The Gift that meets our greatest need

What do you do that makes you feel like less of person, that destroys moments that should be best, that sabotages too many good intentions?  My temper has caused too many regrets. Anger has caused hurt in people I care about deeply. Perhaps it is misuse of things, or abuse of sexuality, or an addiction to something that hides the real you. The Bible calls this part of our lives ‘sin’ and it is a word loaded with heavy weights of shame and guilty for many.  There is a better way than shame.
Christmas is about God’s response to our greatest need!

Listen to the announcement that came supernaturally to Joseph when he was wondering if he should marry his pregnant fiancé. "But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”" (Matthew 1:20-21, NIV)   

Call Him, Jesus, (Hebrew meaning Deliverer) for He will save from their sins!

The world went terribly wrong with the introduction of evil at the dawn of history. Though we were created to love and serve our Father in a perfect union, with every good gift, evil lurked in the shadows, tempting us to misuse and abuse the very things given us for life.  And, when we believed the lies, we became slaves. As we sinned, cooperating with the Evil one and his purpose, our relationship with our Father was irrevocably broken …  "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6, NLT)

Call Him, Jesus, for He will save from their sins!

This Christmas time God says two things to us as we remember the Gift.
                You are loved. And,
                You can become whole.

There is no more fear for us because the penalty of our disobedience is borne by our Savior.  Knowing this, we open up and invite the Light to shine into the darkness, most shame-filled, regrettable decisions of our lives and their power to enslave is shattered. Don’t live as less any longer.  You were made for more, to be a person of wholeness in Christ.

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:22-23, NIV)

I wish you a Merry Christmas.  If you are in the NW NJ area, join me in worship at Faith Discovery Church on Sunday at 10 am, or at 7 pm for a special candlelight service.

From Humbug to Hallelujah!

What is declared a ‘season of wonder’ can be a time of stress, exhaustion, and over-commitment.  There are some choices we can make that will turn ‘bah, humbug,’ into ‘joy to the world!’  Are you one of those people who say-  “It’s Christmas! So what?”  Find strength, renewal, and hope this Advent. How? You will not find these gifts under your tree or at the office party!

Make people your priority!

Likely, you will either host gatherings or be a guest at one or more. Savor the time. Give another your full attention. Don’t rush, hurry, or just try to 'get the program' completed. Enjoy the opportunity to be with friends and family.  Be content with less-than-perfect preparations of food and décor. Those things will quickly fade into oblivion anyway, but an evening of meaningful conversation creates a lasting memory to which we return repeatedly.

Remember to include worship!

Set aside 20 minutes each day between now and Christmas Day, to meditate, to pray, and to read the stories of Jesus' nativity from Matthew and Luke. Give the Spirit of a God an opportunity to meet you! Tell your family you will be going to church on Christmas Eve. Arrive early and sit with a listening heart, not one wondering, “when will this be over?”  Do more than sing,  "O come, let us adore Him... Christ, the Lord!" Actually enter in.  Which god will claim more of your attention in the next week – the ‘stuff and things’ one, or the Beautiful Savior?  The use of our time, the investment of money, is irrefutable evidence about the identity of our deity. Keeping Christ in Christmas more than putting up a crèche on the lawn , it is about honoring the One whose life is the cause for the celebration.

Give yourself away! 

In Acts 20:35 (The Message) says, "I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’ ”  Who needs a gift of forgiveness from you?  Give love. Give time. Give grace. Give away your expectations and receive what these days bring your way. Sit and listen to a child. Go see an elderly person who is alone and enjoy their stories. Send a long overdue note of appreciation to your parents.

Recover wonder! 
Read the Christmas story with a child-like heart that says, “Lord, tell me again, how much You love me.”  Make it personal! Watch the old film, "It's a Wonderful Life" and don't make fun of it! Instead, let it inspire you to make a difference in someone's life today.  Our sophistication, our cynicism, our intense focus on now can rob us of God’s gift. Let the sophisticates pretend to be bored by the holiday. Choose to be child-like (not childish!) in your wonder.

Let’s anticipate the arrival of New Year's Day, 2018, having a renewed heart! Sure, you may be tired in body from staying up too late, going here and there, but you will have received Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And, He brings life.

Here's a word from the Word for this Friday morning -
"The Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. ...
We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us-one gracious blessing after another." (John 1:14, 16, NLT)

__________

Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne

Thou didst leave Thy throne

And Thy kingly crown,

When Thou camest to earth for me;

But in Bethlehem's home,

There was found no room

For Thy holy nativity.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,

There is room in my heart for Thee.

Thou camest, O Lord,

With the living Word

That should set Thy people free.

But, with mocking scorn

And with crown of thorn

They bore Thee to Calvary.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,

There is room in my heart for Thee.

Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott | Timothy Richard Matthews

Public Domain

The real question is ‘Who do you see?

Around a table last night I saw sad eyes in a meeting that was a long, hard discussion about the work of our church. We are being forced to ask hard questions. “What stays, what goes? How do we best carry out the mission of ‘being the people of God’ in a time when He is marginalized by the majority?” A shared view of life and meaning, something we (Christians) once took for granted, is no longer are a part of the culture into which we speak the Word of God.  Forms of ministry that flourished 30 years ago are not effective today. The question at the core of those deliberations at that board table, at least for me, was an age-old one. “Where does the reality of our circumstances meet faith?”  Should we just keep on and lay claim to ‘faith’ as our rationale?

You probably ask the same question, but for different reasons. You may wonder about questions like these -
                How do I live faithfully as a Christian when all of life seems to be a conspiracy against that?
                How do I trust God to reach my children who have grown indifferent to all things spiritual?

                Where do I prioritize my  use of time and resources when serving and giving collide with the urgencies of making a living to pay the bills? 
                How do I make what I hear on Sunday morning part of my life on Monday?

God does not promise to endorse and support every decision we make, just because we can find a proof text in the Bible for it, or because ‘that’s the way we have always done it.’  Simply hanging onto something in life is not necessarily an evidence of great faith. It may be fear of change that drives us more than faith.  True faith is anchored outside of ourselves in the expressed will of God!

I meditated on the ‘faith’ chapter, Hebrews 11, at length. Buried deep in the text was this phrase that the Spirit made a living word for me.  Moses, the man of God, was preserved by the godly and faith filled acts of his mother and the providence of the Lord. He grew up in the palace, trained in Egyptian ways, but never forgot that his God was the Lord.  He murdered a man, fled into the desert, and spent 40 years in character training while tending sheep!  Then, God met him and spoke to him. It’s a fascinating story that centers around a revelation of the great “I AM” at a burning bush.  Moses left that encounter with a purpose and mission – to lead his people out of Egypt to become the nation of Israel.  But, the project was tough! Nothing went right. The Pharaoh changed his mind multiple times.  As Moses agitated him, he made life miserable for the Jews who then turned their anger against Moses.  How did he keep going?

Here it is - “He persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.” (Heb 11:27).   Stop and think about that … really.  Read that again. “He persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.” (Heb 11:27).   

Faith is not formed nor is it sustained by just ‘hoping for the best’ or staring down our difficult situations.  Faith is not anchored in our resolve or our abilities. Faith demands a vision of God, a heart that loves Him, and eyes that see Him.  The question is never ‘what should I do?’  It is “What is His will?”   Our greatest desire must be to be able to say, with confidence, “I have heard from the Lord.”  When we know that God wills it, nothing – money, hardship, distraction, demon, or pressure from our world – will defeat us.

So, friend, what does God will for you?  Answer that two ways.  One answer is general, for all of God’s children.  He wills a pure and holy life for us all. He wills that we will love Him, worship Him, and serve Him as our one true God.  And then there is the more difficult answer, in the sense that it requires listening and waiting- the personal will of God in whatever situation we find ourselves.  There is no formula that I can give you to discover God’s will today.  But, I can assure you, He speaks!  May we, like the boy Samuel, hear His call, responding readily - "And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10, NLT)

Here is a word from the Word. "The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. … It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. … By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king’s blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going." (Hebrews 11:27, The Message)

Abba, open our eyes and ears.

Help us to separate Your voice from the clamor that surrounds us.

Lead us and, in Your patient mercy,  may we find new hope and purpose.

Teach us what is good, how to live, what to say.

Give us the courage of a warrior and the gentle trust of a beloved child.

Above, make Your radiance shine out of us so that it is obvious that

“we have this Treasure in clay pots”  so that all will know that You are a wonderful God.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen

Jerry D. Scott, Pastor

Faith Discovery Church

www.FaithDiscovery.com

Amused to death

Every year, right around this time, I carve out some prayerful time to redefine why I am taking up space on the planet.  If that sounds grandiose, hang with me, please.  My prayer goes like this – “Abba, what is my mission? What gifts are You giving me, what opportunities are You presenting to me? Am I am on point, doing those things with excellence?”  I commit my reflections to paper and ink and print it so I can see it regularly.  It does not vary much by this time in life.  Last year’s statement starts like this – “I am a man belonging to God, called to serve His church as a leader and shepherd.” There is this, too. “I am a father, and grandfather, therefore, I will remember I have responsibility to serve my children.”  Earth shaking?  Not at all.  But, those simple statements clarify  life for me.

So, what got you up and out of bed this morning?  What keeps you moving forward? This is called “purpose!”  Without a sense of purpose life becomes a chaotic mess of conflicting goals, of unfinished business.  A person who does not know why God causes him to exist will spend precious days just meandering.  Gifts will be wasted. Talent will be squandered. Old age will bring nothing but regret for things undone. Yes, too many people will amuse themselves to death!

Paul was warned of a terrible trial that was coming his way. The Spirit told the apostle that he would be jailed if he went to Jerusalem. But, he was not deterred because he was clear about his purpose.  He told that group of Christians from Ephesus this - “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God." (Acts 20:22-24, NLT)  Do you see the power of his calling, the clarity of his purpose? 

Bob Buford, in an excellent book called, Halftime, writes about an alternative to the choice so many people make around the age of 50 to throttle back to idle, to coast to retirement, and into a life that has no significance!  “Likewise, for the second half of life to be better than the first, you must make the choice to step outside of the safety of living on autopilot. You must wrestle with who you are, why you believe what you profess to believe about your life, and what you do to provide meaning and structure to your daily activities and relationships.”  He says this -  “My passion is to multiply all that God has given me and, in the process, give it back. And I would like to incite you to do the same. I do not want you to be the seed that fell along the path or was scattered in rocky places or was choked by weeds.”

So, as we approach the end of 2017, would you take some time to evaluate?  Buford suggests these questions. “As you take stock, ask yourself these similar questions: What is my passion? How am I wired? Where do I belong? What do I believe? What will I do about what I believe? Or, as Peter Drucker advised people who were looking for their life’s task:  “What are my values, my aspirations, my directions, and what do I have to do, to learn, to change, in order to make myself capable of living up to my demands on myself and my expectations of life?”

Perhaps this exercise is new and unfamiliar.  Don’t rush it. Don’t make it complicated. Just think and pray.  It could be painful to admit to drift, to too much time watching TV, to endless chasing after fun. It might reveal some progress and cause you to be thankful for God’s grace and calling. That will be rewarding.  If it is just too difficult to do this alone, seek out a real friend, a trusted one who is truthful and let them ask the questions.

Is this important? I believe it is critical, because of this truth in our word from the Word today.  “Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.*’ ” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.”  (Romans 14:10-12)  May we hear His commendation for living on purpose.

___________

Open Our Eyes

Open our eyes Lord

We want to see Jesus

To reach out and touch Him

And say that we love Him

Open our ears Lord

And help us to listen

Open our eyes Lord

We want to see Jesus

Bob Cull

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