December 8, 2014

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." Luke 2:8-20

I get some of my news from the Free-Lance Star newspaper, I get some news from the Roanoke Times online version, I get some from The Warsaw Times-Union on the internet, some from the radio, some from Fox news, and most from the internet. Rarely do I get good news from any of those sources.

The shepherds got their news from and angel. Lucky shepherds!

As you would imagine, the breaking news that the angel brought was good news! In fact, it was great news that brought joy! Talk about a news flash! One moment these shepherds are staring at the stars and the next moment an angel appears!

What was this good news? God had heard the prayers of His people over the centuries and now the Messiah was about to be born! The silence of God was to be broken and the Son of God would soon appear!

You have to love how these shepherds responded to the news. We can learn from them!

Good news is to be believed!

The shepherds heard the news from angel and believed it! Of course, hearing it from angels makes it a tad more believable! But, also, they believed it because they know the prophecies and were versed in the teachings of the religious leaders. They were spiritually attuned enough to recognize that something was from God! Are you?

Good news is to be beheld!

".....the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Hearing this news was wonderful! Going to see it would be better - so, off they went according to what the angels had said. They found it to be exactly as the angel had said - except better!

"So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger."

Good news is to be believed and it is to be beheld and one more truth we can learn from the shepherds - good news is to be broadcast!

"When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."

When good news is believed and beheld and then broadcast, it is believable and it blesses! Good news is meant to be shared!

One more thing about these as they returned from sharing this good news that they believed and beheld and broadcast, one more thing happened to them - they were blessed! When you share good news and it is believed by others, it causes you to believe it more! When you see others be blessed by the good news you beheld and broadcast it blesses you! That happened to these shepherds!

If you want this Christmas to be a time of "great joy", believe the good news that a Savior is born! Do you believe it?

This Christmas can be a time of "great joy" if you will behold the Savior! Take a fresh look at the story. Read it. Read it out loud to someone else. Meditate on it. See Him afresh and new in your eyes of faith! Will you behold Him this Season?

Christmas 2014 will bring you "great joy" if you will broadcast it! Tell others with your lips and with you life that Jesus is born and it matters to you! Who will you tell?

The "great joy" is enhanced when you see others believe the story and when it blesses them, you are blessed! If you want to be blessed this Christmas, share the blessing with others!

How do we know these shepherds, believed and beheld and broadcast it and were blessed? Who else passed on the story? We know it because they were faithful to share it! Will you be faithful with this transforming truth?

December 7, 2014

"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’”But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”  Luke 19:1-10

Christmas proved the love of God beyond any doubt when God sent His Son, Jesus to be the Savior of the world.

God proved that He is serious about sin because Jesus came to conquer the power of sin and satisfy the penalty it demands. We saw last Sunday that God hates sin because He loves people and sin destroys people.

In this Scripture text, Luke tells you that God loves you because He sent Jesus to seek those who are lost. You were once lost. God is serious about seeking

This story of Zacchaeus is perhaps the classic illustration of Jesus in the role of the seeker. Over the next several posts I want to show you four inspiring insights of the Seeking Savior.

1) Jesus knows what you hope, v. 3

2) Jesus knows where you hide, v. 4

3) Jesus knows where you hurt, vv. 2, 5, 7

4) Jesus knows when to help, v. 9

Zacchaeus was a lonely and miserable little man. So when he heard Jesus was coming to his town hope arose within him. "If this Rabbi was Who they say He is maybe I will have a chance. I need to make sure I meet Him when He comes."

In verse three you can see that once Zacchaeus arrived at the place where Jesus would be passing, he discovered that being diminutive in stature he was unable to see over the crowd. And for the moment his hopes were dashed.

Determination and desperation can inspire creativity and Zacchaeus climbed a nearby sycamore tree to get a better view of the approaching Lord. Where once he had hoped to be seen by the Messiah, now he was just hoping to be able to see Him. And from his lofty perch he was able to get a great view of Jesus.

Much to Zacchaeus' surprise, as Jesus was passing by the sycamore He stopped, looked up at Zacchaeus and calling him by name said, "Come down immediately! I need to go to your house today!"

Zacchaeus couldn't believe his good fortune! This was so much more that he could ever have hoped for! This famous Rabbi wanted to visit with him in his own home! He scurried down the tree!

God understands your hopes and dreams. You want to be a good person. You want to be happy and have significance. You want your life to matter. You want to have the peace of knowing you are right with God. You want the assurance of Heaven when you die. Those things can only be found in a relationship with God.

Whether you realize it or not, God knows that only through Christ can you have those hopes fulfilled. Only through salvation can your fondest hopes be met. That is why He sent His Son to seek and save those who are lost - and those who have lost their hope.

Christmas proves that God's love is serious!

December 6, 2014

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

The Baby Jesus was sent from Heaven to be the voice of God to this world.

The Baby Jesus was sent from Heaven to be the vision of God to this world.

And, the Baby Jesus was sent from Heaven to bring the victory of God to this world. Jesus came "full of grace and truth". How do grace and truth bring victory?

Let me suggest four significant ways truth and grace will bring you victory. Four key words are:

Reality

Repentance

Regeneration

Relationship

Truth connects you with reality. The purpose and power of truth is to anchor your life to reality. Whatever is most real to you will determine what is true for you. The best example in support of that claim is Adam. He became susceptible to rebellion against God the moment he lost touch with the truth that God is Ultimate Reality because He came first, He created everything that is real while everything else apart from Him is unreal and temporary.

Adam believed the implied lie from the lips of the serpent, "God wants to keep you from knowing what He knows. You will not surely die."

Grace would have kept Adam from erring from the truth. 

How? 

When the serpent caused Adam that moment of doubt about God's nature, Adam should have extended God the benefit of the doubt.

God gave you the benefit of the doubt when He sent Jesus "full of grace and truth" to call you back to His truth and reconnect you to what is real and eternal.

Truth calls you to repentance. Once God's Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, convinces you of His truth it convicts you of your lies. But, at the same time His truth condemns you, His Spirit calls you to His grace so that His compassion seems more real than your condemnation! His grace leads you repentance for believing lies and reconnecting with His truth!

Repentance leads you to regeneration! When you turn from your sinfulness by believing His truth and receiving His grace, the Holy Spirit brings His life into your spirit! That "born again" experience is known as regeneration. 

Once you are alive in Christ by His Spirit, you are brought into a personal relationship with Christ. He steps in and fills that huge empty place in your heart by gracing you with His love, His peace and His presence!

God will become real to you as He speaks to you and as you hear His voice. God becomes real to you as He listens to your voice. You will become aware of an eternal spiritual reality. What you can't see with your eyes will become more real than those things you can see! What you hear from God will have the ring of truth and keep you grounded in His reality.

The old saying is true - truth hurts! That is why truth must be coupled with grace because grace helps!

Aren't you glad that Jesus came from Heaven full of "grace AND truth"?

December 5, 2014

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

God's Word changes everything every time it is applied!

The reason God's Word is so transforming is because God was transformed into flesh when the Baby Jesus came to earth on the first Christmas!

Heaven came down at Christmas in the Person of Jesus to be the voice of God!

Heaven came down at Christmas in the Person of Jesus to bring a vision of God!

But, wait, it gets better!

Heaven came down at Christmas in the Person of Jesus to bring the victory of God!

What is the victory Jesus brought on that first Christmas Day when Heaven came down? He came full of "grace and truth"! Heaven is a place of grace and truth so that shouldn't be surprising, but it IS inspiring!

The birth of Jesus was proof of grace and truth! He was sent to provide forgiveness and salvation when we deserved judgment and wrath! God extended mercy when we had earned justice. That's grace!

If you want to get an idea of how good His grace is for us, consider how bad God's wrath and judgment was for Jesus on the Cross!

And, His birth was also confirmation of His truth! It was a product of God's truth. Over 300 prophecies over a 700 year period foretold the coming, life events, and sacrificial death of God's Messiah. 

Therefore, His birth was proof of God's truth, because every event happened just as prophesied!
  
God's grace is dependent on God's truth and His truth is expressed and extended through His grace! Without the grace of God we would have no access to God's truth because Jesus IS God's Truth!

God's grace and truth expressed in Christ Jesus made it possible for you and me to gain the victory guilt and darkness!

Heaven is filled with God's grace and truth! And because Heaven came down at Christmas through the birth of Jesus, you can be filled with His grace and truth, too!

December 4, 2014

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 

The baby Jesus came to be the voice of God, the "logos", revealing the knowledge and wisdom of God. Heaven came down to speak the mind of God.

The baby Jesus also came to be a vision of God. 

No one has seen God, nor could they see Him. 

He is a Spirit and human eyes are blind to the spirit world. 

More over, His holiness and majesty would mean instant death to any mortal who dared to look upon Him.

Those who saw Him in visions, such as Isaiah and John, were at a loss for words trying to describe what they saw.

So, what a better way to reveal Himself than to don flesh and come as a human being?

Heaven came down at Christmas in the person of the baby Jesus so people can lay eyes on the glory of God!

What is the glory of God?

The glory of God is everything He is in His Being, His Essence and His Nature - everything He is that we aren't!

Jesus was as much of God's glory as He could pack into human flesh. When people looked at Jesus they got a glimpse of the glory of God.

Think about all that Jesus was and yet He was just a limited glance of God's glory!

Wow!

December 3, 2014

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

The "Word" that spoke the world into existence and launched our universe and everything that's in it, that "Word" became a tiny and innocent and vulnerable baby boy!

The "Word" that commanded, "Let there be a sun!" also spoke, "Let there be THE Son!"

That "Word" that became the Son was there when the sun was spoken into existence. In fact, He was there when ALL the suns where created at His "Word"!

The "Word" became flesh to dwell among us and to dwell like us to make it possible for you to dwell with Him and become like Him!

Jesus, as the "Word", came to be the voice of God in this world! And while still a tiny baby, well before he could talk, the "Word" spoke volumes by His birth! His birth said:

1) 400 years of  Heavenly silence was now broken!

2) Hundreds of prophecies were being fulfilled and scores of others would be during His life!

3) All of God's promises where kept by the Birth of Christ and the rest would be secured by His life, death and resurrection!

4) The fulfillment of God's prophecies and His promises through the birth of Christ spoke hope for all His promises yet to be fulfilled!

Once He learned to talk, the "Word" spoke healing words and He spoke helpful words, and He spoke words of holiness!

When the "Word" in flesh spoke, lives changed! Demons fled form the voice of God spoken by the "Word". Disease ceased at the voice of God spoken by the "Word". Even death was overpowered by the voice of God spoken by the "Word".

Christmas celebrates the good news of great joy - Jesus came to be the voice of God!

Have you heard that voice?

Are you listening?

December 2, 2014

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

No one likes the silent treatment, although it can be a fairly effective tool.

When someone you enjoy communicating with chooses to punish you by not speaking to you and not responding to your attempts to speak to them, it can hurt.

For four long centuries God had been silent toward His people. That's a long time to not hear from God! That is several generations of Chosen Ones who lived and died without hearing from God. 

If you go fours weeks or four months without hearing from God don't you find yourself becoming anxious?

You can imagine how eager they must have been to hear from Him!

The last word they had from God came from the Prophet Malachi and left them waiting and wondering:

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6

John the Baptist, born of a barren woman and an aged priest, came to be the Elijah, the fulfillment of this prophecy. Finally, the silence was broken and God's Word was proven true! 

John's message was clear, he was not the Messiah but he was come to preach and prepare the way for the Messiah.

God spoke and now was speaking through John, but John was not the last word! God had more to say! 

On a still night in a remote village in Judea, "the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us" ! Jesus, the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, came in human flesh, born of a virgin in a manger inside of a stable.

Jesus came to be the voice God!

He is the "logos" of God! The "logos" expressed the heart and mind of God. His "logos" is His essence revealed to us. God's "logos" is God's life and it is God's light and God's love all wrapped up in swaddling clothes and first heard in a baby's cry!

God began speaking to hurting and hungry hearts on that first night in Bethlehem and He has been speaking ever since! Those who hear and listen find healing, help, and hope.

Are you listening?