Come, running!

Come, running!

The Christmas story includes some men regarded by others in their time as the lowest, people without social status. The shepherds lived apart from society, tending Bethlehem’s sheep. Sheep herding was a menial job. The men were rough, their work hard. Their job kept them from the synagogue and from observing Jewish rituals so the smug Pharisees sniffed that shepherds were all sinners.

But God chose to bring them into the scene. To whom does HE first announce the New moment? Shepherds! "And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." (Luke 2:9-10, NKJV) "So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger." (Luke 2:15-16, NKJV)

I’m intrigued by that phrase - “they came with haste.” After the angels left them, there was a short discussion, and then these men who normally avoided town, who were obligated to make sure their flocks were safe, took off running to find Jesus! `

Have you been pushed aside, told that you’re not worthy of God or His goodness?
Have you concluded that you are beyond the reach of grace, too _____________ (bad, good, sinful, old, young , rich, poor)?  People have lots of reasons (excuses) for not hearing God’s call.

You’re not too anything to be beyond God’s love. Jesus Christ is ’ good news of great joy that will be for all the people.’ His coming opened the way to reconciliation with the Lord, to discovery of eternal life. He invites to “Come, follow Me.” Interestingly, that particular offer was made to another group of very ordinary men, outside of the social or religious elite. He invited the fishermen of Galilee to discipleship. They, too, dropped what they were doing. "At once they left their nets and followed him." (Matthew 4:20, NIV)

Some are reluctant disciples (an oxymoron really) and others are eager to follow. Some come pushed by fear, some drawn by love. Some are looking for escape from the troubles of life, others to find the entry to life abundant. There is a form of Christianity shaped by satisfying holy obligations in order to ‘earn’ the favor of God. Then, there are those who love the Lord, His work, and His presence.

To those who come running, there is this promise. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David." (Isaiah 55:1-3, NIV) "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6, NIV)

So, what kind of disciple are you?

________________

O Come All Ye Faithful

O come all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him

Born the King of angels.

Yea Lord, we greet Thee,

Born this happy morning.

Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv'n.

Word of the Father

Now in flesh appearing.

O come let us adore Him.

O come let us adore Him.

O come let us adore Him,

Christ, the Lord!

C. Frederick Oakeley | John Francis Wade

Public Domain

Shepherds and Sheep

Shepherds and sheep

I read about the shepherds who saw angels, heard a song, and went into Bethlehem to “see this thing that has happened.”  (Luke 2)  It brought to mind a memory of my own childhood. When I was a little kid, I traveled, with my Dad, who was a livestock dealer back then, to the wide open plains near Buffalo, Wyoming.  Men, living in small rolling homes in  remote areas, tended huge flocks of sheep! Yes, it's true. They were Basque immigrants, from an ancient culture in the Pyrenees Mountains on the border of Spain and France. Their people had a long tradition of being outstanding shepherds.  Helped only by their amazing dogs these shepherds made certain that the flock was safe and led to new pasture each day.  Using only the sound of his voice, and the assistance of his dog to round up stragglers, one shepherd led hundreds of sheep! It is an amazing memory still vivid in my mind a half century later!

Only a well-shepherded flock thrives. Sheep left untended on the open range will die. Predators will kill them off, one by one. Or, they will over-grazing the land until they have exhausted their food supply. Don’t get insulted by what I write next, all right? We are like those sheep. We need to be led! Without care, we die.  Think I am wrong?  Even Jesus observed this about the people he lived with, "they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36, NIV)
Our world is full of people who would ‘shepherd’ us. They call to us, inviting us to follow them.  Jesus said that some who claim to be shepherding are just careerists, interested in enriching themselves at the expense of the flock. At the first sign of crisis, they abandon their sheep. "The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it." (John 10:12, NIV)

He will never do that!  He invites us to "Come, follow me. ... I am the Good Shepherd."  Jesus says, "I am the Gate for the sheep. ... Anyone who goes through me will be cared for-will freely go in and out, and find pasture. ... I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary." (John 10:7-11, The Message)
"Come, follow me." Will you take Jesus up on His invitation? It's an invitation to adventure, to life that is purposeful and meaningful, and - best of all - to a relationship! He promises that if we follow Him, He will never leave us. He does not promise that we will never be attacked by wolves, go through violent storms, or experience difficult days! But, He promises we won't face those challenges alone. "I'll be there," He says, "caring for you."  Follow the Good Shepherd. Serve Him. Worship Him. Listen to Him. And, you will 'have real and eternal life, more and better life than you ever dreamed.' That's the truth.

This was the promise of the Lord, fulfilled at the coming of Jesus.
"He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace." (Micah 5:3-5, NIV)

_____________________

Savior, like a Shepherd lead us;
Much we need Thy tender care.
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us;
For our use Thy folds prepare.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Thou hast bought us; Thine we are.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.

We are Thine; do Thou befriend us;
Be the Guardian of our way.
Keep Thy flock; from sin defend us;
Seek us when we go astray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Hear thy children when they pray;
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Hear Thy children when they pray.

Savior Like A Shepherd Lead Us
Thrupp, Dorothy A. / Bradbury, William B.
© Public Domain

There I go, again!

There I go, again!

As my irritation shifted into anger, I felt the heat creeping into my face, the surge of adrenalin racing through my body.  I was ready to go to battle! After I walked away and calm returned, I thought to myself, “there I go, again!”   The struggle with my temper is a life-long one.  Do I like it? Not at all. Am I controlled by it? No.  Is it sinful?  Yes, and for that reason, I submit it to Christ for His mastery.

Given differences in our personalities, training, experience, and circumstances each of us wrestles with different temptation.  Most of us deal with one or more of the so-called ‘seven deadly sins.’ They are wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.  In recent years we have tended to describe our struggles with sin in psychological rather than spiritual language.  Recovery is more sought after than repentance.  I am grateful for the science that studies human behavior and attempts to help us to  understand why we end up saying to ourselves, ‘there I go, again!’  But, I also recognize that to simply understand and explain behavior that God calls sin is an insufficient remedy.  Recovery can never make me right with God. Only repentance followed by receiving His grace restores and produces freedom – from guilt and from sin’s power over me.

Christians must never ‘make peace,’ with those things that God hates.  For example, if I excuse my anger as a ‘family trait,’ or part of my personality, I remain a slave to it. But, I must not deny the reality of it, either. That is why I take it to the Cross of Christ and find forgiveness, and pray for the Spirit to master it.  At same time, I work to understand why I choose to act in certain ways so I can recognize when the temptation is more likely to approach.

What’s your ‘besetting sin?’  Take a look at the Church’s list of the deadly sins again- wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.  That’s not the prettiest side of humanity, is it?  God says we all sin; falling far short of the destiny for which He created us. Can you identify with this passage?  “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am!”  (Romans 7:21, NIV)  Don’t make the tragic mistake of stopping there. Too many Christians do. We are not whole in the Spirit if we think that the only responses to our sins are either to make peace with them or to live with miserable guilt, day in and day out.

Paul goes on to declare emphatically that while we will find ourselves saying, “there I go, again,” there is freedom in Christ and  growth into a mature holiness which comes from the life of the Spirit developing in us. “With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, (religious rules about sin) weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us. Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God!" (Romans 8:1-5, The Message)

I hope you will not overly sentimentalize the Christmas story.  The Babe in the Manger is not just a nice story about God coming to earth.  It was His opening shot in the war on sin!  God came into the world, not to excuse our failures, but to defeat the evil and free us to live holy and whole lives by offering us the Gift of grace and forgiveness.  Let’s go beyond just knowing why we fail, to overcoming sin through our Savior.  "Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." (John 1:4-5, NLT)  "To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God. So 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." (John 1:12-14, NLT)

___________

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come Thou long expected Jesus,

Born to set Thy people free.

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art.

Dear desire of every nation

Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King!

Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring!

By Thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone.

By Thine all sufficient merit

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley | Christian Friedrich Witt

Public Domain

"It's Christmas. Yeah? So what?"

Has all the bad news taken hold of you, left you anxious, or full of despair? Are feeling like the cynical man who brushed off my greeting with a snarl: “It’s Christmas! Yeah, so what?” This 'holy day' Season you can gain strength, renewal, and hope. You will not find these gifts under your tree or at the office party! It really can be a ‘wonderful time of the year,’ if we look in the right places for our joy.    

So, what choices can make the difference between ‘bah, humbug,’ and ‘joy to the world?’

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 again and again.

Remember to include worship!
Believe me, if you will 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; the Spirit will 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?” "O come, let us adore Him... Christ, the Lord!" Most Americans will spend far more time in the mall than in church during the next seven days! We will worship at the altar of consumerism with far more fervency than we will worship our Lord Jesus. This imbalance in the use of our time and money reveals the identity of our true god. Keeping Christ in Christmas isn't just about putting up a crèche on the lawn at City Hall. It's about building an altar in our heart and 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.’ ” Give forgiveness. Give love. Give time. Give grace. Give away your expectations and receive what these days bring your way.   

Recover wonder!  Read the Christmas story and instead of asking, "How could this be?" invite the mystery of it all to whisper to your soul a new message about the depth of God's love. 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. I am not urging superficial sentimentality. I am suggesting that we have to let go of our sophistication, our cynicism, our intense focus on now. Let the sophisticates pretend to be bored by the holiday. Choose to be child-like (not childish!) in your wonder.

You can come to New Year's Day with 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 to take with you as you begin this Christmas week- "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

He ran in the strength of the Lord

The murders of little school children in Connecticut and the ongoing wars that bring death and destruction to innocents in dusty corners of Syria and Afghanistan filled the news with nothing but despair. Beside these things, there is the spiritual apathy that lays over the land like a dense morning fog. Many who claim to be disciples of Christ are slack in commitment to His work, careless about personal holiness; their Bibles never open from day to day, their prayers childish petitions for trinkets and pleasure, if they pray at all. Because of it all, I confess to being weary in doing good! It's a kind of tired not related to physical work, but even more taxing. The Psalmist's complaint became my prayer: "How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant? They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting." (Psalm 94:3-4, NIV)

Today I opened my Bible to the story of a man who took up the call of God to speak to a nation that was full of idolatry, to a people who knew better, but who chased after lesser gods than the God who loved them. Elijah's great victory on Mt. Carmel, in which he saw the fire of God fall from the heavens to burn up the sacrifice in answer to his prayers, was truly amazing. Then, he went to prayer again, seven times asking God to break the drought and send rain on Israel. Finally, a tiny cloud appeared, which was all he needed. He told King Ahab to get back to his palace before the rain fell and then we read this: "And God strengthened Elijah mightily. Pulling up his robe and tying it around his waist, Elijah ran in front of Ahab's chariot until they reached Jezreel." (1 Kings 18:46, The Message) After a long day of spiritual confrontation, Elijah ran about 25 miles!

The Spirit whispered in that passage about His promise to be my strength (and yours!) for the challenges of this day. If we look to our own meager resources, the darkness of the world around us will tempt us to retreat from the struggle. When we see the daunting power of Evil, which is both real and enduring, and compare it to our ability to bring change; we will most likely want to abandon the field. Again and again, the Bible's lessons remind us that His equips the faithful so that they can prevail against sin and evil. Joshua obediently marched around Jericho and the walls fell down. David, the young teen, met the champion Goliath, with a slingshot. Jesus entered the battle for the Kingdom by becoming a Man and obediently going to the Cross. Paul took up the call to take the Gospel, regarded by many as 'foolishness' to the world, and in spite of his physical frailty, saw the Church established across the Roman Empire in a single generation.

So, the question is not, "How long can you take it?"
The real question is, "Will you accept the Power provided so you will make the journey, all the way to the end?"    

There is this statement - "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3, NIV) When we are tired, will we look past our fatigue to His encouragement? All around us people are asking what will save us. They are looking for answers. My prayer is that my life will answer them. My prayer is that we who are people of the Spirit will avoid simplistic solutions, easy prescriptions, and blaming those victimized by Evil! Let's become Divine Warriors, full of Light and Love, fearless in the our assurance of Eternal Life; ready to die (to self and temptation, more than literally) "so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." (2 Corinthians 4:10, NIV)

Here's the word from the Word.  

Lord, make it living Truth, your voice speaking strength to our weary souls. Amen.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don't become weary and give up." (Hebrews 12:1-3, NLT)

_________

A mighty fortress is our God,

A bulwark never failing;

Our helper He, amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and pow'r are great,

And, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God's own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His name,

From age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

And tho' this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph thro' us.

The Prince of Darkness grim-

We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure,

For lo, his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly pow'rs,

No thanks to them, abideth;

The Spirit and the gifts are ours

Thro' Him who with us sideth.

Let goods and kindred go,

This mortal life also;

The body they may kill:

God's truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever.

A Mighty Fortress

Martin Luther