Monday, November 30, 2015

Advent 2015 - Day 2

"Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot. But all too often the greedy eyes are only deceived; the fruit that seemed so precious is still green on the inside, and disrespectful hands ungratefully toss aside what has so disappointed them. Whoever does not know the austere blessedness of waiting—that is, of hopefully doing without—will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Advent 2015 - Day 1


"As we begin the season of Advent this Sunday, grant us grace for seeking your kingdom first, and our fiefdom of self, last. Rather than spending more money and worry on ourselves, where would you have us invest our time and treasures, talent and tears? Free us to love and serve others with joy, with the same generous love and sacrificial care you lavish on us. So very Amen we pray, in your grace-full and glorious name." (Scotty Smith)

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Christmas Thoughts 2015

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:23

This passage, from one of the biblical accounts of Jesus birth, is fairly common and most of us have probably heard it or read it or sung it dozens, if not hundreds, of times over the years. In fact, one of the classic Christmas carols is "Come, O Come, Emmanuel". However, despite our familiarity with this statement of an angel to Jesus' step dad, if you're like me, you may have missed the stunning promise being made to all who would love and follow Jesus.

The promise spoken to Joseph, but in reality made to all who would align themselves with Jesus, is that through Jesus God would be with us. Now, most of us would acknowledge that if God is really God, he is everywhere all the time. That's simply part of being God. Since this is true, what's so special about Jesus coming to live among us so that God could be with us?  Here are just a couple of simple thoughts.

First the fact that God is everywhere doesn't guarantee his closeness or his favor. Have you ever been to a college or NFL football game? How about a concert or a Broadway show? How about shopping on Black Friday? In all of these situations you are physically close to a lot of people. But how many are you relationally close to? How many of the 70,000 people at the football game "have your back"? Very, very few, if any. But Immanuel means the God who is everywhere is now here for you. As we follow and trust in Jesus, he is on our side in ways we can't even imagine. And, looking forward to Good Friday, we can honestly say, Jesus has our back.

Second, there is an elephant in the room when it comes to our relationship with God. Most of us would rather not talk about it (thus the elephant in the room metaphor) but that doesn't change the reality. We would prefer to just wish it away or hope that somehow God might develop Alzheimer's. But ignoring or wishing away our problem with God doesn't remove it or resolve it. In fact it makes it worse. The problem is this: since the moment we were born, we have wanted to do things our way. We have offended, rejected, ridiculed and rebelled against God day after day for our entire lives. Even the "best" of us have done our good deeds in self directed ways, thus doubling down on the problem. 

Because of all of this, God really has no reason to come to be with us, much less to be on our side. And yet the promise is that he will. However, in order to do this, our problem must be resolved. We don't have the resources or the ability to fix the problem, but Jesus does.  So, implicit in the promise that Jesus will be God with us is an even deeper promise. Jesus will solve the problem that every man, woman and child on this planet has. We are sinners and rebels while God is holy and just. Jesus has come to take the just punishment owed to us so we can receive the gracious blessing of God being with us and for us.

And finally, while this may seem obvious, it is quite easily missed or minimized when we think about Jesus, especially at Christmas. If Jesus is to be Immanuel, which means God with us, he must be God. Why is this so important? Consider some of the additional promises made to those who trust in Jesus: We will one day be with him, Jesus is praying for us right now, We will have new bodies just like his, Nothing can take away God's love for us, and so many more. How can any of these promises be true, much less realized, if Jesus is not God?

So, as we celebrate and enjoy this great and glorious Christmas season, remember that Jesus is Immanuel for those who love him, follow him and trust him. May this Christmas be the one where we truly worship the savior king who is God with us. Immanuel.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

An Ephesians 3 Prayer

May (youu) have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3:18-19

Father, as I consider the multi-dimensional love of Christ, I would ask for your help to know and grasp just how big you are, how powerful you are, how holy you are, how majestic you are and how loving you are. The immesity of these qualities are really beyond my grasp and I need your Spirit to anchor them into my heart and soul.

On top of this, oh Lord allow the expanse of your sovereignty to soak into my bones. Grant me the privilege to really believe that you are able to do all things, that you are active everywhere accomplishing purposes that you have established since the foundation of time, and that you really truely know what you are doing. May this reality strengthen and establish my trust and faith in you.

In addition, dear Jesus, give me the eyes to see the depth to which I had fallen. I am not there anymore, which is a praise to your glorious grace, but I need to reminder that I am sustained solely and completely by your steadfast, faithful, ever-enduring love. Also, help me begin to begin to comprehend the depth to which you lowered yourself in order to redeem a people to  yourself. The creator steping into creation, the eternal one stepping into time, the sovereign one stepping into dependence and the holy, righteous one stepping into a broken, sinful. fallen world. All of this was not to rule or reign, but to suffer and to die. For me. Oh God when I consider this, I am undone.

And finally Father, graciously give me a glimpse of the breadth of what you are accomplishing by your Spirit. My vision is so small. My mind is so simple. My heart is so weak. My faith is so frail. But you are doing things in every home, in every community, in every nation around the world. You are calling people to faith in Christ even as I pray these words. You are pushing and proding people to serve you today in ways they may have never considered before. You are allowing people to suffer today for your glory and their ulitimate good. You truely are a good, good Father. Help me, help all your beloved children, to see this truth and transform us today even more into the image and likeness of your dear Son Jesus, in whose name I always and forver pray.


Amen.