May 31, 2018

Break the Chains of Doom

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains.

– Psalm 107:10

But if people are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, he tells them what they have done – that they have sinned arrogantly. – Job 36:8-9

Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.

– Luke 1:78-79

He is a most negative person. I’ve stopped inquiring about how he’s doing. Honestly, I don’t want to hear it. Do you understand what I’m saying? Do you have someone like that in your life?

It’s not that I don’t care. I do. It’s just that his total lack of hope, his inability to see anything good in his world, directly contrasts with the faith he claims lives in his heart. That bothers me. It really does.

He’s a good person. And, yes, he’s had stuff happen that has been hard. But he’s also had a lot of good too. Sometimes I think he misses that because his focus is on the bad.

Aren’t we much the same? We obsess over what’s gone wrong and brush off all that’s gone right. We hang on to mistakes and problems and hurt long after we should have given them to God and moved on.

We can’t count our blessings because we’re too busy looking at all that’s missing. We focus on what we can’t change, what we can’t fix, and miss what we can control. Like our attitude.

Satan loves to bind us in chains of despair. He loves to tell us again and again how awful our lives are, how others have wronged us, how futile our attempts to change can be. Satan wants to steal our hope.

But he can’t. Not unless we let him. Because Jesus is our hope. Jesus came to pay for all the wrongs we’ve committed and make us right with God. Jesus sent His Spirit to guide us. Jesus walks with us every step of every day.

We are not only to live in the light, we are to be the light. How can we do that when all we see is darkness? How can we show others Jesus when we can’t see Him ourselves?

This man is quick to tell others about the wonders of this beautiful world. But when it comes to his own life? Well, he doesn’t see anything good in it. I see his beautiful wife. Yes, she suffers from an illness but she is sweet and kind. I see the son who has made wrong choices but I also see the son who is excelling at the college of his dreams. I see the nice house, the good job, the fishing trips and other good things in his life. He sees the lack. I see the abundance.

That’s something else that’s true in our own lives. You don’t think so? Are you lustful for the new car your neighbor got? Do you want to remodel your kitchen like your co-worker? Do you long for the latest gadget, the promotion, the dream vacation someone else just took?

It’s great to have dreams but not when those dreams of tomorrow keep us from enjoying the blessings of today. Jesus came to break the chains of doom and set us free to live in His light. Why can’t we see that? Why can’t we live our lives basking in the light of His love? We can. If we will.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

^{The Birth of Jesus Foretold}

^{From the Book of Luke 1 (NIV)}

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[a] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”
³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

⁴⁶ And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

God’s Blessings Abound

“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”

-- Luke 1:45

What does a blessing from God look like? What would you expect it to be? Great riches? Amazing success? A bountiful of children and grandchildren? Wonderful health for yourself and those you love?

And yet there was Mary, pregnant and unwed, and Elizabeth called her blessed. Mary immediately traveled to her relative’s home after the angel told her she would be with child and give birth to a son. She likely told no one. Mary was obedient. But don’t you think that she was also afraid?

But the angel had told Mary that her relative Elizabeth, considered to be barren, was pregnant too. Another miracle from God. Elizabeth’s child, the Bible tells us, leaped in her womb when he heard Mary’s voice. That child was John the Baptist.

So what did God’s blessing mean to Mary? She faced the real possibility that she would be an unwed mother. She had to explain the angel’s visit to Joseph, who could completely reject her. She could be stoned to death for being pregnant and unwed.

Of course, those things didn’t happen. Joseph married Mary. And the baby Jesus was born in a stable because there was no room for them anywhere else. She fled with her husband and child to Egypt because King Herod wanted to kill the child. She watched as those in power tried to destroy her son as he began His ministry. And she watched as the baby she had borne died a cruel and merciless death on a cross.

Mary’s blessing came because God found favor with her. God chose her to carry His Son in her womb. Her blessing didn’t make her life easy. It certainly didn’t take away the pain or the challenges. So why do we sometimes believe that God’s blessings on our own lives should come surrounded by spun gold and unending happiness?

We know that God can turn anything to good. We know that. But we don’t always expect it in our own lives. We don’t always understand that sometimes horrible things happen so that God’s glory can shine brightly in the aftermath. Look at Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery yet God used Joseph to care for His people. Just like Esther. Or Ruth. The Bible is filled with stories of God’s blessings amidst horrible happenings.

Look around your own life. Think of all the times your life has taken a turn you didn’t intend. What happened? Did you see God’s glory? Did you hear His voice? Did you see His blessings settle down on your life? Draw closer. Listen to His voice. Open your heart. Receive all the goodness He wants to give you.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Mary Believed

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”

-- Luke 1:30-31

God chose a 13-year-old girl from Nazareth to give birth to His Son. Why Mary? Have you ever considered how God came to choose this young girl to give birth to the Messiah? Did God choose her before she was born? Did Mary really have a choice when Gabriel came to her and told her what was to happen?

How would you have reacted to such a proclamation from an angel of God? Most of us would have doubted and made excuses. That’s if we’d even heard his voice over the din of our own busy lives. How many times has God called us to do something and we either couldn’t hear or were just “too busy” to be bothered?

No one expected Mary to be called by God for this task. This young girl lived in Nazareth of all places. Adam Hamilton, in his book The Journey, Walking the Road to Bethlehem, notes that Nazareth was a tiny town with perhaps as few as 100 people up to 400 people. It was about three miles from a large city called Sepphoris.

Nazareth was, at best, the home of the working class people. The other side of the tracks. The bad section that we avoid. God didn’t go to the affluent areas of Sepphoris to find a mother for His Son. Perhaps that should give us pause when we look at the differences between those who have worldly wealth and those who do not.

I am always amazed that Mary did not doubt. She believed. And she agreed. Remember the time when she lived. Mary was engaged but not yet married. A pregnancy would mean Joseph would abandon her, she would be ostracized and ridiculed. She could be stoned to death for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Her response?

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. -- Luke 1:38

Okay. Let’s review this: Mary believed and didn’t doubt and she went along immediately with what God had called her to do. Does that sound like something you would do? Me either. I’m a person always full of questions and insecurities, wavering between doubt and belief. That seems sort of ridiculous in light of what Mary faced and her reaction to it.

So why did God choose Mary? Only He knows but perhaps it had something to do with her faith and her heart. God knows what we’re willing to do for Him. He knows our hearts. Sometimes the answer to “why” is just as simple as that.