Resolving to Trust

     Here we are once again at the threshold of a new year.  Many people begin making resolutions which usually last, on average, one or two weeks; so rather than fall into this pit myself, I decided to take a scripture principle and work on this during 2013.  Since our Sunday School class has been studying Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones', "The Sermon on the Mount", I selected the call of our Lord to "hunger and thirst after righteousness."  Daily it was my prayer that God would increase my appetite for His Word and for obedience.  Have I conquered this?  By no means, but I have made progress as I focused on this aspect of Christian living.  I would rather commit myself to the Lord and allow Him to work in my life than rely upon my own resolve which does not last long.  With this in mind, I desire to build a deeper trust in the Lord this coming year.  It is an area that many of us need work on.
     During our tour of "The Sermon on the Mount" this past week, we discussed "worry and anxiety". One of the key reasons we worry (which is sin) is because we do not trust God.  Even though He is our Creator, Redeemer, and mighty King, we somehow think we need to help Him out in situations.  Such was the case of the Israelites when the Lord was providing food for them in Exodus 16 starting in verse 16.  The people complained against Moses and Aaron because they did not have much food in the wilderness.  God instructed Moses and Aaron that He would provide a bread like substance to feed his people daily.  The Israelites were supposed to collect only enough for each person to eat that day. However on the sixth day they were to collect double the amount so they would have enough to eat on the Sabbath.  God was testing the people to see if they would follow His instructions and trust Him.  Exodus 16:19-21 describes what the people did:  "19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it until morning.” 20 But they didn’t listen to Moses. Some kept part of it until morning, but it became infested with worms and stank. Moses got angry with them. 21 Every morning they gathered it, as much as each person could eat. But when the sun grew hot, it melted away."  There were two issues here.  One is that the people obviously did not trust God for a daily provision.  They took matters into their own hands and gathered extra thinking to have more in the morning.  Secondly, they did not obey the instructions given to them.
     Those people of God who followed what the Lord told them to do had plenty of food each day as they went along.  The Lord was their provision as He is ours.  The Israelites who did not listen to God but gathered extra for the next day only discovered a wormy, stinking mess.  Nothing has changed much in the years since the Old and New Testament was written.  Man is still trying to "help" God because he does not trust Him.  We would rather worry or stew in our own stinky mess than to lean on God and rest in Him for our daily provision.  Personally, I do not want to live like that.  Instead, I want to learn to trust God with all my needs according to His riches in glory.  Won't you join me in this year long growing experience?
     One of the verses I want to pray every day comes from Proverbs 3:5-6:  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."  What beautiful words of wisdom!  It is a declaration that we will not lean on our understanding of circumstances but will trust in the Lord.  This will help our faith to grow when we declare to ourselves daily that we will trust in the Lord with all our heart.  Pray it, declare it to yourself and others and live it.  As we do, our trust in God will grow as we watch Him provide for our needs.
      Whether you choose to join me in my desire to grow in trusting the Lord or not, I encourage you to pick a biblical principle and rely upon the Lord's strength to help you grow strong in an area of your Christian walk.  I guarantee that God honors His Word and will help you to grow in His daily grace.  This is far better than making resolutions in our own strength that we will quickly give up on.
If you desire to grow in trust this new year, let me hear from you.  We can pray for one another as we seek to glorify God together.  Selah!

From our home to yours:  May God bless you in the New Year ahead.

     

Looking at an Old Story With New Eyes

 

 "It was a dark and stormy night" is a phrase we often joke about when telling a scary story.  This sets a mood and atmosphere for what is about to be told.  Our audience is thus prepared.  When it comes to the Christmas story, we must listen with new ears to the description given by the Physician Luke.  There is as much not told to us as there is stated for our understanding.  Being a physician meant that Luke recorded details often neglected by other authors due to his vocation.  While he was not an eyewitness to the events that took place, nevertheless, he was studied in his details.
     Luke makes clear his desire to faithfully recount what took place in the life of his Lord Jesus Christ.  He writes to Theophilus these words of introduction:  "Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught." Here, Luke lets us know that he wants his reader to have confidence in the details surrounding our Savior.  He also makes clear that while he was not an eyewitness, he wrote his Gospel based upon reliable evidence provided by those who did see these things take place.
     Looking at the Christmas story, we are not told much about the weather only the general time of day.  We know it was growing close to evening as Joseph sought shelter for his pregnant wife Mary.  They had traveled a good distance for the census which was ordered by Caesar Augustus.  Luke does identify a time frame by naming a political leader which was a common way to pinpoint a time in history.  "This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria" (Luke 2:2).  Quirinius was involved in a census taken in A.D. 6.  It appears that a census was taken about every 14 years so there may have been an earlier one; however, we have an idea of the exact time frame.
     During this event of the census, Mary's time for delivery arrived.  While Joseph tried to get shelter in an inn, there was no room available.  As a result, our Savior was born in a stable and laid in a manger (food trough).  What a humble beginning for the King of Kings!  Luke describes simply the birth of this baby.  He was wrapped in swaddling cloths.  We are not given any further description.  While this does not seem in any way miraculous, what happens next, as described by Luke, does mark an unusual occurrence.
     There were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night in the same region as the birth of Christ.  Again, we know it is night time.  Without warning an angel appears to these men in the fields near Bethlehem.  They were frightened by this appearance, but the angel reassures them and announces the birth.  The words used by the angel have great significance.  This messenger of God tells the shepherds three things about this baby:  He is "Savior", "Christ" and "Lord".  The word Savior is only used twice in all four Gospels.  All the people of Israel had long waited for a  Savior who would deliver them.  The title "Christ" means "Messiah", and the term "Lord" is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to God.  The angels were declaring that God had come to earth to save His people from their sins.  This baby was God the Son.  This was amazing news given to a group of shepherds who were despised by the people.  Since they could not keep ceremonially clean due to the nature of their work with sheep used for sacrifice, the people wanted nothing to do with them.  However, their work was important when it came to the system of sacrifices which utilized sheep on a regular basis.  Now, however, that system would change.  Jesus Christ would be the final sacrifice for the sins of the world.
      Before the angel departed, the shepherds were given a sign of what to look for so they would not miss this Child...."you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12b).  Isn't God good?  When we need to know something, He tells us precisely so we don't miss anything.  The shepherds witnessed not one angel but a heavenly host (translated army) of angels who sang praise to God.
      Following this appearance, the shepherds went to see what the angel had foretold.  When they found Mary, Joseph, and the baby, they explained what the angel had said.  I love what Luke records:  "And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).  Mary, herself, had seen an angel who told her what was going to happen.  This was another confirmation to her.  I can only imagine the joy she must have felt.  Not only had she delivered a baby boy, but He was the Messiah.
     Those shepherds left to return to their job but they left changed.  As they went, they praised and glorified God.  When we meet Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are changed just as those shepherds were.  This is a story worth telling over and over again.  Luke was faithful to record all the details that we might know with certainty that everything we have been taught is true.  God wants us to know, to worship, to receive the gift of His only Son who came to earth to die for our sins and rise again to give us eternal hope.  As He rose, so will we if we have trusted in Christ for our salvation.
     Dig deep today into the Christmas story.  Even if we have read it a million times, read it again with new eyes and see what a miracle took place because of God's love for us.  Let this celebration of Christmas bring new joy, peace, and meaning into your life as you ponder these things in your heart.  Selah!

The picture above is a composite of windows at St. John's Anglican Church in Darlinghurst Sydney created by Clayton and Bell, England entitled "The Nativity".  It is taken from a German engraving.  It is a public domain picture.

A Child is Born

 

    Isaiah 9:6-7: "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."

     These words of comfort were offered to the Children of Israel by the Prophet Isaiah and throughout the ages have echoed the triumph of our Lord and Messiah.  I can think of no better way to begin the week of Christmas than to read these words of joy over and over.  Jesus Christ has so many titles but these describe what we all long for.  He is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
     As our Counselor, Jesus Christ offers to us the wisdom we need no matter where life finds us right now.  Like an attorney, He stands to plead our case before the Father and to offer His righteousness for our sins in the great exchange made at the cross.  This He offers to all who have confessed their sins and called upon His name.  He also guides us by the power of the Holy Spirit into all truth.  He comforts us in our losses, and provides for us in our needs.  There has never been nor will there ever be another who can so completely meet our needs as this Wonderful Counselor.
     Jesus Christ is also our Mighty God.  He is fully man and fully God come to proclaim to all mankind salvation.  From the beginning of man's story in Genesis, a promise came from God the Father that He would send a Savior who would set man free from sin and death which we have inherited from Adam and Eve.  Jesus the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit came to earth from the womb of Mary to walk among men and demonstrate the perfect obedience that Adam could not.  He is our example, our Savior, the perfect sacrifice for sin and the Mighty God.  How humbling to know that God the Father provided for His creation a means to restore our relationship to Him through the blood of His own Son.  Furthermore, we know that the story did not end at the cross for Jesus was resurrected and ever lives at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  He will return again to rule and reign!
     Our Savior being part of the Godhead is in complete unity with the Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit.  There never was a beginning or an end to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  In this, as believers, we should find comfort knowing that we also are destined to live forever before the Face of God in heaven with Him.  Our lives are short upon this earth when we consider eternity.  When we find ourselves sick, in sorrow, or facing difficulties, we can take comfort in knowing that our Creator, who is everlasting, is with us.
     Perhaps the most wonderful title is "Prince of Peace".  Jesus came as a lowly servant, born in a manger, but He will return as the Prince of Peace.  Our world has not known much peace throughout history.  There have been wars and rumors of wars even now.  However, one day this will all cease.  Upon the shoulders of Jesus our Lord, the government will rest.  He, who is eternal and full of justice, will bring order to our chaotic world and His rule will be joyful and not burdensome.    He is and ever will be our Immanuel...."God with us".
     Until His return, He has left believers to be His ambassadors to a sin filled world.  We are to be His light and salt so that others will hear the "Good News" of salvation through Him.  What an honor to be considered worthy to serve Him as an ambassador!  How are we doing in this regard?  Are we living to serve our King who will one day split the sky and return for us?
     My prayer this Christmas is that we may think on the names given to our Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us exalt Him in worship, conduct and words.  If someone reading this has never met Christ, I encourage you to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ through repentance and prayer.  Turn from sin and turn to the Savior.  In Him, we have life abundantly.  Selah!


I welcome your thoughts here.  Feel free to write encouraging words.