Christmas Love

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:5-8

I am having trouble getting my mind around this Scripture. This is pretty radical stuff! On one hand it sends a comforting message of how much God loves us, but it also confronts us with our responsibility to love each other like Christ loved us! What Christ demonstrated at Christmas must be how we love each other year-round!

Let's examine that love again today.

The first thing I notice is that Christmas love sees the needs of others.

Romans 5:8 tells us, "God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us!" 

Wow! God provided for our need before we were even aware we had a need! He provided a solution before we even understood the problem!

How attuned are you to the needs of others? Are you too consumed with your own problems and pains that you become oblivious to the plight of others? Christmas love sees the needs of others and seeks to ways to minister to those needs. Christmas love is not selfish.

Can you imagine a church fellowship where each member saw the needs of others and stood ready to help? What a radical place that would be!

Christmas love also serves the needs of others. Jesus wasn't simply an observer that saw rhe needs from the security of Heaven and waited for someone else to do something. Christ, the omnipotent sovereign Son of God, shed all His power and privileges to become a servant! He surrendered control and became vulnerable so He could serve a needy race! Christmas love is humble in order to be helpful.

How about you? Are you willing to humble yourself to serve someone else? Are you willing to give up control and allow yourself to be vulnerable if it means meeting the needs of others? Can you be weak to strengthen someone else?

Imagine a fellowship like that! What a radical place that would be! Why can't there be a place where members see each others needs and step up (or down) to serve those needs?

Also, Christmas love sacrifices for the needs of others. This may be the most radical of all because it usually involves death. For Jesus, the sacrifice didn't begin at the cross. It because at the throne of His Father in the most exalted place in Heaven! Everything we dream about and desire, Jesus had - and He laid them down! He saw our needs and judged our crisis to be more urgent than His own comfort. Christmas love willingly traded Paradise for pain. How can God die? BECAUSE HE WANTED TO!

What have you sacrificed for someone else? It is nice to see a need and feel compassion. But Christmas love sees the need, serves the need and sacrifices what ever it takes to solve the need. Love is hard work! Love is costly! Love hurts! You can't love safely and conveniently - you must love sacrificially!

I dream of a fellowship where Christmas love is a reality. Why can't we love until it hurts? Why can't we die to serve others? Didn't Jesus call us to "deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him"? What if there was a group of believers who actually decided to be that radical!

Christmas love will cost you, but Christmas love will change you - and everyone around you! Christmas love could create a contagious fellowship! It could be Christmas in July - and August, and September and...........

December 12, 2018

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:5-8

Christmas was driven by love.

In these three incredible verses Paul reveals the motive of why Jesus gave up His exalted position and all the privileges of being God and did some serious down-sizing to become flesh and blood. He stepped out of eternity and into time. He came from a serene and secure paradise to a sinful, selfish and savage world.

What would possess Him to do such a thing?

LOVE! No other explanation makes sense.

Not only was Christmas driven by love but it defines love.

Love begins with an attitude - "have the same mindset as Christ". No one loves accidentally. No one loves naturally. Love is a decision. You and I love because we choose to love. Even Jesus, Who was God - and God IS love - had to set His mind on leaving Heaven.

Love becomes an action - "He made Himself nothing". Love has to be more than a thought or a feeling. Love has to be demonstrated with corresponding actions. Love seeks! Love serves! Love sacrifices! The Bible says that God loves us BUT Christmas showed it!

Love bought atonement - "He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross"

Love properly expressed results in life-change. Real love is transformative It changes the heart, it changes the head and it changes the habits. Loving like Jesus loved changed the world! When you receive His love it changes you - it helps you love yourself. Loving yourself enables you to live for God and love others. Paul begins this portion of Scripture by commanding us to love like this in ALL of our relationships!

What drives your life? What defines your life? What difference does your life make?

Christmas demands an answer! 

Christmas holds you accountable to love! 

Christ took away all the excuses!

December 11, 2018

"When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:13-15

I have been challenged and convicted by the obedience demonstrated by these two teenagers Who God trusted to care for His Son.

What a stark contrast to our expectations of modern teens!

Recently I have been showing how Joseph demonstrated the essence of obedience in his responses to the call of God. Joseph's example of obedience shows:

1) Obedience means surrendering your will to God

2) Obedience means surrendering your weaknesses to God

3) Obedience means surrendering your way to God

If you took those three criteria for obedience and measured them against the great heroes of the Bible such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, St. Paul and even Jesus, you would find they would also apply.

Give it a try!

But I see three other definitive insights into obedience from the life of young Joseph. I want to share those with you over the next few posts.

First, obedience must be intentional.

Joseph was visited by an angel in during a dream. The angel gave him a clear and specific command from God. 

Once Joseph knew what God wanted him to do, he had to decide if he would do it. 

God did not design you or me or Joseph to be robots or automatons. He doesn't desire mindless conformity, He wants us to make well-reasoned willful decisions to obey Him. 

Joseph did exactly that! And he did it not only this time, but every time God spoke to him! He took Mary home to be his wife and God instructed. He gave the baby the name "Jesus" as he was told.

Obedience must be a willful decision to do what God has asked you to do!

How obedient are you?

Obedience is not an accident. 

Neither is disobedience!

December 10, 2018

"When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:13-15

"After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,  and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene." Matthew 2:19-23

Christmas is the favorite time for most people. There is so much that is good about it and so much to like!

As followers of Christ, we rejoice in the birth of our Savior and all blessings He brought to us! 

As family members it is about sharing love and spending time and surprising one another with gifts!

But the first Christmas was a clinic on what it means to be obedient and the blessings obedience brings. Borrowing from the example of Joseph we have so far seen that obedience means surrendering your will to God and it also involves surrendering your weaknesses to Him.

Our lesson on obedience today involves surrendering you way to Him. That is what Joseph and Mary did!

What does it mean to surrender your way to the Lord?

Simply, your way is how you live or your way of life.

That would include your affections. What do you love the most?

Joseph loved God more than anything or anyone else.

That would include your agenda. What drives you and energizes you?

Joseph was driven to please God and protect his family so he fled to Egypt in the middle of the night rather than heading back home to Galilee.

It would include your attitudes. What is the condition of your heart and mind as you navigate through life?

Joseph was so guided by his desire to please God that whatever God asked of him he did promptly and positively.

Finally, surrender to God directs your actions. Surrendered people serve.

Joseph put his preferences and plans aside to do what God wanted Him to do. His actions and activities were directed by the word of God.

Obedience involves surrender and surrender requires:

* putting God's affections ahead of yours

* placing God's agenda ahead of yours

* preferring Godly attitudes above yours

* practicing God's actions instead of yours

Joseph got it!

Do you?

December 9, 2018

"But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." Matthew 1:25

Obedience is the big "O" in the Christmas Story. Obviously, the story could not have happened unless two humble Hebrew teens had chosen to do the will of God.

Surrendering your will to the will of God is the essence of obedience. Another aspect of obedience is seen in this verse. Obedience is surrendering your weakness to God. Joseph illustrates this important principle.

Human logic reasons that you should serve God with your strengths and your talents. After all, He deserves your best!

That is certainly true because He deserves your all! "All" includes strengths but also our weaknesses! I have found it is hard to admit weaknesses let alone surrendering them to God. But the Word of God reminds us:

"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” I Corinthians 1:26-31

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." II Corinthians 12:9

So, what was Joseph's weakness that he surrendered?

Let me give you a hint - "teenage hormones" - "But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son".

How many young grooms are able to do that? Staying sexually pure before as a teen is difficult before marriage, how much harder would it be after?

Joseph brought this beautiful young lady, whom he loved and desired, into his home under his roof and found the discipline to remain celibate - and obedient!

That is impressive! How did he find that sort of strength?

He found the strength by surrendering his weakness!

No one has the strength to be obedient. Obedience comes from surrendering your will and your weaknesses to God. When you do that He gives you His strength!

Are you struggling with disobedience?

Are you trying to please God by serving Him in your own strength?

Are you trying to hide your weaknesses by displaying your talents and strengths?

Obedience comes from surrendering your weaknesses to God's will.

Are you surrendered?