Do We Have a Chip On Our Shoulder? In other words Do We Need and Attitude Adjustment?No one on earth has a life that is deeper, richer, more meaningful, more abundant and more rewarding than the life you and I have as Christians, through Jesus Christ.
*Other people may have more money than you.
*Other people may wear nicer clothes than you.
*Other people may live in nicer homes than you.
*Other people may drive nicer vehicles than you.
But is absolutely impossible for someone who is outside of Jesus Christ to have a life as full and abundant as the life you and I have in Christ.
We have God’s Word to guide us. We have God’s Son to strengthen us. We have God’s Spirit to empower us. We have God’s love to sustain us. We have God’s grace to save us. We have God’s riches to bless us. We have God’s promises to anchor us. And we have God’s Heavenly home waiting for us.
Even if we are blind, we can still see God’s love. Though we can’t hear, we can still hear God’s still small voice. We may be crippled, but we can still walk with Christ. We may not be able to speak, but our life can still speak of God’s glory. Even if die here on earth, we will live with God forever.
Now having said all this, let’s consider a very important question:
If we and I have all these things going for us through Christ Jesus, why in the world would any of us ever choose to go through life with a lousy, rotten, negative, defeatist attitude?
Second only to our daily to do God’s will is our choice of attitude.
Our attitude in life will determine our attitude in life. Our outlook on life will determine our outcome in life. Our attitude is more important than all our talents, all our abilities, all our skills, all our credentials, all our education and all our experience. Because we can have all those things, but if we have the wrong attitude, it will hinder us from reaching our God-given potential in life.
If our attitude is right…………..
No mountain will ever be too high. No obstacle will ever be too big. No goal will ever be too unattainable. No dream will ever be too impossible. No challenge will ever be too great.
No situation will ever be too hopeless. And no foe will ever be too invincible.
But if our attitude is wrong………….
No day will ever be sunny enough. No relationship will ever be rewarding enough.
No amount of praise or attention will ever be adequate enough. No circumstance will ever be good enough. No material possession will ever be satisfying enough.
Our attitude is our choice, be it good or bad!
Here is a soul-searching question this morning. Do we need an attitude adjustment?
When it comes to choosing the right attitude no one provides us with a greater role model than Jesus Christ.
Paul writes in Philippians 2:5: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”
Can you imagine a church where everyone has the same attitude as Jesus? It would be a church where there is never any fussing and fighting……….or grumbling and complaining. It would be a church where there’s never any criticizing or gossiping or backbiting. It would be a church where everyone cares and shares………a church where everyone is bonded together through the love of Jesus. It would be the kind of church everyone would want to be part of.
And imagine a world where everyone has the same attitude as Jesus. Imagine a world without war, with terror, without conflict. Imagine a world without murder or rape or murder. Imagine a world without corruption and abuse and mistreatment.
Imagine a world where everyone loves his neighbor and everyone is treated with equal fairness…….dignity……..and respect.
Do you see how different things would be if everyone would choose to have the same attitude as Jesus?
Christ had an attitude of selflessness: “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave.” Philippians 2:6-7
There is something wonderfully attractive about the totally selfless attitude of Christ.
……..What if instead of coming here to seek and to save the lost, Jesus had come here to seek and exploit as many people as He could.
………What if instead of being totally selfless Jesus had been a selfish, self-centered, self-absorbed Savior?
No doubt if Jesus had been that kind of man, we would have found the mere mention of His Name repulsive.
But Jesus was not that kind of man at all. Never before has this world ever known someone to be completely selfless. “…he gave up his divine privileges...”.
Instead of dwelling on the unfair treatment He received Jesus chose to focus on the unfair treatment of others.
Instead of dwelling on what was best for Him, Jesus chose to dwell on what was best for others.
Instead of dwelling on people not meeting His needs, Jesus chose to dwell on meeting the needs of other people.
Instead of seeking comfort for His own pain and suffering, Jesus chose to give comfort to others in their pain and suffering.
Complete…….Total…….Selflessness!!!
Are we completely…….totally……..selfless?
Are we always thinking about the needs……..the hurt………..the trials………the burdens……and the troubles of others.
Or are we always thinking about our needs, our hurts, our trials, our burdens and our troubles.
Without a doubt the most miserable people in the world are those who are totally wrapped up in themselves. And as the old saying goes, “He who is all wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.”
Here’s a challenge for us this week.
-When we are tempted to complain about our problems, try to think of people who are dealing with bigger problems.
-When we are tempted to complain about how bad we’ve got it, try to think of people are in a much worse situation than us.
-When we are tempted to complain about how heavy our burden is, try to think of people who are carrying much heavier burdens.
Then selflessly reach out to one or more of those people. Send them a card, call them on the phone, text a message, send them a “private” message on Facebook , or how about write them a letter. Note: Does anyone write letters any more?
With the selfless attitude of Christ simply reach out to them.
Some of us are old enough to remember that famous line in President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
Christian……..”Ask not what your fellow Christians can do for you, but what you can do for your fellow Christians.”
In his book, Strengthening Your Grip, Charles Swindoll writes these thought-provoking words regarding our attitude.
“Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it. I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. My attitude fuels my fire or assaults my hope.”
Perhaps through this lesson the Lord has made you keenly aware of some areas of your attitude that need some work. And since our attitude is our choice, the only one who can do something about your attitude is you.
May we all strive harder to have the same attitude as Jesus.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Open The Eyes of My Heart, Lord!
What if our prayers were published?
That’s a fascinating (and slightly scary) thought, isn’t it? What if every prayer you prayed, word for word, somehow ended up on the Internet so that anyone, anywhere could read them? Would your prayers be worth reading if they were published? And would they qualify for the pages of Holy Scripture or would they be fit for the National Enquirer?
If prayer is the language of the heart, what is your heart saying?
How do you pray? You can learn to pray by studying the great prayers of the Bible. If we want the Lord to teach us to pray, this is a good place to start. After all, prayer is the thermometer of the soul. It tells us how hot or how cold our spiritual life is. If we want to know what a person believes, don’t tell us what they say; tell us what they pray. A person may say many things, but when they pray, their heart is fully revealed.
With that in mind, we turn to the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1:15-23. The heart of the prayer comes at the end of verse 17 where Paul prays “so that you may know him better.” That’s it! That’s the whole prayer right there. Paul is praying that the Ephesians might know God better. This means to know Him deeply, personally, intimately. For instance, we can say we know the president. We know who he is and what he looks like. If we see his picture we know he is president. But we don’t know him personally and he doesn’t know us from Adam’s housecat. Now I can say know my wife. That’s an entirely different kind of knowing. After almost 45 years of marriage this has a different meaning than saying I know the president. And that’s the sort of knowledge Paul is praying for.
To Know Him Better
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." (Ephesians 1:17).
There are three levels of knowing God. First, there is the level of experience. All of us who know the Lord have some experiences with him that we can use to help others. Second, there is the level of knowledge. This comes from going to church, listening to sermons, reading the Bible, reading good books, maybe even going to a Christian college or to a seminary. Most people consider knowledge a higher level of the spiritual life. But this is not enough. There is a third level, which is called the level of wisdom. This level comes only by prayer.
At this level we begin to see things through God’s eyes and less through our eyes. Peace only comes from this level. It is not measurable, explainable, nor understandable. Levels 1 and 2 are not always prerequisites to reach this level. Prayer can lift the illiterate to great levels of peace and wisdom where certain PhDs in religion may feel empty. Our prayers become less ‘gimme’ and more ‘help me see what you want me to learn through this–to deepen my relationship with you.’"
God invites us to seek his face. He wants us to know him better. It’s not as if our Heavenly Father is hiding himself from us. But we can only have a close relationship with him if we will seek it in prayer. That’s the burden of Paul’s prayer–for a Level 3 relationship with God that doesn’t depend on knowledge or experience but comes through wisdom as we seek the Lord. Any of us can have that sort of relationship with God if we want it, and if we are willing to pay the price to have it.
Open the Eyes of Our Hearts
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18a).
This is the heart of the prayer. It is also the only time the phrase “the eyes of your heart” appears in the New Testament. That means that this is a significant truth that demands our attention. When Paul speaks of “your heart,” he’s not referring to the organ in your chest that pumps blood throughout your body. The term “heart” refers to what we might call “the real you,” the place inside where the decisions of life are made. The heart is the place where you decide what values you will live by and what direction you will go and how you will live your life each day.
Every important decision you make is made by your heart. And your heart has eyes that can be opened or shut. When the eyes of your heart are closed to the light of God, you stumble blindly through life, making one dumb choice after another. You fall into sinful patterns, you break God’s Laws, you end up driving into the ditch, you make the same mistakes over and over again, and you enter one dead-end relationship after another. Why? Because the eyes of your heart are shut and you lack moral vision. The light of God is shut out of your life. And that means you can see and be blind at the same time. That is, you can have 20/20 vision with your physical eyes but the eyes of your heart can be blind to the light of God. There are lots of people like that in the world. Physically they can see but spiritually they are totally blind.
A lot of Christians live like that. And until those eyes are opened, all the yelling in the world won’t make much difference.
Paul prayed for the Ephesians that “the eyes of your heart might be opened.” One translation says, “that the eyes of your heart might be flooded with light." Opening blind eyes is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. He and he alone can do it. But he can do it, and this is the source of our hope. This is why we pray for ourselves, for our children and grandchildren and for our family members and for friends and loved ones who today are far from God. As our children grow older, we discover over and over again how little control we have over them. We cannot compel their obedience because we cannot compel their hearts. But we can pray and cry out to God and say, “O Lord, open the eyes of their heart. Help them to see the light of truth.”
Christ at the Center of Life
There are two radically different ways of looking at things. Either the world is at the center and Christ is around the outside edge or Christ is at the center of life and the world is at the edge. So many Christians have bought into the notion that this world is all that matters. They’ve pushed Christ to the outskirts of life. But when Christ comes to the center, the world is seen for what it really is–something on the edge. Something not nearly as important as we want to make it!
Christ is like a football game. You’re either on the bench or you’re in the game. Instead of sitting on the bench goofing off we ought to be in the game serving the Lord. Bench warmers sit around, goof off, laugh, cut up, and trade jokes while the game is going on. When we decide to get in the game, we won’t have time to do goof off.
Paul prays “….that you may know the hope to which he has called you,” (Ephesians 1:18b). This hope refers back to the moment of when the Ephesians accepted Christ. Verses 3-14 list some elements of that hope that also applies to us when we accepted Christ:
He blessed us with every spiritual blessing
He loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
He adopts us into his own family
He gave glorious grace to us who belong to his dear Son
He purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
He revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ
He makes everything work out according to his plan.
He saved us.
He gave us who believe in His Son, the Holy Spirit
And He will give us the inheritance he promised
All this is ours. It is the possession of every child of God. We are rich and blessed beyond all measure. Paul prays that we might understand how rich we already are.
Pray, Pray, and Keep on Praying
Why should we worry? Why should we fear? Why should we doubt? Why shouldn’t we go out singing? Our God has given us all we need. May we know the hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance, and the amazing power of God. It’s all ours and it’s all wrapped up in one Person, Jesus Christ. May we might know him better. May our eyes might be opened to see things clearly. May we might love him and serve him and make him the center of our life.
So, Pray, pray, and keep on praying. Pray for each other. Husbands, pray for your wives, and wives for your husbands. Pray for your class. Pray for the new Christians you are discipling. Pray that they will be turned on by the truth of God. There are so many ways we might apply this message. First, here is a good guide to praying for our children. How long should we pray for them? And what should we pray for them? The answer is, never stop praying for your children. Paul said, “I keep on asking.” We can always know God better than we do. And when you pray, ask the Lord to open the eyes of their heart to let light from heaven come flooding in.
Second, we should pray this for ourselves. "O Lord, help me to know you better. Open my eyes, Lord. Let your light come flooding into my heart. Help me to know all that you have given, all that you have promised, and all that you have provided for me.”
That’s a fascinating (and slightly scary) thought, isn’t it? What if every prayer you prayed, word for word, somehow ended up on the Internet so that anyone, anywhere could read them? Would your prayers be worth reading if they were published? And would they qualify for the pages of Holy Scripture or would they be fit for the National Enquirer?
If prayer is the language of the heart, what is your heart saying?
How do you pray? You can learn to pray by studying the great prayers of the Bible. If we want the Lord to teach us to pray, this is a good place to start. After all, prayer is the thermometer of the soul. It tells us how hot or how cold our spiritual life is. If we want to know what a person believes, don’t tell us what they say; tell us what they pray. A person may say many things, but when they pray, their heart is fully revealed.
With that in mind, we turn to the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1:15-23. The heart of the prayer comes at the end of verse 17 where Paul prays “so that you may know him better.” That’s it! That’s the whole prayer right there. Paul is praying that the Ephesians might know God better. This means to know Him deeply, personally, intimately. For instance, we can say we know the president. We know who he is and what he looks like. If we see his picture we know he is president. But we don’t know him personally and he doesn’t know us from Adam’s housecat. Now I can say know my wife. That’s an entirely different kind of knowing. After almost 45 years of marriage this has a different meaning than saying I know the president. And that’s the sort of knowledge Paul is praying for.
To Know Him Better
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." (Ephesians 1:17).
There are three levels of knowing God. First, there is the level of experience. All of us who know the Lord have some experiences with him that we can use to help others. Second, there is the level of knowledge. This comes from going to church, listening to sermons, reading the Bible, reading good books, maybe even going to a Christian college or to a seminary. Most people consider knowledge a higher level of the spiritual life. But this is not enough. There is a third level, which is called the level of wisdom. This level comes only by prayer.
At this level we begin to see things through God’s eyes and less through our eyes. Peace only comes from this level. It is not measurable, explainable, nor understandable. Levels 1 and 2 are not always prerequisites to reach this level. Prayer can lift the illiterate to great levels of peace and wisdom where certain PhDs in religion may feel empty. Our prayers become less ‘gimme’ and more ‘help me see what you want me to learn through this–to deepen my relationship with you.’"
God invites us to seek his face. He wants us to know him better. It’s not as if our Heavenly Father is hiding himself from us. But we can only have a close relationship with him if we will seek it in prayer. That’s the burden of Paul’s prayer–for a Level 3 relationship with God that doesn’t depend on knowledge or experience but comes through wisdom as we seek the Lord. Any of us can have that sort of relationship with God if we want it, and if we are willing to pay the price to have it.
Open the Eyes of Our Hearts
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18a).
This is the heart of the prayer. It is also the only time the phrase “the eyes of your heart” appears in the New Testament. That means that this is a significant truth that demands our attention. When Paul speaks of “your heart,” he’s not referring to the organ in your chest that pumps blood throughout your body. The term “heart” refers to what we might call “the real you,” the place inside where the decisions of life are made. The heart is the place where you decide what values you will live by and what direction you will go and how you will live your life each day.
Every important decision you make is made by your heart. And your heart has eyes that can be opened or shut. When the eyes of your heart are closed to the light of God, you stumble blindly through life, making one dumb choice after another. You fall into sinful patterns, you break God’s Laws, you end up driving into the ditch, you make the same mistakes over and over again, and you enter one dead-end relationship after another. Why? Because the eyes of your heart are shut and you lack moral vision. The light of God is shut out of your life. And that means you can see and be blind at the same time. That is, you can have 20/20 vision with your physical eyes but the eyes of your heart can be blind to the light of God. There are lots of people like that in the world. Physically they can see but spiritually they are totally blind.
A lot of Christians live like that. And until those eyes are opened, all the yelling in the world won’t make much difference.
Paul prayed for the Ephesians that “the eyes of your heart might be opened.” One translation says, “that the eyes of your heart might be flooded with light." Opening blind eyes is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. He and he alone can do it. But he can do it, and this is the source of our hope. This is why we pray for ourselves, for our children and grandchildren and for our family members and for friends and loved ones who today are far from God. As our children grow older, we discover over and over again how little control we have over them. We cannot compel their obedience because we cannot compel their hearts. But we can pray and cry out to God and say, “O Lord, open the eyes of their heart. Help them to see the light of truth.”
Christ at the Center of Life
There are two radically different ways of looking at things. Either the world is at the center and Christ is around the outside edge or Christ is at the center of life and the world is at the edge. So many Christians have bought into the notion that this world is all that matters. They’ve pushed Christ to the outskirts of life. But when Christ comes to the center, the world is seen for what it really is–something on the edge. Something not nearly as important as we want to make it!
Christ is like a football game. You’re either on the bench or you’re in the game. Instead of sitting on the bench goofing off we ought to be in the game serving the Lord. Bench warmers sit around, goof off, laugh, cut up, and trade jokes while the game is going on. When we decide to get in the game, we won’t have time to do goof off.
Paul prays “….that you may know the hope to which he has called you,” (Ephesians 1:18b). This hope refers back to the moment of when the Ephesians accepted Christ. Verses 3-14 list some elements of that hope that also applies to us when we accepted Christ:
He blessed us with every spiritual blessing
He loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
He adopts us into his own family
He gave glorious grace to us who belong to his dear Son
He purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
He revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ
He makes everything work out according to his plan.
He saved us.
He gave us who believe in His Son, the Holy Spirit
And He will give us the inheritance he promised
All this is ours. It is the possession of every child of God. We are rich and blessed beyond all measure. Paul prays that we might understand how rich we already are.
Pray, Pray, and Keep on Praying
Why should we worry? Why should we fear? Why should we doubt? Why shouldn’t we go out singing? Our God has given us all we need. May we know the hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance, and the amazing power of God. It’s all ours and it’s all wrapped up in one Person, Jesus Christ. May we might know him better. May our eyes might be opened to see things clearly. May we might love him and serve him and make him the center of our life.
So, Pray, pray, and keep on praying. Pray for each other. Husbands, pray for your wives, and wives for your husbands. Pray for your class. Pray for the new Christians you are discipling. Pray that they will be turned on by the truth of God. There are so many ways we might apply this message. First, here is a good guide to praying for our children. How long should we pray for them? And what should we pray for them? The answer is, never stop praying for your children. Paul said, “I keep on asking.” We can always know God better than we do. And when you pray, ask the Lord to open the eyes of their heart to let light from heaven come flooding in.
Second, we should pray this for ourselves. "O Lord, help me to know you better. Open my eyes, Lord. Let your light come flooding into my heart. Help me to know all that you have given, all that you have promised, and all that you have provided for me.”
I Want What You Have
The word “covet” in various forms is found 25 times in the King James Bible. Not as many in other translations because it is translated into different words similar to covet: Loved money, greed or greedy, dishonest or ill-gotten gain, selfish gain, craves, etc. Actually the word “covetousness” is used the most in the KJV and translates primarily into “sinful greed”.
While I was studying for this lesson I came up on this passage in the King James Bible.
For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. Isaiah 57:17 KJV
As most of you know I personally have a lot of trouble understanding the KJV so I looked this up in the NIV Bible to see if I could understand it better.
I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. Isaiah 57:17 NIV
This is why I prefer the NIV or NLT. ’nuff said about this subject – back to the “real” lesson.
Dictionary Definitions are: to wish for earnestly, to desire what belongs to another, to feel “unreasonable” desire for what belongs to another
The word “covet” usually thought of in negative terms. We get this from the 10th Commandment – Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” In most cases the Bible refers to this term in a negative manner. However, there are some positive aspects to this word – covet.
When we research “covet” more, it seems that this word can be translated 3 different ways in Greek (This is the case for many other words, such as love). It can mean “to fix the desire upon”, “to covet earnestly” and “to stretch after,”
Today we want to look at this idea in a positive way. There are times when there is nothing wrong with “fixing one’s desire upon” a thing or “stretching after” something — depending upon the object that you are reaching for. For that reason, the word is used in a positive sense when the object for which one seeks is good.
We know that the Christian should never covet worldly things (Col. 3:1-3; 1 John 2:15). It is the goal, however, of Christians to be “coveted” by people around them. When we exemplify Christ in our lives, many people will say with sincerity and zeal, “I want what you have.”
The Christian’s quality of life is noticed by friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors, and there is no worldly or material explanation for it. This is the goal of which the Lord spoke, when he said, “…..let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16).
So what does the Christian have that non-Christians don’t? What should someone “covet” or “want” when they sincerely contemplate the life of a child of God? I looked up some words for synonyms for the word “contemplate”: chew over, cogitate, consider, ponder, debate, deliberate, entertain, eye, kick around, meditate, mull (over), pore (over), question, revolve, study, think (about or over), weigh, wrestle (with).
Are we ready for a non-Christian to use any of the above words in conjunction with our Christian lives? We should be. Our prayer each day should be that someone can see Jesus in us!
As a Christian we are “are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus”. Galatians 3:26 NLT. And “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Romans 8:14. Okay, so what does a Christian have?
The Christian “Has Peace with God”
“Therefore, since we have been justified (NLT says “made right”) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
This peace of mind is the result of being right with God. This is no mere emotion, although it is wonderful and gratifying. It is the understanding that sin separates us from God (Eph. 2:1), and that Jesus Christ has died for our sins (1 John. 2:1-2). It is the action one takes to “get himself right with God,” through the plan that the Lord has disclosed in the Bible (Heb. 5:9; Mark 16:16).
Understanding what God did, and doing what the Lord requires, results in peace – “God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.” (Phil. 4:7 NLT).
Christians “Have grace”
Paul reminds us that as Christians, “we have grace.”
“…through (Jesus Christ) whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” (Rom. 5:2a).
“Justified” (v. 1) is equivalent to being “acquitted.” We are, however, not acquitted because we are innocent, for “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). We are “made right in God’s sight” because Christ Jesus suffered the penalty for us, and this is the grace of God in action. We have access to the favor of God, which we could never earn nor deserve, through the death of Jesus. And it is in the favor of God that his faithful children remain.
Christians “Have Hope”
“…And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:2b).
Being right with God is important because of the future. Judgment awaits all (1 Tim. 4:1), and we must be prepared to “meet our Maker” (Heb. 9:27).
Christians can have confidence about the future. If we are truly a “child of God” we will go to Heaven (1 John 5:13; Rev. 2:10). This realization ought to motivate every Christian to be excited to be in God’s service.
Therefore Christians: “boast in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2
The future is awesome to contemplate (there’s that word again). The word “awesome” may be one of the most over-used words today, but when used of the “hope of the glory of God,” it does not seem adequate. To be in the presence of God, our Creator and Redeemer will be AWESOME.
Christians “Have Joy”
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Rom. 5:2-5 NLT).
This could be described as insight into the meaning of life. Children of God even view the anxieties and tragedies of life from a divine perspective (this is sometimes hard for us to do) — with an understanding that this world is not all that matters. When the experiences of life make us long for heaven, we can view distressing times with an element of joy. Anything that makes us want to go to heaven is of great spiritual value.
Christians “Have God’s Love”
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. (Rom. 5:6-9). Also, we can refer back to last week’s lesson on John 3:16, “For God so loved the world….”
The Children of God have learned and experienced the saving love of God. We’ve seen the proof of God’s love, and we have enjoyed its benefits. We constantly should develop a greater appreciation for it (Eph. 3:17-19).
What we have, the world needs. May God help us to love and live the Christian life. When we do, someone will notice, and they’ll want what we have been given.
Does anyone say about us “I want what you have”?
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org. Also, Check out our “blog” at: http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
While I was studying for this lesson I came up on this passage in the King James Bible.
For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. Isaiah 57:17 KJV
As most of you know I personally have a lot of trouble understanding the KJV so I looked this up in the NIV Bible to see if I could understand it better.
I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. Isaiah 57:17 NIV
This is why I prefer the NIV or NLT. ’nuff said about this subject – back to the “real” lesson.
Dictionary Definitions are: to wish for earnestly, to desire what belongs to another, to feel “unreasonable” desire for what belongs to another
The word “covet” usually thought of in negative terms. We get this from the 10th Commandment – Exodus 20:17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” In most cases the Bible refers to this term in a negative manner. However, there are some positive aspects to this word – covet.
When we research “covet” more, it seems that this word can be translated 3 different ways in Greek (This is the case for many other words, such as love). It can mean “to fix the desire upon”, “to covet earnestly” and “to stretch after,”
Today we want to look at this idea in a positive way. There are times when there is nothing wrong with “fixing one’s desire upon” a thing or “stretching after” something — depending upon the object that you are reaching for. For that reason, the word is used in a positive sense when the object for which one seeks is good.
We know that the Christian should never covet worldly things (Col. 3:1-3; 1 John 2:15). It is the goal, however, of Christians to be “coveted” by people around them. When we exemplify Christ in our lives, many people will say with sincerity and zeal, “I want what you have.”
The Christian’s quality of life is noticed by friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors, and there is no worldly or material explanation for it. This is the goal of which the Lord spoke, when he said, “…..let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16).
So what does the Christian have that non-Christians don’t? What should someone “covet” or “want” when they sincerely contemplate the life of a child of God? I looked up some words for synonyms for the word “contemplate”: chew over, cogitate, consider, ponder, debate, deliberate, entertain, eye, kick around, meditate, mull (over), pore (over), question, revolve, study, think (about or over), weigh, wrestle (with).
Are we ready for a non-Christian to use any of the above words in conjunction with our Christian lives? We should be. Our prayer each day should be that someone can see Jesus in us!
As a Christian we are “are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus”. Galatians 3:26 NLT. And “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Romans 8:14. Okay, so what does a Christian have?
The Christian “Has Peace with God”
“Therefore, since we have been justified (NLT says “made right”) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
This peace of mind is the result of being right with God. This is no mere emotion, although it is wonderful and gratifying. It is the understanding that sin separates us from God (Eph. 2:1), and that Jesus Christ has died for our sins (1 John. 2:1-2). It is the action one takes to “get himself right with God,” through the plan that the Lord has disclosed in the Bible (Heb. 5:9; Mark 16:16).
Understanding what God did, and doing what the Lord requires, results in peace – “God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.” (Phil. 4:7 NLT).
Christians “Have grace”
Paul reminds us that as Christians, “we have grace.”
“…through (Jesus Christ) whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” (Rom. 5:2a).
“Justified” (v. 1) is equivalent to being “acquitted.” We are, however, not acquitted because we are innocent, for “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). We are “made right in God’s sight” because Christ Jesus suffered the penalty for us, and this is the grace of God in action. We have access to the favor of God, which we could never earn nor deserve, through the death of Jesus. And it is in the favor of God that his faithful children remain.
Christians “Have Hope”
“…And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:2b).
Being right with God is important because of the future. Judgment awaits all (1 Tim. 4:1), and we must be prepared to “meet our Maker” (Heb. 9:27).
Christians can have confidence about the future. If we are truly a “child of God” we will go to Heaven (1 John 5:13; Rev. 2:10). This realization ought to motivate every Christian to be excited to be in God’s service.
Therefore Christians: “boast in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2
The future is awesome to contemplate (there’s that word again). The word “awesome” may be one of the most over-used words today, but when used of the “hope of the glory of God,” it does not seem adequate. To be in the presence of God, our Creator and Redeemer will be AWESOME.
Christians “Have Joy”
“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Rom. 5:2-5 NLT).
This could be described as insight into the meaning of life. Children of God even view the anxieties and tragedies of life from a divine perspective (this is sometimes hard for us to do) — with an understanding that this world is not all that matters. When the experiences of life make us long for heaven, we can view distressing times with an element of joy. Anything that makes us want to go to heaven is of great spiritual value.
Christians “Have God’s Love”
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. (Rom. 5:6-9). Also, we can refer back to last week’s lesson on John 3:16, “For God so loved the world….”
The Children of God have learned and experienced the saving love of God. We’ve seen the proof of God’s love, and we have enjoyed its benefits. We constantly should develop a greater appreciation for it (Eph. 3:17-19).
What we have, the world needs. May God help us to love and live the Christian life. When we do, someone will notice, and they’ll want what we have been given.
Does anyone say about us “I want what you have”?
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org. Also, Check out our “blog” at: http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Greatest Story Ever Told
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. JOHN 3:16 (NIV)
A 26 word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on napkin, yet solid enough to weather over 2000 years or storms and questions. If you know nothing about the Bible start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We all need a reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16. (From Max Lucado’s book 3:16 The Numbers of Hope)
The Greatest Story Ever Told!
Today we are going look at John 3:16 in the King James Version. Yes, you heard right KJV (the only translation that uses the word “whosoever”), since this is the source of our class name! Many believe this to be the greatest verse in all the Bible. It is the best loved and best known verse. There are not many words in this verse, yet no other single verse in all the Scriptures has been as blessed in the salvation of so many souls. It has been called the miniature gospel. It has been called the gospel in a nutshell. It has been called a love letter from God written in blood and addressed to all. If ever there was a verse that Satan would love to blot out of the Bible, it would be John 3:16. If ever there was a verse that makes hell tremble, it is John 3:16. If ever there was a verse that has lightened the path to heaven for multitudes, it is John 3:16.
There are many ways to look at this verse but today let’s look at the words of this great verse.
FOR GOD - John 3:16 begins as the Bible begins, with the existence of God taken for granted. “In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1) Only a fool would think otherwise. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1) The whole Bible stands on belief in God. There cannot be a here without a there. There cannot be an upper without a lower. There cannot be a before without an after. There cannot be a creation without a Creator.
The Bible says that this God...
SO LOVED - What is love? It cannot be defined in words .The word "loved" occurs 56 times in the Book of John. The dictionary says love is "to have a feeling, affection, or regard for, to be strongly attached to or attracted toward, to hold dear". There are also synonyms like affection, charity, devotion, fondness, liking, and passion. All these definitions are weak when defining the word "love". The difficulty becomes greater when you add the word "so". GOD SO LOVED... "so loved" surpasses illustration. Many have tried to apply it to the love of a mother for her child. The following ad appeared in a Boston newspaper years ago.
TO MY BOY WHO LEFT HOME MONDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 15. My darling boy, If you should see this, which I pray to our Heavenly Father that you may, please let your distressed mother know where you are. Mother
The notice was signed with one word - "Mother". That was all. No name. Nothing to let the world know who she was. Just the cry of a mother seeking her lost boy. Not a word about whose fault it was. No blame. No reproach. Just the reaching out of a mother’s love seeking to bring her wanderer back. But a mother’s love falls short of the love of God.
The mind of man will never grasp the love of God. Another great verse about God's love is found in Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, "as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you; " nor does He say, "I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me." His is an everlasting, unending love with no beginning. God had no beginning so his love had no beginning. All earthly love had a beginning but God’s love reaches back to before the world was in existence and will go on when the world is no more! God’s love is infinite, illimitable, unbounded. The little chorus sung by children says it best, "Wide, wide as the ocean, High as the heaven above, Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior’s love"
A SINNER MAY GO TO HELL UNSAVED, BUT HE CANNOT GO TO HELL UNLOVED.
THE WORLD - The word "world" is found 77 times in John. This is not talking about the physical world but the world people. Someone once said that "No one in all the world could possible love everyone in the world. In fact most people find it difficult to love all their relatives." But God has found it possible, with His great heart of love, to love every individual in the entire world in spite of his faults.
God loves the Jews - but also the Russians, Chinese, Arabs, Americans, etc.
God loves white people - but “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight"
God loves the civilized - but also the heathen.
God loves the Baptists - but also Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics
God loves the conservatives - but also the liberals and the communists.
God loves preachers - but also murderers, gamblers, bartenders, and prostitutes.
God loves ALL - ALL colors, ALL individuals, ALL social groups, ALL...
God loved a world of saints - NO - A WORLD OF SINNERS.
He loves the sinner not the sin, the criminal not the crime, the rebel not the rebellion, the liar not the lie, the idolater not the idol.
THAT HE GAVE - The world does not know much about “real” giving but God’s giving costs something. Most of the giving we know about is giving that really has no element of sacrifice in it. God did not give the cattle on a 1000 hills or silver and gold. He gave all he had in the person of his Son. "He gave" means suffering. We think a lot about the suffering of the Son but have you ever thought about the suffering of the Father. Could you stand in a window of your house and watch an angry mob spit on, beat, abuse, and kill your child with the power to stop it in a second. God could have stopped it but HE GAVE... Because he loved us.
HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON – The NLT Bible says “his one and only Son “. Because of the love God has for us and the extent of that love—so great that He sacrificed His only Son on our behalf. If you don’t believe this is a different love than we can give – look back at last part of the previous paragraph.
A child was once trying to quote this verse and said "his only forgotten Son" and how true it is. He has been forgotten by most people.
THAT WHOSOEVER - This means all. All have sinned and all need a Savior. It means any who will. It means those who believe. It means US. Aren’t we glad that this promise did not have any name in it? He could have said David, since He said David was a man after his own heart. How about Abraham? Or Moses? Maybe he could have put in Paul who wrote so much of the New Testament? Hey, he could certainly could have limited this to the Jews who were His “chosen people”! But He didn’t, thank you God, He said "whosoever". Whosoever means even ME. Whosoever means YOU..
BELIEVETH - The word "believe" with its various endings occur 100 times in John. Here is the condition of this “gift” - BELIEVE. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16.
Believing in Jesus denies salvation by any other way but by faith. It denies works, even good works as a means of salvation. Look at the scripture right before John 3:16, and we find Nicodemus. Nicodemus was educated, rich, moral, religious, a do-gooder, a "church member", intelligent, but not saved. Jesus told him in John 3:3, “…I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”. The doors of heaven swing on this experience. We are saved by faith and not by works. See Eph. 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5
IN HIM - Acts 4:12 show us that salvation is in a Person (There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”) and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not found in believing in the preacher, the church, a good Christian, or anyone but in Christ.
SHOULD NOT PERISH - Men of the old world perished but Noah was spared. People of Sodom perished but Lot was spared. The first born of Egypt perished but Israel was spared. Jericho’s citizens perished but Rahab was spared. Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish eternally in hell but make heaven their eternal home. There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.
BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE - Life is mentioned 36 times in the Book of John. Notice the verse begins with God and ends with life. Everlasting life is not just eternal existence because if that were the case, the devil and all sinners would have it. What is everlasting life? It is having Jesus. He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” in John 14:6. The Bible says “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” 1 John 5:12
He loves. He gave. We believe. We live.
A 26 word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on napkin, yet solid enough to weather over 2000 years or storms and questions. If you know nothing about the Bible start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We all need a reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16. (From Max Lucado’s book 3:16 The Numbers of Hope)
The Greatest Story Ever Told!
Today we are going look at John 3:16 in the King James Version. Yes, you heard right KJV (the only translation that uses the word “whosoever”), since this is the source of our class name! Many believe this to be the greatest verse in all the Bible. It is the best loved and best known verse. There are not many words in this verse, yet no other single verse in all the Scriptures has been as blessed in the salvation of so many souls. It has been called the miniature gospel. It has been called the gospel in a nutshell. It has been called a love letter from God written in blood and addressed to all. If ever there was a verse that Satan would love to blot out of the Bible, it would be John 3:16. If ever there was a verse that makes hell tremble, it is John 3:16. If ever there was a verse that has lightened the path to heaven for multitudes, it is John 3:16.
There are many ways to look at this verse but today let’s look at the words of this great verse.
FOR GOD - John 3:16 begins as the Bible begins, with the existence of God taken for granted. “In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1) Only a fool would think otherwise. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1) The whole Bible stands on belief in God. There cannot be a here without a there. There cannot be an upper without a lower. There cannot be a before without an after. There cannot be a creation without a Creator.
The Bible says that this God...
SO LOVED - What is love? It cannot be defined in words .The word "loved" occurs 56 times in the Book of John. The dictionary says love is "to have a feeling, affection, or regard for, to be strongly attached to or attracted toward, to hold dear". There are also synonyms like affection, charity, devotion, fondness, liking, and passion. All these definitions are weak when defining the word "love". The difficulty becomes greater when you add the word "so". GOD SO LOVED... "so loved" surpasses illustration. Many have tried to apply it to the love of a mother for her child. The following ad appeared in a Boston newspaper years ago.
TO MY BOY WHO LEFT HOME MONDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 15. My darling boy, If you should see this, which I pray to our Heavenly Father that you may, please let your distressed mother know where you are. Mother
The notice was signed with one word - "Mother". That was all. No name. Nothing to let the world know who she was. Just the cry of a mother seeking her lost boy. Not a word about whose fault it was. No blame. No reproach. Just the reaching out of a mother’s love seeking to bring her wanderer back. But a mother’s love falls short of the love of God.
The mind of man will never grasp the love of God. Another great verse about God's love is found in Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, "as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you; " nor does He say, "I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me." His is an everlasting, unending love with no beginning. God had no beginning so his love had no beginning. All earthly love had a beginning but God’s love reaches back to before the world was in existence and will go on when the world is no more! God’s love is infinite, illimitable, unbounded. The little chorus sung by children says it best, "Wide, wide as the ocean, High as the heaven above, Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Savior’s love"
A SINNER MAY GO TO HELL UNSAVED, BUT HE CANNOT GO TO HELL UNLOVED.
THE WORLD - The word "world" is found 77 times in John. This is not talking about the physical world but the world people. Someone once said that "No one in all the world could possible love everyone in the world. In fact most people find it difficult to love all their relatives." But God has found it possible, with His great heart of love, to love every individual in the entire world in spite of his faults.
God loves the Jews - but also the Russians, Chinese, Arabs, Americans, etc.
God loves white people - but “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight"
God loves the civilized - but also the heathen.
God loves the Baptists - but also Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics
God loves the conservatives - but also the liberals and the communists.
God loves preachers - but also murderers, gamblers, bartenders, and prostitutes.
God loves ALL - ALL colors, ALL individuals, ALL social groups, ALL...
God loved a world of saints - NO - A WORLD OF SINNERS.
He loves the sinner not the sin, the criminal not the crime, the rebel not the rebellion, the liar not the lie, the idolater not the idol.
THAT HE GAVE - The world does not know much about “real” giving but God’s giving costs something. Most of the giving we know about is giving that really has no element of sacrifice in it. God did not give the cattle on a 1000 hills or silver and gold. He gave all he had in the person of his Son. "He gave" means suffering. We think a lot about the suffering of the Son but have you ever thought about the suffering of the Father. Could you stand in a window of your house and watch an angry mob spit on, beat, abuse, and kill your child with the power to stop it in a second. God could have stopped it but HE GAVE... Because he loved us.
HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON – The NLT Bible says “his one and only Son “. Because of the love God has for us and the extent of that love—so great that He sacrificed His only Son on our behalf. If you don’t believe this is a different love than we can give – look back at last part of the previous paragraph.
A child was once trying to quote this verse and said "his only forgotten Son" and how true it is. He has been forgotten by most people.
THAT WHOSOEVER - This means all. All have sinned and all need a Savior. It means any who will. It means those who believe. It means US. Aren’t we glad that this promise did not have any name in it? He could have said David, since He said David was a man after his own heart. How about Abraham? Or Moses? Maybe he could have put in Paul who wrote so much of the New Testament? Hey, he could certainly could have limited this to the Jews who were His “chosen people”! But He didn’t, thank you God, He said "whosoever". Whosoever means even ME. Whosoever means YOU..
BELIEVETH - The word "believe" with its various endings occur 100 times in John. Here is the condition of this “gift” - BELIEVE. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16.
Believing in Jesus denies salvation by any other way but by faith. It denies works, even good works as a means of salvation. Look at the scripture right before John 3:16, and we find Nicodemus. Nicodemus was educated, rich, moral, religious, a do-gooder, a "church member", intelligent, but not saved. Jesus told him in John 3:3, “…I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”. The doors of heaven swing on this experience. We are saved by faith and not by works. See Eph. 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5
IN HIM - Acts 4:12 show us that salvation is in a Person (There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”) and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not found in believing in the preacher, the church, a good Christian, or anyone but in Christ.
SHOULD NOT PERISH - Men of the old world perished but Noah was spared. People of Sodom perished but Lot was spared. The first born of Egypt perished but Israel was spared. Jericho’s citizens perished but Rahab was spared. Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish eternally in hell but make heaven their eternal home. There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.
BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE - Life is mentioned 36 times in the Book of John. Notice the verse begins with God and ends with life. Everlasting life is not just eternal existence because if that were the case, the devil and all sinners would have it. What is everlasting life? It is having Jesus. He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” in John 14:6. The Bible says “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” 1 John 5:12
He loves. He gave. We believe. We live.
His Love Endures Forever – Psalm 136
Sometimes we gain that wisdom from our children. A six-year-old girl whose mother has a deadly tumor and under hospice care, posted this comment on Facebook: ”She thought Heaven was great place to go so she decided not to “break up” with Jesus” :)
Note the smiley face at the end of that sentence. What truth there is in that little symbol. In times of great crisis we discover what we really believe. Her parents, coming to the great moment of truth, smile through their tears because they know that God is good.
No matter our circumstances, the little girl is right. Why “break up” with Jesus now.We have to find out who God is so that we will be strong when the storms of life come against us.
We can see this principle at work in Psalm 136, sometimes called a “Hallelujah Psalm” because it contains no petitions, no complaints, and no problems. Instead it contains a list of moments where God worked in history, each answered by “His love endures forever.” No doubt the worship leader would read the first line of each verse, and the congregation would respond, “His love endures forever."
Click here to hear song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVYcDOXczus
The Call to Praise
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. (vv. 1-3).
These verses offer us three reasons to praise God. He is good! He is the God of gods! He is the Lord of lords!
There are “gods” aplenty and “lords” all around us, but there is only one true God who rules the universe. To that great God belongs our best and deepest and highest praise. It is impossible to overestimate the value of these truths. If he were not supreme, we would not worship him. If he were not good, we would not trust him.
But because he is both good and the ultimate Lord, we not only trust him, we also bow before him in praise and worship!
Note the answering chorus in each verse: “His love endures forever.” These simple words remind us that all things display God’s love at work on behalf of His children.
The Hebrew word translated “love” refers to loyal, faithful love. God’s love is eternal because his covenant is eternal. He cannot not love his people!
But the meaning goes beyond that. God’s love endures. It outlasts all the problems of life. It transcends the troubles we face every day. It goes on when our life comes to an end.
When we stand by the grave of a loved one, we have to know the truth. Where is he? Where is she? Is death the end or is there something else?
What gives us the confidence to face death with our heads held high? How can we cross the Jordan to reach the other side? We can because “His love endures forever.” That’s it! That’s our hope! We die, but “His love endures forever.” We fail, but “His love endures forever.” We stumble and fall, but “His love endures forever.”
The Cause for Praise
The remainder of Psalm 136 contains a survey of God’s faithfulness beginning with creation (vv. 5-9) and ending with Israel’s entry into the Promised Land (vv. 10-26).
Creation (verses 5-9)
These verses come from the story of the creation in Genesis. In verses 5 through 9 the psalmist notes that the universe and everything in it is made “by his understanding.” The universe came into being because God willed it to be.” “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3) The entire universe came into being by a plan that comes from the hand and mind of Almighty God. Nothing was made by chance. Nothing “evolved” into being by a random series of events. If we leave God out, we’ve missed the fundamental truth about the universe!
The Exodus (verses 10-15)
These verses recall the amazing series of miracles whereby God freed his people from Egyptian bondage: Note: Each of these is followed by “His love endures forever”. “to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt . . . and brought Israel out from among them . . with a mighty hand and outstretched arm . . . to him who divided the Red Sea asunder . . . and brought Israel through the midst of it . . .but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea . .
God has no trouble defeating his enemies. He also has no trouble parting the Red Sea. He only asks that his people acknowledge that he did it–and not them!
The Wilderness (verse 16)
The psalmist sums up forty years of wandering in one verse: “To him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever” (v. 16). So many things happened during those forty years: manna and quail, water from the rock, Moses on Mt. Sinai, the golden calf the 12 spies, bitter water, complaining, and the continual challenges to Moses’ leadership. Through it all, God led his people to the Promised Land.
We see here that God led his people “through” the desert, not around it. To get to the Promised Land, they had to go through the desert. So it will be for all of us. God leads his children along to heaven, but they have no easy road as they make their journey. There are many detours, many road blocks, many delays, and more than a few seemingly dead ends, but God works in and through it all to see that they finally arrive because . . . His love endures forever!
The Conquest (Vs 17-22)
The psalmist goes on to write: “to Him who struck down great kings” His love endures forever. V 17. What an encouragement these verses are because they remind of us God’s faithfulness in spite of our repeated failures. It would have been easy for the Jews to think, “Our sin has made God forget us. We have no hope, no future. We’ve blown everything.” But despite their sin and foolish unbelief, God never gave up on his people.
Let every child of God take great hope. Your past does not determine your future. You may have failed again and again and again, but there is still mercy for those who trust in the Lord. Who knows but that tomorrow you may yet see God win a great victory in your life because . . . His love endures forever!
Throughout History (verses 23-25)
These verses contain three great truths about God: He remembered us (v. 23). He freed us (v. 24). He feeds us (v. 25). He remembered us by sending Jesus to save us. He freed us from our sins. He feeds us every single day. What God did for ancient Israel, he does for his people everywhere, all the time, in every situation because . . . His love endures forever!
The Conclusion of Praise
The psalm ends with a general call to praise God at all times: “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever" (v. 26).
History is not about us. History is about God! This may seem elementary, but it is in fact a profound truth. We are the not the center of history. God is! What happens to us matters, but the real point of life is to glorify God in all things.
To see his hand at work. To believe him in the darkest moments. To give him thanks for every victory. To lean upon his Word. To grow more like him day by day. To live so that others find it easy to believe in him.
That’s why the psalmist connects the concrete facts of history with a triumphant cry of praise. If we miss this, or if we downplay this, or if we think that God is somehow “optional” to our lives, then we have missed the very purpose of our existence.
One of our main purposes on earth is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
But it is not always easy. In this long recital of Israel’s history, the psalmist covers many years in just a few sentences. God’s plan was not always easily seen at every point along the way. When the Jews were groaning in Egypt under Pharaoh’s whip, we could understand why they might have felt abandoned by the Almighty. Still later they complained against the Lord after they had been delivered and said how much they missed Egypt.
How shortsighted we are! How quick to forget God’s goodness to us!
We pray for deliverance and then complain when it comes. We were born wishing for something better. This psalm reminds us in every single verse that God’s ways and our ways are not the same. Generally we will only see God’s plan in retrospect. As we look back, we say, “Oh, I see it now.” But when we are in the furnace, we see nothing but the flames.
We need Psalm 136 to remind ourselves, because we are so prone to forget it, that God works across the centuries to establish his purposes on the earth. Just because we don’t see it on Thursday at 6:37 AM doesn’t mean it’s not there. It just means we don’t see it. That’s all.
We aren’t the center of the universe - God is. Best that we should meditate on that fact now because we’ll certainly need to remember it before this year is over.
Remember the big picture: His love endures forever.
Say it over to yourself. Repeat the phrase. Memorize it. When you feel yourself tempted to despair, ponder this thought: His love endures forever. When you want to give up, write this thought down and stick it on your dashboard: His love endures forever. Tell your husband: His loves endures forever. Tell your wife: His loves endures forever. Tell your children: His love endures forever. When the devil himself starts whispering in your ear about what a loser you are, you tell him to hit the road because His love endures forever. When you have had all you can take, when the world seems to collapse around you, stand up, lift your head, and shout to the skies: His love endures forever!
What does this New Year hold for us? No one really knows but we can always remember this:
No matter where we’re going this week, His love endures forever.
No matter what our problems, His love endures forever.
No matter how we feel about it, His love endures forever.
Fix your mind on the Lord Jesus, and no matter what else happens this year, stake your claim right here and rejoice evermore because . . . His love endures forever!
Note the smiley face at the end of that sentence. What truth there is in that little symbol. In times of great crisis we discover what we really believe. Her parents, coming to the great moment of truth, smile through their tears because they know that God is good.
No matter our circumstances, the little girl is right. Why “break up” with Jesus now.We have to find out who God is so that we will be strong when the storms of life come against us.
We can see this principle at work in Psalm 136, sometimes called a “Hallelujah Psalm” because it contains no petitions, no complaints, and no problems. Instead it contains a list of moments where God worked in history, each answered by “His love endures forever.” No doubt the worship leader would read the first line of each verse, and the congregation would respond, “His love endures forever."
Click here to hear song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVYcDOXczus
The Call to Praise
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. (vv. 1-3).
These verses offer us three reasons to praise God. He is good! He is the God of gods! He is the Lord of lords!
There are “gods” aplenty and “lords” all around us, but there is only one true God who rules the universe. To that great God belongs our best and deepest and highest praise. It is impossible to overestimate the value of these truths. If he were not supreme, we would not worship him. If he were not good, we would not trust him.
But because he is both good and the ultimate Lord, we not only trust him, we also bow before him in praise and worship!
Note the answering chorus in each verse: “His love endures forever.” These simple words remind us that all things display God’s love at work on behalf of His children.
The Hebrew word translated “love” refers to loyal, faithful love. God’s love is eternal because his covenant is eternal. He cannot not love his people!
But the meaning goes beyond that. God’s love endures. It outlasts all the problems of life. It transcends the troubles we face every day. It goes on when our life comes to an end.
When we stand by the grave of a loved one, we have to know the truth. Where is he? Where is she? Is death the end or is there something else?
What gives us the confidence to face death with our heads held high? How can we cross the Jordan to reach the other side? We can because “His love endures forever.” That’s it! That’s our hope! We die, but “His love endures forever.” We fail, but “His love endures forever.” We stumble and fall, but “His love endures forever.”
The Cause for Praise
The remainder of Psalm 136 contains a survey of God’s faithfulness beginning with creation (vv. 5-9) and ending with Israel’s entry into the Promised Land (vv. 10-26).
Creation (verses 5-9)
These verses come from the story of the creation in Genesis. In verses 5 through 9 the psalmist notes that the universe and everything in it is made “by his understanding.” The universe came into being because God willed it to be.” “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3) The entire universe came into being by a plan that comes from the hand and mind of Almighty God. Nothing was made by chance. Nothing “evolved” into being by a random series of events. If we leave God out, we’ve missed the fundamental truth about the universe!
The Exodus (verses 10-15)
These verses recall the amazing series of miracles whereby God freed his people from Egyptian bondage: Note: Each of these is followed by “His love endures forever”. “to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt . . . and brought Israel out from among them . . with a mighty hand and outstretched arm . . . to him who divided the Red Sea asunder . . . and brought Israel through the midst of it . . .but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea . .
God has no trouble defeating his enemies. He also has no trouble parting the Red Sea. He only asks that his people acknowledge that he did it–and not them!
The Wilderness (verse 16)
The psalmist sums up forty years of wandering in one verse: “To him who led his people through the desert, His love endures forever” (v. 16). So many things happened during those forty years: manna and quail, water from the rock, Moses on Mt. Sinai, the golden calf the 12 spies, bitter water, complaining, and the continual challenges to Moses’ leadership. Through it all, God led his people to the Promised Land.
We see here that God led his people “through” the desert, not around it. To get to the Promised Land, they had to go through the desert. So it will be for all of us. God leads his children along to heaven, but they have no easy road as they make their journey. There are many detours, many road blocks, many delays, and more than a few seemingly dead ends, but God works in and through it all to see that they finally arrive because . . . His love endures forever!
The Conquest (Vs 17-22)
The psalmist goes on to write: “to Him who struck down great kings” His love endures forever. V 17. What an encouragement these verses are because they remind of us God’s faithfulness in spite of our repeated failures. It would have been easy for the Jews to think, “Our sin has made God forget us. We have no hope, no future. We’ve blown everything.” But despite their sin and foolish unbelief, God never gave up on his people.
Let every child of God take great hope. Your past does not determine your future. You may have failed again and again and again, but there is still mercy for those who trust in the Lord. Who knows but that tomorrow you may yet see God win a great victory in your life because . . . His love endures forever!
Throughout History (verses 23-25)
These verses contain three great truths about God: He remembered us (v. 23). He freed us (v. 24). He feeds us (v. 25). He remembered us by sending Jesus to save us. He freed us from our sins. He feeds us every single day. What God did for ancient Israel, he does for his people everywhere, all the time, in every situation because . . . His love endures forever!
The Conclusion of Praise
The psalm ends with a general call to praise God at all times: “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever" (v. 26).
History is not about us. History is about God! This may seem elementary, but it is in fact a profound truth. We are the not the center of history. God is! What happens to us matters, but the real point of life is to glorify God in all things.
To see his hand at work. To believe him in the darkest moments. To give him thanks for every victory. To lean upon his Word. To grow more like him day by day. To live so that others find it easy to believe in him.
That’s why the psalmist connects the concrete facts of history with a triumphant cry of praise. If we miss this, or if we downplay this, or if we think that God is somehow “optional” to our lives, then we have missed the very purpose of our existence.
One of our main purposes on earth is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
But it is not always easy. In this long recital of Israel’s history, the psalmist covers many years in just a few sentences. God’s plan was not always easily seen at every point along the way. When the Jews were groaning in Egypt under Pharaoh’s whip, we could understand why they might have felt abandoned by the Almighty. Still later they complained against the Lord after they had been delivered and said how much they missed Egypt.
How shortsighted we are! How quick to forget God’s goodness to us!
We pray for deliverance and then complain when it comes. We were born wishing for something better. This psalm reminds us in every single verse that God’s ways and our ways are not the same. Generally we will only see God’s plan in retrospect. As we look back, we say, “Oh, I see it now.” But when we are in the furnace, we see nothing but the flames.
We need Psalm 136 to remind ourselves, because we are so prone to forget it, that God works across the centuries to establish his purposes on the earth. Just because we don’t see it on Thursday at 6:37 AM doesn’t mean it’s not there. It just means we don’t see it. That’s all.
We aren’t the center of the universe - God is. Best that we should meditate on that fact now because we’ll certainly need to remember it before this year is over.
Remember the big picture: His love endures forever.
Say it over to yourself. Repeat the phrase. Memorize it. When you feel yourself tempted to despair, ponder this thought: His love endures forever. When you want to give up, write this thought down and stick it on your dashboard: His love endures forever. Tell your husband: His loves endures forever. Tell your wife: His loves endures forever. Tell your children: His love endures forever. When the devil himself starts whispering in your ear about what a loser you are, you tell him to hit the road because His love endures forever. When you have had all you can take, when the world seems to collapse around you, stand up, lift your head, and shout to the skies: His love endures forever!
What does this New Year hold for us? No one really knows but we can always remember this:
No matter where we’re going this week, His love endures forever.
No matter what our problems, His love endures forever.
No matter how we feel about it, His love endures forever.
Fix your mind on the Lord Jesus, and no matter what else happens this year, stake your claim right here and rejoice evermore because . . . His love endures forever!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Turn Your Disappointments into a Miracle
As we “get over” Christmas, most of us begin to contemplate and prepare ourselves for another year, do you wonder what this season will bring for us, our friends and our family, and for those around us. It's not surprising to find many of us facing continued hardships of a struggling economy, waning health and difficult (or non-existent) relationships, besides the typical "unknowns."
Just this week I have received several prayer requests and some communications from our pastor about folks with some serious health problems or other issues.
Isn't this the time of year when everyone is "supposed" to be happy, where wishes "come true," and everything turns out perfect (just like on the Hallmark and Lifetime channels)? Maybe that's why so many families head to Disneyworld for the holidays, where it claims to be the "Happiest Place on Earth."
In many ways, this time of year seems to remind us of our sadness and disappointments more than it heals them. Maybe we just expect too much from the season.
Disappointment
One dictionary defines disappointment as " the feeling of being unhappy because something that you hoped for or expected did not happen or because someone or something was not as good as you expected " and expectation as "a confident belief or strong hope that a particular event will happen."
It is interesting is how similar the "secular" definition of expectation is to the "biblical" definition of faith.
Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it. (Hebrews 11:1 NCV).
From the world's point of view, expectations are something we believe and hope will happen while from God's perspective, faith is being sure of what we hope for.
To expand a little further, expectations seem to be what we hope "we" (ourselves or others) can do (or have control in doing); while faith is believing what God is going to do. If our disappointment comes from the failure of somebody we believed in or put our trust in (including ourselves), maybe our expectations are placed more on "mankind" than on our faith in God.
This isn't to say we shouldn't have expectations for ourselves (or for others) or by having faith in God alone that we won't ever be disappointed. There are many situations in life (and in death) where we may never understand the reason "why" things happen even with a strong faith, like the loss of a family member, a marriage breakup or a horrendous crime. However, faith is having the hope of being certain God is in control, believing he knows and loves us even in the worst of times and knowing his way is perfect (Psalm 18:30).
Hope
"...God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:40).
If we continue to place all of our hope and expectations only in ourselves, naturally we will be disappointed. None of us are perfect nor can we expect to be. However, if we place our hope in God, "together" it will be made perfect.
Peter often had solid unwavering faith, hope and insight, while he was with Jesus.
• When Jesus asked him, "Who do people say I am?" Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-19)
• When he “walked on the water and came toward Jesus”. (Matthew 14:22-29)
Yet, many of us are quite aware of the time he wasn't.
• When he denied Jesus three times. “Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” (Matthew 26::75)
Peter was more steadfast when he was with the Lord than when he was apart from him.
May times, we can sometimes feel as if life is an uphill, "us" against "the world," struggle. Although there are difficult situations to face, we don't have to face our struggles alone. We have been offered a relationship with Jesus and a guide in the Holy Spirit, to live each day together with the Lord instead of on our own.
Paul writes: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Romans 5:1-5).
Even still, many of still seem to be at the end of our rope "hoping" for a miracle.
Miracle
We need to remind ourselves that God is in every moment of our lives because He has a plan for us.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Oftentimes when a trial arises, we immediately question "Why?" instead of "What?" We should be asking ourselves, "What is God doing through this bump in the road, struggle or heartbreak?" and "What do I need to learn, grow, change or do to be a part of it?"
Sheila Walsh, Christian author and speaker, recently shared a story about being delayed at an airport causing her to miss her connecting flight. As she was in line waiting to be rebooked, a distraught woman ahead was silently pleading for God to show her he still knew who she was. When the woman turned around, she recognized Sheila from the Women of Faith Conferences and burst into tears explaining how much Sheila had ministered to her over the years. That was her sign from God.
Sheila could have looked at missing her plane and thought, "Why me God?" Instead she made herself available to whatever he was doing and (together with Him) ended up being used as a God-given sign for that woman.
Someone once said, "Instead of always looking for a miracle, BE a miracle." What this means is instead of always seeking for something to happen for you, go out and be that (miracle) for someone else.
We often think we know what is best for our lives and put pressure on ourselves to "make it happen," and when our expectations fall short we become disappointed. However, if we look beyond our own struggles and allow ourselves to be used by God, we may be surprised at the miracles we may see. God doesn't need us for his plans, but if we join together with him maybe we can be a part of something that is made perfect.
Don't miss what he is trying to do through you this New Year.
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org
Check out our “blog” at:
http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
Just this week I have received several prayer requests and some communications from our pastor about folks with some serious health problems or other issues.
Isn't this the time of year when everyone is "supposed" to be happy, where wishes "come true," and everything turns out perfect (just like on the Hallmark and Lifetime channels)? Maybe that's why so many families head to Disneyworld for the holidays, where it claims to be the "Happiest Place on Earth."
In many ways, this time of year seems to remind us of our sadness and disappointments more than it heals them. Maybe we just expect too much from the season.
Disappointment
One dictionary defines disappointment as " the feeling of being unhappy because something that you hoped for or expected did not happen or because someone or something was not as good as you expected " and expectation as "a confident belief or strong hope that a particular event will happen."
It is interesting is how similar the "secular" definition of expectation is to the "biblical" definition of faith.
Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it. (Hebrews 11:1 NCV).
From the world's point of view, expectations are something we believe and hope will happen while from God's perspective, faith is being sure of what we hope for.
To expand a little further, expectations seem to be what we hope "we" (ourselves or others) can do (or have control in doing); while faith is believing what God is going to do. If our disappointment comes from the failure of somebody we believed in or put our trust in (including ourselves), maybe our expectations are placed more on "mankind" than on our faith in God.
This isn't to say we shouldn't have expectations for ourselves (or for others) or by having faith in God alone that we won't ever be disappointed. There are many situations in life (and in death) where we may never understand the reason "why" things happen even with a strong faith, like the loss of a family member, a marriage breakup or a horrendous crime. However, faith is having the hope of being certain God is in control, believing he knows and loves us even in the worst of times and knowing his way is perfect (Psalm 18:30).
Hope
"...God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:40).
If we continue to place all of our hope and expectations only in ourselves, naturally we will be disappointed. None of us are perfect nor can we expect to be. However, if we place our hope in God, "together" it will be made perfect.
Peter often had solid unwavering faith, hope and insight, while he was with Jesus.
• When Jesus asked him, "Who do people say I am?" Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:13-19)
• When he “walked on the water and came toward Jesus”. (Matthew 14:22-29)
Yet, many of us are quite aware of the time he wasn't.
• When he denied Jesus three times. “Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” (Matthew 26::75)
Peter was more steadfast when he was with the Lord than when he was apart from him.
May times, we can sometimes feel as if life is an uphill, "us" against "the world," struggle. Although there are difficult situations to face, we don't have to face our struggles alone. We have been offered a relationship with Jesus and a guide in the Holy Spirit, to live each day together with the Lord instead of on our own.
Paul writes: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Romans 5:1-5).
Even still, many of still seem to be at the end of our rope "hoping" for a miracle.
Miracle
We need to remind ourselves that God is in every moment of our lives because He has a plan for us.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Oftentimes when a trial arises, we immediately question "Why?" instead of "What?" We should be asking ourselves, "What is God doing through this bump in the road, struggle or heartbreak?" and "What do I need to learn, grow, change or do to be a part of it?"
Sheila Walsh, Christian author and speaker, recently shared a story about being delayed at an airport causing her to miss her connecting flight. As she was in line waiting to be rebooked, a distraught woman ahead was silently pleading for God to show her he still knew who she was. When the woman turned around, she recognized Sheila from the Women of Faith Conferences and burst into tears explaining how much Sheila had ministered to her over the years. That was her sign from God.
Sheila could have looked at missing her plane and thought, "Why me God?" Instead she made herself available to whatever he was doing and (together with Him) ended up being used as a God-given sign for that woman.
Someone once said, "Instead of always looking for a miracle, BE a miracle." What this means is instead of always seeking for something to happen for you, go out and be that (miracle) for someone else.
We often think we know what is best for our lives and put pressure on ourselves to "make it happen," and when our expectations fall short we become disappointed. However, if we look beyond our own struggles and allow ourselves to be used by God, we may be surprised at the miracles we may see. God doesn't need us for his plans, but if we join together with him maybe we can be a part of something that is made perfect.
Don't miss what he is trying to do through you this New Year.
For prayer requests, comments or to be included in our email ministry, email us at: whosoever@cottagehillbaptist.org
Check out our “blog” at:
http://thewhosoevers.blogspot.com/
Sunday, December 26, 2010
'Twas the Day After Christmas
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 2:17-20
Our text tells us how to celebrate Christmas. In its most literal sense, this passage describes the various responses of people to the birth of Christ. In our own culture Christmas means holly and mistletoe, parties, gifts, carols, eggnog, big meals, a decorated tree, and last-minute shopping.
These things are not objectionable in themselves, none of them (with the exception of giving gifts) has anything to do with the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ.
The principle of celebrating the coming of Christ to the world is certainly a good idea. Some Christians frown on Christmas for various reasons and some even oppose it altogether. It is easy to decry the commercialization of Christmas. But, we who are Christians ought to enjoy this season of the year. It would be a double shame if we allowed the world to take this holiday (a word that really means “Holy Day") away from us.
Should we celebrate Christmas? By all means! How should we celebrate this great day? The first and most obvious answer is this. You should celebrate Christmas by becoming a Christian. After all, this is why Jesus came to the earth. He was born to be a Savior. And until you can call him “my Savior,” you will never fully understand what Christmas is all about.
This is where Christmas should begin for all of us. What should be added to this? Our text describes four responses of those who first heard the news that Christ had been born and tell us how to celebrate Christmas—not just in December but all year long.
1. “When they had seen him, they (shepherds) spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child” (Luke 2:17).
Shepherds generally came from the lowest elements of society. In that day, they were so little trusted that a shepherd’s testimony would not be accepted in a courtroom. Most shepherds were considered on a par with Gypsies, vagrants, and con men. Add to that the fact that shepherds were on the lowest rung of the economic ladder and had little or no formal education.
And that makes the story all the more remarkable. First they heard and saw the spectacular angelic revelation. Then when they went to Bethlehem they discovered the Savior of the world in a feeding-trough in a rough, outdoor barn, perhaps a cave carved out of the rocky hillside. The birth and the revelation didn’t seem to go together. Yet there it was—all from the hand of God.
God has been “silent” for 400 years, and now when He speaks, it is not through prophets as in OT. He now speaks through angels to lowly shepherds on a remote hillside outside a tiny Judean village.
It wasn’t a likely way to win the world. Certainly not the way we would have done it. If we had planned it, Jesus would have been born in Jerusalem, to a wealthy family, and attended by the high and mighty. That way no one would doubt that the Son of God had come to earth.
But God’s ways and ours are not the same. He chose to reveal the news to the shepherds first of all. After their initial (and understandable) fear, they responded in faith. They believed the angel, they immediately went to Bethlehem, and they found the baby Jesus. Everything was just as the angel said it would be.
And what did they do then? They told everyone they met what they had seen and heard.
Would have been as obedient? Would we have believed? Would we have gone to Bethlehem in the middle of the night? Would we have been as quick to tell the story?
Then they did what all Christians should do. They “spread the word” about Jesus. When you get down to it, that’s all evangelism is. It’s telling the good news about Jesus Christ to someone else.
What the shepherds did, we all can do. You need no authority, no permission, and no special training to tell the Good News of Christ. Simply tell what you know to be true. Talk about Jesus. Tell who he is and what he has done for you. Share your story and then invite others to come to Christ just as you did. That’s what the shepherds did. That’s what all of us are called to do. This is the first way we can all celebrate Christmas.
2. “And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (Luke 2:18).
“Amazed” is probably a mild word to describe the reaction of those who heard the shepherds. The story itself would sound incredible—the part about hearing an angelic choir in the middle of the night, not to mention finding the Son of God in a feeding-trough. And to think that God chose lowly shepherds as the first evangelists.
It’s important to understand that there are two kinds of amazement. The first has to do with temporary fascination over an unusual turn of events. If I had told you at the beginning of the football season that Auburn would be playing for the BCS championship, that would have provoked amazed laughter even from the most diehard fans, to say the least. But unlikely as this has been, it was not be supernatural in the literal sense. Underdog teams occasionally get on a roll and win championships. It’s unusual but not miraculous.
The second kind of amazement we could call “Holy Wonder.” It’s a kind of awe that comes from seeing God at work in the world. In the deepest sense all the acts of God are grounds for holy wonder since everything he does has the stamp of the divine on it. Go all the way back to Genesis and you discover that God created the entire universe out of nothing. He spoke everything into existence. Genesis 1-2
Christmas is indeed a cause for holy wonder. How can it be that God should become a man? How can a King be born in a feeding-trough? How could the world ignore his coming? And what sort of God comes into the world like this?
You ought to be amazed at Christmastime. If you managed to go through this Christmas season without ever pausing to think about the wonder of it all, then you have missed the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place.
3. “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
The word “pondered” goes deeper than “wondering.” It means to take the events as you have laid them out in your memory and then to go beneath the surface to try to understand what it all means
Mary certainly had plenty to think about. No doubt she continued to wonder why God had chosen her, and surely she pondered what was ahead for her newborn son.
Pondering is hard work, which is why many of us never get around to it. And yet this is the perfect time of the year to do it. What better time than the end of December to ponder what God has been teaching you? To look back over the last 12 months and consider the ways and works of God in your life and in the world around you? To do find a quiet place, turn off all your “electronics” and begin with a prayer asking God to show you the things he wants you to learn.
Make a “Top Ten” that have happened in your life in 2010. Those things can be events that happened to you personally or things that happened to others that had a major impact on you. Those things can be good or bad, victories or defeats, it doesn’t matter. Make the category as broad as you like.
As you look at your list, ask God to show you what patterns are at work. What is God teaching you? What lessons seem to come up again and again? What have learned about yourself (positively and negatively) this year? Now focus on the Lord. What have you learned about God’s character this year? Ask the Lord for insight as to where he might be leading you in the year to come. Use all of this as the basis for some personal prayer requests as you enter 2011. If you do this exercise with an open heart, God will meet you and show you fresh insights that will give you insight about the past and hope for the future.
Mary pondered what God had been doing in her life. That’s a helpful practice for all of us to follow.
4. “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 2:20).
The final verse tells us that the shepherds were profoundly changed by what they had experienced. What a difference a day makes. On the day before Christ was born, they were in the fields tending their sheep. On the day after he was born, they were back in the fields once again. Only this time their hearts were filled with praise to God and the amazing things they had seen and heard. And they simply couldn’t stop talking about what they had seen and heard.
And note where they did it. The text does not say that they glorified God in the temple, though that would have been appropriate. No, it says they “returned” to where they had been. Back to the tiring and unappreciated work of caring for sheep. Having seen the Babe in the manger, it was time to go back to work.
And so they did. And so must we. Christmas eventually ends for all of us. Soon enough we will take down the tree, pack away the ornaments, and either use our gifts or take them back to the store to be exchanged. In a few days the children will go back to school and life will return to normal.
But will we be changed by Christmas? Or will it be business as usual in 2011? For the shepherds, life would never be the same. Oh yes, the work was the same but they were different. They went back with new zeal, new joy, and new love for God in their hearts.
People sometimes wish they could keep the Christmas spirit all year long. Would you like Christmas to last all year long? It can if you will do what the shepherds did. Go back to where you came from.
Back to your office. Back to your factory. Back to your job. Back to your family duties.
Go back to the humdrum of daily routine. And as you go back, glorify God and praise him. That is what the shepherds did. Christmas didn’t change their circumstances, but it changed them deeply and profoundly. And because it changed them, it changed the way they approached their daily work. Yes, they still had to deal with cranky sheep and sometimes they had to step in sheep manure, but that hardly mattered now. They had seen the Christ child.
Have you seen Jesus this year at Christmastime? If you have, then go back to what you were doing before and take the memory of Christmas with you. Glorify God and praise him as you go about your routine and you will find your days filled with joy.
How shall we celebrate Christmas now that Christmas is past? By following the inspired outline in Luke 2:17-20.
Our text tells us how to celebrate Christmas. In its most literal sense, this passage describes the various responses of people to the birth of Christ. In our own culture Christmas means holly and mistletoe, parties, gifts, carols, eggnog, big meals, a decorated tree, and last-minute shopping.
These things are not objectionable in themselves, none of them (with the exception of giving gifts) has anything to do with the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ.
The principle of celebrating the coming of Christ to the world is certainly a good idea. Some Christians frown on Christmas for various reasons and some even oppose it altogether. It is easy to decry the commercialization of Christmas. But, we who are Christians ought to enjoy this season of the year. It would be a double shame if we allowed the world to take this holiday (a word that really means “Holy Day") away from us.
Should we celebrate Christmas? By all means! How should we celebrate this great day? The first and most obvious answer is this. You should celebrate Christmas by becoming a Christian. After all, this is why Jesus came to the earth. He was born to be a Savior. And until you can call him “my Savior,” you will never fully understand what Christmas is all about.
This is where Christmas should begin for all of us. What should be added to this? Our text describes four responses of those who first heard the news that Christ had been born and tell us how to celebrate Christmas—not just in December but all year long.
1. “When they had seen him, they (shepherds) spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child” (Luke 2:17).
Shepherds generally came from the lowest elements of society. In that day, they were so little trusted that a shepherd’s testimony would not be accepted in a courtroom. Most shepherds were considered on a par with Gypsies, vagrants, and con men. Add to that the fact that shepherds were on the lowest rung of the economic ladder and had little or no formal education.
And that makes the story all the more remarkable. First they heard and saw the spectacular angelic revelation. Then when they went to Bethlehem they discovered the Savior of the world in a feeding-trough in a rough, outdoor barn, perhaps a cave carved out of the rocky hillside. The birth and the revelation didn’t seem to go together. Yet there it was—all from the hand of God.
God has been “silent” for 400 years, and now when He speaks, it is not through prophets as in OT. He now speaks through angels to lowly shepherds on a remote hillside outside a tiny Judean village.
It wasn’t a likely way to win the world. Certainly not the way we would have done it. If we had planned it, Jesus would have been born in Jerusalem, to a wealthy family, and attended by the high and mighty. That way no one would doubt that the Son of God had come to earth.
But God’s ways and ours are not the same. He chose to reveal the news to the shepherds first of all. After their initial (and understandable) fear, they responded in faith. They believed the angel, they immediately went to Bethlehem, and they found the baby Jesus. Everything was just as the angel said it would be.
And what did they do then? They told everyone they met what they had seen and heard.
Would have been as obedient? Would we have believed? Would we have gone to Bethlehem in the middle of the night? Would we have been as quick to tell the story?
Then they did what all Christians should do. They “spread the word” about Jesus. When you get down to it, that’s all evangelism is. It’s telling the good news about Jesus Christ to someone else.
What the shepherds did, we all can do. You need no authority, no permission, and no special training to tell the Good News of Christ. Simply tell what you know to be true. Talk about Jesus. Tell who he is and what he has done for you. Share your story and then invite others to come to Christ just as you did. That’s what the shepherds did. That’s what all of us are called to do. This is the first way we can all celebrate Christmas.
2. “And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (Luke 2:18).
“Amazed” is probably a mild word to describe the reaction of those who heard the shepherds. The story itself would sound incredible—the part about hearing an angelic choir in the middle of the night, not to mention finding the Son of God in a feeding-trough. And to think that God chose lowly shepherds as the first evangelists.
It’s important to understand that there are two kinds of amazement. The first has to do with temporary fascination over an unusual turn of events. If I had told you at the beginning of the football season that Auburn would be playing for the BCS championship, that would have provoked amazed laughter even from the most diehard fans, to say the least. But unlikely as this has been, it was not be supernatural in the literal sense. Underdog teams occasionally get on a roll and win championships. It’s unusual but not miraculous.
The second kind of amazement we could call “Holy Wonder.” It’s a kind of awe that comes from seeing God at work in the world. In the deepest sense all the acts of God are grounds for holy wonder since everything he does has the stamp of the divine on it. Go all the way back to Genesis and you discover that God created the entire universe out of nothing. He spoke everything into existence. Genesis 1-2
Christmas is indeed a cause for holy wonder. How can it be that God should become a man? How can a King be born in a feeding-trough? How could the world ignore his coming? And what sort of God comes into the world like this?
You ought to be amazed at Christmastime. If you managed to go through this Christmas season without ever pausing to think about the wonder of it all, then you have missed the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place.
3. “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
The word “pondered” goes deeper than “wondering.” It means to take the events as you have laid them out in your memory and then to go beneath the surface to try to understand what it all means
Mary certainly had plenty to think about. No doubt she continued to wonder why God had chosen her, and surely she pondered what was ahead for her newborn son.
Pondering is hard work, which is why many of us never get around to it. And yet this is the perfect time of the year to do it. What better time than the end of December to ponder what God has been teaching you? To look back over the last 12 months and consider the ways and works of God in your life and in the world around you? To do find a quiet place, turn off all your “electronics” and begin with a prayer asking God to show you the things he wants you to learn.
Make a “Top Ten” that have happened in your life in 2010. Those things can be events that happened to you personally or things that happened to others that had a major impact on you. Those things can be good or bad, victories or defeats, it doesn’t matter. Make the category as broad as you like.
As you look at your list, ask God to show you what patterns are at work. What is God teaching you? What lessons seem to come up again and again? What have learned about yourself (positively and negatively) this year? Now focus on the Lord. What have you learned about God’s character this year? Ask the Lord for insight as to where he might be leading you in the year to come. Use all of this as the basis for some personal prayer requests as you enter 2011. If you do this exercise with an open heart, God will meet you and show you fresh insights that will give you insight about the past and hope for the future.
Mary pondered what God had been doing in her life. That’s a helpful practice for all of us to follow.
4. “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 2:20).
The final verse tells us that the shepherds were profoundly changed by what they had experienced. What a difference a day makes. On the day before Christ was born, they were in the fields tending their sheep. On the day after he was born, they were back in the fields once again. Only this time their hearts were filled with praise to God and the amazing things they had seen and heard. And they simply couldn’t stop talking about what they had seen and heard.
And note where they did it. The text does not say that they glorified God in the temple, though that would have been appropriate. No, it says they “returned” to where they had been. Back to the tiring and unappreciated work of caring for sheep. Having seen the Babe in the manger, it was time to go back to work.
And so they did. And so must we. Christmas eventually ends for all of us. Soon enough we will take down the tree, pack away the ornaments, and either use our gifts or take them back to the store to be exchanged. In a few days the children will go back to school and life will return to normal.
But will we be changed by Christmas? Or will it be business as usual in 2011? For the shepherds, life would never be the same. Oh yes, the work was the same but they were different. They went back with new zeal, new joy, and new love for God in their hearts.
People sometimes wish they could keep the Christmas spirit all year long. Would you like Christmas to last all year long? It can if you will do what the shepherds did. Go back to where you came from.
Back to your office. Back to your factory. Back to your job. Back to your family duties.
Go back to the humdrum of daily routine. And as you go back, glorify God and praise him. That is what the shepherds did. Christmas didn’t change their circumstances, but it changed them deeply and profoundly. And because it changed them, it changed the way they approached their daily work. Yes, they still had to deal with cranky sheep and sometimes they had to step in sheep manure, but that hardly mattered now. They had seen the Christ child.
Have you seen Jesus this year at Christmastime? If you have, then go back to what you were doing before and take the memory of Christmas with you. Glorify God and praise him as you go about your routine and you will find your days filled with joy.
How shall we celebrate Christmas now that Christmas is past? By following the inspired outline in Luke 2:17-20.
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