Believe In Christmas...

Believe in Christmas

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. Since it is a great time, we have a number of things that add a sense of awe to festivities.  We have movies, songs, food, gifts, even special church services that bring us warm hearts.   I see these as a reminder that even though the world as a whole does not profess the purpose of Jesus, they unknowingly acknowledge his presence on earth with these celebrations.  After all, how many other holidays do we start celebrating and selling for 2+ months in advance other than Christmas.

Here is the greatest thing, all of these holiday items, as misplaced as some of them may be, brings the story of Jesus front and center each year for anyone and everyone to think about.  And if you peel back the layers of traditions, commercials and cute stories about reindeer and snowmen, you will observe that it was a night much like any other that started all the fuss in the first place.  A night that became spectacular and world changing.

 

 

As you awake Christmas morning you may not be celebrating Jesus’ birth.  Despite the way some who do believe and follow Jesus have treated you, I want to assure you that most are not trying to be offensive, please see beyond them to the wonderful spirit of this amazing holiday.  It could be that you are not sure of what Jesus was and is about. You may have questions or doubts.  I must admit that despite nearly 40 years of attending church, I too have had my fair share of faith challenges, questions and doubt.

Some of us who claim to follow Christianity know a lot of things about Jesus, the babe born in a manger, others of us know less. One thing is certain, regardless of training or study we don’t know all there is to know about Jesus.  As a matter of fact, The Apostle John, one of Jesus’ disciples, tells in a manuscript he wrote we call the gospel of John, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book… Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (St. John 20:30, 21:31)  So by the admission of one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers, there are parts of Jesus’ life that is not recorded.  But then John shares his motive for documenting Jesus’ activity, again from his eyewitness account, “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down… these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God”  (St. John 21:24, 20:31)  Since John was a believer, and he himself didn’t know everything or didn’t even attempt to write down all he did know, he found no problem to placing faith in Christ, because of what he had seen.

I invite you this Christmas morn, to take a moment and realize you are celebrating because of a babe born in a manger, which the entire world, including countries where Christianity is outlawed, is celebrating some part of on this day.  Why?  Because Christmas is a fact of history.   As a matter of fact, the very date on this newspaper is such because of that night in a little town called Bethlehem.

So, I invite you to pause and contemplate, let Christmas become a change of heart not just an exchange of gifts.  For just a moment set aside all the extras and take a look at the real story of a historical figure.  Don’t settle for a short changed celebration; take a look, one more time, into the stable.  See the child there in the hay on a manger.  And believe in Christmas.  If you do, you will never settle for just the trimmings ever again.

 

What if God says...

I found out today that I've not grown up as much as I would like to believe...

Then I realized that this area of "growing up" is a repeat, not an "arrived" state...

As I was reading one of my favorite authors, Max Lucado, this morning, he put his finger on a nerve that I have always found sore.  I am guessing you might find this area sore or know someone who has this similar thought....

Here's Max's words from "In The Grip Of Grace"...

"There are times when the one thing you want is the one thing you will never get...

You wait and pray.

No answer.

You pray and wait.

May I ask you a very important question.?  What if God says no?

What if the request is delayed or even denied? When God says no to you how will you respond? If God says "I've given you my grace, and that is enough," will you be content?"

Ok Max, that's enough...  I am having flashbacks thanks to you...

It was 8 years ago this coming February that my father died, I had been through 2 surgeries in the last 6 weeks of the previous year, was still struggling after the second surgery.  It was a simple surgery with not so simple results.

The months after my surgeries and my father's death, more things began to pile up in my heart and mind.  I prayed, begged and even tried to barter with God. No answers....  No relief...

The pain slowly pushed me to contact a local pastor for counseling. I could not get an answer, to be honest, the answer I came to is one that has to be revisited again and again...

My answer came at the end of a long pause and a rethinking of God following the hardest question ever asked me...  "What are you going to do if God doesn't take this pain away?"  I wanted to slap him, truly, I was broken, crushed and gasping for breath and he had the audacity to ask me this horrible question. He stuck his finger in a bleeding wound and twisted. I had not room for "no" even though my teaching and preaching had contained this truth many times. It was not true for me at that moment.

I didn't have an answer, I just looked up with tears in my eyes and said... "I don't know."

I would like to say I had an epiphany that day, I'm not sure I've had one even since.  But, for reasons I can't always tell you, that question began to transform my faith.  It still molds my thinking to this day.

I look at life differently. 

Success isn't always God's hand of blessing and defeat isn't always a sign of God's hand of judgment/disapproval.

God knows the correct answer whether I believe he's right or not.

So here I sit, reading one of my favorite authors and realizing that this topic will never go away.  I must find a way to handle to lows as well as the highs. God is sufficient for both, his grace is limitless and powerful. Sunshine and rain come, God stays the same, I am glad...

Oh yeah... I forgot to tell you how Max ended this section I was reading...  Let's see how you like what he has to say...

"If God says no to you, how will you respond?  If God says, 'I've given you my grace, and that is enough,' will you be content?

Content.  That's the word.  A state of heart in which you would be at peace if God gave you nothing more than he already has."

Thanks Max. 

Thanks Dale.

I'm looking to respond to this day with all it holds with this attitude, at peace if God gives me nothing more than he already has.

Lord, help me and anyone else who would want this to be true of them.  Lord, it's not easy, but then, you never said it would be... 

Thank you for grace sufficient Lord!

Paying For... Wait A Minute...

It is not fair to say I believed I earned my salvation in the early years, but the longer I live the more I realize that I thought I "kept it" by what I did...

I guess that is why this seems to be a them that really catches my heart...

Here is a exert from one of my favorite books, "In The Eye Of The Storm" by Max Lucado that says it better than I can...

This is so freeing... Read On...
"If only, when God smiles and says we're saved, we'd salute him, thank him, and live like those who have just received a gift from the commander in chief.

We seldom do that, though. We prefer to get salvation the old fashioned way: We earn it. To accept grace is to admit failure, a step we are hesitant to take. We opt to impress God with how good we are rather than confessing how great he is. We dizzy ourselves with doctrine. Burden ourselves with rules. Think that God will smile on our efforts.

He doesn't.

God's smile is not for the healthy hiker who boasts that he made the journey alone. It is, instead, for the crippled leper who begs God for a back on which to ride."

God isn't impressed with you... Even after you are saved!

He is impressed with his Son...

Paul said it well in his letter to the church at Galatia... "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

It's hard not to want to "confirm" ourselves by the things we do. I tell people "God doesn't get up and say, 'I wonder what Bill (your name can go here) is going to do today? I can't wait to see what wonderful things he comes up with!"

No, I get up and say, "Lord, help me live in grace so that I can live out my faith in a way that makes you visible to others."

I get it more wrong than right, and if you are honest, you may also...

That is why I am so glad for grace!

Have a great weekend!

 

Broken glass, broken hearts and a computer...

The room was full of concentration.  The answer had to be there, just needed someone who understood to get a glimpse into the problem and aha… an adjustment here and a click there and the computer network would be back up and the lines of communication would be be flowing freely.

THEN…

As the concentration was at its height, a crash, not just one, but many.  The noise from the other room shook the two men, they looked at each other and with quick feet one of them rushed to the kitchen to see the cause of such a racket.  Behold, sitting there in the middle of a chair was the homeowners daughter.  “Dad, I’m sorry… I am really sorry, I didn’t mean to do it.”  Laying all around the daughter was glass, not just one or two shards but a world full of sharp edges and jagged danger.

The daughter had been getting a glass from the top shelf and when the shelf bracket allowed it to shift, down came the dishes, down on the two lower shelves.  Again, the voice of the daughter shot through the air, “Dad, I am so sorry…”  she stood there, bare footed and blood running down her legs with a look of complete horror on her face.

The father’s answer was quick, “you just stand there and look at your mess and when we get the computer fixed I will see what I can do to help, and if you are really ambitious, why don’t you start cleaning up a little of this mess before I get back.”  “Next time you’ll watch what you’re doing won’t you!”  You can identify with the father can’t you?  OR CAN YOU?

If you are like I am, when I heard this story I said, “what a jerk of a father.”  Well it’s a good thing that the last part of this story I just told was the the story teller’s way of making a point, a point well taken.

Following his attention getting statement came the real reaction the father had and his answer to his daughter's pleas, the answer the father gave? “Honey, don’t move, I’ll come get you.” And he proceeded to move the pieces of glass, put his daughter on his back carry her to safety and mend her wounds.  No stitches were needed and her life wasn’t in any real danger. With the mending complete he did what anyone of us would do, he went back into the kitchen and begin the process of cleaning up a big mess, a mess he didn’t even make.

God is like that.  He looked at the earth and he saw a mess he didn’t make.  Instead of telling the occupants to “get a life” and “straighten things up” he understood that compassion is the only answer to a mess that big.  You see we stood, not with a little blood running down our legs and we needed more than stitches, we needed a major surgery, we needed a new life.

So he sent his Son.  “Come to me those of you who are tired and carrying heavy burdens.” 

 

So now I have a question, one which was proposed by the story teller and I think worth repeating.  Why is that when we heard the story of the father and the daughter we thought “oh what a compassionate father.”  And, why is it that when we think of God we tend to think, “oh man, he’s really gonna get me for that one!”.

 

Then the story teller said something that I will never forget, it’s the first time that I’ve ever heard anyone say this.  “If this is how God (with only anger and judgment) responds to our messes, then I’m more compassionate than God!” 

He followed up with, “you and I both know that isn’t right.”

 

One such burden carrier, a young man with a very religious upbringing wrote this, you may be able to quote it if you’ve been in church much, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

Just a thought, why do you and I fall into this mode so easily.  We go back to earning instead of asking.  We not only do that in our life, but we propagate it in the lives of others. 

In the lives of believers we want to see “due repentance”, I understand the nature of reconciliation and restitution, I just wonder, how often has God made you repay your debt.

In the lives of those who do not follow Christ, we talk like they need to get their act together.  We lay rules on them and try to shame them into following Christ.  We call them names, speak of them harshly and complain about how they have messed our world (country for those of us in the US).  All the while we miss the opportunity to do what a Jewish carpenter did one afternoon.

Jesus walked up to Matthew (a tax collector, not just a sinner) and he said “follow me.”  There were no conditions and no need for Matthew to clean up his act, just follow.  The rest of his life he was so touched by that invitation that he wanted to record his experience in a book you and I still read today.

Do you think he felt like he had to clean up the glass of his traitor ways?  Do you see it in scripture where he paid fourfold like Nicodemus?  And yet he got to follow Jesus, see him love, heal and challenge and he came away with a life changing story that speaks of grace. 

A story we still read 2,000+ years later.

As a matter of fact, he recorded the longest sermon Jesus ever preached, which by the way, pointed out just how bad the circumstances were and began to help us see that HE was the true answer to the mess.

I hope your day starts, continues and ends with grace, not just rules and good behavior. 

I’ve found the first to be effective and connecting to my "Abba."

The second, only people are impressed with.

It's Hard To Imagine...

"The fire that lit the boiler of the New Testament Church was an unquenchable belief that if Jesus had been only a man, he would have stayed in the tomb.  The earliest Christians couldn't stay silent about the fact that the one they saw hung on a cross walked again on the earth and appeared to five hundred people.



 

Let us ask our Father humbly, yet confidently in the name of Jesus, to remind us of the tomb.  Let us see the victorious Jesus: the conqueror of the tomb, the one who defied death.  And let us be reminded that we, too, will be granted that same victory!"

 

~Max Lucado.  Walking With The Savior

May Be Knocked Down...

What a cool Video!

Click here to see it on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0lkoY1Muw1M

Wet Grass, Burrs and Hunting With My Father...

Anybody besides me recognize these?

As I stepped out of my house this morning, the wet grass and dew covered world reminded me of my childhood days.  My dad would wake me up on a Saturday morning early, it was time to go hunting (please no anti-hunting comments).  Mostly squirrels were on the agenda, occasionally the rabbits had to beware, but overall we went and came home, empty handed.

Though the meat was scarce, the hitchhikers were not.  Often, unknown to me, would be a glob of these burrs, stuck to my pants and in need of removal before entering the car.  One thing is stuck in my mind about these unwelcome little visitors, they didn’t go away easily.  Nor did they seem to ever give up their grip on my clothing and skin.  Even when I got the majority, I seemed to always find a few stragglers once I got home and changed clothes.  Persistent little irritants.

I sit here wondering…  what in the world was God thinking when he created burrs?  Your question may be different than mine, but the result is the same, why are there things that irritate and distract our attention?

Some insight can be found in the passage from our founding father Adam…  “the ground will produce thorns and thistles.” (Genesis 3:18b).  That is a technical answer.  But there is a real outgrowth of this early choice that Paul speaks of…   ^“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.”*… 

Just a few words later we see “I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” *

What a conflict, yet many of you reading this know this fight.  Burrs are in your pantlegs and they are irritating.

Some of you know the feeling he then expresses…  “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life…?”*

What is your burr?

Disappointment?

Discouragement?

Doubt? 

Distrust?

Anger?

A physical desire?

 

Hurt?

Let me ask you?  Is there any hope?  If I say yes will you listen?  I know I don’t listen all the time, it’s not the right way to live my life, yet I find from time to time I am covered with burrs and I become satisfied with leaving them attached.  It’s hard when you are tired of pulling burrs.

Some are reading now, you’re not freshly covered with burrs.  You’ve forgotten your days of irritation so those struggling with burrs are feeling your “encouragement”.  And if you’re not careful, you and Jobs friends may be sharing the same pot of sour water.  What the struggling, tired, thirsty traveler needs is hope and it’s found in a clear, cool, clean drink of water, not another cup of burrs.  Helping now is contingent on your ability to remember the darkness of your own burr covered days.  For all you know, your attitude may be the burrs you’ve missed.

Back to the HOPE issue.  Paul throws us a “burr remover”… “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord…  So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you”*

You may not feel freed.  Everything may be going poorly.  Your heart may be fighting for one more beat.  Fresh air may seem out of breathing range.  Your sight may be dimmed.  Your limbs may be weary.

But in Christ…  YOU ARE FREE!

Not free from the burrs along the path, but you have a “burr puller” who knows where all of them have hidden and how to remove them.

Look to him today, be encouraged…

It’s my goal for my day, come join me!


* Romans 7:18-8:1 portions selected

Monday Morning, Eeyore and the devil...

Seated…

Check…

Pen in hand…

Check…

Devotion book open..

Check…

Topic…

Uh Oh…

This morning I woke up discouraged.  You may know what I’m talking about.  A couple of weeks of a busy schedule with a little frustration added in and a pinch of undone chores and a spoonful of lack of sleep.

The recipe is never the same, the packaged snack is.  It hits you when you least seem ready for it and even your best laid plans for its arrival can seem useless.

So it comes…

It visits and begins to unpack its suitcase...

The contents are familiar, but they are nonetheless effective…

The first question hits… “What about that _______________ project, was it your best effort?”  Second guessing lodges, your heart wonders and so do you.

Next in line are the simple ponderings of doubt, its questions can be unending…  “maybe you have made God angry”, “you will never amount to anything”, “if you only made better decisions”, “you’re not qualified” there are thousands of these questions and the list may be running around inside of your mind as you read this.

Hurt crawls over the edge of the overnight case and slithers it’s way to your heart and the next thing you know you are upset, with yourself, with others, with those you love, or just those in the vehicle in front of you on the way to work.  The results are always the same, anger, mistrust, sharp words and a hesitation to love.

These elements of discouragement are not a complete list, I’ve seen heavier and lighter luggage, but regardless of the content, the outcome seems to be similar…

Discouragement…

The devotion passage that dredged this little rambling up?  …“the devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat.” (I Peter 5:8 NCV)  

I have found that satan has a keen sense of smell and my busy, chore filled, frustrated, hurt, tired world has left a wound that is bleeding.  So, whether I wanted to or not, I bleed.  Sometimes I’m the cause of the injury, other times the abrasions are the result of human interaction, either way, the blood is spilled and the carnivore senses an opportunity, discouragement sets in as quickly as the weariness.

But, this morning, not even by design but by grace, my mind found a weapon to ward off the lurking fanged fiend.  “ If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:29 CEV). It’s a verse that actually come to me from my study in the middle of the night last night, it meant very little to me while I was “wide awake” at 3 am awaiting the sleepiness to return so an hour or two of sleep could be grasped before the alarm shocked me into Monday morning.  But right now, as I sit reading this little devotion about satan and his devouring ways, it jumps up and down and reminds me of a counterattack.

The next verse in the devotion, seals the deal, “refuse to give in to him, by standing strong in your faith.”  (I Peter 5:9 NCV).  Stand strong?  Not me!  Not this morning!  Not in this state of mind!  But Jesus, that’s another issue. 

He says “come”.

I run. 

He says “weary?” 

I say yes. 

He asks “life heavy?” 

You bet Lord! 

He speaks to my heart… “REST”…

Mmmmm  that’s nice.  Lord, what is that warm breeze I feel.

 “My love”.  

Can I have an extra portion of that?

“Sure, I’ve got plenty!” 

“My Grace is sufficient…”

Thanks Lord… 

“You’re welcome child”

I think I might be ready for Monday…

Oh by the way Lord, I forgot this again, will you come with me…

Child, “I will never leave you…”

Thanks Lord!

Darkness for our good...

What a great reading this morning..

"At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours"

Matthew 27:45

"Of course the sky is dark; people are killing the light of Light of the World.

The universe grieves.  God said it would:

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight... I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day."

Amos 8:9-10

The sky weeps.  And a lamb bleats.  Remember the time of the scream?  "At about three o'clock Jesus cried out".  Three o'clock in the afternoon the hour of the temple sacrifice.  Less than a mile to the east, a finely clothed priest leads a lamb to the slaughter, unaware that his work is futile.  Heaven is not looking at the lam of man but at the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)"

From Max Lucado's book, "Next Door Savior"

Dark hearts...  Dark day...  New Life!

Amen!

This day will always be a day or remembrance, no matter the year.

Time may cause the painful emotions of this day to fade due to distance future generations will be from that heart stopping day, but they will remember none the less.

I was not alive when Pearl Harbor was bombed but my family was impacted dramatically that day.
I was alive, and so were my children, when this atrocity was perpetrated on our soil...

So, join me in remembering...

No bickering...

No politics...

No religious rhetoric...

No finger pointing...

Just remembrance...

And maybe the same thing we did that day...  Pray...

A New Day Dawning...

I sit looking at the sun rising…

Another day dawns and so does my desire to enter the world of blogging again…

Just wanted to invite you to join me from time to time as I begin a journey of attempting to write a regular post once again…

It has been a few years, six to be exact, since I sat regularly and reflected on life and God’s place in it…

From headlines to receding hair lines, my goal is to be honest before you and God about what life is about, even if I’m honestly wrong…

It is my prayer that these few words shared each time will bring you faith building and thought provoking opportunities…

Both of which I hope will make each of us, including the author, better people…

Feel free to comment or send e-mails with thoughts and items of interest…

Comment below or send thoughts to billramblingblog@gmail.com