The Reason for the Season

John 12:27 – “Now is my soul troubled.  And what shall I say?  ‘Father, save me from this hour’?  But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas is fast approaching, meaning that our car radios will be blasting with Christmas music, our houses will be decorated with trees and ornaments, and everywhere we go there will be at least some slight bit of Christmas joy.  But what is the reason we even celebrate this season?  Christmas movies always talk about how Christmas is all about spending time with friends and family, at least, that’s usually the premise of all those Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies.  They are correct in saying that Christmas is a time to be spent with family but that is definitely not why we celebrate the season.  Some people say that Christmas is all about giving and helping those in need, because we need to be thoughtful and kind unlike Scrooge in the famous A Christmas Carol.  Once again, it’s true that we should give to others, but that is not why we celebrate Christmas.  To others it is all about the present and toys that they will open on Christmas day after they have enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve with friends.  Surely, this is not the reason we celebrate Christmas, although it definitely is part of the celebration.

The reason for the season can easily be summed up in this – Christmas is a time for us to celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth.  Simply put, it is our chance to have a huge birthday party for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  But Christmas is not just about the celebration, but it is a time for us as disciples of Jesus Christ to reflect on His birth 2000 years ago in that stable in Bethlehem and the repercussions that stemmed from that birth.  It is a time for us to reflect on the miracle that was brought about that night, when a virgin gave birth to the Son of God and how we can learn humility and obedience from her.  It is a time for us to meditate on the miraculous sights and sounds that the shepherds saw as they watched over their flocks by night and how we can praise God and worship Him wherever we are.  It is a time for us to consider the gifts that the wise men brought to Him after His birth and how we can give of ourselves to Him.  But even more than the beautiful story of His birth and the lessons we can learn, Christmas should bring us to remember why Jesus Christ came in the first place – why He chose to humble Himself from His unmatched glory in heaven to be born in a lowly stable and laid in in swaddling clothes (clothes used to clean animals) in a manger.

In John 12:27, we find our answer – “But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”  Jesus makes this statement right after He says that His soul is troubled.  Although it seems cryptic, by reading this verse in context with the rest of the book of John as well as the other Gospels, it is clear that Jesus was making a statement about His death – His upcoming crucifixion.  He was letting all His disciples know right at that time that He had come for one purpose – to die on the cross for our sins, so that with our penalty paid, we could have a restored relationship with Him.  Why did Jesus come?  Simply, He came to save us from our sins.  This was the same message proclaimed to Joseph before Christ’s birth – “She [Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”  Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us from our sins.  Our sin separated us from God; it created a rift between us so large that in no way could we build a way to bridge that gap whether with good works or love or giving.  The only way to fill that chasm was for Jesus Christ, the Perfect Lamb of God, to sacrifice Himself for us to pay the penalty for our sin, so that we could spend an eternity with Him.  He filled that chasm with His love for us.  He came and removed the sin nature of our hearts, as well as, the sin stains in our life.  He was born, He died, and He resurrected to bring us life.  The reason He came can be summed up in one simple verse, John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

What is the reason for the Season?  Jesus Christ.  Christmas is a time for us to remember and celebrate Christ’s birth, but it should also lead us back to the cross, for it is there that Christ fulfilled His very mission – to save us from our sins.  And from the cross, we should be led to His resurrection, for there we find victory over death.  During this Christmas season, take some time out of your busy schedule of Christmas shopping, listening to joyful music, and partying with family and friends, to reflect and thank God for why Christ came – to save us.

If you have not yet received Him as your Lord and Savior, why not do so today?  He came especially for you.

Thankfulness for His Mercy

Psalm 130 – “1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

Being an American, last Thursday, I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.  It is a wonderful holiday that encourages many people to spend time with their family and reflect on the things that they are thankful for.  It gives people a moment to stop thinking about all the stuff they don’t have and to consider all the things they are already blessed with, whether it be the turkey and mashed potatoes lying in front of them or the cousin sitting right across from them on the table.  Unfortunately, this holiday has quickly lost its value as it becomes more about gorging oneself on food and planning for what sale items to purchase at the Black Friday sale at one’s favorite store the next day, if not that night.  Gratefulness has taken the back seat to consumerism.  I was actually getting quickly sucked into this pattern of thinking, so I was grateful for the few minutes before starting our Thanksgiving lunch, where each one of us at the party said something we were thankful for.  It was nice to hear the thanks for family members, food, and health, but the comments on gratitude for the Lord’s saving grace was few and far between in a family full of Christians.  I will not discount the few who did say thank you for the salvation given to us by Christ and the agreement of all, but it would have been nice to hear that a lot more.

Just going through that exercise made me realize that many of us forget to thank God for His mercy to us.  It is easy to take for granted something that cost us little to nothing but cost our God so much.  We can all remember the times when we were given a toy by our parents, which we enjoyed for a short while, before we tossed it to the back of the toy box for the next new thing.  We tended to do this when we were young, because we did not really understand the value of hard work that had to go into purchasing us that toy.  We discounted it because we didn’t know the price.  This happens often in our spiritual life, especially with God’s mercy.  We tend to forget that God did not have to forgive us for our sins at all.  He had every right to punish us and send us to the hell we deserved, but instead, He willingly gave of His Son to die for us, so that He could show us mercy yet fulfill His role as a just God.  He did this all because of love, all because He wanted to not give us something we did deserve – death.  The Psalmist in Psalm 130 made sure to remind himself of God’s wonderful mercy to him.  When we read the first verse alone, it sounds like the Psalmist is asking for deliverance from the depths, from some type of despair brought on by man, but the further you look into the Psalm, the more you realize the Psalmist was calling on God to show him mercy for his own sin – for the iniquities (vs. 3 and 8) that he himself committed.  He knew that in reality the Lord had no need to forgive Him but because of His grace, mercy, and steadfast love would forgive him for his sin.  He did not just let it go but went on to create this Psalm to remind himself every time he sang it that he had received mercy.

Let us take the time to be thankful during the last parts of this Thanksgiving weekend to show our gratefulness to our loving Heavenly Father for His grace and mercy.  Oh how He loves us!

We Proclaim Christ

Colossians 1:28-29 – “Him [Jesus Christ] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.” 

The other day I was listening to the Frank Pastore Show on the radio (Frank Pastore is a Christian radio talk show host), when a caller began to express his disappointment in the state of the Christian church today.  He began ranting about how the church had failed its mission to preach the Gospel and how it was now more interested in sharing the social gospel of doing good to others, helping the poor and needy, and being a caring hand for those in trouble.  Although I did not agree with the way he presented it, I had to agree that the church today has become quite anemic, in that, we fail to teach and make disciples of Jesus Christ and have often become more interested in church functions and activities that help bring the community together.  To borrow a phrase from another pastor I know, the church has become something sort of a “country club,” where Christians come in to hang out and build friendships.

Fortunately, the church as a whole has not fallen that far off the deep end, at least, I would hope not.  But it is definitely heading in that direction, as more and more churches just preach a gospel that emphasizes good works and a positive attitude, instead of the truth that all Christians must proclaim – Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Too often we find Christians just pushing their agendas, doctrines, and dogmas, instead of emphasizing the need for Jesus Christ.  Before my recent trip to the Mediterranean, I would have said that the Catholic Church was the best at missing this point, but I was actually pleasantly surprised.  Two Sundays ago, on our last day in Rome, my parents and I visited the Vatican, the papal city which the Pope of the Catholic Church calls his residence.  We arrived around 11:30AM with huge crowds looming in the plaza in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.  We weren’t sure of why at first, but we discovered it was because the Pope was scheduled to speak at 12 Noon like he usually does every Sunday.  Seeing that we were already there, we decided to listen in.  Exactly when the hour hand struck twelve, we saw the Pope come out and begin his discourse in Latin, stating a blessing to the people.  We had no clue what he was saying, but tons of people around us were tearing up as if they had seen something marvelous.  I had no clue what was really going on, but I continued to listen, expecting him to share some Catholic dogma or go through some ritualistic prayers.  But suddenly, he addressed the English-speaking visitors in English.  He began by first welcoming all of us visitors and then said something profound and unexpected to a Protestant’s ears, “Jesus says, ‘Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy soul, thy mind, and thy strength.”  He then finished with a “God bless you.”  I was stunned.  The Pope did not push an agenda that was his.  He did not go through some ritualistic words, but he made the point to emphasize Christ by saying, “Jesus says.”  He had a clear understanding what we as Christians are to proclaim – Jesus Christ.  I will tell you – he has certainly earned my respect.

Paul made it clear to all the believers in the church at Colossae that a Christian’s task is to proclaim Christ.  It has nothing to do with doctrines.  It has nothing to do with a social welfare gospel.  It has nothing to do with being a good person or having a positive attitude.  It has everything to do with Christ.  Paul knew that if a person, whether an unbeliever or a disciple of Jesus Christ, could just realize what Christ had done for him, it could transform his life as it did his.  Paul saw Christ on the road to Damascus, experienced his grace for an ardent persecutor of His church, and recognized His limitless love for him, and it turned Paul into one of the greatest Christians this world has ever known.  If we as disciples of Jesus Christ will just turn our eyes to Jesus and remember that the Gospel is simply put as Jesus Christ loved you, gave Himself for you, and rose again to give you life, what an impact it would have in this world!  Let us stop sharing things that are of no use.  Let us stop wasting our breath on little inconsequential arguments on the Rapture, communion, and church government, and let us instead preach Christ and Him crucified.  We as disciples of Jesus Christ proclaim Christ.

Do You Really Want to Know God’s Will?

Jeremiah 42:5-6 – “Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us. ⁶ Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”

Jeremiah 43:1-4 – “¹ And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words, ² Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: ³ But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon. ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.”

 

Before diving into Scripture, let me just give you a short explanation as to why I haven’t written in a while.  For the last two weeks, I have been on vacation with my parents in the Mediterranean, visiting countries like Italy, Croatia, Sicily, and Montenegro.  It was a great time to just catch up on some good ol’ R&R (rest and relaxation) and get some great pictures to add to my collection of best pictures (by the way if anybody ever wants to see them, leave me a comment so I can post them up for you all to see).  Interestingly enough, even when we are on vacation, the Lord is never on vacation.  During these two weeks, well more like in the last week, the Lord really spoke to me about an issue in my life and is continuing to speak to me about it.  Let’s just say that we are all still on the road to becoming the best disciples of Jesus Christ we can be.  The issue He wanted me to wrestle with is surrendering to His will and plan no matter what.

 

Let me set up the background for you.  Have you ever really wanted something?  I mean really desired and longed for something where you would give almost anything to get it?  I ran into an opportunity during this trip that I felt this way about, but when I prayed and thought about it, I kept coming to the conclusion that it was just not the right time to take that opportunity.  It was as if the Lord was clearly telling me, “Let it go.  Forget about it.  Trust that I have a better plan for you than what you think.”  I, thankfully, obeyed, but after the next few days, I could only continue thinking about how I somehow missed an opportunity of a lifetime – how the Lord was cruel and horrible to do this to me, to make me miss out on something great.  The truth was that while I was praying for the Lord’s will to be done, I was actually just looking for His approval for something that I had in my mind already decided.  And because His will was not the same as mine, I harbored bitterness because I didn’t get what I wanted.

 

This same mindset was found in Johanan the son of Kareah and the remnant of the people of Israel when they sought the Lord’s will about their going into Egypt.  In Jeremiah 41, Gedaliah, the governor set over Israel, was killed by Ishmael an Ammonite assassin.  In addition, Ishmael was taking some of the Israelites captive back to his land in Ammon.  Johanan then led a group of rebels to combat and defeat Ishmael.  After their victory, Johanan and the remnant of Israel, in fear of reprisal from the king of Babylon for the death of his appointed governor Gedaliah, decided to run to Egypt.  They had made a resolute decision that they were going to Egypt, but before going they sought the advice of Jeremiah the prophet of the Lord, asking him to tell them the Lord’s will on this issue (Jeremiah 42).  What they were truly looking for was approval from the Lord for their decision to go into Egypt.  They had no intention of searching for and obeying the Lord’s will like they said in vs. 5-6 of Jeremiah 42 unless it coincided with their decision to go into Egypt.  Their intentions were made clear in Jeremiah 43:1-4, where they accused Jeremiah of treason, and then decided to go into Egypt anyways (vs. 5-7).  All they wanted was the “Go Ahead” from God for something they had made their mind up on.

 

So often, we as disciples of Jesus Christ come in prayer to the Lord asking Him to show us His will.  But just as often, we are actually just seeking His approval for something we have already made our minds up on.  That is not the right heart to come to God with, especially when we are seeking His will.  Instead we need to have our hearts and minds open to whatever His plan is even when it does not coincide with ours, for His ways and thoughts are greater than our thoughts.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about how God’s plans are bigger, better, and greater than what we can imagine.  I wrote about this topic because the Lord was speaking to me about it and is continuing to do so today, for I still struggle with relinquishing it all to Him.  But a disciple of Jesus Christ is one who has devoted his life to following God completely.  There are no ifs, ands, or buts – there is only a simple “Yes, Lord.  Your will be done.”

 

Do you really want to know God’s will?  Are you really willing to obey it?  Or are you just seeking His approval?  Come to Him with an open heart of obedience, knowing that the Lord will always do what is best for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.