God's Open Door of Opportunity

I am convinced that both of the following statements are true despite the apparent contradiction:   God rules the affairs of my life; and I have the freedom to cooperate or resist His will.  We are not puppets and yet we know that His purposes stand.

Let’s take a look at the story of Mary, mother of Jesus. God sends his messenger to tell her of His plan that she should bear the Savior of the world.   Could she have refused this calling?  Read  it and see what you think. "The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." ... the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." (Luke 1:28-31, NIV)  "I am the Lord’s servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her." (Luke 1:38, NIV)    God opened the door to an impossibility;  Mary stepped through it. Her obedience to the plan of the Lord was difficult and raised questions for which she had no answer.   When her Son was born and shepherds showed up to tell of angels in the skies announcing that a "Savior has been born to you,” she heard them and "kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant." (Luke 2:19, CEV)

The heroes of faith in the Bible and from history unanimously tell us that responding to the leading of the Holy Spirit does not mean that all will go well, that life will be a smooth highway to Heaven’s gate.  “Living by faith,” asks much of a Christian. God, the Spirit, asks us to go beyond what we can see and know, trusting His wisdom. Some of us want all the answers, we want to see the whole course from start to finish, before we will say, “Yes, Lord.”  Did Mary understand all that would happen when she agreed to become the Mother of Jesus?  She did not. Yet, she trusted God and so must we. Sometimes all He gives us is a promise of the open door of opportunity!  Like Mary, we need to humbly say, "I am the Lord's servant!" and step through the door.   Some will say we have been impulsive.  Others will see us as bold.   Some will call us foolish, while others will praise God for our vision!   None of that matters at all if we are living in humble obedience, seeking to know and do His will from day to day. The life of the Spirit-led Christian is an adventure.  Yes, we must be accountable to those who offer wise counsel to us. It should go without saying that pride and arrogance are incompatible with living in the will of God.   

Are you ready to hear Heaven's call?  Will you say, “yes, Lord, I am your servant” when He speaks from His Word or through His Spirit?   Humility is the key.   Mary had no need to become famous, no need to be the Messiah's mother, no need to try to impress God.   She was just a peasant girl in Nazareth when God came to her and opened a door of unbelievable opportunity and she said, "Yes!"  And, oh what joy and pain she found.  The best part? She enjoyed the blessing of God.

Here's a word from the Word to ponder today. 
"These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.
What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
I know your deeds.

See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.
I know that you have little strength,
yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." (Revelation 3:7-8, NIV)  

_______________

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea.

Daily walking, close to Thee:

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

I am weak, but Thou art strong.

Jesus, keep me all wrong.

I'll be satisfied just as long,

As I walk, let me walk, close to Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Daily walking close to Thee.

Let it be, dear Lord,

let it be.

A REAL Jubilee, Jesus said

One of the accusations hurled at Christianity by those who do not believe is that “terrible things have been done in the name of God.”  Yes, that is true.  Many wars were waged in God’s Name.  With religious conviction some are haters of this group or that person.  I know that and grieve.  Now, imagine a world without Jesus Christ.  He is Light, Life, brings Peace, gives dignity to those forgotten by the rest of the world.  Because of Him, the world is a better place!  

Jesus set aside the blind justice expressed in the phrase "an eye for an eye," and taught us to forgive.

 This, He said, is how God treats those who come to Him seeking forgiveness.   He took up the cause of the oppressed, the weak, the marginalized, and taught us the value of all persons.   At a time when children did not count for much, He held them in His arms and taught us that knowing God was possible only to the one with the faith and heart of a child.    He took God from behind the curtains of the Temple and brought Him to us, teaching us that He is not just the Transcendent Almighty One.  He is also the Waiting Father who looks down the road for us to come home.    And, yes, He erased the debt of sin by becoming 'sin for us' and dying on the Cross as the Final Sacrifice.

No wonder the angels prefaced His birth with the announcement of "Good news of great joy for all the people!"     Luke 4, about the beginning of His mission, tells us that He read Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth, describing his God-given work this way. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies." (Isaiah 61:1-2, NLT)     Before He sat down that day, He astonished the congregation telling them,  "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21, NKJV)    

Those in the synagogue that day understood His words better than we do.  Jesus choose a text that spoke of the Year of Jubilee, the 50th year in the cycle of 7's that God told His covenant people to observe.   Every Jubilee was to be a re-start:  debts forgiven, slaves freed, land restored to families who had lost it. It was a radical plan and most scholars agree that the Jews observed it only symbolically, if at all.  Jesus announced a kind of divine Jubilee - a new beginning, a time of cancelled debts, an era of freedom!   Christian, would not agree that individuals need renewal and hope?  That is why He came and He has entrusted that message and mission to us.   Wherever we go, in His Name, we announce a new era for humanity.  We are not people of the Letter of the Law or blind justice or mighty swords that bring death.   We are people of the Spirit, people of Life.    It is my passion to have a ministry of grace that builds bridges for all people to know God's Presence and Power through Christ Jesus.   

There is a message of Christmas that is sentimental and sweet, centered on a young mother, a patient father, and a Baby in a manger.   However, that is not the Message of Christmas.   The real message was the one that God sent to the shepherds - "An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."(Luke 2:9-12, NIV)    He is both Messiah and Master, the Promised One for whom you have longed for ages, and the One who will defeat sin, death, and Hell!

Christian, look past the manger.  See the Son of God, the Man who reconciles humanity to the Creator.  At the invitation of Christ, come home to your Father.   He will give you back what sin stole from you, release you from the debts that enslave you, teach you how to live as God planned for you to live, and give you hope and a future.  All that, and Heaven, too.

Go, tell it on the mountain,

Over the hills and everywhere!

Go, tell it on the mountain,

that Jesus Christ is born!

________________________

On a Rescue Mission

I was at the Jersey shore, enjoying a day at the ocean, about 12 years of age and carefree.  Playing in water that was about waist deep, I suddenly found myself in the grip of a hidden force that pulled me off my feet. Frantically, I watched the safety of the sandy beach grow further away. Coughing and choking, I tried to swim back.  Suddenly, a man appeared next to me and told me to hang onto him as he dragged me to safety. 20 seconds of sheer terror is how I remember that day.  I was caught in a ‘riptide.’ It’s like a river in the ocean that causes a strong, narrow current that flows directly away from the shoreline. Most ocean drowning deaths are caused by rip currents, hidden and very dangerous.

This thing we call life can be wonderful one moment and fill us terror in the next. There are rip currents that are hidden just below the surface of ordinary things.  The boss calls us into the office and changes our whole life when he says, “Your position will terminate in 30 days.”  The doctor looks concerned and everything changes when she says, “It’s malignant.”  We wake up one day to find that our best friend has inexplicably become our foe. Can we survive the rip current that drags us towards the dark depths?

Yes, but not alone. This is one of the reasons I why I am so thankful for the Church, the Body of Christ! In a healthy church, we are all lifeguards. When we see someone floundering, being dragged under by currents, we will offer a hand, come alongside to pull him to safety, or- at least – we will help him stay afloat until the current gives out.  You need to be more than an attender of a local church!  Today you have the opportunity to build strong connections to others. Tomorrow, you may be crying out for their aid.  When life is hard you’re going to need more than songs and poems. You’re going to need robust relationships, unconditional love, people who will drag you to safety!

An authentic church is not a place where nicely dressed people, with beautifully ordered lives, show up for a couple of hours a week to boast about their accomplishments or to pray pitiful prayers for people whose lives are ‘such a mess.’ It’s a place where real people celebrate God’s goodness and hang onto each other for dear life. It’s a ‘family’ where hurting people are re-connected to the healing Presence of the Spirit. It’s a spiritual hospital where sinful people find a Savior who restores them to the wholeness that God created them to enjoy.

Have we forgotten what the announcement of Jesus’ birth was about? It was not about a coronation!  It was the start of a rescue mission. "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)

If you’re enjoying a sunny day at the beach in your life right now, give thanks!

If you’re caught in a rip current that is dragging you down, YELL for help- to God, to a trusted fellow Christian.

A simple prayer will suffice – “Lord, help me!” There’s hope in Him. The teenage girl who became the mother of Jesus, found her life turned upside by a divine visitation that seemed more like a riptide than a blessing, at first.  “Mary,” the angel said, “you have found favor with God, so He’s going to make you pregnant and you will become the mother of a son whom you will name, Jesus.”  Her neat, unremarkable life was sucked into a current.  How would she survive the ridicule, the tough days ahead?  Faith! Tucked into the story of her encounter is a phrase I want to leave with you today. "Mary said to the angel, “But how? … His reply, “Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:34, 37, The Message)

Remember! A Savior has been born. He is Christ, the Lord!
_______________

Hark, the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Peace on earth and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled.

Joyful all ye nations rise,

Join the triumph of the skies.

With th'angelic hosts proclaim,

“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Hark, the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace.

Hail the Sun of Righteousness.

Light and life to all He brings,

Ris'n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by,

Born that man no more may die.

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.

Hark, the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Come, Desire of nations come,

Fix in us Thy humble home.

Rise the woman's conqu’ring seed,

Bruise in us the serpent's head.

Adam’s likeness now efface,

Stamp Thine image in its place.

Second Adam from above,

Reinstate us in Thy love.

Hark, the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn)

Charles Wesley | Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

© Words: Public Domain

Omphaloskepsis

Yes, it is a real word and it means:  “contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation.”  (Merriam Webster Dictionary)  Sometimes we jokingly call it:  “Navel gazing.”  I don’t recommend the practice, frankly.   You could walk into a terribly hard wall or over a steep cliff while focusing intently on your belly-button!  Seriously, we can (and each of us does, from time to time)  become so wrapped up in ourselves– individually or as a group – that we fail to see the wider world. Our ideas, our emotions, our goals become so all-consuming the rest of life disappears.  Have you ever been mesmerized by your own belly-button?  Probably not, but more than a few of us have fallen into absorption with ourselves.

I recently heard a speaker ask-  “When you enter a room  which thought is predominant in your mind: “Here I am!” or “There you are!”?  Think about that. Is life about gaining applause, garnering attention, making a name for yourself?  Or, is it about serving in a way that forgets the “me” in favor of the “we”?  Jesus was not shy about asking us to forget about ourselves, was He?  Just in case we have forgotten, here’s what He said. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  Paul, a man who served Christ at high cost to himself, urges us to the antithesis of contemporary American value of Self-love. By the Spirit’s inspiration he says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:3-5, NIV)

Navel gazing can take two different forms, each producing the same result.  The first is expressed in feelings of grandiosity. “You are so fortunate that I am here because I’m so wonderful, wise, and good.”  Or, it may be found in feeling of extreme worthlessness. “I cannot do anything or contribute anything because I am such awful person.”  In each instance, the focus is on Self.

Christian, God formed us in His image, making us capable of love.  Sin broke us, but that was not the end of the story.  God did not abandon us!  He entered our world saying, “There you are!”  He looked for us, loved us while we were ignoring Him. "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5, NIV) The thought is completed with this promise and call: "Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing." (Ephesians 2:8-10, The Message)

Our gaze turns from Self to Christ.  We are secure in His love, held in His grasp, and filled with the Spirit.  It’s not about me, nor you. It’s about Him!  Here’s the word from the Word. May it turn our eyes to Jesus! "For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, NLT)  "You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:5-6, NLT)

_______

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul are you weary and troubled,

No light in the darkness you see?

There's light for a look at the Savior

And life more abundant and free.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus!

Look full in His wonderful face!

And the things of earth,

Will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

Helen H. Lemmel

© Words: Public Domain