A New Year and a New You

Dear Everyone,

            It is almost New Year’s Day!  Can you believe the year 2015 is upon us?  How many out there didn't think they would make it that far?  How many of you have high expectations for the new year?  Maybe there is a wedding scheduled, maybe a large trip that has taken years to plan, maybe a baby is to be born, or for some, this may be the last New Year’s Day you see here on earth.  In celebration of the New Year here are a few Bible passages that teach us an amazing truth – In Christ we can all be made New!  No matter what our past contains, no matter what mistakes we have made, no matter how old we are, no matter what we have planned for the future, no matter what year it was or is about to be – Jesus Christ has the power to make us New! 

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Psalm 51:9-12

“Hide your face from my sins,

And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence

And take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

And uphold me with a willing spirit.

Colossians 3:1-4

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Revelation 21:3-6

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’  Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’  And he said to me, ‘It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.’”

Things to think about:

·      As the New Year approaches and people around you make all their New Year’s Resolutions remember the one thing that you can’t do this new year – you can’t make yourself new – but God CAN!  He did what you could not do.  He gave up his life so that you could have a new life; a life filled with his love, a life of hope, a life of joy, an eternal life with God on your side and sin a distant memory. 

·      Our new life is here for us now, not just in Heaven.  Let us live a life now that reflects the new life that Christ has given us.  Let us be people who have their minds set on eternal things, our hearts open to the world, people who forgive like Jesus forgave, people that care about what Christ cares about – because it is His life we are living.  He gave up his life for us so we now can live and it is no longer a life all about me, but a life all about Him.

·      May 2015 be such a year of New Life!

Happy New Year everyone!

Don't forget the Joy

Dear everyone,

As Christmas day approaches the busy schedules, parties, presents, and family obligations can seem overwhelming.  It is just part of the season.  Not that those things are bad in themselves, often they are very good!  But, the stress of “one more thing” can sometimes get to us, can’t it?  This Christmas I want us to take a step back and remember one of the reasons Jesus came to this earth.  There are lots of reasons, but this is sure to be one of them.  He came to bring you joy!  True, real, authentic joy.  Not a pretend to be happy for the holidays kind of joy, but real joy.  Great joy!  Just look at these familiar Christmas passages and see if you can see it – Jesus came to bring you JOY.

Matthew 2:9-11

After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Luke 1:39-45

 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.⁴¹ And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be^[g] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Luke 1:56-58

And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. ⁵⁷ Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

Luke 2:8-20

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”^[c]

¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Things to think about:

·      Whether it was a shepherd, an angel, a wise man, or Mary herself the news of Jesus coming to earth meant joy!  No matter where you are today, whatever circumstances you find yourself in, whatever life situation you are dealing with – remember this – there is Joy in Jesus!  This Joy is for you!  This Joy if free!  This Joy is a gift from God for all those that believe in His son!  The Joy is only made possible because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. 

·      What do you think these people did the next day?  Have you ever thought about that?  Did the shepherds just go back to their flocks?  Did the wise men return home and get involved in business deals or advising nobles and kings?  Did they face hardships, pain, loss?  I would think so.  Did they ever lose their joy?  Did the business of living life blind them to the joy that they once saw?  Have you been blinded to the joy that you once saw in Jesus?  This Christmas season lets take the blinders off and remember that God came to save us!  God did not leave us in our sins!  God did not abandon us!  God became a man for us, died for us, defeated death and rose from the grave for us, why?  Well, one reason – to give us joy! 

·      My encouragement this Christmas season is to stop and remember to find joy for today, “a savior is born!”

Merry Christmas everyone

What to do, what to do..."

            This past week I have had a number of conversations where the main question being asked was, “what should I do?”  How many times a day do you ask that question?  Sometimes we say it out loud and other times it just pops up in our minds.  “What should I do about this situation?  What should I do over here?  What should I do with him?  What should I do about this?”  And the questions go on and on…How many of our prayers in one way or another are essentially asking God what we should do?  In the book of Job we read a story about a guy who seemed to have everything, then lost it all and started asking God questions like; “why?” and “what should I do now?”.  Toward the end of Job’s discussion with his friends Job makes a great observation that I think will help all of us whether we are in times of plenty or in times of need.

Job 28:9-28

⁹ “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
    and overturns mountains by the roots.
¹⁰ He cuts out channels in the rocks,
    and his eye sees every precious thing.
¹¹ He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
    and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Man does not know its worth,
    and it is not found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.
¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.
¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ “From where, then, does wisdom come?
    And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
²² Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

²³ “God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
    and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
    and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Things to think about:

·      Job reaches the same conclusion that King Solomon (the wisest man to ever live) came to at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes and in Proverbs.  Seems like God really wants us to know that wisdom is from him and He is a trustworthy source for truth and understanding. 

·      Isn't our doubt in God and lack of faith in what He declares at the root of most of our sin?  When God says, “this is the way you should do it” our sinful flesh says, “yeah, but I would rather do it this way – my way makes more sense.”  What?  Job says here – “uhh, don’t you realize God created the mountains and streams, he sends the winds where they go and searches out the deepest oceans and the furthest places – I think He knows what He is talking about!” 

·      The question for today is this – do you listen to God when He speaks?  Perhaps that could help us answer many of those, “what should I do next” questions. 

My prayer for all of us this week:

 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…                           Ephesians 1:16-19

Who Doesn't Like Free Stuff?

Have you ever been somewhere and gotten something for free?  Maybe you went to a store and they were giving out free samples or you were there just at the right time to get in line for 50 free whatever’s they happened to be handing out that day.  People go crazy for free stuff, don’t they?  I remember going to a football game when I was a teenager and a golf cart stopped right in front of us and a guy stands up and yells, “free t-shirts” and the stampede almost killed me!  People came running and almost ripped that guy to shreds because he couldn't hand out the free t-shirts fast enough.  Free stuff is awesome!  Today, I want to look at a passage from the book of Isaiah in which God talks about some pretty amazing free stuff. 

Background:

Isaiah is speaking to the Israelites in a time of trouble when they feel like God had abandoned them.  The Israelites needed an encouragement from the Lord, perhaps you could use the same?  Even though Isaiah gives some specific promises to the Israelite people that may not apply to us today I think the principles he lays out about God, us, salvation, and grace still very much apply to us today.  Let’s read it and may we be more excited about the free stuff of God than a $5 t-shirt that most people never even put on. 

Isaiah 55

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴ Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵ Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
    and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has glorified you.

⁶ “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
⁷ let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸ For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹² “For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Things to think about:

Notice that what God offers is free, but what we spend our money on things that we really don’t need.  Interesting – what do you think we spend our “money” on?  What does that mean?

I like verse 3 – God is inviting us in so that we can hear the good news!  We are told to open our ears and hear so that our “souls may live”…what could be more important than to listen to that message?

We are to “seek the Lord while he may be found.”  When will he not be found?  Will there be a day when no matter how hard you look you will never find God?  What a frightening day!

If I were to summarize verses 8 and 9 I would say it like this…God says, “you think you are smart – but really you are dumb. You can not come close to how much I know so stop trying to tell me what the best way really should be. 

I pray that for all of us we would experience that day when we will all “go out in joy and be led forth in peace.”  The only way that becomes true is when you listen to the Word of the Lord and believe that God has compassion on you – for He sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to the earth to live and die in you place, the sacrifice for your sins, the substitute for your eternal judgment, the greatest free gift of grace that could ever be given.  Receive the free gift and be satisfied for all time!

Have a great week!

Something to be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving!  In a couple of days many of us will be gathered around tables enjoying a nice meal with family and friends.  I hope that as you stop to give thanks you remember to thank the One who gave us everything.  Let’s put our thinking caps on one last time before we slide into a weekend of hanging out and relaxing.  Let’s read a wonderful passage from the book of Hebrews about Jesus Christ.  It has some big words and some even bigger concepts so you may have to read it a few times (I know I did), but it is worth it because of the truth that it contains.

Hebrews 2:9-18

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰ For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. ¹¹ For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, ¹² saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

¹³ And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Things to think about:

Here are some things to be thankful for – Jesus tasted death for me, Jesus created all things and yet suffered for me, Jesus is not ashamed to call me brother, Jesus has been through what I am going through, Jesus has defeated death and given me life, Jesus made a wrath averting sacrifice (propitiation) for my sins, Jesus has been tempted like I am tempted and yet never sinned…Thank you Jesus!

Have you ever felt like you were unworthy of being called a child of God?  Because of what Jesus Christ did He does not see you that way!

Do you think the phrase “offspring of Abraham” only refers to biological descendants of Abraham?  See Romans 9:1-8

Do you think verse 12 is Jesus talking about us or us talking about Jesus?  Do we sing His praise?  Or is He singing our praise in the midst of the congregation?  Interesting thought…

Happy Thanksgiving!