Birthed Blessing

“But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20,21

Every time I read the portion of scripture that details the reaction of Joseph to the news of Mary’s pregnancy I cannot but feel a little inadequate as a man. I know that may seem a bit odd for me to say, but think about it. He has just become engaged to a woman and they had yet to know one another in the most intimate of ways. In today’s society I am sure this would pass by with little notice, but in ancient times this was cause for a woman to be stoned.

Joseph had to be swimming in anxiety. There were only two options. One: He defiled his betrothed before the actual wedding and his name would be tarnished as well as hers. Two: She engaged in sexual activity with another man and again defiled his name and Mary would now be executed. To make matters worse an angel came to him and told him that this child was of the Lord’s.

So instead of running away from this woman that was sure to bring him nothing but issues at the Temple, he trusted God. This makes me wonder if I can trust God in the same way? Do we have what it takes to just trust God and his ways, even when our world is telling us that we have committed a grave error?

There will be times in our lives when God will speak to us in such a way that we will want to run instead of receive. At times the ways of the Holy Spirit are foreign to us and we are incapable of fully understanding what it is that He desires. Regardless, we must open our hearts and trust God.

Today, during this Christmas season, I hope that we can all begin to trust God just a little bit more. After all, Joseph did and as a result he was able to share the rest of his life with his Savior. Doesn’t that sound like a gift you want? Do you desire to spend the rest of your days with your Savior? If so then just let go of cultural standards and begin to search for what God wants to conceive and birth in you.

Losing Christmas

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Corinthians 9:7

I can remember as a small boy being full of so much anticipation and excitement for Christmas. Every year we would run down the stairs and look at all the gifts under the tree. It was as if the whole world dumped all their treasures on my living room floor. If you couldn’t tell I really loved Christmas.

Here is the crazy part. My Christmases were always very small. If I remember correctly there were only three gifts every year. We would get some crayons and a coloring book, some clothes, and then some inexpensive toy that I would always adore.

Now compare the first two paragraphs, they almost don’t seem to fit. Do they? Bottom line is that as a child I never knew what to expect, I only knew what I had always had. Sure, I had seen other friends that received mountains of gifts, but for some reason that never bothered me.

In this season of giving we have become so obsessed with who to buy for and how much to give that we have completely forgotten the “reason for the season”. Yes, I have heard the chants from coast to coast about not taking the Christ out of Christmas. How annoyed we get when someone says Happy Holidays or Merry Xmas. But in some ways those are not even the big issue.

Long before the current trend made annual media coverage the enemy lead us astray by getting us to focus on an abundance of unnecessary giving. The word says that the Lord wants a cheerful giver. How cheerful are you when you purchase and give some of your holiday gifts, oops I mean Christmas gifts.

Really, I desire that you take the time to think about this issue. It makes absolutely no sense, and is not biblical, to spend into debt or to fall behind in obligations just so you may give a half hearted gift that you did not want to give in the first place. It is time we stop allowing “the market” tell us what Christmas is about and remember it for ourselves.

Christmas is about remembering the greatest gift ever given. We in turn give presents in honor of that. So ask yourself, does that remote caddy you bought for Uncle Teddy really honor God? Or does it honor a secularly induced guilt you possess within you?

It is time to really remember Christmas. It is time to really put the Christ back into Christmas. It is time to stop listening to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Accepted by God

“Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.”

Romans 14:18

Recently, as many of you may know, I completed a campaign for public office. During a period of 9 months I scoured the neighborhoods of our city looking to achieve the favor of the citizens. This great effort was sure to pay off with the victory that I desired. Then came Election Day.

For most of the day I was at peace and not concerned with the results that were to come that evening. Then as the evening closed I became more and more unsettled. Beginning to feel my mind racing and myself losing control I turned to the only thing I knew to do; I prayed. Yes, when I get all crazy inside I pray. I find that it is the only remedy to what troubles me.

As I wrestled with God (sometimes that is what my prayers are; I hope I am not alone) about this uneasiness He spoke to me and brought me peace.

God asked me why I was anxious (I love His rhetorical questions). I answered that I was hoping to win. He then asked what winning meant (again with the rhetoric). Simply put, winning means the people of my city accepted what I had to offer. He then continued by impressing upon me how I was seeking acceptance of man and had forgotten that I had already received acceptance from my God. EUREKA!

My whole struggle that evening had nothing to do with winning, but everything to do with acceptance. How many of us have fallen into that same hole? It is that great big hole in which we seek man’s acceptance.

Paul writes in the book of Romans that when we serve Christ we are fully accepted by God and therefore approved by men. Think about that for a minute.

While we go around seeking the acceptance of man, doing whatever we can to achieve it, the answer is actually with God. When we leave our desire to be “socially acceptable” at the door and instead embrace our service to God we will achieve what we were seeking for.

On that last day of my campaign I learned the most important lesson of all; only the acceptance of my Savior is needed. He gave me immediate peace that day and I was able to spend the rest of the day relaxed and enjoying the time with family and friends. I was able to know God, and know that He approves of me.

You know what made it even better? I won! That is right I won the election. But then again that is not a surprise. After all the scripture reads that we are “acceptable to God and approved by men.” The victory was certain to come; it was merely His anointing and blessing that followed me wherever I was to go. Today, God wants you to take with you this same lesson. Go in peace, God approves of you, and after all that is all that matters.

Celebrate

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”^[1]

Sometimes as Christians we experience life that is not always the most welcoming. In popular media we may be portrayed as bigots or nonintellectual. To many our faith has become an archaic way of life and to others there has been an all out assault launched against us.

It has come to the point in which it seems that near daily the headlines scream with lawsuits and court decision that outlaw the public acknowledgement of Christ. With every passing year it becomes more and more difficult to find Him in our community.

Churches have become run down buildings that the secular world now uses has ultra hip housing or as museums. The morals we represent are lauded as the principles of generations long lost. The need for salvation is no longer understood, primarily due to the idea that most do not even know what they need to be saved from.

All of this is mounting to attacks on everything Christian; everything Christ like. Jesus warned us of this day. He told us that because the world hated Him that they would also hate us. It is only natural, really.

We, as the faithful, represent a life that many have lost. There is a certain amount of innocence in our acknowledgment of the truth. As we draw nearer to God, He reveals more of the world to us. In turn this knowledge guards us from diving into the darkness and exposing our spirit to the wickedness and emptiness that the world embraces.

I tell you all this today to expose one more truth. The world hates Jesus and by association us, because He possess their greatest desire. He possesses a blessing that fills the gap. He is the answer to all their questions. They, however, refuse to accept Him because they have come to love that gap, that darkness, and struggle in letting it go.

So let us celebrate our freedom. Let us celebrate our Savior. The world may hate us and attack us, and be removing us from their lives, but we are the ones that still possess the answer. Is this arrogant? Possibly, but GOD would have it no other way.

Celebrate loudly and proudly and in this way share your love affair with Christ. If they choose to hate you, then so be it. If they choose to embrace you, then welcome your new brother or sister into the family and celebrate just that much louder. Therefore let us all come together today and celebrate our persecution as a symbol of our freedom

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 (Jn 15:18–19). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Dewdrops

“And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. And GOD saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

Genesis 1:30,31

It has often been commented that at times I can make too much of a dewdrop. Whenever I teach on thanksgiving I like to stress the importance of thanking GOD for each and every thing. This then typically leads to me exaggerating the beauty of dew and thanking GOD for this tiniest of provision. Undoubtedly there is at least one who chuckles and comments on the dew prayer.

But let us stop for one moment. Dew has a purpose. At some point in the circle of life there is a creature that depends on it. In turn that creature is depended on by another, and so on and so on. This continuation along the circle will eventually lead to us. Therefore in a round about way we depend on dew. True, it may not be essential, but we do stand to benefit.

I suppose at this point you are wondering what I am getting at. It is quite simple really. We depend on more than we know. Now this time I really want you to stop. Now think. How many things on any given day do you depend on but take for granted? Now take that number and double it, because I am sure there is a multitude of items and blessings that you do not notice yet you rely upon.

For example do you ever thank GOD for the wind? Without wind we would not experience many atmospheric changes that allow our world to support life. Yet the only time it gets any playtime in our busy heads is when we complain of its nuisance.

We as people live in such a small box. We go around day to day not realizing how many blessings GOD has laid out before us. At the beginning of all time he arranged everything. Everything you see, every action that occurs, He set in motion. Yet we take them all for granted.

In the opening scripture GOD makes two declarations. First He declares that all of these creations are for us. WOW. He created all of this for us. So that we may enjoy them and be happy. So we may know Him through His creation and embrace Him for His provision. All He desires is our love, and for it He created things that man has only begun to understand.

Secondly, He declared that it all was very good. GOD thinks you are good. This is possibly the single greatest message you can take away from this writing or any other for that matter. GOD thinks you are very good, not just good, but very good.

So is it really funny that I thank GOD for dew, or is it just a way to become a little more humble in His awesomeness. What little things have gone unnoticed in your life that you could thank GOD for today? After all He created it just for you, because He finds you to be very good.

Belief, Unbelief

“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24

All to often today we hear people who speak of how sold out they are for Jesus. The initial response for many of us may be an envy like state where we desire to be as sold out as this other person. We then begin to wander down this winding road of doubt and unbelief.

For centuries we have been taught that doubt is improper and that anyone who truly loves the Lord should never experience a hint of this devil called doubt. However, it seems that no matter how hard we attempt to oppress it, most of us still experience it.

I desire to set you free today and tell you that sometimes I have doubt. I doubt that I truly believe in God. I doubt that my faith is strong enough to carry on. I doubt my calling. I doubt my vision. I doubt just about everything, but I don’t doubt God. Did you catch that? I don’t doubt God.

That is the tricky thing with doubt. Many of us have not taken the time to differentiate between the things we doubt. It is one thing to doubt our faith and it is another thing to doubt God’s ability. When I pray I believe, it is in the time after that I may doubt. However, my doubt is always inward and never upward.

That is pretty powerful in and of itself. If we only doubt inward, then we are only truly doubting ourselves. When we doubt upward then we doubt God. There is a difference.

In the story depicted above in the scripture we see that, even in the days of Jesus, there was a difference between the beliefs. This scripture indicates that you can believe and disbelieve all at the same time! We learn that it is perfectly all right to love and have faith in God, but doubt your own ability to do so.

I know that much of this seems odd. You are probably wondering how you can both believe and disbelieve at the same time. But think about it. When you struggle with doubt do you ever doubt what God can do? Most likely not.

My focus is not trying to have more faith of God’s ability, but to increase my faith in believing He can do so. It is a weird thing I know, and words are escaping me on how to completely sum it up. Maybe you need to find the words for your self. I find that I understand this thing of differentiating doubt, but am unable to speak it. Much in the way as I am able to understand the presence of the Holy Spirit, but am unable to explain it. Sometimes God is just unexplainable.

In conclusion, I will say that I pray none of you loses faith. It is okay to struggle with doubt time and again, we all pretty much do. Just remember to never doubt God’s ability, after all he doesn’t, and even more importantly God has never doubted you.

Remembering Nora

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart^[1]”

In many ways this past week was quite difficult for me. I had been struggling with flu like symptoms where I was just completely drained of all energy. To go along with this illness there was plenty of work to be done. With multiple papers to write and hectic days at work I was not certain that I could accomplish everything that was on my plate. Then something happened fully unexpected.

I had received a phone call that a woman I had met a few months back had just passed away. Her name was Nora. In having only met with her once I was not certain I knew much about her. From what she had told me she helped build this very church along with her children by selling fried pies to the workmen as they went to lunch. This was quite an intriguing story.

After visiting with her for a short while I had learned that she was a fiery woman of that old time faith that we rarely see anymore. She told me of what an abomination it was to see women going to church in pants and men should always wear their suits (I was quite thankful that I was in a suit that day). She fully believed in the power of the blood and just knew God would heal her through and through. Some would say that never did come to fruition, others (as would I) would disagree.

In meeting with her children in preparation for services I learned yet another level of Nora. They described a loving, caring, and devoted woman. They told me of a mom, not a mother. To some there may be no difference in these titles, but to those who have experienced it know better.

The difference is that anyone can be a mother, but it takes love, care, and devotion to be a mom. Nora cared not for this world and the possessions around her, but she cared greatly for her people, and we were all her people.

The Word teaches us to love one another greatly, for love covers a multitude of sin. Well, I believe that Nora covered a couple multitudes herself, and now as she sits with Jesus attempts to cover some more.

As a pastor I meet many people day to day and deal with marriage and death and birth at any given moment. At times it can seem to run together, but not Nora. In one meeting with her I fell in love, not because of who she was, but because of whom she served. Therefore in memory of an old time Kentucky saint can we should all try to love a little more not because of who we are, but because of whom we serve.

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^[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (1 Pe 1:22). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.