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John 3:16

The True Meaning Of Christmas

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 19, 2023

When Christmas time comes around, I find myself thinking about giving. That started last month with the “Thanks” giving season. Now it’s time to focus on the greatest “giving” time of the year. God so loved the world (you and me!) That he GAVE his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christmas is about giving. First, we celebrate God’s gift to us. It’s the central reality of this season. It’s not Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, a little drummer boy, or the Grinch, even though I sometimes feel like him. It’s Jesus! It is God’s gift to us that inspires our gifts to others. We love only because he loved us first! Our giving finds its roots in God’s gift to us. Some time ago, I came across this story that really touched me. I think that it’s incredibly difficult to pass on the true meaning of Christmas amidst the glitz and glamour of the season. How do we keep the focus pure? This story helped me.

“The small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so. It all began because my husband, Mike, hated Christmas—oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute, the gifts given in desperation. Knowing he felt that way, I decided to do something different. Our son Kevin was wrestling at the junior high school. Shortly before Christmas, his team played a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, were a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team’s boys were wrestling without headgear. It was a luxury they obviously could not afford. We ended up walloping them. As each boy got up from the mat, he swaggered in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat. Mike shook his head sadly. “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. ‘They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.’

That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed an envelope on the tree with a note telling Mike what I had done as my gift to him. His smile was the brightest thing that Christmas. Each Christmas after that, I sent Mike’s gift money to a different group—one year sending a group of youngsters with mental disabilities to a hockey game, another year giving a check to elderly brothers whose home had burned down the week before Christmas.

We lost Mike to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was so wrapped up in grief that I barely got the tree up. But on Christmas Eve, I placed an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad.

 

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Luke 2:14

What Is Christmas?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 18, 2023

I looked back at several of my old Christmas sermons, and it seems I started the same way every year. I still have this sentiment, even in retirement. Many sermons I’ve listened to, and books I’ve read keep me going down the same path year after year. It starts with sentiments like, “This year, I’m going to focus my attention on the real meaning of Christmas.” OK, that’s a great sentiment, but I’ve done that just about every year in one way or another. It’s surely got to feel like a “been there, done that” experience for people around me. I apologize to the readers. Here we go again! As Luke tells us, Christmas is about Immanuel. God is with us. The response of the angels to Christmas, as the King James Bible tells us, was “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” Most modern translations, like the ESV, translate this passage as “peace on earth, goodwill towards those with whom God is pleased.” Recognizing that Hebrews teaches us that only “faith” pleases God. Christmas is a great celebration for all who believe!

I like what J. L. Wilson wrote about this. He says, “It might be impossible to get to the real meaning of Christmas because we always have Christmas during the Christmas season. Don’t get me wrong; Christmas is a wonderful time of year. The main complaint I have about Christmas is that I’m always too busy with the Christmas season to enjoy Christmas. Whether it is activity at the church or family responsibilities, something usually keeps me busy. I look for Christ at Christmas, but the tree, wrappings, and lights block my view.” He goes on to talk about how he decided to have it in August instead of waiting for the regular season. I like the idea promoted by the Washington County Minister’s Association of “Christmas in July.” Every year, they do something in the summer to celebrate faith instead of just celebrating it in December. Well, that’s a great idea, but it doesn’t touch the mandated activity of schools, businesses, stores, and entertainment that will crown into the Christmas season anyway. Celebrating Christmas other than at Christmas is a bit unrealistic for most of us, so we have to follow the crowds, the school schedules, and the work routines, and all do the best we can not to lose the true meaning of Christmas in the mad rush of the season.

In the excellent little collection of his favorite illustrations, Hershel Hobbs says, “Christmas is more than tinsel and toys, trees and toddies, gifts and greetings. It is not merely a word of goodwill lightly spoken and soon forgotten in the raucous cries of conflict. Christmas is a message of peace on earth among men who are pleasing to God. It is Immanuel, God with us. It is God bending low to lift men up out of the sin and mire of a world which has forgotten God and His will for lost men. It is God in a cradle, the Eternal in a tender baby’s flesh and form. But Christmas does not stop in Bethlehem. It reaches beyond to Calvary, to the empty tomb, and to the throne where the Savior sits, waiting for His enemies to become his footstool. It is the good news of salvation to all men who will receive it. As the shepherds came to the manger, saw the Christ child, and went forth to tell the glad tidings; as the Wise Men came from afar to worship and give gifts to him, so should the faithful today bow before Him in worship, praise, and consecration; and then go forth to declare the gospel to a lost world. That is what Christmas is all about!”

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Psalm 55:22

He Will Sustain You

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 17, 2023

God does not promise that he will save us from every temporal trial and suffering of life. But He does promise to see us through them. Since death is part of everyone’s life, and since death is the ultimate suffering assigned to all people, we must clearly recognize that God’s unbreakable promise of Sustaining Grace through “all our trials” refers very specifically to our eternal existence. There will always be some trial, sickness, disease, or accident that will end our lives eventually. That’s undeniable. God has set a time for every event under heaven, including a time to die.

But if we’re honest, and if we understand the sovereignty of God over the minute details of our lives, even the specific details of our sufferings, he has given all of us plenty of evidence of his sustaining grace even in the expanse of our short time on earth. Even if one only looks at the next breath, the next meal, and the next morning as evidence of God’s sustaining grace, it should be undeniable. Yet, I’d argue that any honestly soul-searching individual can relate particular events in life through which God has sustained them in unexplainable ways. I’d argue that there is no such thing as coincidences in our lives. A coincidence is merely God’s way of remaining anonymous. Yet, many (if not most) people in our secular society would rather attribute such deliverances as accidental coincidences of nature. Think for a moment about such coincidences that have touched you in life. What do you consider to be the source? God will often move in our lives to get our attention. Sometimes, He moves through suffering, and sometimes, He moves through unexplained blessings. It’s beyond me how some will blame God for the suffering yet attribute their blessings to coincidence.

Psalm 55:22 tells us to “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you.” This was the favorite verse of an old hymn writer from many years ago. The brief description of his life was the subject of one of the “daily bread” devotionals some time ago. It said, “The hymn writer Georg Neumark was a dedicated Christian who was afflicted with blindness in his later years. This infirmity was just one more trial in a life already filled with heartache. While still a young man, he had been reduced to poverty and was down to his last penny. Yet his trust in God did not fail, for he found great strength in the promise, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.” He prayed earnestly for God’s help. The answer came in the form of an unexpected appointment as a tutor for the family of a rich judge. Relieved and delighted, he was prompted to compose one of his best-known hymns, “If Thou but Suffer God to Guide Thee,” to thank the Lord for His sustaining grace. Later, Johann Sebastian Bach saw such beauty in the hymn that he used it as the basis for a cantata, and Mendelssohn included it in his oratorio Saint Paul.”

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1 Peter 5:10, Various

Eternal Sustaining Grace!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 16, 2023

In the recent movie “The Grey,” Liam Neeson plays the lead character who leads a group of airplane crash survivors through the Alaskan wilderness. They are attacked and killed off one by one by wolves. When he’s the sole survivor, he screams into the sky at God, cursing and begging for God to do something to save him from his fate. An interesting observation is that the movie begins with his failed attempt to commit suicide. But now, life has become precious to him.  Of course, there is no answer from heaven, thus leading to his rejection of the existence of a benevolent, sovereign God. He sets out to solve his own problem with his own strength, and the viewer is left to choose the ending of the movie for himself.

I’ve known many people like that and have read about many others. They ignore, doubt, or deny the existence of God until they find themselves in a situation where they need a miracle, and then they look to the heavens and cry out for one. Someone has rightly observed that there are no atheists in foxholes. But a greater difficulty for me is why people are willing to settle for deliverance from a temporal situation when God’s sustaining grace far exceeds the short years we spend on earth. I’m always astounded by those who demand God’s grace to save them from predicaments in this life while denying or doubting the eternal nature beyond this life. Salvation from situations that spare our lives here and now are merely salvations that will eventually be denied us all. Surely, everyone knows that the mortality rate for all mankind is still 100%! It is appointed for every person to die. We all walk through the valley of that shadow of death, and there is no escape for any of us. The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that everyman is appointed to death. Ecclesiastes tells us, unequivocally, that there is a time to die.

Yes, we live in a world that is often filled with pain and suffering. But God has promised to see us through them all. The writers of the New Testament assume that this salvation extends into eternity. Peter sees these episodes of suffering to be the instruments of Satan designed to rip our hearts away from God. They are permitted by God in order to strengthen our faith. That’s why he tells us (1 Peter 5:9-10) to “Resist him (the Devil) and stand firm in your faith.” Further, he reminds us that we are not alone in our suffering. He goes on to say we can find strength because we know “that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (we all die eventually). Then, he lets us know that God’s sustaining grace is at work even in the midst of trials that lead to death. He guarantees us that all this suffering is temporary and that something better will take its place forever. He continues and says in verse 10, “And after you have suffered a little while, (how long? – a little while!) the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

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2 Timothy 2:1, Various

Strengthened By Grace!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 15, 2023

God’s sustaining grace is always with us. When things are going well, it’s there, and when things are going bad, it’s there. God is good all the time! All the time, God is good. But sometimes, it’s hard to see God’s sustaining grace at work when bad things happen. When someone dies before their time, when terrible things happen to innocent people, when evil people hurt others, when fires devastate a forest, when hurricanes destroy homes, or when hurricanes and fires combine to destroy whole Islands as it did with Maui last summer. It’s often hard to find God’s sustaining grace at work during those times.

Salvation is by grace through faith. I’d argue that salvation is a term that fits both our life’s circumstances in the present as well as our eternal destiny. We are saved by grace through faith. It’s our faith that God puts to the test in order to make us stronger. That’s why he “tested” Abraham’s faith in Genesis 22 when he told him to offer his only son as a sacrifice on the altar. Abraham passed the test, and his faith has been an example of what it means to trust God in all the trials of life. He had learned through his life that he could trust God’s word. God said he’d have a son in his old age, and he did. God blessed him in numerous ways along life’s path, and he learned through all the ups and downs of life that God had his best interest foremost in mind, regardless of his circumstances or what God called him to do. He walked by faith. It was God’s grace that sustained him through it all.  But it not only sustained him. It made him stronger! Paul understood this principle well. He said in Philippians 4:13, a famous verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He is speaking of persevering through all the various hardships of life. He’s not speaking of winning football games. Paul argued that he could rejoice in God in every situation of life because he understood God’s promises.  Each beating, each imprisonment, each stoning, and each persecution of every kind made Paul’s faith stronger.  But the important thing to notice is that Paul realized that this strengthening was a result of God’s grace. When Timothy was going through tough times in his ministry, Paul wrote to him and said, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Let me call to your attention the fact that the command “be strengthened,” or in some translations it says “be strong,” is a passive verb in the Greek text. Timothy is not the subject of the action but the recipient of it. Our strength through trials and pains and sufferings comes not from our own effort but from the reality of God’s grace at work in our lives. Bill Haynes put it this way, “Relying on God’s strength alone is something each of us must learn. The grace of God does not merely save us (although it does do that). It also continues to sustain us. It empowers our lives and gives us the ability to stand firm.” As Paul learned, through every thorn in the flesh and hardship of life, “God’s grace will prove sufficient.” Paul and other New Testament writers love to include in their salutation or benediction “grace to you” in various forms. Notice also that the Bible itself ends with Revelation 22:21. It says, “The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!”

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1 Peter 1:7, Proverbs 30:8-9

Passing Tests

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 14, 2023

Being eternally secure regarding our eternal destiny, believers can experience joyful living despite their various trials and hardships. When life hurts, we know it’s only for a short time. An eternity of joy awaits us at the end of life’s race. So, as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us, “We are to run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Peter also wants us to know that there are some positive results of persevering through trials. 1 Peter 1:7 tells us, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Wright puts it this way, “Quite a bit of this letter is concerned with the suffering of the early Christians. Here, Peter states the theme that he will develop: that this suffering is the means by which the quality of the Christians’ faith can shine out all the more, and when Jesus is finally revealed this will result in an explosion of praise.”[1]

Suffering is part of life. Everyone suffers at times. Everyone undergoes trials and hardships. Some live “under” their circumstances. Some Christians have every reason to live “above” their circumstances because they know that God works out all the circumstances of our lives for good in the end. The circumstances, both good and bad, seem to be tests of our faith. Peter speaks specifically of “bad” circumstances. Commenting on this letter, Karen Jobes writes, “Suffering is a test of the genuineness of their faith in Christ, especially because they have neither seen nor presently see him. Therefore, even their suffering is an opportunity for joy because it confirms their faith and the salvation that will certainly be theirs in the end.”[2]

Karen is absolutely right here, but it seems that sometimes the greatest tests of our faith come with prosperity. Adrian Rogers closed one of his sermons, saying, “God is going to bring many of you to the tests—I mean, you’re going to be tested. Some of you are going to receive the test of poverty. I hope you’ll pass it. Some of you are going to receive the test of prosperity, and that will be even harder to pass.”[3] He prays that his congregation will pass that test, also. I like Solomon’s prayer concerning this issue. In Proverbs 30:8- 9, he prays, “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor the name of my God.”

[1] Wright, Tom. 2011. Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John and Judah. For Everyone Bible Study Guides. London; Louisville, KY: SPCK; Westminster John Knox Press.

[2] Jobes, Karen H. 2005. 1 Peter. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[3] Rogers, Adrian. 2017. “A Man and His Money.” In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive, Jas 1:9–12. Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.

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1 Peter 5:11

He Sustains Me

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 13, 2023

Paul, as well as the author of Hebrews, uses the analogy of a race when talking about the Christian life. It’s not a 50-yard dash. It’s not the 100-meter sprint or any other short-term effort. The Christian life is more like a marathon. It takes perseverance and understanding how to pace ourselves, and sometimes, even pit stops for water will be necessary. Along the way, there will be hills and valleys and long stretches and sharp turns. But the thing is, we’re not running it alone. God sends his sustaining grace to keep us on course and hold us true until the end. Paul told the Philippians (1:6), “God, who began a good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished…” Peter says (1 Peter 5:11), “My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that the grace of God is with you no matter what happens…”

Paul tells us (Romans 8:28) that God is the great choreographer of all life and all our circumstances. He “works all things together for good for those who love Him.” Every valley, mountain, crevice, and pasture in our lives is specifically designed by God to bring the best out in us and for us. This is God’s marvelous sustaining grace. John Piper wrote this short poem about sustaining Grace:

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,

Nor flight from all distress, but this:

The grace that orders our trouble and pain,

And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

He goes on to explain, “I stress this because to celebrate a grace that bars what is not bliss, and gives flight from all distress and does not order our pain would be biblically false and experientially unrealistic.” Through the long, boring stretches of life, God’s there. Through the ups and downs, God’s there. Through the sharp turns and rocky roads, God’s there. Not only is He there, but he has laid out the path. He set the course, designed the trials, and ordered the events. Piper goes on to say, “Our experience and the Bible teach us that grace does not prevent pain, but orders and arranges and measures out our pain, and then in the darkness is there to sustain.” Piper then illustrates this by telling the story of a close friend. “For example, yesterday, Bob Ricker, the president of the Baptist General Conference, spoke of precious reminders of God’s sustaining grace. Not quite ten years ago, Bob and Dee’s daughter was in a serious automobile accident. She is alive today for one reason. In the car behind her was a doctor who happened to have an air tube in his pocket. By the time he got to her, she was already turning blue. He forced the tube into her throat and saved her life. At her wedding a few years later, Bob told her: Those facial scars you have to live with—they are memorials of sustaining grace.”

 

 

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Zecharia 1:14, Luke 15:27

Return To Me!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 12, 2023

Zechariah is the largest of the Minor Prophets. It contains 14 chapters with very significant prophecies. All these prophecies are given from the perspective of God’s love for His people. Chapter 1, verse 14, sets this tone, “This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong.” Out of His deep love for His people (us, too), he calls for them (and us) to return to Him. Chapter 1, verse 3 says, “Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” This same exhortation is repeated in the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. Chapter 3, verses 6-7, says, For I am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.”

There’s an old Sunday school joke that you may have heard. They were talking about the Prodigal Son in the class when the teacher asked, “Was anyone sorry when the Prodigal Son returned?” After a bit of soul-searching, one little boy said, “The fatted calf.” One of my favorite stories is in Luke regarding the prodigal son. We have a copy of Rembrandt’s painting entitled “The Prodigal” hanging in our dining room. It’s just a 19-dollar reproduction in a poster format, but it’s like being reminded of my status before the Lord.

One of the most beautiful stories of the Scriptures is that of the prodigal son, the youth who left home, got into great difficulty, wasted his life in riotous living, and ended up in the pigpen. Dr. J. Vernon McGee once asked, “Do you know the difference between the son in that pigpen and the pig?” He goes on to explain that the difference is that no pig has ever said to himself, “I will arise and go to my father.” He is right; only sons and daughters can say that. That is why there will be no condemnation, no rejection by God of his children. All believers, even prodigal sons, are his children, not his enemies. God’s love for His children of Israel was passionate and strong. It’s the same with you and me. The father of the prodigal son explained in Luke 15:24 that there was every reason to be happy, “For this, my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate.”

Jesus proves Zechariah is right. God’s love is strong. Lettie Cowman, in her Streams for the Soul (1925), quoted the poem by Madame Guyon. One of the verses is important theologically. It says:

“Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;

God’s love is strong while night hours creep—

God’s love, not thine; be still and sleep”.[1]

[1] Cowman, Lettie B. 1925. Streams in the Desert. Los Angeles, CA: The Oriental Missionary Society.

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