Each of us has a story to tell about who we are. Some may feel their story is more exciting than others. But regardless of the wow factor that comes with our story…we have one. The more a person knows about our backstory, the more they are actually getting a full picture of who we are. However, there is a level of vulnerability that comes with being fully known. People see our struggles, our failures, our embarrassing moments. But what if you were God? What would your backstory look like?
We are given a deep glimpse into who God is by reading His backstory. From man’s first introduction to God back in Genesis to the seriousness of God in situations like the world flood, the captivity, and even the silence, or the times He powerfully delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery or provided for them in the wilderness, or when He used foreign kings to bless them in various ways. All of these events help shape the character of God.
Romans 1:19-21, “They [mankind] know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like…”
This is where Christ comes in. Hebrews 1:3 reminds us, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and He sustains everything by the mighty power of His command. When He had cleansed us from our sins, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.”
Jesus was the plan of God to reveal Himself through His own life on earth through His son. Just as Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.”
Therefore, Jesus’ arrival on earth is better appreciated when we know and understand the backstory of God’s effort to break through our hard hearts to reveal God’s desire for His creation. This Christmas as we celebrate the giving season and a time during which many reflect on the birth of the Messiah–Jesus Christ, try to spend some time reflecting on all the characteristics of God that demonstrate His love for mankind.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Christmas Gift of Gifts
Christmas is many people’s favorite holiday for lots of reasons: decorations, parties, family, and gifts! There’s nothing like surprising our children with just the right gift to show them how much we love them. What about the gift God gave to the world? The gift of His son.
When Jesus showed up on earth as a baby, the angels proclaimed, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).
The truth is that there was an even greater gift than His arrival on that night; there’s a wonderful message of hope that He gave us that we get to share with the world, a gift that changes lives. Hebrews 9:14, “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered (gave) himself to God as a perfect sacrifice (gift) for our sins."
His gift was given sacrificially, completely, and willingly for us. God wanted to give this gift – even though it cost him so much. 1 Peter 1:18–19 reminds us that we “weren’t redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Have you ever given a gift that you knew was exactly what the other person wanted? A perfect gift, that would bring joy to the recipient. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Jesus is that perfect gift we need, whether we realize it or not!
As we celebrate a favorite time of year for most of us, consider how to reflect on the “reason for the season.” God has modeled for us the perfect gift giver. When it comes to our gifts, let us focus on being selfless, genuine, and excited about being givers.
We have a wonderful gift to share with people, and they need it desperately. Jesus gave us comfort that being a giver like God would come with wonderful blessings to everyone involved, (especially when we are genuine, selfless, and excited about it). Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
When Jesus showed up on earth as a baby, the angels proclaimed, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11).
The truth is that there was an even greater gift than His arrival on that night; there’s a wonderful message of hope that He gave us that we get to share with the world, a gift that changes lives. Hebrews 9:14, “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered (gave) himself to God as a perfect sacrifice (gift) for our sins."
His gift was given sacrificially, completely, and willingly for us. God wanted to give this gift – even though it cost him so much. 1 Peter 1:18–19 reminds us that we “weren’t redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Have you ever given a gift that you knew was exactly what the other person wanted? A perfect gift, that would bring joy to the recipient. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Jesus is that perfect gift we need, whether we realize it or not!
As we celebrate a favorite time of year for most of us, consider how to reflect on the “reason for the season.” God has modeled for us the perfect gift giver. When it comes to our gifts, let us focus on being selfless, genuine, and excited about being givers.
We have a wonderful gift to share with people, and they need it desperately. Jesus gave us comfort that being a giver like God would come with wonderful blessings to everyone involved, (especially when we are genuine, selfless, and excited about it). Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Giving Responsibly
It’s well known that winter can be a time of year that brings on some of the deepest times of depression for some people. Winter
brings on coldness, darker evenings, and even dead things. There are quite a few people that you may even know that suffer from what
has been labeled Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It’s basically a mood disorder that people deal with at particular times of the year; typically, people are more likely to feel SAD during winter.
But it’s kind of nice that winter starts off with another season that many people get excited about – the giving season (AKA Christmas). This is the time of gift-giving and family and laughter, although it is for that same reason that many feel SAD. For the many people that don’t have a healthy relationship with their family, or don’t have the money, or the people to give to, there may not be much point in laughter.
This is why it’s so important to stay focused on how gift-giving can be a tremendous blessing to people feeling SAD, or anyone else too. Perhaps one struggle that many people deal with is knowing who to buy for, or how much to spend, etc. This very normal dilemma can cause us to lose sight of the gifts as a means to bless someone and end up being something almost counterproductive to God’s will.
In other words, we can become people that focus on fulfilling every wish for those closest to us, while closing our eyes to those that need more than more trinkets and treasures. When does accumulating more things hurt our walk with God?
The truth is, that many of us realize that the overabundance of things can become a snare of the devil. 1 Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Obviously, nothing is wrong with buying a gift for someone; in fact, many things are right about it. After all, God gave a wonderful gift of eternal life to anyone who will trust in His son and join with Him. The real danger may be that excess can cause arrogance which is a perfect recipe for idolatry. Thankfully, God has given us plenty of direction in His Word on how to give wisely and abundantly without causing obstacles to faith and generosity.
But it’s kind of nice that winter starts off with another season that many people get excited about – the giving season (AKA Christmas). This is the time of gift-giving and family and laughter, although it is for that same reason that many feel SAD. For the many people that don’t have a healthy relationship with their family, or don’t have the money, or the people to give to, there may not be much point in laughter.
This is why it’s so important to stay focused on how gift-giving can be a tremendous blessing to people feeling SAD, or anyone else too. Perhaps one struggle that many people deal with is knowing who to buy for, or how much to spend, etc. This very normal dilemma can cause us to lose sight of the gifts as a means to bless someone and end up being something almost counterproductive to God’s will.
In other words, we can become people that focus on fulfilling every wish for those closest to us, while closing our eyes to those that need more than more trinkets and treasures. When does accumulating more things hurt our walk with God?
The truth is, that many of us realize that the overabundance of things can become a snare of the devil. 1 Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Obviously, nothing is wrong with buying a gift for someone; in fact, many things are right about it. After all, God gave a wonderful gift of eternal life to anyone who will trust in His son and join with Him. The real danger may be that excess can cause arrogance which is a perfect recipe for idolatry. Thankfully, God has given us plenty of direction in His Word on how to give wisely and abundantly without causing obstacles to faith and generosity.
Sunday, December 1, 2019
The Ultimate Gift from the Ultimate Gift-Giver
“Give a man a fish – feed him for a day; teach a man to fish – feed him for a lifetime.” Famous words of wisdom. There’s power in knowledge, but sometimes the knowledge-pill is hard to swallow. When Jesus showed up on the scene, He showed people how to be sincere, something the Jews (and all humanity) struggle with. Reality is that we can be quite selfish in our life, and sometimes embarrassingly so. Unfortunately, “the season of giving” can expose a lot of greedy, selfish people.
The solution is easier than we think. Be humble! But how do you genuinely become humble? Jesus started out what is often referred to as His greatest sermon with these words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
In our culture, there’s nothing positive about poverty! Yet Jesus saw the value of giving up His divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. He took the lower seat in humanity and didn’t think of equality with God as something to cling to.” (Philippians 2:6-7).
Before Jesus showed up to earth, God had sent several prophets to remind us of the need to take care of other people’s needs before our own. In Haggai’s prophecy for the Israelites, God has him tell the people that their greed will actually cause more economic disaster and hardships than if they would humble themselves and be generous. It seems His plan was to get them to focus on the temple that they had completely neglected and not on their own homes (like they were doing). The temple, after all, was a hotspot of benevolence for the community. People were blessed by the temple being in full working order. The poor were taken care of, the widows and orphans cared for; the diseased and disabled people found help. When the temple was thriving, everyone in the community did better.
Nothing’s different today. When the church is functioning in a genuinely benevolent fashion, the community is blessed. Paul said in Philippians 2:1-5, “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had…” (NLT)
This Christmas, check your heart as you dive into giving gifts and spreading holiday cheer. This was what Jesus helped us understand by living on earth – He taught us how to give in a Godly way!
The solution is easier than we think. Be humble! But how do you genuinely become humble? Jesus started out what is often referred to as His greatest sermon with these words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
In our culture, there’s nothing positive about poverty! Yet Jesus saw the value of giving up His divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. He took the lower seat in humanity and didn’t think of equality with God as something to cling to.” (Philippians 2:6-7).
Before Jesus showed up to earth, God had sent several prophets to remind us of the need to take care of other people’s needs before our own. In Haggai’s prophecy for the Israelites, God has him tell the people that their greed will actually cause more economic disaster and hardships than if they would humble themselves and be generous. It seems His plan was to get them to focus on the temple that they had completely neglected and not on their own homes (like they were doing). The temple, after all, was a hotspot of benevolence for the community. People were blessed by the temple being in full working order. The poor were taken care of, the widows and orphans cared for; the diseased and disabled people found help. When the temple was thriving, everyone in the community did better.
Nothing’s different today. When the church is functioning in a genuinely benevolent fashion, the community is blessed. Paul said in Philippians 2:1-5, “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had…” (NLT)
This Christmas, check your heart as you dive into giving gifts and spreading holiday cheer. This was what Jesus helped us understand by living on earth – He taught us how to give in a Godly way!