Thursday, December 20, 2012

O Come Thou Dayspring

“O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.”
(O Come, O Come Emmanuel)

The summer after my first year of college, I worked as an office assistant for the university’s Conference Services.  It was an easy job—just sitting at a desk in the residence halls and being available to handle questions and concerns from guests staying at the university.  It was easy, but the desks had to be staffed 24/7, which meant that once or twice a week I would pull a graveyard shift from midnight to 6 a.m.  Even if no guests were awake at that hour, I still had to be there in case of an emergency.
I remember those nights, coming in with a large cup of coffee, killing time with reading, journaling, or Facebook, even pacing the floors, hoping an emergency might actually happen to break the tedium. It often felt like an exercise in futility.
As the hours passed, I would keep peeking outside, looking for the first crack of dawn.  Dawn, or what our early English ancestors may have called dayspring, when the world would awaken anew. For me, the weary worker, the dawn signaled the end of fruitless labor and beginning of rest.
My friends, we see a world waiting in the darkness.  Not a day goes by that we don’t hear of some new violence, some broken home, some innocence lost.  We ask why these things happen, and why our own labors against them seem so futile.  The answers elude us, all is dark as night around us.
 “...To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us.” (Luke 1:77-78, NKJV)
Zechariah’s prophecy in Luke 1 spoke of the coming of dawn for all mankind.  Humanity had lived a futile existence up to that point, living in sin and rebellion against God.  Some tried to make atonement through animal sacrifices, yet endless sacrifices could not repair the broken relationship between men and their Creator.  All was vain, endless toil until this point, when suddenly, the Light dawned.
The coming of the Christ-child heralded a new beginning, the beginning of hope for all men—the hope for a restored relationship with God.  Because Christ was able to repair this relationship through His death and resurrection, He brought us into the light of God’s presence.  We need not toil in vain any longer.  We need not sit in the darkness of confused minds and hearts bent towards evil, for the Dayspring has come! We can have new light in our lives through knowledge of God through His Word, fellowship with His presence through prayer, the wise guidance of His Spirit in us, and meaningful labor on earth that brings Him honor and praise. 
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:11-12, NKJV)
Awake, my friends, and live in the light.

Monday, December 10, 2012

He Could Have Wowed Us

            He could have come down in a fantastic display of the divine meeting the mundane, with lightning and trumpets and a host of angels. Or, if he insisted on passing off as one of us, he could still have come as the “best in show,” the most exemplary human model, with beautiful face and dazzling charisma. He could have started in a palatial hall, in position to see and be seen, in a place of power where his status would command the respect of all.
            He could have wowed us, you know?
            He had the right. He would have deserved whatever he chose to take. And he could have won our attention through sheer majesty, beauty, spectacularity.
            Why not? He's the Son of God, for crying out loud. He's inherently and authentically...awesome.
            “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering.” (Isaiah 53:2-3) 
             Instead of relying on outward appearances, Jesus chose to come in quietly, into a humble position. He chose to become ordinary—the Son of God, the One and Only, became like the commonest of man. Nothing in his human nature drew men to himself. It was only the power of his Word and the authenticity of his presence that commanded obedience, yet this came only from those able to discern the divine character within the human form.
            Jesus' purpose was not to make his encounter with mankind easy for himself, but to be a model and example of the kind of follower God desires.  His life and death on Earth make it possible for us to become a new kind of person, characterized not by outward appearances but by the inner qualities of humility, purity, and wholehearted devotion to God.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

"Not My Will"

As he was led joyfully into Jerusalem
                                 "Not my will, but Yours be done."
As he spoke powerfully in the temple—
                                 "Not my will, but Yours be done."
As he cried out to God in the garden—
                                 "Not my will, but Yours be done."
As he was arrested and led to trial—
                                 "Not my will, but Yours be done."
As he was mocked, beaten, and spat upon—
                                 "Not my will, but Yours be done."
As he was unjustly convicted—
                                 "Not my will, but Yours be done."
As he stumbled while carrying his own cross—
         "Not my will, but Yours be done."
As he drew one last painful breath—
         "Not my will, but Yours be done."
Hebrews 10:10--"And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. "

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Daring to Pray

          I'm currently participating in a women's Bible study on God’s ability to meet our needs and answer our prayers.  As we've studied this, I've realized that I generally don’t doubt His theoretical ability, but I’m often skeptical that my wishes are part of His big cosmic plan.  I worry that they’re too petty and too selfish and too demanding, and that He’s going to brush them aside because He’s got the big picture to think about and my requests just don’t fit with that. I'm afraid that this often keeps me from praying at all, because I feel like it's pointless to bother since I don't understand God's plan and so can't know if my prayers will be something He wants to act on.  As I was fretting about this today, God instructed my mind with several truths.
First of all, do I really think He’s that careless about me?  Do I think He wants to ignore my heart’s cry? No, He is loving and good. He is aware of me (Psalm 139). He created me, and He cares for me. “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).  
Second, is the big picture so irrelevant to me? I am part of God’s plan, and He ‘works for the good of those who love Him’ (Rom. 8:28). Therefore, I can be confident that even if He says no to me in favor of His bigger plan, He is taking care of me regardless and will bring me good in the end.  Yes, it may call for trials and difficulties, but He will still care for me and bring me through them.
Finally, while the things I want may not be part of His plan, faith is definitely part of the plan. He still wants me to come to Him and trust Him with the details of my life. It is better to come, present my requests and concerns to Him (Phil 4:6), and wait for His answer, rather than hide my desires from Him (impossible anyway) assuming they don’t meet His standards.  He knows me, He knows I’m imperfect, He knows I will make imperfect requests.  I have nothing I can hide from Him, but my reticence and withholding of communication is not what pleases Him.
How can I be confident that I’m praying according to His will? By praying according to the Word.  I used to think this just meant quoting Scripture within a prayer, which seemed like it could easily become glib and meaningless--a way to sound 'holy' and impressive to other people without really thinking through the prayer. I realized today that this could instead mean taking a general promise in Scripture, imagining how it could be applied to a specific situation, and praying for God to make Scripture happen in that circumstance. For example, 2 Timothy 1:7 says that “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self discipline.”  I’ve heard that verse so many times and know that theoretically it’s relevant to me, but have never acknowledged it as a promise that I can claim in my life.  So this morning I prayed that God would take away my spirit of timidity (He knows I have one!) and today replace it with His Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. I am confident that this prayer, as far as my understanding goes, is in line with what God wants for me.  He did not give me this spirit of fear, and it does not please Him, nor does it glorify Him before others. I’ve come to Him and told Him I don’t know how to get rid of this spirit of fear myself, and I need His help.  As I pray I am aware that He has already promised this Spirit of power, and now I need to believe that this power is in me and available to me—and then act accordingly!  I am looking forward to seeing how He makes this spirit evident in me today.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Just Who Are We Talking About? (pt. 2)

“…the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3)

Would we create a computer or robot, and then tell it “Go on, go your own way, I don’t really care what you do now?”  Not at all! If we make a robot, we’ve got plans for that robot! It’s not getting away with running off for its own purposes!

               Why should we get away with abandoning the plans of our Creator?

               Don't be mistaken--God doesn't need us.  He is sufficient in Himself—He is beyond needing anything we could give.  “The God who made the world and everything in it…is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.” (Acts 17:24-25).  And He’s not lonely—there is fellowship between God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and He is also continually worshipped by the heavenly host.
        Yet He still made us for a purpose.  He made us for His pleasure and glory, to love and be loved, and to demonstrate His nature to all of creation, all angels and demons and supernatural beings.  And He designed us to reflect His nature: “Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness,” He said (Gen. 1:26).  We are His children, meant to be like Him in goodness and holiness.  Like children, we’ve messed up quite a bit, yet as discussed, He’s made a way for us to be restored and reconciled with Him.
        We’ve got to remember that once we are reconciled with Him, our purpose changes.  We no longer live for ourselves.  It’s not about me anymore.  I’ve accepted the greatest gift anyone could give me, and I show gratitude towards the Giver by giving Him my life, which belongs to Him anyway because He gave it to me.  Because He is my Creator and my Savior, He has the right to determine my life’s course.  This is truth for anyone who chooses God.
        It’s time for the American church to wake up and remember our purpose.  We’re not meant to just fight for our own freedoms so that we can keep saying what we want, critiquing our neighbor while we stay ensconced in our comfy, multimillion dollar buildings, and feeling satisfied and superior while the rest of the world perishes in ignorance.
        No! Let us fight, live, and die for the glory of God, who has shown us abundant mercy.  Let us remember when we too were ignorant of God’s righteousness, living in sin and futility.  Let us risk our comfort, our jobs, our safety to demonstrate the love of God in holiness, living as outsiders in this land “bearing the disgrace he bore” (Heb. 13:13).  Let us humbly seek the face of God Himself and be transformed into His likeness, not compromising for the sake of our comfort.
        “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you…I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters”  (2 Cor. 6:17-18).
      Oh America, the land of the free! Will we risk our personal freedom for Him who grants true freedom? Will we surrender our wealth, our fame, for the fame of the holy God and the riches of His grace?
        Let us glorify Him.
            

Monday, August 6, 2012

Just Who Are We Talking About? (pt. 1)

     The media, Facebook, and Twitter have been abuzz this week with heated controversy over the Chick-fil-A CEO’s position on marriage and over the government’s mandate that insurance plans cover contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.  Comments on both sides center around our rights and freedoms—the right to choose our own lifestyle, the right to control our own bodies, the right to free speech, the right to conscience.
Those in favor of gay marriage say religion shouldn’t be forced upon them, and those that support Chick-fil-A’s position retort that they have the right to freely express their beliefs.  Those opposing the government mandate on insurance say they should have the right to choose where their money goes rather than go against conscience, while their opposition says they shouldn’t complain because they still don't have to take those drugs.
What about God?
Yeah, what about Him? This is my life we’re talking about.  My rights, my freedom, my choice, my happiness.
What makes these so preeminent? 
 Well, I would think if God exists, and if He’s as loving as you claim, He would want to see me happy.  But I don’t think He’s doing His job right.  The way things are today, it seems more like He wants to make things hard on us—we can’t say what we want or live the way we want to. The government keeps trying to control things and take away our freedom of conscience, speech, and lifestyle, which gets awfully uncomfortable. God’s looking out for His agenda more than my happiness.  What’s behind that?
What’s behind that?  Everything!
If we’re claiming that it’s all about our freedom and happiness, we need to step back and take a look at the big picture—especially those of us who call on God to protect those rights for us.  Who is this God whose name we keep invoking?  What is His nature?  
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3)

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty…” 
“Holy, holy, holy” the angels cry before His throne.  “Be holy, because I am holy,” He says in His Word.  What does this mean, and what does it have to do with American freedoms?
Holiness means that God is sacred, set apart from everything else, unlike anything we know.  He is completely pure, and so anything, anything, impure is repellent to Him.  His holiness forbids Him to tolerate sin—any sin, whether it’s sexual immorality, theft, greed, self-righteousness, or jealousy.  As much as we would like Him to write off our bad behavior so that we can do as we please, He can’t.  It’s not in His nature.
God shows His mercy, not by ignoring our sin, which His holiness could not allow, but by providing a pure and holy sacrifice, Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. It is only His blood that cleanses us from sin and makes us blameless enough to stand in the presence of God. We can’t accept this mercy yet choose to keep sinning.  That would be spitting in the face of God and “crucifying the Son of God all over again” (Heb. 9:4-6).  We have to first choose to accept mercy and then choose His way of holiness ourselves.
If America wants the blessing of God, she cannot tolerate sexual immorality, corruption, greed, lawlessness, or anything else contrary to God’s laws.  Nor should she become full of self-importance, pride, and superiority.  To be righteous before God, the American people—and any people in the world—must come humbly before Him in repentance, then embrace His holiness and righteousness by reflecting them in their laws, judgments, and practices.  
What’s the purpose in that?  Why did God even make us if He’s not going to let us do what we want?
Come back in a few days for part 2.

Monday, July 16, 2012

What Jesus Is Not



Jesus is not the resolution for one conflict between rivals; he is the Resolution of mankind’s conflict with God.
He is not the liberator of one prison camp; he is the Liberator of all men from the bondage of sin.
He is not the way into a new and trendy lifestyle; he is the Way into LIFE, with all that is wrapped up in the term, unstained by death’s reek.
He is not the conqueror of an insignificant enemy; he is the Conqueror of death and Satan.
He is not the healer of a bothersome illness; he is the Healer of sin, the most pervasive disease known to man.
He is not the solution for one company’s problem; he is the Solution for the ultimate problem that no man could fix.

Jesus is not just a man, not just a conqueror, not just a liberator, not just a healer, not just a way, not just a solution.  He is the ALPHA AND OMEGA, the BEGINNING AND THE END.

He is.

praise Him