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What are your thoughts has you head into 2009? Many years ago, as I struggled with my faith, I worried and wondered about my future. In the wisdom, mercy, and perfect timing of God I read a little poem that brought hope to my heart and revived my wilting faith.
Although we don’t need to be bound to our past or cling to our past, we can learn from the past. It is good for us to look back and recall the faithfulness of God in every circumstance of life. C.H. Spurgeon reminds us, “Look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs of mercy overhead and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys.”
As you remember where you’ve been, always remember whose you are! The One who has been with you and even carried you through the hardest of times, will not abandon you now.
O Thou of little faith,
God hath not failed thee yet!
When all looks dark and gloomy,
Thou dost so soon forget--
Forget that He has led thee,
And gently cleared thy way;
On clouds has poured His sunshine,
And turned thy night to day.
And if He's helped thee hitherto,
He will not fail thee now;
How it must wound His loving heart
To see thy anxious brow!
Oh! doubt not any longer,
To Him commit thy way,
Whom in the past thou trusted,
And is "just the same today."
--Selected
"...Praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them." Luke 2:20
Traditionally, our family gathers at our house during Christmas Eve to read the Christmas story and open gifts. This year, instead of an adult reading the Christmas story, I asked our grandchildren to tell the story to the adults. The kids really got into it, making their own puppets and playing live music to go along with the narration.
As the presentation was given I became more taken up with the performance of the story than with the content. However, when my grandson read his final Scripture for the evening, my full attention was given to the words. Something fresh and wonderful passed over my spirit as I heard him read, "Praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them." Luke 2:20. The phrase "Just as it had been told them." came alive in me. It was a though I was hearing those words for the first time.
What the shepherds discovered about God that night is what each of us must discover in our walk with Him. God’s level of communication is 100% accurate and reliable. When God speaks His words they are sure and certain. He never uses fill-in words, empty words, or misleading words. His will, His power, and His wisdom are behind everything He says. God doesn’t overstate or understate anything. He never embellishes anything. What the Shepherds heard was what the Shepherds saw and experienced, down to the smallest detail.
What is God saying to you? What do you hear coming from His heart to yours? What promise from His word has He quickened to your spirit? What direction is He leading you to go? What step of faith is He asking to take? When the Shepherds heard God’s message they said, "Let’s go see what the Lord has made known to us." If they hadn’t stepped out on His word and gone to Bethlehem they never would have known that "things happened just as it had been told them."
As you begin your journey into 2009, hold God’s promises close to your heart. Go where He goes. Follow Him in complete faith and obedience. God's words to you have not been spoken in vain. Go and do what the Lord has made known to you and you will discover that things will happen "Just as God has said."
The Prince of Peace has come to bring us His peace. The following thoughts from Rich Davis help us to understand how His peace works in our lives as we trust Him to guide our steps…
As I continue on into the maturity that the Holy Spirit is leading in my life,
hearing His voice (all the time) has become paramount.
Sometimes His voice is the quiet and gentle words that are impressed on my spirit...but lately, He has been teaching me another way He leads and speaks. It is through the “confirmations of peace”. It requires that I am sensitive to what is going on in my inner life where He lives…to continue to be sober minded and vigilant. Like the story of the 10 virgins, this is what it means to have plenty of oil. I am attentive to Him as a lifestyle.
When I am seeking Him for His direction, and I hear what I think is His voice,
I believe He is pleased when I ask for confirmation.
I am experiencing “His peace” as one of the most important confirmations that He gives. And that is why He is accurately named the “Prince of Peace...He comes with His peace…And He generously gives His peace to those who seek Him with a yielded heart.
He really has made it THAT easy for us.
“My sheep know My voice….”
When Jesus left heaven to come to earth most of the world was unaware of the great thing that God was doing. He left the highest place and came to a lowly place. He left His glory and was clothed in humility. He left the riches of heaven to be born into a poor family.
He didn’t come into the world surrounded by dignitaries, but by animals…
He didn’t come to a palace, but to a stable...
He didn’t come wrapped in silk, but in swaddling clothes.
The rich didn’t witness His coming—they were too comfortable.
The powerful didn’t witness His coming—they were too proud.
The religious leaders didn’t witness His coming—they were too blind.
The merchants didn’t witness His coming—they were too busy.
God made the news known on a quiet hillside close to where Jesus was born.
He spoke it in phrases of wonder, through creatures of splendor, to men of low degree. Those who were excluded from society’s fancy gatherings would be included in heaven’s greatest celebration…
Those who had little education would come to know heaven’s greatest revelation…
Those who had few possessions would come to receive heaven’s greatest gift.
What greater witnesses could there be to the coming of the Lamb of God than those who tended their flocks by night.
Like the shepherds, God comes to us in our spiritual night time to call us to His light…
He comes in our spiritual poverty to call us to the riches in His Son…
He comes in our spiritual loneliness to call us to the fellowship of His eternal celebration—
He who was wrapped in swaddling clothes has wrapped us in robes of righteousness…
He who had no place to lay His head has given us a mansion in heaven…
He who cried as His mother held Him in her arms will wipe away all our tears.
One of the highlights of the Christmas season is the music that proclaims the Savior’s birth. It seems as though the ink from the pen’s of those who wrote these songs flowed with an anointing of exaltation that makes the secular songs of our time seem trivial. It is hard to even compare the music of Handel’s Messiah to Coots and Gillespie’s Santa Claus is Coming to Down, or the lyrics of Wade’s Oh Come All Ye Faithful to Kay’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It shouldn’t be a surprise to see so many people today objecting to the singing of the classic carols of Christmas. Although they are beautiful to the ear, they are convicting to the heart. Many would rather hear songs about sleigh rides and mistletoe than songs about their need of a Savior from sin and His Lordship over their lives.
The writers of our best loved Christmas carols penned powerful proclamations of Jesus’ birth and focused our hearts upon His glory, His majesty, and His Lordship. Consider the words from these well known carols:
To you, in David’s town this day, is born of David’s line, A Saviour , who is Christ the Lord…While Shepherd’s Watched Their Flocks by Night
He comes the prisoners to release in Satan’s bondage held; The gates of brass before Him burst, The iron fetters yield…Hark, the Glad Sound, The Saviour Comes!
Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the ever lasting Lord!. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity...Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
Joy to the world! The Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room…Joy to the World
O Holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; Cast our sin, and enter in, Be born in us today…O little Town of Bethlehem
Saints, before the altar bending, Watching long in hope and fear, Suddenly the Lord, descending, In His temple shall appear…Angels, from the Realms of Glory O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord…O, Come All Ye Faithful When Charles Wesley wrote Hark the Herald Angels Sing, he included this glorious proclamation, “God and sinners reconciled!” In those few words we are told the story of redemption. It tells us that we were lost, without God and without hope in this present world. It tells us that we were in trouble and in desperate need of a Redeemer. It tells us that Jesus didn’t leave heaven and come to earth to seek out a group of nice people, but He came to seek and save that which was lost. Where would be without the Savior? Where would be without the Lord? Where would we be without Jesus?
Jesus is the only true song of Christmas. Jesus Christ is the Song of songs. He has come to be the song in our hearts, the praise on our lips, and the celebration of our lives. Jesus is our heart song—He is the harmony, restoring us to a right relationship with God; He is the melody, making everything beautifully fit together by the beat of His mercy and grace; He is the lyric, the Word of God written with the pen of perfect love. Jesus is the note in every score, the quiet pause in every place of rest, and the tempo that sets the perfect pace for every life that is yielded to Him.
The modern world looks at Christmas and fills it with clutter, noise, and busyness. The clutter can blind us from seeing the truth, the noise can keep us from hearing the truth, and the pace can keep us from finding the truth.
God’s gift came in such a simple way, in such a quiet manner, and in such a lowly place. The crowds and busyness were at the inn at Bethlehem, not at the stable where Christ was born. Who would look there for anything important to happen?
At the manger there were no flashing lights to get the crowd’s attention,
no sale signs to attract the shoppers, and no bands to stir up some passersby’s excitement. But, out of town, on a peaceful hillside, the heavens opened. A few humble shepherds, whose hearts were ready to listen, heard the most remarkable message that had ever been spoken.
I believe God hasn’t changed. Today He still is drawing us back to the quiet waters of salvation, to the lowly place of worship, to the peace of His presence, to the simplicity of the cross, to the beauty of His face, and to the only gift that Love could ever give…God’s only begotten Son. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV
We are told in Scripture that a whole army of angels proclaimed “Peace on earth…” People have wrongly commented about this proclamation, thinking that the world should have instantly changed to a peaceful place when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The proclamation made by angels was not about a political peace. The world of that time was under the military might and dominance of the Roman Empire. From Rome there came no peace on earth. The proclamation was not about a domestic peace. Families still fought and argued with each other. Hatred and bitterness still ruled many lives. From the home there came no peace on earth. The proclamation was not about a social peace. There was still crime and lawlessness in society. People still cheated, lied, and deceived. From society no peace came to earth. The proclamation the angels made was about the person of peace. The Prince of Peace was in a manger. Peace had come to earth in human form, and because Peace entered into the world, Peace can enter into us.
“Let it be to me according to Your word.” Luke 1:38.
Mary had just received some amazing news. News that couldn’t be fully understood or explained medically or naturally; news that would shatter her reputation as a virgin; news that would endanger her courtship; news that would threaten her future security; news that would bring her into a relationship with God that no one in the history of the world had ever experienced.
What made Mary’s response perfect? It was perfect because it was the response of faith. It was the only response that would please God. Mary did not say, “Let it be to me according to my good deeds” or, “let it be to me according to my perfect life.”
Mary’s response was perfect because it showed her immediate obedience to what God wanted to do. She didn’t say, “Be it unto me after I go home and think about it until I am sure this is what I want to do.”
Mary’s response was perfect because she didn’t try to figure things out according to reason. She didn’t say, “Be it unto me according to what You have said as soon as Joseph and I get married.” She did not say, “That’s a great idea, but how about if it happens to me according to an idea I’ve been thinking about.” Mary understood that what God was proclaiming had nothing to do with “natural causes.” Mary knew that God’s words were too big for small talk; too great for human debate; too mighty for a cautious reaction; too significant for a limited commitment; too glorious for a timid response.
Mary’s response was perfect because she yielded to the power of the Holy
Spirit. When she said, “Be it unto me according to Your word,” the Holy Spirit overshadowed her (enveloped her in a cloud of brilliance and glory.) This was not a figure of speech but a literal experience and a physical encounter with the Holy Spirit. As a result of this encounter the physical life of Jesus was formed within her.
As imperfect people, each of us can, like Mary, give a perfect response to God. May this be the prayer that God hears from our hearts this Christmas season, “Be it unto me according to Your truth, according to Your will, according to Your purpose. Holy Spirit, come upon me with Your power. Overshadow me with Your glory. Form Christ within me. Cause Jesus’ life to be extended through me to touch the lives of others. For the glory of Your wondrous name be it unto me according to the words that You have proclaimed and the promises that You have made.”
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:1, 6 (NLT)
What things are possible for you today through faith? All things are possible, because your faith is in the God who knows no impossibilities. When the things that you are experiencing don’t make sense, faith says, “God knows what He is doing.”
When your resources don’t match your need, faith says, “God is my provider.”
When you are fearful to take the next step, faith says, “God will not fail me.”
When you’re not sure what to do next, faith says, “God will guide me.”
When you are in a situation that seems impossible, faith says, “Nothing is too hard for the Lord.”
A spiritual secret is to learn contentment with the things God doesn’t explain to us. –Amy Carmichael
How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none. Eternal years lie in His heart. For Him time does not pass, it remains; and those who are in Christ share with Him all the riches of limitless time and endless years. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirit and relax our nerves.
–A.W. Tozer
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