December 7, 2010

"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." Matthew 1:18-25

This morning as I meditating on the Christmas story my thoughts were drawn toward Joseph, who drew the assignment of raising the Messiah. This obscure carpenter from Nazareth was called to step onto center stage in the marvelous mysterious drama of redemption that God orchestrated during the first Christmas.

Was he chosen merely because of his relationship with Mary, or did God nudge them together to accomplish His plan? We will never know for sure, but one thing that is sure is in addition to all of her other virtues, Mary had excellent taste in men!

I have commented on the sacrifices Mary made to obey God and become the mother of the Messiah. But Joseph did some hard things, too! I think his contributions sometimes get lost in the shadows. In short, this is what Joseph was called to do - "Joseph, I want you to believe some incredible things, put your life on hold, put your reputation at risk, nurture and protect the Son of God, and you won't get much credit for it."

Would you take that deal? Joseph did!

In an age where way too much of faith is about "what's in it for me?", it is worth stopping to consider the selfless sacrifice of Joseph.

His journey began with a broken heart. News reached him that his wife-to-be was pregnant and he knew it wasn't his. Could it be that this women he loved and trusted had been unfaithful to him? What would you think? What would you believe?

Next, he had to believe this incredible story, overcome the trust issues and bring her into his home as his wife. And, oh, he can't have sexual relations with her. How many teen guys could do that?

And that was just the beginning!

He would have to make a trip to Bethlehem with an extremely pregnant woman. Then he discovered that his reservations got cancelled and he would have to spend the night in a stable. And, during the night in that stable he had to deliver a baby! Not easy stuff!

But, it got harder! Joseph was told by an angel to take Mary and the infant in the middle of the night and escape to Egypt. So he did. And they stayed there awhile. Don't you think Joseph lost a few business accounts in those years that he was gone? I doubt if his customers were going to wait several years to get their yokes made.

Wow! What a guy! His sacrifice and obedience rivals that of Mary!

Let me ask you, are you willing to follow Christ if it costs you everything, gains you little, and gives you no credit?

That is the call to discipleship. It is not about you! The Kingdom of God is built and advanced by faithful followers who love God more than life and serve Him unto death. Can you follow in the foot steps of Mary and Joseph? Will you?

It begins today.

December 6, 2010

"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:32-33

When you say, "Happy Holidays!" What are you really saying?

Obviously, "holiday" is a contracted version of "holy day". While in some instances it has come to represent a period of time off or vacation, in it's original sense it represents a time of special significance.

I heard someone recently commenting on the three successive Holidays that occur this time of year, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. This fellow made a case for the sgnificance of each of them individually and the added importance of them together. I thought it to be worth sharing with you.

Certainly, you get an insight into their import if you simply take the first half of each word and then put them together. Example:

THANKS - CHRIST - NEW

Get it? See the pattern?

Thanksgiving illustrates the manner in which we approach God. We come thankfully before Him in recognition of His Greatness and His Goodness as evidenced by His generous providence and provision.

And the manner in which we demonstrate thanks is by giving! We give ourselves and we give our best. That is what God desires and it is what He deserves!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 118:1

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:57

When you approach God with humility and grattitude, He makes it possible for you to enter into a personal realtionship with Him through Christ! Christmas - "the Christ birth" - happens in your spirit and it provides a spiritual transformation.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" II Corithians 5:17

Are you "in Christ"? Have you invited Him to be "in you"?

Those two actions then bring you to the third Holiday - the New Year. As II Corinthians 5:17 reminded us, when you are "in Christ" everything becomes new and all the old passes away. This is not a religious reformation, this is a supernatural spiritual transformation!

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

So, as you navigate through the stress and the busyness of this six weeks of holiday period. Let me urge you to not just focus on the traditions and the trials, remember the truths:

Thanksgiving to God brings Christmas into your heart and makes for a truly New Year!

December 5, 2010

“The Big ‘O’ In Christmas” Luke 1:38

In the 1988 winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada they experimented with a competition for blind skiers. How did they ski being blind? They were paired with sighted skiers who would simply yell, "LEFT" or "RIGHT" when the time came to turn, and the blind skiers obeyed without question! Their obedience brought reward. When we cannot see what God is doing, we can still listen to His Word. Moreover, what it says we must obey if we want the journey to end correctly. The only safe way down the mountain when you are blind is to obey without question!

We look back on the events of Christmas and forget that those involved in the unfolding drama were flying blind – just on pure obedience. When you think about it there was a tremendous amount of obedience required by a number of people in order for Jesus to be born.

There was Zachariah, Joseph, Elizabeth, the shepherds, and, of course, Mary. This morning I want to focus on the obedience of Mary.

Mary’s obedience sent her and all of her descendents in a new direction. You and I have benefited from her obedience as much as she has!

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:26-35

Do you get a sense here that God is about to do something new and amazing in our world? Can’t you see that He is about to move in a mighty way upon His people?

God wanted to bring revival to a world weary of religion. God wanted to move from edges of our lives to the center.

Disobedience had changed things, it would take obedience to change them back.

That is the “O” in Christmas! Mary’s obedience was what allowed God to move upon His people and bring a great revival.

I hear a whole lot of talk about revival. I hear people saying how badly our nation needs revival or our church needs revival or our people need revival or our preachers need revival and they are right! We certainly could benefit from all of the above. But please define revival! I am not sure I am clear on what they are wanting. Perhaps they are not either. My guess is they are thinking of a scheduled series of meetings with a firey evangelist preaching and some inspiring musicians who will come and whip them up into a spiritual and emotional frenzy.

Here is what two of the greatest evangelists and revivalists of the last century and a half had to save about revival:

Charles Finney, perhaps the most anointed evangelist since John the Baptsist, noted this about the role obedience and sacrifice play in revival:

“Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God!”


A. W. Tozer, one of the spiritual giants of the 20th century added this thought, "Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late - and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience."

Revival is a direct result of obedience. Obedience moves God from the edges of our live to the center. Obedience allows God to cleanse us from the dead works of religion and sweep in with the refreshing, life-giving wind of relationship!

Well, Brad, if obedience is that important. If it is the key to revival, why don’t we see more of it?

Mary provides us some great insights into obedience:

MARY’S OBEDIENCE

Obedience defined – “doing God’s will in God’s way according to His time”

Obedience demonstrated – “May it be to you as you have said.”

WHY OBEDIENCE IS HELPFUL

Obedience Connected Her With God’s Presence, V. 27

For many of us Christmas is about PRESENTS but for God Christmas was all about PRESENCE!

God has ALWAYS desired to be with us. He created us in the beginning and placed Adam in a paradise called Eden. Immediately after Adam sinned, God announced to the serpent that He would be redeeming man. And He did! His plan was about to be fulfilled in the birth of His Son, Jesus, coming to bear the sins of the world so man that a holy God could be reconciled to a sinful man.

After Jesus came and died and rose again, He went to create a place for us in Heaven so that we can be will Him forever! We will enjoy His presence and we will enjoy His - together! Forever!

Obedience Connected Her With God’s Power, V. 35

You can’t have God’s power with out God’s presence. When you are obedient you can get both!

God’s power comes with His presence to empower us to serve Him…..

Obedience Completed God’s Plan For Her

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Ro. 12:1-2

Obedience allows you to enjoy God’s presence and experience His power and execute His place for your life. Obedience moves God from the edges of your life to the very center of your life! That is the stuff revival is made of!

So, if obedience brings those great things that Mary received, why wouldn’t everyone want to obey?

WHY ODEDIENCE IS HARD

Obedience Confronted Her Fears, V. 30-33

Fear of frailty – We don’t like our weaknesses exposed
Fear of failure – We don’t like to fail – or even think about failing….
Fear of future – We have need done this before or been this before

Obedience Cost Her Something, V. 34

We are programmed to think in terms of, “What’s in it for me?”

The flip side of that is, “What’s it gonna cost me?”

You say, “That’s not right!” – Oh, yeah? Jesus told us to count the cost before we decide to follow Him!

You can’t make a serious commitment without a serious counting of the cost!

ULTIMATELY, it costs us moving God from the edges to the center of life!

Obedience Complicated Her Life

Her Relationship - What would Joseph thing when he heard the news?

Her Reputation - What would others think of her? What would they think of Joseph? Would she be toned as an adultress?

Her Relaxation - There would be no time to relax and prepare for her dream wedding. There would be a dream wedding. There would be an excruciating journey over rough terrain on the back of a donkey. There would be no comfy room in an inn but the would be lodging in a cold, damp stable.

Committing to obey God would certainly cost Mary something! BUT sin would complicate it a lot more!

THE BIG “O” IN CHRISTMAS IS OBEDIENCE! While it brings great blessings it also is very hard!

It had been a good day in Mosul, Iraq. Five So. Baptist workers were making progress toward a water purification project. They had met with officials and laughed with new Iraqi friends. They were headed home for a night’s rest before starting again the next morning. But they never made it home. Karen Watson, 38, along with Larry and Jean Elliot died that evening as Iraqi Muslin extremists sprayed bullets in to their passing truck. Later, among her things, a letter was found written by Karen to be opened after her death. In it she said, among other things, “To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, .... His glory is my reward.” “To obey was my objective.” And that kind of radical obedience should be the objective of every Christian.

Yes, obedience will cost you something – But disobedience costs you more!

Have you moved God to the edges of your life by your disobedience?

Will you allow God to move to the center of your life?

Your most important obedience is your next obedience! Does that need to happen today?

Mary was just “one obedience” away from a great move of God in her life!

God wanted to move to the center of her life and revive her.

What about your obedience?

Are you connected with God?

When was the last time you saw a move of God in your life?

Last week we defined discipleship as “a long obedience in the same direction”. Obedience brought a revival to the world. Obedience can bring a revival to your soul. The next great move of God in your life could be just one obedience away!

December 4, 2010

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" Romans 5:12-17

Jesus was born to be the second Adam!

Why would He want to do that?

Because the first Adam blew it big time!

The second Adam had to undo what the first Adam did.

The first Adam was hand-crafter by God. Therefore, he was created with a sinless nature so He could walk with God.

The second Adam was concieved by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin, therefore, He was born sinless. Not only could He walk with God, He came from God and was in fact, God in the flesh!

The first Adam was placed in Paradise and enjoyed a personal intimate friendship with God every day - until he rebelled and was expelled.

The second Adam was in Paradise but left it to come to earth. He gave up His paradise to suffer and die in our world in order to regain access to Paradise for you and me!

The first Adam was perfect but sinned because he wanted to be God.

The second Adam WAS God but became man - albeit a perfect man - for one reason, so He could die to atone for our sins! He had to be sinless so He could take our sins upon Himself!

Christmas is about the arrival of the second Adam! The second Adam means a second chance!

The good news of Christmas is that God is the God of second chances! Jesus proved it!

December 3, 2010

"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:31-33

Mary was the first to hear of the new thing God was about to do! Everything was about about to change! God was about to move upon His people with a new work in a new way and the world would never be the same! There was "good news of great joy" about to be revealed in the Person of Jesus - God in the flesh!

Ritual and rules and religion and, especially, religious leaders had relegated God to the fringes of their existence. They had strangled the life and joy out of seeking and serving God. There was no love, no freedom, no fellowship, and no life in their religious observances. For centuries they had been going through the motions mouthing the words and clinging to spiritual pride born from the false hope that they were "the chosen ones". Although their priests, scribes and religious leaders knew all about God, few of them actually knew Him.

Dead things need to be buried or revived. What they were trying to bury, God was about to revive. An amazing spiritual revival was just one obedience away! God needed a person, a vessel, through whom He could channel His power and accomplish His will.

Enter, Mary. She was the one God had chosen through which to bring a transforming visitation to His people. If you will - a revival. If Christmas is about anything it is about revival. There certainly would be no hope for revival if Christ had not come and Christ came at Christmas!

I hear a whole lot of talk about revival. I hear people saying how badly our nation needs revival or our church needs revival or our people need revival or our preachers need revival and they are right! We certainly could benefit from all of the above. But please define revival! I am not sure I am clear on what they are wanting. Perhaps they are not either. My guess is they are thinking of a scheduled series of meetings with a firey evangelist preaching and some inspiring musicians who will come and whip them up into a spiritual and emotional frenzy.

Here is what two of the greatest evangelists and revivalists of the last century and a half had to save about revival:

Charles Finney, perhaps the most anointed evangelist since John the Baptsist, noted this about the role obedience and sacrifice play in revival, “Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God!”

A. W. Tozer, one of the spiritual giants of the 20th century added this thought, "Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late - and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience."

Revival is a direct result of obedience. Obedience moves God from the edges of our live to the center. Obedience allows God to cleanse us from the dead works of religion and sweep in with the refreshing, life-giving wind of relationship!

On this historic day when the angel appeared to Mary, He was indicating that a great move of God upon her and through her was just one obedience away!

Could it be that revival, a fresh move of God upon you, is just one obedience away? Is it possible that you need to stop wishing for revival or praying from revival and simple "obey" for revival?

Is there a "dead spot" in your spirit? Is there a point of disobedience that is preventing God from moving upon your heart and spirit?

Look what happened to our world when Mary chose to obey! Look how she did it, “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Her obedient response to God brought a revival that continues to this day!

Is there a point in your life where you have pushed God to the edges by your disobedience? Will you allow God to move to your center by praying with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant, May your word to me be fulfilled.”

December 2, 2010

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." Romans 10:17

I really hadn't planned to go this direction this morning but as I was reading about the angelic visits to Zachariah and to young Mary, and for that matter, the shepherds, this verse popped in my mind and tied some things together. Perhaps this thought will help you as well!

What I was looking at was the initial response from these who were visited by angels and then their ultimate response. Each of them moved from fear to faith. They each changed from being terrified to being edified. How did that happen?

We can understand the fear part. Each of them were minding their own business in the course of their daily responsibilities and suddenly an angel appears. That has to startle you a bit. We know that they were frightened because in each case the angel reassures them with the words, "fear not!"

Imagine you are at work today or on the treadmill or eating your frosted flakes and a brilliant, beautiful heavenly being pops up in front of you. How would you be?

Me, too!

But that is the easy part to understand. What we need to know is what happened to move them from fear to faith.

In each case it is the same. They listened to the message that the angel brought. Each one of them heard the Word of the Lord. Their faith came by hearing!

Is there a message there for us? I think so!

Fear comes from looking, faith comes from listening! Looking at an angel can certainly be frightening. It's not like they saw them everyday. For all we know this was the only angelic appearance of their lifetimes. But as they listened to the message of hope, and peace, and news of great joy, they moved from fear to faith.

If you or I look at the world in which we live or a particular circumstance that might face us, fear can rise up within us. If we walk by sight we can be overcome by fear. But as Paul reminds us, "we walk by faith not by sight". And where does faith come from? LISTENING to the Word of God!

Zachariah, Mary, the shepherds all give us proof from the Christmas story! That is another aspect of the "good news of great joy" announced by the angels! We don't have to live in fear!

Are you struggling with fear? Does what you see around you have you frightened?

Tune into God's voice! Get into God's Word. Hear what He has to say to you today! Let His voice move you from fear to faith!

December 1, 2010

"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37

Much of the lore and legend surrounding Christmas centers around impossible things happening.

For example, the story of a benign and jolly man who lives around the North Pole with a large population of highly skilled elves and a herd of flying reindeer. This industrious bunch craft a wide variety of toys to distribute to every child in the world during the night-time hours of Christmas Eve. Sound impossible? Ah, but don't forget that he has the benefit of the supersonic flying reindeer to propel his sleigh!

In fact, the REAL story of Christmas featured some fairly fantastic unfolding of events.

For example, the birth of John the Baptist. Consider this account from Luke 1:11-25

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” 21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

When God needed a prophet to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, He did it in an impossible way! Out of the weakness of an elderly priest and his barren wife, came John the Baptist. These good and faithful people had borne the shame of infertility their entire married life. Having a son was a sign of God's sanction and blessing upon your life and marriage. So, here is a highly spiritual couple having to live under the shadow of doubt regarding their lack of a son. It was a burden that they had suffered together through the years. I am sure they had lost count of the times they had cried out to God, apparently to no avail.

Don't you think they struggled through some faith issues? You have had enough disappointments with God that you can identify with their heartaches. But in the end, as all people of faith do, they came to grips with the will of God for their lives.

After all that, and now that conception was a physical impossibility for this aged couple, they impossible announcement comes to Zechariah from no less that Gabriel himself! Their prayers had been heard, their faith had been honored and their dreams would come true. What had been impossible to them was about to happen for them! Why? How?

Because "nothing is impossible with God"!

The good news of Christmas is that God is not limited by our weakness! He is not diminished by our humanity!

Because of Christmas - because of Christ - everything is possible! Miracles can happen! Through Christ, God can bring wins out your your weaknesses! Through Christ, God can bring fulfillment out of your futility. Because of Christmas your dreams can arise amid your doubts! Because of Christ there are no dead ends in your life!

As you gear up for your celebration of Christmas - celebrate this - Christmas proves that "nothing is impossible with God!"