Deep Breath, Sweet Rest!

 

The old carol “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”  dates back to the early 17^th century!  The lines invite us to let the story of the Baby’s birth that we anticipate through Advent to become a source of rest and comfort - “God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day- To save us all from Satan's pow'r when we were gone astray. O tidings of comfort and joy.”  Do you need ‘rest’ today?  I am not just talking about stepping aside from the hurry of the Season.  There is a deeper kind of rest that we can know, that is a real gift of God to us. When confused, harried, feeling helpless in the face of challenges, big and small, we are invited to ‘rest’ in Him, to trust His provision, to know His gracious gifts that are our hope and strength!

God's love story for us, which we celebrate anew this Advent season, is so amazing precisely because it is told to a dark world in desperate need. God sees people who hate each with murderous intent in His Name! He sees cruelty on a scale that is beyond our imagination. He hears the conversations we have inside our own heads- knows our secrets - and loves you, me – and all of this world. He sees our sorrows – oh, the sadness I have known with others this week. He knows our challenges, our competence and lack of resources.  And, He invites us to “rest” as we trust Him to work in us and through us.

His love is perfect, not like ours! We often become impatient with someone when they disappoint us, when their ‘humanity’ becomes too obvious. We are willing to dismiss that ‘failure’ after a sin or two.  In my natural mind, in my awareness of my sin and the sins of the World, the story of Noah makes a lot more sense to me than the story of Jesus. I can understand God's anger and the solution He proposed! "God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, “I’ll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I’m sorry I made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7, The Message)  If you are honest, I would guess that there may be a person or two that you might wish to be rid of in your life, perhaps not by death, but a move to some far away place?

It may be that you struggle even to love yourself, seeing only your flaws and failures, all too aware of the gap between your public image and your private reality.  There is rest from that kind of turmoil. God, through the Christ of Christmas, intervenes in our human reality, changing everything by His gift of love.  St. Paul says it this way:   "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!)" (Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT)

"But God,” what a conjunction. No wonder we can sing God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.  His word to us is one of redemption, hope, a love that gives grace. The Father intervenes not to destroy but to restore.  Will He judge with justice? Absolutely, one day - but right now the Word holds out a path to salvation. "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." (Romans 5:6-8, NLT)

 The cracks that life’s pressure causes in us is where the Light of Jesus shines through. On the bleak canvas which we smear with our failures, He paints His picture of forgiveness. 

Today, I am filled with a new sense of hope - for myself, for the world that I live in. This hope comes from the promise of Jesus Christ to love us despite our sin.
Advent sings with joyful celebration -"He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found!" 

 Do you need rest? Fall on your knees and look up to the Cross where the broken Savior built a bridge that connects us to our Father. Rest there!

The word from the Word for our meditation comes from the letter to the Hebrews. “The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So, let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey.” -The Message, Hebrews 4:9-12

(Video of this blog at this link)

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God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

(A fun presentation of the song by Pentatonix)

 

God rest ye merry gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember Christ our Savior

Was born on Christmas Day

To save us all from Satan's pow'r

When we were gone astray

 

O tidings of comfort and joy

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

 

From God our heavenly Father

A blessed angel came

And unto certain shepherds

Brought tidings of the same

How that in Bethlehem was born

The Son of God by name

 

Fear not then said the angel

Let nothing you affright

This day is born a Savior

Of a pure virgin bright

To free all those who trust in Him

From Satan's pow'r and might

 

O tidings of comfort and joy

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy

 

Unknown

© Words: Public Domain

 

That Baby!

 

Our Christmas story is one everybody loves. What’s not to love about in the drama of a baby born in a stable, about Whom angels sang, and shepherds adored? Our nativity scenes clean up the barn and make the scene much sweeter than it probably was in reality. Our children reenact the story a million times each year wrapped in colorful robes, singing sweetly about Jesus. And, that’s all good! I love it, too, but I want to remind you today to finish the story, to keep in mind Who that Baby is.

Last Sunday morning, as we sang Charles Wesley’s hymn, these lyrics declared the whole of that Christmas story.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity.
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark the herald angels sing-
Glory to the newborn King!

John says it this way: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, NIV)  He was a Baby laid in a manger who is also the Lord of Glory, the God of Majesty, the Creator of the Universe. How can that be?  That I cannot explain, but it is important to receive and believe. The Story offers the promise of salvation, healing, and restoration of broken lives to us and to a lost world!

• Christian, when the icicles of fear pierce your heart, remember the Prince of Peace, the Powerful One who came to us that night in Bethlehem.

• When pride puffs up your mind tempting you to live for Self, kneel humbly before the King of Kings, remembering that the Baby is the King of Glory.

• When terrible storms blow over you, pray to the Man who calmed the storm with His voice, and let Him calm the winds in your life.

• When guilt or shame hold you captive, silencing your worship, humbly confess to that Baby who grew to become our "great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." (Hebrews 4:14-15, NIV)  He forgives, restores, and invites us to come confidently to worship.

Oh, that Baby is our Savior, our King, Who shows us the heart of our Father. Don’t miss the wonder of it all by only remembering the simple drama of a poor couple who delivered their child in a stable. Remember that He is God in flesh, Savior of the world, Who loves you today.

Here is a word from the Word. I pray it inspires you to HOPE, fills you with PEACE, and causes you to WORSHIP.

Jesus “though he was God, did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.

Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:6-11, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Mary Did You Know?

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Would one day walk on water
Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters
Did you know
That your baby boy
Has come to make you new
This Child that you delivered
Will soon deliver you

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Would give sight to the blind man
Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Would calm a storm with His hand
Did you know
That your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod
And when you kiss your little baby
You've kissed the face of God

Oh Mary did you know
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb

Oh Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation
Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Will one day rule the nations

Did you know
That your baby boy
Is heaven's perfect Lamb
And the sleeping Child you're holding
Is the great I Am

Oh Mary oh

Buddy Greene | Mark Lowry
© 1991, 1993 Rufus Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
Curb Word Music (Admin. by WC Music Corp.)

CCLI License # 810055

Finding a future

 

The noisy declarations of pending disasters- political, natural, societal – can make tomorrow appear very dark, can’t it? That is why HOPE is so critically important. When a person gives up on life, concluding that there is no tomorrow, they ‘die’ even though their heart is stilling beating. Hopeful people live better lives. They are more creative, work at relationships, invest in the future, and experience a richer quality of life. The hope of which I speak is more than a positive outlook, more than making the best of a bad situation. 

Hope knows reality and looks beyond the hardships to a better day.  I believe the old proverb I learned a half century ago in Latin class - Dum vita est, spes est – While there is life, there is hope!  In fact, I know an even better hope – at the end of this earthly existence there is a wonderful eternal life prepared for us by Christ, our Lord!

As the season of Advent begins, we focus first on HOPE. As we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus, our Immanuel, “God with us,”  hope is renewed. We remember that we are not alone, helplessly caught in time’s turbulence, or consigned to struggle through a few decades of existence before we die!  God’s desire is that we would know Him, love Him, and live so that our days reflect His goodness and grace.

Peter, a man well acquainted with hardship, exults in our divine destiny.  Inspired by the Spirit, he told us that we are eternal beings. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5, NIV)   He calls our hope “living.”  It is not just a dream or an ideal to which we aspire. The HOPE we find in Christ lives in us, a vital force that shapes each day.  Anticipating the reception of that ‘inheritance’ that is ours as God’s children, we overcome despair, living in great expectation.

What is the basis of such hope? 
The assurance of this life to come rests on the reality of the resurrection of Christ. He is the ‘first fruit,’ the evidence that death is a defeated foe, that we are born anew to live forever.

In his defense of the Resurrection, found in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul reminds us that our true hope is greater than our present experience. "And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.”  If the only hope we find in Jesus is a few moments of inspiration, a glimpse of sunshine in dark days, we actually will become more miserable, like a man imprisoned who has a window to the outside world but can never experience it. 

Our hope is more that a vague anticipation of something better.  “But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. So, you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:19-21, NLT)

Sustaining hope is anchored in the promise of Eternity, that the full realization of who we are will be found when we step into the Presence of our Father and Creator. That ‘inheritance’ cannot be stolen, will not decay over time, nor set aside by any power on earth. We are ‘shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation.’  Yes, Christian friend, this is the core of our HOPE.

Have you trusted Jesus, the Savior
who came to us as a Baby in Bethlehem? 
 

Do you know His goodness and grace
shown to us at the Cross? 
 

Is your HOPE settled because
He is the Risen Lord who overcame sin, death, and the grave?

It’s Advent – a time to prepare to celebrate, by remembering our great hope.

The word from the Word for today is a favorite passage for me. Savor the sweet promises and live hopefully.

"May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.
Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us,
he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.
May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen."

(Ephesians 3:19-21, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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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