The Holidays

 It is fascinating to me that the word holiday literally comes from the idea of holy days.  And yet there is almost nothing holy about what happens when we get to this time of year.  After Halloween (anything but holy) we push toward not Thanksgiving as much as Black Friday.  I know this because we have Black Friday deals that are already starting.  We push right past Thanksgiving and start thinking about shopping for Christmas - you know, the part of the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ that is about making sure you are spending as much money as you can afford to buy presents because your family needs to know that you love them and you have to have a good enough Christmas card to send out for the next year - the kind that you can brag about all the things you did during the year.  Sounds great doesn't it.  Seems like the holy day has become not so holy.  A group of singing angels announcing the Savior's birth to lowly shepherds has been replaced.  A quiet birth of a Savior has given way to a bustle of human capitalistic activity.  The salvation of mankind has quietly taken a back seat to anything and everything else.  

Sad if you think about it.

Maybe we should make these days holy again.  We can do this by focusing ourselves - to think about Jesus more than we think about all of the other stuff.  To intentionally slow down and remember what Christ has done for us.  To humbly consider the humility with which the Creator of the Universe came to earth.  To pause to reflect on the Prince of Peace.  To go a few moments striving not to google or go shopping, but instead to glory in the God of all that is giving Himself for us.  I think it would be worth our time.  I think it would be worth our worship.  I think it would be helpful to make these days holy.  

Thanksgiving in Hard Times

 "The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. . ."  (Lamentations 3:22)

This verse comes in the midst of a book literally named after the idea of crying out to God.  Jeremiah the prophet had a lot to lament - the people God had called him to proclaim the Word of God to were not listening.  They were moving faster and faster toward judgment.  There was not a lot to give thanks for.  He had been imprisoned.  He had been left up to his armpits in mud to die.  And he did not have a lot to show for a lifetime of faithful service to God.  All he had was people who did not like him very much. A lot of complaints and not a few death threats.  

But there is always one thing that we have.  It is something that we can count on no matter what.  No matter how many things happen or what we are going through, this is a truth that we can not only rely on - but give thanks for because it is true.  I want us to think about it.

God's covenant faithfulness does not cease.  And His love toward us does not fail.  Which means that even the painful things we go through are an expression of God's love to us that He will use for our good and His glory.  What a reminder - I can give thanks!

How do we think of God

 "I am the vine , you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."  (John 15:5, NASB)

Sometimes we think of God as just a bigger version of ourselves.  We use him when things get bad, but most of the time we feel like we can handle life on our own.  We can, as we used to say when we were little, "Do it myself."  In this version of God he becomes a handy tool that we can call on (prayer) when we have a need, but he is not Lord.  This is a highly dangerous view of God.  And yet it is one that is all too common.  

It is interesting that the Bible does not give us this option.  God reminds us that he is higher than us.  He reminds us that our lives are but a mist and a vapor, but he is eternal.  He reminds us that we are weak and he is strong.  And yet even with all the reminders we cannot seem to escape trying to view him as something we need when we reach the end of our rope.  John 15 reminds us that Jesus is the vine and we are simply branches.  Think of this - the branch without a connection to the vine is a literal piece of garbage.  This is what verse 6 says.  If our goal is to bear fruit (as it states in verse 5) than we MUST be connected to Christ.  Without him, we cannot bear any fruit because he is our life!  

So today, remember that apart from Christ, you can do NOTHING!

The B I B L E, Yes that's the book for me

 Have you ever taken a moment to really think about the Bible - that book that you wish you spent more time with, but sometimes have a hard time prioritizing?  

Many times we have a wrong idea or a series of wrong ideas about what the Bible is.  I think that many people think that it is like a good self-help reference book.  It is not.  Some think it is a manual - it is not.  Some think it is a love letter - it is not.  Of course it has elements of all of these things but it is not any one of them.  It is a unique book.  A book that is the Word of God.  A book that was inspired by God.  A book that is written by human authors and shows their uniqueness and yet shows the reality that it is inspired by a singular God who is sovereign over all.  

This book that you hold, this book that you read is the authoritative Word of God written to many different people at many times and preserved by the will of God so that when we read it the Spirit of God can use it to teach us, and correct us, and train us in righteousness!  What a glorious gift!

God's Word

 I think that we have lost something as a culture over the course of time due to the ongoing progress of technology.  We have forgotten and/or lost a foundational concept that was true for us from the beginning of time.  We are a people who were created to listen.  Think of the opening chapter of Genesis and how many times that it records for us the words "and God said."  God has recorded and preserved His Word.  The prophets spoke over and over again, "Thus says the Lord."  Jesus comes and John presents Him as the Logos - the eternal word.  Hebrews author reminds us that God has spoken both in times past and now, but now He has spoken to us through His perfect Word - His Son - Jesus Christ.  

But along the way, despite all of the commands of Scripture to listen, to meditate, to hear, we have become a people who instead speak.  Even though the command of James is to be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19-20), we instead have been enveloped by a culture that tells us that we have to listen to no voice other than our own.  We have nothing outside of ourselves that we need and therefore any voice that is contrary to the voice of our "authentic self" is to be ignored or even shamed. 

And yet we were created to listen.  And in listening to obey.  

So the question for us as believers is this - will we train ourselves to listen to God, or will we continue to speak and in so doing shut out His voice?

The Power of the Word of God

 "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."  (Hebrews 4:12, NASB)

I think that sometimes we underestimate the power that the Word of God has.  I think that all of us have a general sense that we need to change - that we need to be made more like Jesus.  And we think that God is going to do this in some mystical sense.  But it would seem that He has made it clear to us exactly how he is going to change us.  James refers to the Word of God as a mirror that we should examine in order to know what to change, but this passage in Hebrews tells us that the Word is the surgical tool that God wields in order to reveal the very inner parts of who we are and what we think and feel.  

Paul tells Timothy to trust the power of the Word to teach, to reprove, to correct and to train in righteousness.  He tells him that the Scriptures are able to make us equipped for every good work.  And yet for many this powerful Word simply sits on the shelf.  Or in our lap.  It may be read but it is rarely used to teach ourselves, to reprove ourselves, to correct ourselves or to train ourselves in righteousness.  Instead we use it to get a few inspiring thoughts that we imprint on T-shirts or pillows or hang as a picture on our wall.  We reduce the Bible to another poster like the cat that encourages us to "hang in there."  And in so doing we miss the power of God.  

Don't miss this critical tool in the arsenal of a soldier of Jesus Christ.  It is our sword, one that we should first allow God to use to change us and then that we should use readily and often as we strive to serve our Lord and Savior.

School has started

 School starts this week in our area.  I am reminded at this time of year of a number of different things and I wonder if I might share a few of them with you.

I am reminded that not everyone starts school at the same level.  Some start coming with the nice new backpack and new shoes and new everything and others come with their older brother's clothes, a back pack that is well worn and a pair of shoes that has no material over their toe.  I wonder what the people of God are doing to make sure that each student has what they need to be able to learn.

I am reminded that the school is a place where doctrine is taught.  They of course would not say this, but they are trying to teach the kids about how to answer the most important questions of life.  I wonder if we are doing this with our own children to prepare them for how what they hear at school might be different from what they hear at home and at church.

I am reminded that school is an increasingly difficult place to be a Christian - both as a student and as a teacher.  I wonder if we are praying regularly for those who are fellow believers in our school system and if we are striving to encourage our young people toward Christ-likeness even in their school's.