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2 Chronicles 20:17

Flap, Flap, Flap!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 31, 2024

Imagine a passenger getting on a 747 jet airliner. When the plane begins its taxi down the runway, the passenger begins to flap his arms, up and down, up and down. When the plane lifts up off the ground, he flaps hard and harder. The stewardess asks, “Can I help you?” He replies, “No, I’m helping you!. I’m helping us fly.” The Stewardess then replies, “Sir, you don’t have to do that. The plane has all the power it needs to get us safely to our destination.” But the passenger insists, “No, I have to help!”  As ridiculous as that sounds, I seem to do a lot of flapping. Many of us are flapping all over the place to help with every imaginable struggle in our life, when the truth is, we don’t contribute one bit to the success or progress of the mission. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is relax under the care and sovereignty of a loving God and let Him do what he’s best at.

When Jehoshaphat was overwhelmed by a collation of three nations’ armies against him, he took his problem to the lord. He acknowledged God’s greatness and his own inadequacy. He asked God for help and expressed his faith and trust in God’s provision and capabilities. He said, “We don’t know what to do, but we have looked to you for help, oh, Lord.” God said in so many words, “Step back, Jehoshaphat, and watch me work. “The Battle is not yours; it is the Lords.” Like us flapping fools, I expect Jehoshaphat wanted to contribute to the effort, but God corrected him and said, “You won’t need to fight in this battle. Just stand strong in your places, and you will see the Lord save you.” (2 Chronicles 20:17). It was a similar charge that Moses gave the children of Israel as they faced the Red Sea on their east and the advancing Egyptian army on their west, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. In Exodus 14:13-14, Moses said, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and you will see the LORD save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again after today. You only need to remain calm; the LORD will fight for you.”

God, the creator of the entire universe, the sustainer of all life, the manager of the galaxies, and the choreographer of the stars (real stars!), is just a prayer away. Jehoshaphat worshiped God for who He was in all His glory and grandeur, and then he worshipped God for what He did by delivering them from Egypt and delivering them to the Promised Land. God hasn’t changed. What are we flapping about? As we face 2025, let’s look to God and stop all the flapping. Paul says in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

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The Christmas Card

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 30, 2024

We received our share of Christmas Cards this year, even though we didn’t send one out. We used to, but not anymore. Though we don’t send any out, we are always excited about opening the ones that we get. I did some research and found out that the creator of the Christmas card was John C. Horsley, an English illustrator who designed the first card in 1843. It showed three generations of an English family celebrating Christmas and carried the message, “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” By 1870, the custom of exchanging Christmas cards had spread to the United States. It was promoted by Louis Prang, a Boston printer, who is known as the father of the American Christmas card. One of my sources wrote, “About 95% of American families exchange Christmas cards—usually 60 to 70 cards per family. A staggering four billion cards are mailed during Christmas. How did all these get started? Museum director Henry Cole, during the mid-19th century, used to write short notes to his friends at Christmas, wishing them a joyful holiday season. In 1843, he had no time to write and asked his artist friend John Horsely to design a printed greeting card. Inadvertently, he had invented the Christmas card.” This source went on to say, “And the President of the United States sends over 40,000 of these greetings yearly—probably having the longest Christmas card list in the country.”

Max Lucado suggests that Christmas week is the week when mail is fun. He writes, “This is the week of red envelopes, green stamps, and Christmas tree stickers. This is the week when your old roommate, who married Hazel and moved to Phoenix, writes to tell you that their fourth child is on the way. This is the week of front-and-back newsletters describing the Grand Canyon, graduations, and gallbladder surgeries. This is the week of overnighted nuts, packaged fruitcakes, and frenzied mailmen. Add to that a gift from Aunt Sophie and a calendar from your insurance agent, and you’ve got a daily reason to whistle your way to the mailbox.

He goes on, “Only a Scrooge doesn’t want a Christmas card. Some are funny. Got one today with elves pulling books off the ‘elf-help’ shelf. Others are touching, like the illustration of Mother Mary and the baby resting at the base of the Egyptian sphinx. And a few are unforgettable. Every Christmas, I read this reminder that came in the mail several years ago: If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.” In his conclusion, Max adds, “He became like us, so we could become like him. Angels still sing, and the star still beckons. He loves each one of us like there was only one of us to love.”

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Ecclesiastes 8:14

The Mills of God

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 29, 2024

In Ecclesiastes 8:14, the wisest man who ever lived said with great frustration that from our human perspective, there doesn’t appear to be any real justice in life. The wicked are often rewarded, the righteous often suffer, and the innocent victims have no grievance redress. He calls this all “vanity of vanities.” This means it doesn’t make any sense! However, the views expressed by Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes often depict things the way they appear to us. God’s justice “under the sun” is often illusive. Job expressed the same frustration amidst the injustices he suffered.  It seemed to him that God was nowhere to be found when there was injustice in the world. When he failed to find justice in life, he said, “I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed” (Job 23:8-9).

Yet both Job and Solomon trust that there will one day be a reckoning. Job says, “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold” (Job 23:10). Solomon argues that death, the great equalizer in life, will come to all men. When he argues that there is a time for every purpose under heaven, he includes a time to die. At such a time, all wrongs will be made right. As Job was vindicated and blessed beyond measure in the end, so too will the innocent victims of all ages. The babies slaughtered by Herod in Bethlehem, as well as the babies slaughtered in all the school shootings in the world as well as those innocent ones slaughtered in the holocaust. Any evasion of God’s purposes is only temporary. You see, “…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment,” says Hebrews 9:27. And one chapter later, we read this sobering verse: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

I read that Paul Harvey illustrated this point when he told about a man named Gary Tindle, who was charged with robbery. While standing in the California courtroom of Judge Armando Rodriguez, Tindle asked permission to go to the bathroom. He was escorted upstairs to the bathroom, and the door was guarded while he was inside. But Tindle, determined to escape, climbed up the plumbing, opened a panel in the ceiling, and started slithering through the crawl space, heading south. He had traveled some thirty feet when the ceiling panels broke under him, and he dropped to the floor—right back in Judge Rodriguez’s courtroom! God’s perfect righteousness will not be frustrated in the end. Sooner or later, the wheels of justice will right every wrong, balance every scale, and correct every injustice in the world. Longfellow included this truth in one of his poems, where he compared God’s justice to the grinding mills that turn wheat into flour. He says:

Though the mills of God grind slowly
Yet they grind exceedingly small,
Though with patience, He stands waiting
With exactness, He grinds all.

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Isaiah 56:5, Luke 10:20

A Name and a Place

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 28, 2024

Although we hold out for God’s justice to prevail in the end, the grief we feel at the injustices in the world can easily overwhelm us. Upon first hearing about the slaughter of the 20 first-grade children at Sandy Hook Elementary School several years ago, my heart grew sick and blocked it from my mind, and I refused to watch the news and face the reality of the whole evil mess! But now, this tragedy has aligned itself with all the atrocities man has perpetrated on man. It’s another slaughter of the innocents as Herod did in Bethlehem.

Every trip we’ve taken to Israel has ended at Yad Vashem. It’s the name of the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. It means “a place and a name.” It’s taken from the book of Isaiah, chapter 56, and verse 5, where God promises that within the walls of Israel, there will be a memorial for the innocent who suffered at the hands of evil. It’s to be an “everlasting memorial” and represents the vindication of the righteous. The passage says, “I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name…I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” A walk through the museum is the most sobering experience one might ever encounter in life. It contains the largest collection of documented footage and still images of the most extreme atrocities of man upon man. Some on our tours would wait at the coffee shop or browse the stores in the four quarters of Jerusalem rather than visit the museum. It’s nearly impossible to witness such wickedness and not be deeply moved by it.

The Orthodox Jew in Israel sees the museum as the place at which every name of those slaughtered in the holocaust will be recorded forever, and the generations that follow will pay their respects. It’s their eternal monument or memorial to and for the slaughtered innocent. But Jesus took this idea of a “place and a name” and gave it to all who would come to faith in Him (the slaughtered innocent Son of God). There is a place where our names are memorialized as well. When His disciples returned from their missionary trip, they were thrilled and excited about the fact that they had power over “evil” spirits. Jesus said to them, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20). There is “a name and a place” for every victim in this sin-cursed world. The name is written in the Book of Life, and the place is a place Jesus referred to as heaven. It’s not an earthly resident but a spiritual one that will last forever in which all evil will be eradicated, every tear will be wiped away, and joy will reign in every life.

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John 3:16

12 Days of Christmas

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 27, 2024

Edna Bowman once wrote a modern parody of the famous Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” It went like this: On the twelfth day of Christmas, My littlest love gave to me Twelve dogs a-leaping, Eleven cats a-creeping, Ten fingers gripping, Nine toes a-tripping, Eight drinks a-spilling Seven glasses filling, Six friends and things, Five telephone rings, Four crayoned walls. Three loud calls, Two Kisses free, And one mother up a pear tree.”

According to Robert Webber, a modern worship guru, “Christmas worship is not confined to a single day but extends for twelve days. The origin of these twelve days of festivity lies in the early church. The early Christians of the East celebrated the birth of Christ on January 6 … In the West, Christians began to celebrate Christmas on December 25…Eventually, these two dates became the boundaries of the Christmas season, with the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25 representing the beginning of the festival and the celebration of the manifestation of Christ to the world through the visit of the magi on January 6.” Thus, we have the 12 days of Christmas.

I’ve suggested, along with many others, that the song was written during a period of persecution of Christians, and it was a song with a message only to those who “got it.” Yet, some of the myth buster websites argue that it was simply a nonsense song written as a joke. And this explanation is not true. But there are others that argue it is true. I prefer to see it my way, along with some others. The song has meaning. The suggested meaning, traditionally, has been as follows: My True love is God the Father. I am the receiver, as a believer, of His gifts. They are: The Partridge is Christ crucified in a tree, then, 2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments. 3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity– the Theological Virtues. Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists. 5 Golden Rings = the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch,” which relays the history of man’s fall from grace. 6 Geese A-laying = the six days of Creation. 7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. 8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes. 9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit. 10 Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments. 11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles. 12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed. Whether this is a historical fact or not, it sure gives meaning to a nonsense song that we’ll hear often during the Christmas season. We may as well see some significance in it when we hear it. To me, “My True Love” is the God who “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

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Luke 1:46-55

Be a Player!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 26, 2024

The emotional explosion into song experienced by Mary, Zachariah, the Angels, and Simeon is a difficult thing for our modern minds to comprehend. We don’t do it personally because we watch it too much in the movies and on Television. We have so many stories in our culture. We have a multitude of images dancing in our heads (not just sugar plums), and our histories and lives are confused at times. We can’t focus! We have learned how not to be too personally invested in the explosions of emotions we see in the media. We can enjoy, vicariously, the experiences on the big screens, but we don’t personally comprehend the emotions being expressed.

If you were a Jew in the days of Jesus’ birth, on the other hand, you would not be so handicapped. The whole litany of stories would all have their source in the Bible. The Old Testament included television, movies, music, and works for every person in that culture. More importantly, they would see themselves as significant players in the ongoing story of life. The record of man’s fall in the garden would be the continued lot of each person. The stories of Father Abraham, the man of faith, and his culture and lineage would be the very source of their identity. They would all know the details of the man called Moses and the deliverance from Egypt. They would have understood there current predicament a result of the sinfulness of their first ancestor as well as the failure of all those who had come before them. The pains and harshness of life in a world in which they were dominated and controlled by foreign powers would rule and pervade every personal life. You see, the people of God, were not viewers of a drama, they saw themselves as part of it. They were not spectators. They were participants. Thus, the joys and sorrows of real life were their lot. They did not live vicariously through the adventures of others; they lived in the here and now in the flow of life and were intricately connected to it all. It’s only when we understand this truth that we, too, are not just observers but participants that we’ll ever know what it’s like to burst out in song like these four did.

You and I are the ancestors of Adam and Eve. The fall of man is our fall! We have been sent out from the intimate place of fellowship with God (The Garden of Eden), and we are vagabonds and wayfarers in a world that’s run and directed and ruled by a foreign force. We are in the lineage of the failure of man! The entire history of God’s dealing with man is the history of God’s dealing with us. But through it all, there has remained one great promise: The “seed of the woman” would crush the head of the enemy and deliver us all from the predicament of alienation from God and this life lived out in the valley of the shadow of death. The arrival of the Saviour of the world is what Christmas is all about! He has come to redeem us from the situation that is ours, not some character in a book or figure on a screen. It’s for you! It’s for me! Be a player, not a spectator!

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John 3:16, John 6:66-68

A Gift For All!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 25, 2024

The Greek language that God chose to give us his written word is often referred to as “Koine.” It means common. It’s not the Greek of the high-brow classics; it’s the language of the marketplace. It’s the language in which husband wrote letters to their wives while away on military assignment. It was the language in which servants wrote shopping lists to take with them to the marketplace. It’s the language that was spoken between neighbors and relatives and friends and acquaintances. It was the language which all understood and all could share in. One of the great challenges for us today in our English-speaking world is to write our messages in the Koine of our day. We need to reach the world where they are with the message that God sent in His Son, Jesus.

I’ve often heard Christians say they do not participate in the secularization of Christmas. The lights, the stores, the parties, the presents, the glitz, the glamour etc., etc., all detract from the true meaning of Christmas. But when we do that, withdraw from our cultural expression of this Holiday season, we lose another opportunity to communicate the greatest message in the world. Mickelsen writes in the Journal of Evangelical Theology (Vol. 9), “We must deal with a secular age which has a secular Christmas in terms which confront that age with the true meaning of Christmas. But then, when we do it, is this a secular gospel? My answer, of course, is no.” I agree completely! The world’s observance of this season presents each and every one of us with the opportunity to make our message the message of love it was intended to be. It is a message that was delivered to the common people in a common way, with a most uncommon effect.

Of all the gifts you could give to friends and loved ones, none could compare to the Gift that God gave to us to share. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The greatest gift of all is the gift of eternal life that is what God has given us through His Son and wishes for us to pass along to others. Peter made it clear in John 6:67 that only Jesus has this gift. Jesus asks Peter if he, too, will leave him as many others had done. But Peter says, “To whom would I go? Only you have the words of eternal life.” There is only one “true meaning” of Christmas. Let the cultural glitz and glamour open up doors of opportunity to share it with those you love.

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Luke 1:46-55

Bursting Out in Song!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 24, 2024

As an altar boy, I’d have responsibilities at Church and had to memorize Latin phrases in order to fulfill that role. I never bothered much about what the phrases meant. I just had to learn to recite them by rote. As I reflect on those years and those songs, I find I’m more interested in what they mean now. In the history of the Christian Church, Latin was the only authorized language for nearly 2000 years. Much of the Christmas music in my childhood was in Latin. There were four songs that specifically stood out. They are the four first Christmas Carols ever written. They were not written in Latin but in the Common language of the people, Koine Greek. This was the language of the marketplace. It was the language everyone understood and used in everyday life. These four songs have been sung in Christmas Cantatas for years, but most only in Latin. They have been sung so often in Latin that they have been given Latin Names from Latin phrases in the song itself. The earliest of these sons is called “The Magnificat.” It was Mary’s song.

Luke 1:46-55 contains the verses of this song. The name comes from the opening phrase, “My Soul magnifies the Lord….” Thus, it’s called the “Magnificat.” This song follows the same pattern as the Old Testament “Praise Songs” in the book of Psalms. Singing has always been a very important part of the lives of the faithful. One whole book of the Old Testament is devoted to music, while other songs are sprinkled throughout the stories of the Old Testament as well. We find songs interspersed with texts in the New Testament as well, especially in the opening portions of the Gospels as well as in the Epistles. Music matters in the life of a believer.

I’ve never been a real “Musical” fan. Kathy loves “Fiddler on the Roof,” “South Pacific,” “West Side Story,” and anything with Fred Astaire or that guy from “Singing in the Rain” ( I forget his name). However, these modern musicals present a part of life that’s undeniable. Some things move our hearts and souls so much that one feels like bursting out in song and dance. If you read the Song of Moses and Miriam back in Exodus 15, you’ll see that God’s deliverance through the Red Sea resulted in the whole nation bursting out in song and dance. Let’s admit it, the Bee Gees are right: some things in life “make me feel like dancing…. Dance the night away.” Mary’s Song is an explosion of emotion! She bursts out in song! The Saviour has come! He has done great things! That’s what it means when she says, “My Soul Magnifies the Lord.” The joy of the arrival of the Saviour makes her sing! That’s why music is such an important part of Christmas. Let your soul “magnify” the Lord too!

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