanuel, Immanuel, His name is called Immanuel ….

God with us,

God within us,

God revealed in us ….

God being revealed through us ….

His name is still, to this day and beyond, called Immanuel ….

John 17:6-12Amplified Bible

⁶“I have manifested Your name [and revealed Your very self, Your real self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept and obeyed Your word. ⁷Now [at last] they know [with confident assurance] that all You have given Me is from You [it is really and truly Yours]. ⁸For the words which You gave Me I have given them; and they received and accepted them and truly understood [with confident assurance] that I came from You [from Your presence], and they believed [without any doubt] that You sent Me. ⁹I pray for them; I do not pray for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You; ¹⁰and all things that are Mine are Yours, and [all things that are] Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. ¹¹I am no longer in the world; yet they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are. ¹²While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and protected them, and not one of them was lost except ^[a]the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

Do not fear becoming a ‘failure expert’ and allow it to paralyze you from learning to lead with your life.

Faith-filled, Faithfully Learn through all degrees of failure how to lead your own life well by recovering from your failure for Jesus has prayed for you.

There is nothing more beautiful to Jesus than to see His prayer to His Father answered in and through you, through your failings and through your raisings.

He knows there is a source of strength to be found in those who recover from their failure.

All because they have come to know through recovery that their source is Him.

The One who prayed for firm faith to remain in Him before they ever wiped the fruit of the vine from their “leaking lips” and promptly went out and failed.

Our Struggle between Faith and failure is always an inevitable one for all of us.

Genesis to Revelation – all the promises of God remain 100% faithful and true!

The war has already been won so you may win your battle.

If maybe today, you are one who feels like a ‘faith in God failure expert’

I now join with God, the Father, Son, Spirit, in praying that you recover well.

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

O Lord, Mighty in Power, equally mighty in grace and mercy and forbearance, You say that I should have faith in You so that I will be upheld. I do, Mighty Lord. I give over the full measure and weight of my failings and failures over to you. I place all my faith in You. You strengthen me. Your divine life 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 may 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 believe You will help me through whatever this life brings. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

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Alive and Being Alive in Immanuel: Do We Know Where We are Going? Faith and Failure – Part One: Abram’s Faith. Genesis 12:1-9

Genesis 12:1-9Amplified Bible

Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram,

“Go away from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
²
And ^[a]I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you [abundantly],
And make your name great (exalted, distinguished);
And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];
³
And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you,
And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you.
And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.”

⁴So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the Lord had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. ⁵Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the [great] terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh. Now the ^[b]Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar there to [honor] the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸Then he moved on from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving]. ⁹Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev (the South country of Judah).

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

Through much of the country these last several days the mountains of snows have fallen and furiously – snow drifts several feet tall have covered cars and snow plows, ambulances and firetrucks and covered the doorways of houses.

Blizzards have returned! Worse than ever, the winds are howling and the wind chills are plummeting deep, to very dangerous and even life threatening levels.

Roads are impassable, homes and apartments are losing power, no heat to cook the food with, no heat to warm the place of abode, pipes are frozen, bursting.

People are trapped in their homes – medical conditions, health and safety.

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas ….”

“Just like the ones I used to know ….”

Merry Christmas! ….

You have your White Christmas … Just not the one you wanted to know!

Immanuel God with Us and within us, if you can manage to somehow survive.

Christmas Bells are ringing everywhere people can by whatever means travel to; to celebrate that once a year moment with long distant family and friends too.

Christmas bells are silent, just past, and travelers are trying to return home from anywhere and everywhere around the globe their families were living in.

Except, outside too many locations … impassable and dangerous weather, far too dangerous for automobiles, four wheel drives and far worse for- airplanes.

Airports cannot release the planes for take off – they cannot plow their runways fast enough or at all – the risk of life and limb is simply far to dangerous to all.

Travelers are stuck in airports behind a myriad and myriad of cancelled flights.

In many places, during this Christmas season, this isn’t an unusual occurrence.

It is one which many travelers have learned how to accept and how to manage.

They know how to pack “for the occasion” – with snacks and a host of patience.

With experience, traveling gets easier, more familiar, much more manageable.

If we have previously navigated an airport or are at least familiar with the local language and likely weather, it’s not overwhelming to get where we are going.

But if we don’t know the way to our next gate or can’t read the signs pointing the way, or we suddenly encounter all the worse kind of weather conditions, we can soon feel lost and have no idea where we are and where we need to go next.

And, guess what?

New Years Eve and New Year’s Day are but a few days away ….

Another very popular travel day ….

And the weather is still going to be the weather ….

An we still have not figured out how to stop the weather from happening!

Jesus did …. Mark 4:35-41

When the weather went crazy dangerous on those disciples in that boat, they like many of today’s travelers traveling in these blizzard conditions, feared.

Jesus told his disciples …. we are absolutely going over to the “other side” of the waters and the disciples obediently loaded themselves into the boat and sailed.

They were obedient to their Rabbi – then things suddenly got crazy dangerous, the weather threatened their very lives and seasoned fisherman became afraid.

No matter what they tried, seasoned fisherman failed to right the ship in the storm, failed in their efforts to protect the lives of the others an they panicked.

They turn to wake their Rabbi … their Rabbi wakes up … and just as fast, the Rabbi rebukes the weather – “be still!” an then Rabbi turns to the disciples and wonders aloud to them ….

“Why are you so fearful?”

“How is it you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN OBEDIENCE, FAITH AND OUR INEVITIBLE FAILURE

Abram soon to be Abraham was in a situation like that.

If we try to put ourselves in his sandals, we can see that it was no small thing to faithfully obey and follow God’s leading when he did not know where the other side was located and no one offered him a roadmap or a weather map to read.

There was only a promise from a God he had never met or experienced before.

God promised that Abraham would be a great nation and bring great blessings for “all peoples on earth,” but this would require a previously unknown, long, arduous journey and a new start, living among strangers in a faraway land.

“He did not know where he was going.”

In a miraculous demonstration of faith – against all of the best advice of his fellow countryman, he packed up and left what he knew of life behind him.

Here we pick up Genesis Chapter 12 …. Here we join the ancient Biblical story.

Genesis 12:1-20 – Faith and Failure

Genesis chapter 12 may be one of the most famous chapters in the Bible.

It forms the basis for pretty much everything that follows.

With the calling of Abraham God really begins to set a plan in motion to deliver the world from the problems that have occurred up to this point in the Bible.

I. Faith (Genesis 12:1-9)

II. Failure (Genesis 12:10-20)

Abraham is one of the most important men in all of history.

Though he lived about 4000 years ago, he is still a prominent figure today.

Christians hold up Abraham as our forefather.

Not necessarily as our physical descendant, but as our spiritual one.

He is the father of faith.

It is repeated over and over in the New Testament that He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Christianity, which is all about faith in Jesus Christ, and walking with God by faith, holds up Abraham as an example to live by.

But for Christians of any generation, including ours, we have to admit that it’s awful hard to live up to that kind of faith standard.

We think of Abraham, or Abram, as this man of great faith who left his family, his home, his possession, just picked up, left one day when God told him to go.

He didn’t know where he was going.

He didn’t know how he would get there.

He didn’t know how he would feed himself or his family when he got there.

But God told Abram to go, and so obediently, Abram went.

That, however, is not quite the Abram of the Bible.

Was he yet a man of great faith?

Absolutely.

But do you want to know what encourages me most about Abram?

It’s not his faith, but his lack of faith.

I want to walk by faith. I want to trust God in all things, and never doubt, and never fear, and never worry – but that almost never works out – I get afraid!

And I could live my life and beat myself up all day about how Abram lived that way, therefore – “I should too – but why can’t I?, I just continuously fail!”

But when we get a real honest picture of Abram’s life, his times of great faith and trust in God, are balanced and offset by those intervening times of great doubt, disobedience and failure. Abram was not naturally a man of great faith.

Nor did he have some spiritual gift of faith, or some “secret” to trusting God.

No!

Abram became a man of great faith because for many years he had very little faith, and even in those times, God continued to keep his promises to Abram.

In Genesis 12 and following, God appears personally to Abram multiple times, each time to develop faith in his life.

During these times, God tested Abram.

You would think that a man of faith would easily pass all the tests.

But think again.

In four of those tests, Abram faith in God failed miserably.

So here is the difference between a man of faith and a man of fear.

Abram was a man of faith not because he never doubted, and not because he never failed.

Abram did lots of both.

Abram was a man of faith because when he failed, when he fell flat on his face, he got up, brushed himself off, and started over again.

That’s faith.

A man of fear gives up.

A man of fear stays on the ground.

A man of fear stops trying.

Not Abram.

And that is why he is the father of faith.

It’s not that he has great faith, but that he has a great God.

Abram knows that even when he fails, God will not.

But this is a lesson that Abram had to live into, steadily learn over time.

His first lesson is found in Genesis 12.

This chapter contains both the faithful obedience of Abram and the doubting failure.

It contains a well rounded picture of the father of faith.

The beginning of his life of faith is in verses 1-9.

I. The Faith of Abram (Genesis 12:1-9)

Abram’s walk of faith begins with God’s promise.

Genesis 12:1-3. Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This is the first time God makes these promises to Abraham.

There are three promises of God here.

God promises to make Abram a great nation,

Go promises to give him a great name,

and Go promises to bring great blessing upon the earth through Abram.

Down in Genesis 12:7, there is also the promise of land.

Together, these are the promises of God to Abram.

These promises are often called the Abrahamic Covenant, and God will repeat it and make it unconditional in Genesis 15.

It is these promises of God, these covenants from God, that Abram’s faith is founded upon.

Abram was a man of faith because he knew and believed the promises of God.

If you an I want to develop faith, you an I must know what God has said in His Word, and especially what promises He has made to you and me.

How can you an I trust the promises if we don’t know what the promises are?

Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

If you an I want to be a person of faith, you an I must be in the Word of God.

You an I must read the promises, understand the promises, and as the hymn says, you an I must set a standard of living, to be “Standing on the Promises.”

The promises given to Abram were unconditional promises.

This will become much more evident in chapter 15.

The Abrahamic covenant did not depend on Abram’s faithfulness or the faithfulness of his descendants.

There are those who say today that Israel has lost their right to the land, they are no longer the chosen nation because of their constant sin and rebellion.

That is making the Abrahamic covenant based upon the works and faithfulness of the people of Israel, rather than the Word and faithfulness of God.

It is true Abram and many of his descendants did have times of disobedience.

Sometimes for hundreds of years.

But God always keeps His promises, even when great failure blossomed.

God has promised that Israel will be a great nation.

Isn’t it amazing that though Israel has always been a relatively small nation, and relatively few in number compared to the populations which surround it, yet, they are still one of the world powers in military, science and economics?

And they will become even greater during the 1000 year reign of Christ which is yet to come.

God also promised that He would make Abram’s name great.

I have already talked about how Abraham still makes the news today, even though he’s been dead for 4000 years.

Nobody else in history except for Jesus Christ has that claim to fame.

Abraham’s name truly is great.

There is also the promise in verse 3

God will bless those who bless Abram, and curse those who curse him, and all families on earth will be blessed through him.

That promise at the end of verse 3 is ultimately fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

All nations on earth have been blessed through Abram, because it is through Abram’s descendants that Jesus Christ came into this world.

And when Jesus Christ returns again, and sets up His kingdom on earth, all the nations of the earth will be blessed again.

Abram hears these promises when he is still living in Haran, and so in verses 4 and following, He acts upon the promises and sets out.

Genesis 12:4-5. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

When Abram left Haran, he took his wife Saria, and his nephew Lot with him.

As we learned last time we were in the book of Genesis, Abram probably left his father Terah in Haran.

His father had probably had enough of following God who-knows-where, and so wanted to stay in Haran. But Abram can wait no longer for he is now 75 years old. So he sets out with his wife Sarai and nephew and all of their possessions.

Can you imagine, at 75 years old, making such a change?

Most people, by the time they are 75, are pretty much set in their ways.

They are living where they are going to live, and they are comfortable there, and it’s hard to get them to change anything.

Of course, Abraham lived to be 175, so when he was 75, would be comparable to someone today being 39 if we consider it, try to figure it on a 90 year life span.

One of the reasons Abram is a man of faith is because he is willing to follow God anywhere, anytime, even when he’s 75 years old.

He departed and traveled south to Canaan, until they came to Shechem, which is in the middle, or very center of Canaan.

Genesis 12:6-7. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

This is the fourth promise of God to Abram.

The first three were a great people, a great name, and great blessing.

Now we have the promise of Land.

The Land is part of the Abrahamic Covenant.

God doesn’t promise the land to Abram, but to his descendants.

This is not only a promise the land will eventually belong to his descendants, but also that he will have descendants.

God is promising to Abraham that he will have descendants, and that God will give them this land.

This promise was almost completely fulfilled when Joshua and the people of Israel entered the land about 600 years later.

But the first piece of land was obtained through a purchase made by Abram as a burial plot for his wife (Gen. 23:16-20).

Later, his grandson Jacob also bought some land in Shechem, near where Abram received the promise (Gen. 33:19).

Later, it is at the oak tree near Shechem (NIV, NAS, NKJV), possibly the same tree mentioned here, that Jacob and his companions rededicated themselves to God, and got rid of all of their idols and false gods (Genesis 35:4-5).

Six-hundred years later, when the Israelites come to Canaan in conquest, they begin their campaign by gathering at Shechem to remember the covenant, and build another altar to God (Joshua 8:30-35).

After they have defeated their enemies and have gained ownership of the land, Joshua calls the people once again to Shechem to show them that the promises have been kept.

He also asks the Israelites to make their own promises to God (Joshua 24) to serve Him and obey Him.

So this is what they do. Just as Abram builds an altar to God at Shechem, so also do the people of Israel 600 years later (Joshua 24:26-27).

It is at Shechem where Abram received the promise, and it is at Shechem that the people of Israel received the fulfillment of the promise. It is there that they also made a promise to obey God and serve Him faithfully, just as Abram did.

Imagine the relevance and significance of worshipping God in a place where 600 years before, your ancestor Abram had also worshipped God.

Imagine building an altar to God, possibly using the same stones Abram used.

Shechem was a special place for the people for it is where God first appeared to Abram in the Promised Land, where Abram first built an altar to worship God.

The altar was a symbolic and public way of worshipping God.

As long as the altar stood, it was a reminder to all who saw and knew what it meant that God spoke to Abram and promised this land to him.

When God makes promises to you, it is sometimes advisable to set up reminders for yourself.

Make an entry in your journal.

Put a sticky note on your cupboard.

I have daily written these devotionals over the last three years or so and sent them out to quite literally all over the world – It is my ministry unto the world.

It is a reminder of a promise God made to me and a promise I made to God.

As humans, we have a tendency to forget the promises of God.

Altars were a way Abram gave glory to God for these promises.

You and I can find similar means and methods to give glory to God and find ways to give Holy Spirit credit for helping me remember His promises to me.

In Genesis 12:8, Abram moves further south and builds another one of these altars.

Genesis 12:8. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

This site becomes important later when Israel does finally begin to receive the land.

In the book of Joshua, after the walls of Jericho fall down, the Israelites go to attack Ai.

But they are soundly defeated.

Because Achan stole 200 pieces of silver, a wedge of gold and a Babylonian garment as spoils of war from Jericho and buried them, hid them in his tent.

After Achan’s sin is discovered, and he is put to death, they once again attack Ai, and this time they prevail.

Where Abram worshipped God, called on the name of the Lord, the Israelites also rededicated themselves to God by getting rid of the sin in their midst and then going forth to battle.

Abram’s altar and the Israelite’s actions between Bethel and Ai are another witness to their faithful, faith-filled dedication to serve and obey their God.

Genesis 12:9. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

We don’t know how long he stayed in each spot, what we are shown is Abram has no place to rest, no place to stop and settle down, no place to call home.

Though he has found a place that God will give to his descendants, it is not yet his.

He has followed God from Haran to Canaan.

God spoke to Abram and promised Him blessings and land.

Abram has built two altars to God.

Things seem to be going well for Abram.

He is making progress on his journey of faith.

When Abraham arrived at his destination, he built an altar and dedicated it to the Lord, who faithfully fulfilled His promise and who had brought him there.

What a wonderful message, what a wonderful witness and testimony in the midst of one of the most memorable pilgrimages in the pages of Scripture.

Where has God brought you?

Is your first thought to worship him for his faithfulness?

God continues to promise us spiritual blessings in this life and the next.

So let’s not forget to faithfully dedicate the steps of our lives to our faithful God, even if, like Abram to Abraham it’s mostly unclear exactly where God is leading.

Tomorrow, we will dedicate and devote some critical time to Genesis 12:10-20.

Here we will try to delve deeper into the Failures of Abram (Genesis 12:10-20)

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

Let us Pray,

God of Heaven’s Armies, You tell me to put my faith and my trust in You when I am afraid. Dear God, right now I confess I am definitely afraid. I am afraid of things that are happening in my life. I am afraid for my future. I am afraid for my loved ones. I feel helpless, hopeless. I cannot breathe. The walls are closing in around me. I can feel the anxieties near and I need Your protection. Come into me, dear God, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I need You now! Help me to put my hope in You. I thank You for being my rock and my shield. Thank You for being my God in whom I can really trust. I praise You because even when I was faithless, You remained faithful to me. You have never changed nor ever withdrew Your love from me. I love You, God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

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To Being Alive! To Be Able to Live! To be Living Into His Truth! “I Will Look Up to You, Immanuel, I Will Lift Up My Soul.” Psalm 25:1-15

Psalm 25:1-15Amplified Bible

Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.

25 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
²
O my God, in You I [have unwavering] trust [and I rely on You with steadfast confidence],
Do not let me be ashamed or my hope in You be disappointed;
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.
³
Indeed, none of those who [expectantly] wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who turn away from what is right and deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed (humiliated, embarrassed).

⁴
Let me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
⁵
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
⁶
Remember, O Lord, Your [tender] compassion and Your loving kindnesses,
For they have been from of old.
⁷
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

⁸
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
⁹
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
¹⁰
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
¹¹
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my wickedness and my guilt, for they are great.

¹²
Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.
¹³
His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
¹⁴
The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.
¹⁵
My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.

To lift up our eyes upon Jesus ….

To look full in His wonderful face ….

To Let the things of this earth grow strangely dim ….

In the light of His Glory and Grace ….

Not in the darkness of my fears ….

Where the things of this earth grow not so strangely magnified ….

Where the things of this world go and grow not so strangely out of control ….

Psalm 25:1English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

^[a] Of David.

25 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

To lift up our souls to God is to confess:

On you, O Lord, we depend; in you we trust, on you we wait and in you we take refuge. O Lord, unless you bless us, we perish.

To lift up our souls to God sets us apart from all who lift up their souls to fear, who look for happiness and refuge not from God, His Son Jesus and Holy Spirit, but, happiness from within dread in their own wisdom or strength or riches.

We lift up our souls unto and into the light of the God of our salvation, not to the dark of these vanities, but to you, O Lord, because you are the center of life.

To you, Immanuel, God with us, God within us, I Lift up my soul ….

You are the great King over all; You are the creator of all things.

This very cosmos that can so astonish us is the robe of glory with which you have clothed yourself.

You are good and very great.

We lift up our souls to you.

Psalm 25:1-2English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

^[a] Of David.

25 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
²O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.

From this foundational stance spring two requests.

The first is that we not be put to shame.

We ask that God not abandon us, leave us disgraced, lost, but that instead he prize us and remain always committed to our future for the sake of his name.

Our second request is that we be shown the Lord’s ways.

We plead not only for mercy but for power and wisdom to live holy lives.

If the first request asks God to stay with us and be committed to our future, the second request asks that we stay with God and remain committed to his future.

Psalm 25:1-3English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

^[a] Of David.

25 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
²O my God, in you I trust;
    let me not be put to shame;
    let not my enemies exult over me.
³Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
    they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Can you and I recall a time when a stranger approached us out of the blue and asked what you and I believe about Savior Jesus Christ and the Christian faith?

I easily imagine that you and I have had very few, if any, experiences like that.

I can easily imagine that you and I have a lingering fear about this encounter.

To our shame we have this fear – a shame we may not know the Lord, may not be living the life which the Lord, our Savior calls us to live – “to be His Light.”

“To be His Salt and His Light unto the Gentiles… draw them closer to Immanuel.

Immanuel, God who came to Live with Us ….

Immanuel, God who came to Live within Us ….

Immanuel, God who came to Connect with us ….

Immanuel, God who came to Converse with us ….

Immanuel, God who came to share, shout, one or two Hallelujah’s with us.

Immanuel, God who came to dispel the myth that darkness always wins over.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

His word shall not fail you he promised
Believe him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

Psalm 25:5-10Amplified Bible

⁵
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
⁶
Remember, O Lord, Your [tender] compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been from of old.
⁷
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

⁸
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
⁹
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
¹⁰
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

To Live, Be Alive and Be Living the Truth

The ever living and always active Word of God calls Christians be alive in God, to live with God, to live in such a way that the truth of Christ is evident in our lives.

The power of our ever alive, living God’s abundant life through the Gospel is displayed, magnified, in the life of a believer by the transformation it brings.

One of the most common metaphors for truth in the Scripture is ‘light.’

In John 8, verse 12 Jesus says:

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus says that those who follow Him will not walk in darkness.

His truth will illuminate their path.

The apostle John writes in 1 John 1:5-7,

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

What do these ancient passages seek to teach us in these contemporary times?

They tell us God still matters, Immanuel still matters, Holy Spirit still matters!

They tell us we still matter just as much as God, Immanuel, Holy Spirit matters!

It means to be a Christian is to live a life that accords with the truth of God.

Jesus says that whoever follows Him, those are the ones who will have light.

John says the ones who walk in the darkness are not truly born again, no matter what they might say or believe about the nature of their relationship with God.

What this means is that if someone walks in the darkness (i.e. not according to God’s truth), they are not fully following Jesus, because if they were following Jesus fully and completely they would have the light, because Jesus is the light.

The good news is that Christians have truth to live by.

John 14:1-3Amplified Bible

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled (be afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. ²In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.

As you and I follow Jesus, as you and I grow in your relationship with Him, you and I will learn truth, you will live truth, and little by little, or lot by lot, we will be living by the truth and your life, my life too will be completely transformed.

It is a glorious thing to live the truth, to walk in the light of God’s Word, to learn practical biblical principles of everyday life, and to grow in your love for God.

I have discovered that it’s a rather curious thing: that many people fear coming unto Christ because they think or believe that they will have to make all kinds of radical changes in their life; they will have to utterly obey this rule or that rule.

Maybe because of this Christmas season we now find ourselves in this position.

Perhaps, blessedly, new worshippers, worshippers who were never introduced to Immanuel, curious neighbors, worshippers who left the church because of some disagreement or because life’s overwhelming circumstances, come in.

The truth is that yes, when you and I turn away from our sin, you and I will have to definitely give up some “many treasure things,” but it is also true when we live the truth of God’s word, and turn away from those things which anger God, He changes our desires so that we’ll desire Him more than we do those things.

That’s because when we are living the full truth, we are living life the way that God always meant for it to be lived, the way which God created life to be lived.

1 Peter 3:8-15Amplified Bible

⁸Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted [courteous and compassionate toward each other as members of one household], and humble in spirit; ⁹and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another’s well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection]. ¹⁰For,

“The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not],
Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit).
¹¹
“He must turn away from wickedness and do what is right.
He must search for peace [with God, with self, with others] and pursue it eagerly [actively—not merely desiring it].
¹²
“For the eyes of the Lord are [looking favorably] upon the righteous (the upright),
And His ears are attentive to their prayer (eager to answer),
But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil.”

¹³Now who is there to hurt you if you become enthusiastic for what is good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition]. ¹⁵But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.

We ought to be prepared for such encounters, to be sure; the apostle Peter tells us to be always be ready to give a reason for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15).

But opportunities to explain what we believe most often result not from these random encounters with strangers but from the way we live day in and day out before those who know us well.

How we live and what we believe ought to reflect our attachment to Christ.

This is one reason why Peter says Christians are “a people for [God’s] own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

Our Koinonia, our intimate connection to Jesus as those who are in Him and belong to Him and Live for Him is comprehensive.

That means we are not at liberty to believe whatever we want; we are not free to form our own views of marriage, of sexuality, of finance, or of anything else.

Our view is now to reflect that of our Messiah and Teacher, Jesus.

But He is not content with His disciples simply knowing the truth.

They also need to be living the truth:

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:17)

Believing must lead to doing. We are not free to behave in any way we like either, then. Our conduct is to reflect that of our sacrificial Savior, Jesus.

Many contemporary religions and secular creeds require nothing of your lifestyle; they leave you free to live as you please.

In fact, many make their guiding principle: you do what seems right to you.

But the call to Christian discipleship is utterly different, for at its heart it is a call to follow a King who is not you.

Psalm 25:10-15Amplified Bible

¹⁰
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
¹¹
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my wickedness and my guilt, for they are great.

¹²
Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.
¹³
His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
¹⁴
The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.
¹⁵
My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.

God has strewn our path with hopeful, hope-filled, faithful, faith-filled and joyful and joy-filled, encouraging promises, scattered throughout His Word.

He has pledged to lead us in the paths of righteousness and make the way we take straight and secure.

But can we trust His promises?

Can we be certain that His Word is true?

Can we be certain that His Word is faithful?

Can we be certain that His Word is Grace filled?

Indeed we can and this truth is expressed in many of the early psalms of David.

Often in the Book of Psalms, we see David lifting up his heart to the Lord in prayer and praise and calling out to Him for guidance and pardon.

His prayers often contain a request for God’s help in the face of his enemies, which demonstrates a quiet and expectant confidence which declares that God is trustworthy, God is graceful, faithful to His Word and will not let him down.

The promises of God are founded on nothing less than the perfection of God’s holy nature.

They are rooted in the eternal faithfulness of His everlasting Word, and His Word is securely anchored on the rock of our salvation which is Jesus…

Whose name is ‘Faithful and True’ – “for Faithful is He who hath promised, Who also will do it.”

It was David who knew this to be true in his own life, and we find him reflecting on the wonder of the Lord as he prayerfully considers the goodness of God and His faithfulness in meeting sinners and teaching them the way of truth.

“All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth,” he writes,

“His ways lead to gracious love, and He shows His fidelity towards those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.”

The faithfulness, joyfulness, peacefulness, mercy, goodness, and grace of God, are no less true today than during that time when David discovered the Lord was his Shepherd, Who yet gently leads him beside the still waters, faithfully guides him into the way of peace, guards him in the valley of the shadow, and still he prepares a plentiful table of good things in the midst of all his enemies.

Only as we remain in Christ, rest in His love, walk in the path He has planned for us, we will discover all His paths are strewn with joy, goodness and grace.

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

Immanuel, God within us, is working in our lives with an eternal perspective, and it is only as we walk in harmony with the Lord, remain in accordance with His revealed plans and purposes that we will remain in harmony with His truth.

The way we travel may not be the path of our choosing, we expected to trudge.

The path we take will be covered with difficulties and dangers… but His truth is sufficient, His faithfulness is sufficient for every eventuality we may encounter.

He is the ONLY One who knows exactly, exactingly, the best way for each of us to take for He is the WAY, the TRUTH, the LIFE and we need to trust Him to lead us aright, even when the route is overshadowed by dark and thunderous clouds.

As we trust His Word, carry out His will, abide in Him, and He is us, we will bear the fruit of patience and hone our faith in Him.

His Way, Truth, Life will lead us deeper into fellowship with Himself, enable us to mature in the faith, grow in grace, and gain a deeper knowledge of the holy… for He desires us to enjoy a satisfying and unbroken communion with Himself.

The Lord knows that only as we Koinonia, commune with Him and obey His new commandment to, “love as I have loved,” will He be able to fully, joyfully faithfully pour His streams of living water through us, equip us to be channels of peace, comfort and refreshment to all those with whom we come in contact.

The call to the Christian life is not merely to believe the gospel but to “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27).

We all fall short.

Do you have someone helping you, and whom you can help, in identifying areas of behavior which are not yet worthy of the gospel?

Lock arms with a brother or sister in Christ, shine the light of God’s Word on one another, and seek to bring the truth to life!

The church is God’s primary appointed means of reaching His world. You are part of that. But do not expect those around you to ask about the gospel—still less to repent and believe the gospel—if you are not living out that gospel:

You are writing a gospel,
A chapter each day,
By deeds that you do,
By words that you say.
Men read what you write,
Whether faithless or true,
Say! What is the gospel
According to you?
Anonymous

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

Let us Pray,

Immanuel, as we now look back on an old year, anticipate a new one, may we look to you at all times to uphold us and make us strong, that we not go down to defeat.

Lead me, Immanuel, in the path of Your choosing. Lead me I pray, along a level path, for Your name’s sake… for Your grace, peace and faithfulness are without measure. Thank You, ABBA Father, that You are a wise, and truthful and faithful God and the One who leads and guides, and You are the One Who corrects and trains, so shepherd Your Children along the path of Your choosing. I trust You to lead us along the path of grace, truth, and righteousness all the days of my life. This I ask in Jesus’ name!

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

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Christmas According to Immanuel: Grace and Truth Incarnate Has Come Near to Us, Come to Fully Live With Us, and to Fully Live Within Us. John 1:14-18

John 1:14-18 The Message

¹⁴The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

¹⁵John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

^16-18We all live off his generous abundance,
    gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
    and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
    all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
    not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
    who exists at the very heart of the Father,
    has made him plain as day.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

The apostle John was one who saw the glory of the Word made flesh.

John was one who physically and spiritually gazed on Him in wonder and praised and worshipped at the true feet of Jesus Christ, his Lord and his God.

John lived with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and touched Him.

John, a simple fisherman, spent over three years of his life with Jesus, listening intently to His gracious words, astonished by His amazing truth, watching Him attentively as He fulfilled the prophetic Scriptures, and beholding His glory, the indescribable glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Yes, John, a hard working, skilled and simple fisherman, could proclaim with authority: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.” (John 1:1)

John, the fisherman, with both eyes, his heart and his soul saw His glory, the glory as of the eternal God shining in the very face of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The sum total of the eternal, omnipotent, infinite glory of God was reflected in Jesus Christ.

The combined attributes of the living God were reflected in the human person of the only begotten of the Father, the God-Man, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Over, and over again, John and the other disciples gazed on the perfection of the sinless Son of Man, and the glory which was seen in Him was a reflection of the exact image of the glory of God, the Father, both full of grace and full of truth.

The eternal Son of God in the person of the sinless Son of Man was full of God’s grace and goodness, which alone qualified Him to become our One, only perfect Savior and sacrifice for sin.

The Incarnate Word of God, made in the likeness of human flesh, was also full of truth which alone qualifies Him to be the One and the Only perfect source of God’s completed revelation.

Revelation (truth) from God, our Father in heaven, came through the eternal Son of God Who became the perfect Son of Man:

Hebrews 1:1-4Amplified Bible

God’s Final Word in His Son

1 God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways, ²has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum]. ³The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s ^[a]Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority], ⁴having become as much superior to angels, since He has inherited a more excellent and glorious ^[b] name than they [that is, Son—the name above all names].

Salvation (grace) came through the only begotten Son of the Father, the unique God-Man, Christ Jesus the righteous: “For by grace are You saved, through faith in HIM and not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

God was not content just to proclaim his message — his Word — to us!

Jehovah God, Creator God, Pre-Existing God, was not satisfied that only prophets could reveal his coming message — his Living Word — unto us!

God wasn’t willing that his message, his Word, be confined to a book.

No, God’s ultimate message, his Word, is Jesus. God’s message, God’s Word, is Jesus coming in human flesh to live as one of us to reveal God to us.

This incarnation made grace and truth and abundant life accessible, touchable, palpable, and available and very much physically visible unto our human eyes.

Yet, even in an all too confining and limited human skin and burdened with human mortality, God’s glory, God’s grace, God’s truth, could not be hidden.

In all of God’s Neighborhoods ….

In all of those ancient Neighborhoods and Communities ….

And EXACTLY RIGHT NOW ….

In all of our very own Neighborhoods and Communities …..

GUESS WHAT GOD’S GRACE AND TRUTH HATH REVEALED FOR US?

“full and unfailing, undying love, full unyielding, maximum faithfulness”

absolutely, completely, fully, utterly, ultimately, eternally revealed in Immanuel!

God came near.

God became touchable.

God became knowable.

God became visible to our naked eyes.

God became huggable.

God became palpable.

God became relatable.

God became conversational.

God became connectional.

God became genuine.

God became real and fully capable of being experienced.

Grace and Truth came near.

Grace and Truth became touchable.

Grace and Truth became knowable.

Grace and Truth became visible to our naked eyes.

Grace and Truth became huggable.

Grace and Truth became palpable.

Grace and Truth became relatable.

Grace and Truth became conversational.

Grace and Truth became connectional.

Grace and Truth became genuine.

Grace and Truth became real and fully capable of being experienced.

God’s trusted message of Grace and Truth became max real in Jesus, the Word!

John 1:14-18New King James Version

The Word Becomes Flesh

¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ^[a]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

^16 [b]And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten ^[c]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

This is a stunning, breathtaking declaration.

It first announces that a miraculous crossing of the great divide—between heaven and earth, between eternity and time, God and man—took place.

God’s Son came to earth to dwell among us.

As God had walked in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8), so God’s Son came in the wearying heat of human struggle to live with us.

What is it about God that He loves us so much?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to live with us?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to live within us?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to be connected with us?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to be relatable with us?

What is it about the availability of God’s Grace and Truth, we want to know why we are even aware of our own irresistible need to be asking God all of these questions?

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

Let us Pray,

Holy and loving God, my Abba Father, thank you for the Scriptures, the prophets, the scribes, and the scholars. Thank you most of all for Jesus, who came as your Word in human skin. Thank you for coming to my neighborhood and showing me how to live and how much you love me. As we journey through the Gospel of John, please make your presence and your will known to me as I get to know your Son better.

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your only begotten Son into Your streets, Your neighborhoods and Your communities to become the unique ‘God-Man’ Who alone is full of grace and truth, Who alone was qualified, worthy to become our perfect, Kinsman-Redeemer, to die on the Cross as our heavenly substitute for sin. We gather to Exalt, Glorify and Magnify His holy name, Praise His holy name.

Adeste Fidelis, Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

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Immanuel, Our Christmas Hallelujah! Psalm 146, Isaiah 9:6-7, and etcetera

Psalm 146Amplified Bible

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
²
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
³
Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).
⁴
When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.
⁵
How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them,
Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,
⁷
Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets free the prisoners.

⁸
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the ^[a]righteous [the upright in heart].
⁹
The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.
¹⁰
The Lord shall reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

This beautiful Psalm is a song of praise that rejoices in the unalterable character and eternal beauty of the Lord.

It extols, it glorifies, it magnifies the greatness of His character, and it rejoices over the unalterable, unchangeable glories and indescribable majesty of our Creator God as, verse after verse, Psalmist reflects on the wonder of His name.

The author reminds us that the Lord is very great and highly to be praised.

The Lord our God is clothed with majesty and honour and brings justice to the oppressed. The Lord provides food for the hungry, sets the prisoners free, cares for His people, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up those that are bowed down, and He is a righteous God Who loves the righteous, who loves justice and mercy.

The psalmist meditates on the greatness of his God and encourages us all to do the same.

He rejoices in the eternal faithfulness and gracious wisdom of the Lord and ponders over the majestic works of His hand.

The thoughts and the meditations of the Psalmist build into a crescendo of praise as he centers on the steadfastness of the Lord his God, Who is from everlasting to everlasting.

And finally he bursts forth from his joyful meditation on the insurmountable wonders of the Lord his God, by crying out.

“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!”

The joy of the Psalmist is inescapably contagious, for when we spend our days reflecting on the eternal faithfulness of the Lord and turn our hearts, souls to meditate upon the beauties of His name, we will also rejoice in His wonderful works, His grace and mercy, His wisdom and might, His faithfulness and love.

As like the Psalmist we will blend the noisiness of our joyful, joy-filled voices with the heavenly choir that proclaims, “Holy, holy, holy.” Hallelujah! Amen.

Isaiah 9:6-7 Amplified Bible

⁶
For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder,
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷
There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace,
[He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From that time forward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Wonderful Counselor!

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Mighty God!

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Everlasting Father!

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Prince of Peace!

Say it over and over and over again ….

Sing it over and over and over again ….

Shout it over and over and over again ….

All of heaven needs to be shaken …. needs to reverberate …. Hallelujah!

Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, existed long before he was born on this earth. As God, He does not have a beginning; He IS the source of all things.

Before the world existed, he lived in eternal glory and had perfect communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

He was the Word that was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2).

He was coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial with God.

He was not created; He is one with the Creator. “Through him all things were made,” and nothing that was made was made without him (John 1:3).

The universe was in God’s mind before the foundations of the earth were laid.

The starry worlds were created by him.

He measured the waters of the seas in the hollow of his hand and weighed the dust and the sands, all the rocks and trees of the earth on his precision scale.

He called by name each and every one of the stars in the heavens, and none of them is lacking in splendor. He brought into existence the things that did not exist and created everything from nothing, for his glory and our enjoyment.

As our ultimate provider and protector, the Son born to us is called Everlasting Father; Wonderful Counselor; Prince of Peace! He loves us and came to save us!

Psalm 146:1-2Amplified Bible

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
²
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

Psalm 146 is a rousing song of praise that celebrates God’s faithfulness.

And today, as we say “Merry Christmas,” as we sing “Merry Christmas,” as we shout “Merry Christmas” back into the heavens we celebrate the birth of Savior Jesus, reminded within this psalm to praise the Lord, put our trust in him alone.

For the name of God and God alone alone is worthy to be exalted, deep into the deepest and furthest depths of the infinite expanse of all of the heavens above.

For God and God alone is worthy to be glorified and praised!

For God and God alone is worthy to be honored, magnified, worshiped!

For God and God alone “reigns forever . . . for all generations.”

“A Christmas Alleluia”

is a contemporary song by Chris Tomlin celebrating the day of Christ’s birth.

It recalls the scene and song of the angel hosts of heaven, singing,

“All glory to our God and King!”

And it calls us to sing “Alleluia,” which means “Praise the Lord!”

We give praise because “Christ, the Savior of the world . . . has come!”

We sing “Alleluia” because Christ’s is the highest name of all.

Joy to the World (Sir Isaac Watts, 1674-1748)

1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing.

2. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy.

3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found.

4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love.

With joy and expectation, with highest anticipation, we are reminded in Psalm 146 that God is the Maker of all things and that “He remains faithful forever.”

With the coming of Immanuel, God fulfills his promises to send the Messiah, the Savior; to be forever with us and forever within – us he is faithful forever.

Immanuel – our Mighty Counselor, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace …

Jesus, Christ our King is born!

And because of his birth, life, death, and resurrection, He demonstrates his supremacy over all. He comes to uphold “the cause of the oppressed” and to give “food to the hungry.” He “sets the prisoners free . . . gives sight to the blind,” and “brings justice and mercy,” “lifts up those who are bowed down.”

And because Christ Jesus Lives,

And because Christ Jesus Reigns forever,

we sing “Alleluia” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”

we shout “Alleluia!” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”

we PRAY “Alleluia!” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”

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

Let us Pray,

“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!”

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day!

Mortals, join the mighty chorus
which the morning stars began;
love divine is reigning o’er us,
binding all within its span.
Ever singing, march we onward,
victors in the midst of strife;
joyful music leads us sunward,
in the triumph song of life.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

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

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“It is ALL in Our DOING!” 10 Ideas to Bring Your Family, Your Friends and Your Neighbors a Wee Little Bit More of God’s Love this Christmas. 1 John 4:7-21

1 John 4:7-21The Message

God Is Love

^7-10My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

^11-12My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

^13-16This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

To Love, to Be Loved

^17-18God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

¹⁹We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

^20-21If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.

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

It is ALL in the DOING!

John speaks directly to the heart of love as he writes, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.”

Loving is not an abstract, optional concept.

It originates with God,

and we pass along God’s love in our relationships with others.

Renowned Author, Ethicist and Theologian Lewis Smedes put it this way in his book Love Within Limits:

“God’s love song is in many ways like other great love songs. . . . Our challenge is to find ways to bring the heavenly rhapsody down into our own worldly realities.”

How true—and also realistically, truthfully how difficult! Only one person, Jesus, lived out perfectly the demands of perfect love, and he was crucified.

Living with one another gets messy, and people can be so difficult!

We live with family, friends, and neighbors who often seem determined to test even our desire to love.

But God didn’t command us to like one another. Jesus, after stating that the greatest commandment is “Love the Lord your God . . .” reminded everyone that the second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

That is not an optional command.

Jesus also described it as a new command and gave the reason for us to obey it:

^34-35“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” John 13:34-35

Jesus expects us to live out His love in very visible ways, to obey his commands.

I fervently pray the Christmas season, or any season for that matter, also reminds us of what Jesus said in Matthew 22:39, about the second most crucial commandment Christians should keep. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

While I could focus solely on myself this Christmas,

My Wife and I find it infinitely more rewarding to help spread the merriment of the holidays to those around us, including to those who are our literal neighbor.

By doing this, our lives becomes engulfed in God’s love and Immanuel’s joy, and both our hearts become more focused on the reason for the season: Jesus!

To help you the reader do the same, here are 10 ideas to bring your neighbor, your family, yourself a bit more of God’s Love, Immanuel’s joy this Christmas.

1. Host a dinner.

Savor the Christmas season this year by cherishing time spent with the people in your life.

Invite a few of your neighbors over for a potluck dinner.

Cook the main dish and ask a few people to bring sides and desserts.

If you’re feeling extra hospitable, provide all aspects of the meal and let your neighbors enjoy their evening.

Just make sure you communicate with all your neighbors about any dietary restrictions.

When it comes time to have your neighbors over, make your home extra festive: turn on your Christmas tree, lighting your favorite Christmas-scented candle.

Have light Christmas music playing in the background, too! Sit around the fireplace (or this video of a fire) and enjoy God and one another’s company.

When it comes time to leave, give your neighbors a small gift, like a mug with hot cocoa packets and marshmallows – maybe their souls will be warmed up!

2. Organize a cookie exchange.

Every year, my wife and I know a great couple who will spend hours upon hours in the kitchen, over a nice warm oven and bake well over a thousand cookies of all flavors and will distribute them to their family, their friends, and neighbors.

Or perhaps, instead of baking however many varieties and myriad different types of Christmas cookies, maybe try hosting a cookie exchange this year.

Find a handful of neighbors who would like to participate and have each select one or two types of cookies to make.

You can ask everyone to bake their holiday favorites, or you can assign cookie types to prevent repeats.

Then, invite everyone over to to the house, exchange cookies with one another.

Everyone will leave a variety of cookies, without having to be chained to their kitchens all of December.

You can even turn the cookie exchange into an entire afternoon celebration.

Put on your favorite Christmas movies and music and provide hot cocoa and and coffee and popcorn and the aromas of God’s Love. Invite neighbors to stay for a couple of hours to watch a flick and nibble on those delectable cookies.

3. Provide babysitting. (as much as you are able and it is needed by your guests)

Christmas is a hugely busy time.

There are never-ending parties and celebrations, a million and a half things to bake, and gifts to purchase and wrap.

This last part can be especially tricky for parents of children who still believe in Santa or just want to manage to keep the gifts they’re giving a hidden surprise.

If you have a neighbor with small kids, offer to watch them one evening so their parents can get their Christmas shopping done.

Or even just take a night off together.

If you have kids, too, see if you can work out a child swap for a couple of hours.

With their approval and their permission, watch their kids one night, send your kids to the neighbor’s house another night – share some cookies and hot cocoa.

This way, they can get their shopping done in peaceful bliss.

4. Shovel their driveway. (as much as it may be required and you can safely do)

After a particularly heavy snow, I came home from work one day to find that our neighbors had shoveled our driveway.

Well, actually, I came home to see our neighbor in the middle of snow blowing our driveway, so I looped around the block one more time, parked my truck and picked up my shovel and I summarily started on my other neighbors driveway.

I know, I know—kind of, sort of, just a might bit and largely neighborly gesture.

But, I love shoveling the driveway, even though it might be some dense snow.

You too can be that great neighbor to someone else. Grab your shovel or snow blower, help someone out, especially someone like an ailing or elderly person.

But honestly, truthfully everyone will then appreciate having the “shovel the driveway” checked off their list for them so whoever you help will be thankful!

5. Go caroling together.

I know, I know, I know – so utterly and completely old fashioned, isn’t it?

A wise man once said, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

Okay, yeah.

You caught me ….

and now my cheeks are blushing ….

The guy I’m talking about is Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, but that does not detract from his wisdom.

Christmas caroling spreads God’s love and great cheer at lightning speeds.

Grab your family and friends and go door to door singing some of the all-time classics, like Silent Night or Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

If your feeling extra festive, feel like you want to go over the top with your caroling, bring a plate of cookies along and offer your neighbors a sweet treat.

6. Organize a neighborhood food drive. (with a bit more neighborly planning)

Nothing gets people in the true Christmas spirit quite as well as helping others. Bring your neighborhood together this Christmas by organizing a food drive.

Contact your local food bank and ask what nonperishable food items they need.

Print out a list of those foods, along with an explanation of what you’re doing, and deliver that info sheet door to door.

If someone isn’t home, either leave the sheet in their mailbox or on their front door. Let your neighbors know they can drop off the goods on your doorstep at any time and also designate a day that you could come to pick up any items.

Together, you will help restock your local food bank in the midst of the season during which they serve the most people.

7. Be a secret Santa.

My Wife and I love to do this ….

Our absolute favorite way to give Christmas gifts is secret-Santa style.

We absolutely love the idea of people anonymously receiving a present they were not expecting.

It can be such a huge blessing, and with no one to thank, they turn their gratitude towards God.

Your secret-Santa present can be something small like a Christmas movie, caramel popcorn, or hot cocoa.

Or your gift could be something life-changing, like a new washing machine.

Another secret-Santa idea I love is to collect pocket change and loose dollar bills throughout the year.

Then deliver that jar of money to the doorstep of a random homeless neighbor.

By giving these gifts without receiving credit, it really highlights how generous, compassionate our Heavenly Father is and how he abundantly blesses all of us.

8. Host a wrapping party.

I do not know about you, but I often have a gift for weeks before I actually get around to wrapping it, mostly because of my lack of wrapping paper. Or tape. Or ribbon. Or gift tags. (I’m pretty much a wrapping-mess!) (I despise wrapping!)

So why not host a present wrapping party for you and a few neighbors?

Have each person bring a pair of scissors and a few rolls of wrapping paper.

Provide tape, ribbons, and snacks.

Put on a Christmas movie, crank up some festive music, spread some Christmas Cookies around and spend your day wrapping all the presents you are giving.

It is an especially great idea for college dorms or student apartment buildings.

It provides students with an opportunity to get together, have a party, wrap their gifts, eat some favorite cookies, all before going home for the holidays.

It’s also a fantastic stress-buster during the chaos of finals week!

9. Help Decorate

Driving through a neighborhood where almost every home has lights on their house and a tree in its window is such a joyful treat.

But the problem with Christmas decorations is that they often have to be set up in crummy weather.

The cold, snow or ice can be especially tricky to brave, and the last thing you want is someone slipping off their roof.

Also, let’s be honest: setting up Christmas decorations can be exhausting!

Some years, it’s a struggle to find the time to set up your decorations.

So, if you have a neighbor who usually decorates but hasn’t yet this year, reach out and see if they need help.

It’ll bring God to their doorstep and Immanuel’s joy to your neighbor, and to the rest of your neighbors who get to look back at the beautiful decorations!

10. Give a Simple Card

It’s hard to explain my joy when I open our mailbox, and there’s a piece of mail that is neither a bill nor a mass of advertisements all addressed to “our current resident.” It’s almost like the Christmas-morning-equivalent of adulthood.

Why not give our God a chance to freely advertise some of His great love for “all of our current residents,” take advantage of this super simple, inexpensive way to bring Immanuel’s joy to your neighbors?

Buy a multi-pack of Christmas cards and write a small heartfelt note about how much these people mean to you.

Tell stories of how they have blessed you this year, and thank God for them for being great neighbors.

Bonus:

this is a great way to introduce yourself to neighbors you do not know as well.

Introduce yourself via a card and follow up with your neighbors with one of the other ideas in this article.

The Christmas season lends itself exceedingly and abundantly well to forming yearlong relationships with your neighbors.

You just never know what God will do with such a relationship ….

It is ALL in the DOING ….

John’s letter gives us magnificent clues on how to stretch the season.

We celebrate Christmas all year when we stick to the basics of “loving God and carrying out his commands.”

And these “commands” are not complicated.

The central command is to love God and neighbor. For example, says John, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.”

So, as we finish our Christmas gatherings, finish unwrapping gifts, take down the Christmas tree and box and store the lights and decorations, we should keep celebrating our FIRST love of the birth of Jesus, by loving others as he loves us.

“Peace and goodwill to all”

must become FOR ALL a blessed and highly favored year-round labor of love.

It is ALL in our DOING!

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 100 The Message

100 ^1-2On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.

³Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.

⁴Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.

⁵For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.

Almighty, all-merciful God, through Christ Jesus you have taught us to love one another, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and even to love our enemies. In times of violence and fear, let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, so that we may not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good.

Help us to see each person in light of the love and grace you have shown us in Christ. Put away the nightmares of terror and awaken us to the dawning of your new creation. Establish among us a future where peace reigns, justice is done with mercy, and all are reconciled. We ask these things in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord Jesus, as your neighbors often we are difficult to love. Thank you for always loving us and being our example of patience and perseverance as we seek to love others in your name. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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John 15:1-8Amplified Bible

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

Recognizing The Fruit God Produces In Us

John 15:5-8 English Standard Version

The Fruit of God in our Lives

Abiding in Jesus Christ

What Affects Our Graft into Jesus?

Staying Grafted In ….

Luke 9:23-24English Standard Version

Take Up Your Cross and [DAILY] Follow Jesus

True and False Fasting

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Ecclesiastes 12:9-14The Message

The Final Word

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 TO ONE, TO ALL!

HOW TO ALIGN YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS WITH THE BIBLE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ecclesiastes 12:9-11New Living Translation

Citizens of Heaven or Denizens of the World

Philippians 3:20-21The Message

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

John 13:34-35 Amplified Bible

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Genesis 12:10-20Amplified Bible

ABRAHAM’S FAITH AND FAILURES

ABRAHAM FAILS! GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

OUR FAILURES AND GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

II. The Failure of Abram (Genesis 12:10-20)

Hebrews 12:4-11Amplified Bible

A Father’s Discipline

John 17:6-12Amplified Bible

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Genesis 12:1-9Amplified Bible

Abram Journeys to Egypt

Genesis 12:1-20 – Faith and Failure

I. Faith (Genesis 12:1-9)

II. Failure (Genesis 12:10-20)

I. The Faith of Abram (Genesis 12:1-9)

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Psalm 25:1-15Amplified Bible

Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.

Psalm 25:1English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

[a] Of David.

Psalm 25:1-2English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

[a] Of David.

Psalm 25:1-3English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

[a] Of David.

Psalm 25:5-10Amplified Bible

To Live, Be Alive and Be Living the Truth

John 14:1-3Amplified Bible

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

1 Peter 3:8-15Amplified Bible

Psalm 25:10-15Amplified Bible

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John 1:14-18 The Message

Hebrews 1:1-4Amplified Bible

God’s Final Word in His Son

John 1:14-18New King James Version

The Word Becomes Flesh

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Psalm 146Amplified Bible

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

Isaiah 9:6-7 Amplified Bible

Psalm 146:1-2Amplified Bible

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

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1 John 4:7-21The Message

God Is Love

To Love, to Be Loved

Psalm 100 The Message

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^[a] Of David.

^[a] Of David.

^[a] Of David.