Sometimes in reading the Bible I come across verses that shatter my misconceptions I didn't know I had! I read Proverbs 24:15-16 which states, "Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; do not plunder his resting place; 16 for a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity." Both the wicked and the righteous will fall into sin, for they live in a body of flesh. The difference between them is the righteous will rise again and again, while the wicked will fall and be unable to rise. The wicked have no resting place under the oppressive weight of their guilt and sin before God, while the righteous are those who rest in the forgiveness offered through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.
We might think that a righteous person is one who no longer sins, while in actuality those who are righteous are those whose sins are forgiven. There is none righteous, not one is righteous in his own strength save Jesus Christ. The devil will use our faults against us, to condemn us by saying: "You think you are righteous? See what wicked thoughts you entertain! Look at how you acted! There's no hope for you now!" The righteous can be duped to remain down when it is Christ who lifts us up! David says in Psalm 32:1-2, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." A righteous man is he who has his sins forgiven by the blood of Christ.
Since God in His grace and justice has forgiven us of our sins, we are now free from sin and are given the responsibility to live righteously. This righteousness is not according to the law, but according to the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us in faith. When we are disillusioned by our own faults we can know we have begun to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. As long as we live in this flesh, we are sinners in need of cleansing and salvation. We are called to work out our own salvation - not that we could earn our salvation through doing good - but that we would walk worthy of our high calling as children of God.
When you fall into sin, ask God to lift you up! Let us reach out to Him. As Jesus rose from the dead and defeated sin and death, we too can be raised up by the same power which works in us by His grace. A righteous man will fall, but we will rise again! Praise God for this incredible truth!
20 December 2010
19 December 2010
It's GO Time!
"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger."
Luke 2:8-16
Christmas is the celebration of the divine revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. On a quiet night in the countryside of Bethlehem, angels proclaimed the birth of the Son of God to shepherds who dwelt in the fields. What I find fascinating about this interaction is the angel says, "And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." The shepherds were never told to go to Bethlehem. They were not commanded to leave their flocks or seek the child Jesus. But with great enthusiasm and desire the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us." God had revealed Himself from heaven as a child in a manger, and they desired to experience His presence firsthand. Verse 16 reveals their zeal: "And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger."
Funny isn't it, how these men did something they weren't even asked or commanded to do? The angel simply said, "You will find...." He might as well have said, "Get up right now and GO!" by their actions! The shepherds responded to the revelation not by putting another bundle of sticks on the fire, leaning back with hands behind their heads saying, "Wonder how this will turn out!" They went immediately to seek their LORD and Savior. Later in the life of Christ, He spoke in Matthew 7:7-8: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Jesus extends to us an open invitation to ask, seek, and knock. This is not an invitation for us to satisfy our own selfish desires, but to experience firsthand what God has revealed. I must ask myself: do I have that same enthusiastic response to seek God like those shepherds? And if not, what is that thing which is so important that seeking God must be second?
These shepherds left all to seek their Savior. No career, no relationship, no earthly goods, and no self-imposed responsibilities should keep me from seeking my LORD. Sometimes we have this idea that God must command us to do something before we will do it. The fact is, sometimes God will reveal something He wants us to act upon by simply taking Him at His word in obedience. In this case, the men saw angels and were given a sign. But it was a sign they had to seek, not for the sign itself but for who it pointed to: the Son of God, born of a virgin in the City of David, our Savior Christ the LORD. These men were not seeking revelation. Their responsibility was to trust that revelation and live according to the truth of it. My friends, this is the Christian existence summed up very well. These shepherds made haste to find the Babe, widely proclaimed all they had seen and heard to everyone they met, and returned to their flocks glorifying and praising God. May this kind of super-abundant joyful evangelism in the purest form mark my life and that of every believer!
What has God revealed to you, and what does He want you to do about it today?
18 December 2010
My Responsibility to Remember
For all of those who envision God as a soft old man similar to a cross between Santa Claus and a benevolent Genie, I am here to set things straight. There is no fitting comparison found on earth for God. Yes, God is full of love, compassion, and mercy. But that does not make Him soft or manipulated by the whims of men. The God I serve, the God who shed His own blood for my sins, is more fierce in His love, justice, and grace than we could imagine. The same God who says, "My peace I give unto you" is the same God who says this in Psalm 50:22-23: "Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: 23 whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God." Now there's a verse we don't hear read too often!
As much as I appreciate and love every aspect of God's character (and perhaps because I am a man!) I really love to read of the awesome power and glorious might of my God. Just like we love to see strongman competitions or watch someone perform a great physical feat, I relish passages that focus on the majestic strength of Jesus Christ. Take Revelation 19:11-16 for instance: "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." This is a God who can literally tear the universe in half with his word alone!
Those who would call Christ pallid and incompetent will bow the knee in reverence before Him! This passage simply oozes of the power and majesty of the Son of God: Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us. It speaks of His truth and faithfulness, His royalty, His unsearchable mind and ways, His power to conquer, to kill and make alive, the Ultimate Ruler, a God of fierceness beyond compare, the KING of ALL! Doesn't the ALL CAPS scream out His rightful place in the universe and in our lives?
Yet for all His strength and praiseworthiness, our feeble minds can forget Him. We can be so caught up in the daily routine or the holidays that we take our eyes off of Jesus. Since our family will be leaving in about two weeks for Australia, my son Abel received notes from his classmates who are sorry to see him go. One note in particular was very touching. The last part read, "I hope you never forget me." How wretched it is to be forgotten! We may forget God, but He will never forget us! He is faithful and true! Jesus told His followers to remember Him in the celebration of Communion. The thief on the cross pleaded with his dying LORD, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus would not forget and said, "Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Our God will never leave us or forsake us, and He will certainly never forget us. We have a responsibility to remember God now and always. We find it amazing that no one could find a place for Mary and Joseph when they looked through Bethlehem. We think it impossible and inhumane that people would leave them and the soon to be born baby Jesus in the cold. With heavy hearts we must confess we are no better: we do it all the time. There was no room for Jesus then, and many of us have no room for Jesus now. As the lovely carol "Joy to the World" exhorts, "Let every heart prepare Him room." We can sing right along with heaven and nature if we will but remember Him. "Joy to the world, the LORD is come!" From a feeding trough to the heights of heaven, our LORD reigns! Let us adore Him today and always!
As much as I appreciate and love every aspect of God's character (and perhaps because I am a man!) I really love to read of the awesome power and glorious might of my God. Just like we love to see strongman competitions or watch someone perform a great physical feat, I relish passages that focus on the majestic strength of Jesus Christ. Take Revelation 19:11-16 for instance: "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." This is a God who can literally tear the universe in half with his word alone!
Those who would call Christ pallid and incompetent will bow the knee in reverence before Him! This passage simply oozes of the power and majesty of the Son of God: Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us. It speaks of His truth and faithfulness, His royalty, His unsearchable mind and ways, His power to conquer, to kill and make alive, the Ultimate Ruler, a God of fierceness beyond compare, the KING of ALL! Doesn't the ALL CAPS scream out His rightful place in the universe and in our lives?
Yet for all His strength and praiseworthiness, our feeble minds can forget Him. We can be so caught up in the daily routine or the holidays that we take our eyes off of Jesus. Since our family will be leaving in about two weeks for Australia, my son Abel received notes from his classmates who are sorry to see him go. One note in particular was very touching. The last part read, "I hope you never forget me." How wretched it is to be forgotten! We may forget God, but He will never forget us! He is faithful and true! Jesus told His followers to remember Him in the celebration of Communion. The thief on the cross pleaded with his dying LORD, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus would not forget and said, "Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Our God will never leave us or forsake us, and He will certainly never forget us. We have a responsibility to remember God now and always. We find it amazing that no one could find a place for Mary and Joseph when they looked through Bethlehem. We think it impossible and inhumane that people would leave them and the soon to be born baby Jesus in the cold. With heavy hearts we must confess we are no better: we do it all the time. There was no room for Jesus then, and many of us have no room for Jesus now. As the lovely carol "Joy to the World" exhorts, "Let every heart prepare Him room." We can sing right along with heaven and nature if we will but remember Him. "Joy to the world, the LORD is come!" From a feeding trough to the heights of heaven, our LORD reigns! Let us adore Him today and always!
17 December 2010
The Little Drummer Boy
When I played piano as a youth, one of my favorite Christmas songs to play was "The Little Drummer Boy." The last time I sang this song, my emotions were profoundly moved to a point I could hardly sing. Perhaps for all those years the truth of the message was hidden among the multitude of "pa rum pum pum pums!" It is a classic carol but also a timeless truth. As ridiculous as it seems that a boy would be encouraged to play on his drum as a gift for baby Jesus, how much more ridiculous is it that the praises of our lips would be received by Him! Are the words of my lips as pure as the love of the Little Drummer Boy, who gave all he had to give? Here is the message of the carol written by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, and Harry Simeone below:
Come they told me
A new born King to see,
Our finest gifts we bring
To lay before the King
So to honor Him
When we come.
Little Baby
I am a poor boy too
A new born King to see,
Our finest gifts we bring
To lay before the King
So to honor Him
When we come.
Little Baby
I am a poor boy too
I have no gift to bring
That's fit to give our King
Shall I play for you!
On my drum.
Mary nodded
The ox and lamb kept time
I played my drum for Him
I played my best for Him
Then He smiled at me
Me and my drum.
That's fit to give our King
Shall I play for you!
On my drum.
Mary nodded
The ox and lamb kept time
I played my drum for Him
I played my best for Him
Then He smiled at me
Me and my drum.
We are all like the Little Drummer Boy, without a gift fit to give a king, much less the King of Kings! What a message of merciful, gracious acceptance! What gift is greater than to be accepted by God in our poor state, that He would smile upon our pathetic gestures! May our gifts be without pride as we offer ourselves freely to Jesus Christ. If by God's grace you have a drum or have a voice to sing, won't you use it to praise and thank Him today and always?
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