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Galatians 4:4-5, Luke 2:8-11

Something New!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 25, 2014

Galatians 4:4-5 informed us that the time was just right when God sent His Son into the world. It says, “…when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the 25 perunlaw, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” It was time for a very significant change in the way man related to God. God had always related to man out of His love for us. But we had related to God on the basis of law. He did not want regulations engraved upon stone. He wanted love in our hearts. But before we could love Him, He had to demonstrate His love for us. Once He did, it changed everything. It destroyed our “religions” and established a new connection with God based on a relationship.

There’s no need to be afraid of God as Adam and Eve who covered themselves and hid from Him in the Garden. There’s no need to run from the God like the Israelites at Sinai when they saw the lightning and smoke and heard the thunderous sounds of judgment. The angel told the shepherds in Luke 2:8-10, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid, but the angel said to them, Don’t be afraid!” Jesus wasn’t coming into the world to condemn them, He was coming into the world to save them! It’s a totally different view of God! It’s time for something totally different.

It took almost 1000 years for the Good News to infiltrate the pagan hearts of the Russians. In Kiev the thunder god, Perun, was “represented in wood on a hill outside the princely palace together with a few other gods. His image was adorned with a head of silver and a beard of bronze. Cattle and even human beings were sacrificed to this god. When in 988 Vladimir was baptized (as a Christian), the idol was dragged into the River Dnieper and the sacrificial grove destroyed.” It’s time for us also, 2000 years later, to drag our idols of religious regulations, rituals, ceremonies and regalia into the river and drown them. It’s not about a “thunder god.” That’s why the Angel in Luke 2:10, goes on to say, “I bring you the most Joyful News ever announced, and it is for everyone!” What’s this great news? Luke 2:11 says, “Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born for you; He is Christ the Lord!” Merry Christmas!

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Galatians 4:4-5, Luke 2:8-10

It’s Time!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 24, 2014

We just spent about 16 weeks studying through the book of Galatians and I pretty much skipped over Galatians 4:4-5. It says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those 24 changewho were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” This is probably one of the best Christmas verses in the Bible. I remember when our sons were born. The first one took 14 hours! Kathy was in the hospital in Greenville, South Carolina on November 30th and stayed in labor most of the day. But he wasn’t born until after midnight on December 1st. The second one kept Mom in the hospital at Corpus Christi, TX for two days before he decided to come into the world. The time had to be just right! Isn’t it that way for all births? Regarding Christ it is even more so because the timing wasn’t just personal, it was global! It was on Christmas day, that all the things came together and the time was just right! It was personally global, and globally personal!

The impact of Christ’s birth on the earth was so profound that we decided to re-date everything by that event. The history of the world is so divided. We understand the problems and difficulties in the world before Christ came and we understand how different everything was after He came. It was a huge transition from relating to God by “law” to relating to God through His Son. It changed religion into a relationship. We now have no need to approach God through the legal regulations of blood, for the ultimate blood had been shed for our sins. Thus, we’ve been redeemed from slavery to the law. We’ve been set free to love God because He first loved us on the cross of Calvary. Since it’s globally personal, it’s efficient for each of us to institute a new day. Things change at Christmas time!

The Angel that announced that the time had come to the shepherds made it clear that things were about to change. It was time for something new. Luke 2:8-10 says, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid, but the angel said to them, don’t be afraid!” It’s time to set aside our fears! There’s a new revelation from God of God. It’s not like the one on Mount Sinai where the “glory of the Lord” showed itself in lightning and thunder and thick smoke that aroused great fear among God’s people. It’s a revelation of the Glory of the Lord as it was about to be revealed on Calvary! It was the glory of God’s great love for each of us! God’s love for us even in our sin. It’s God’s call to all mankind hiding from fear in the garden. God is not coming to condemn us in our sin, but to redeem us from them. It’s time for a change!

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Psalm 23:6

The Hound of Heaven

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 23, 2014

Here’s a great Christmas verse for you that you might not have thought about. Psalm 23:6. It says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” I would argue that what 23 houndmakes this a Christmas verse is the comment about God’s goodness and mercy following us all the days of our lives. He’s the “hound of heaven,” As one writer put it. Actually Francis Thompson wrote a poem entitled, “The Hound of Heaven.” It depicted Hosea’s picture of a pursuing God. He will not leave prodigals, wayward sinners alone. We might hide in the dark recesses of a local bar. We might sleek into the pits of electronic sex. We might hide in the illicit romances of actors and actresses, but God’s love will sniff out the bulrushes. His love will cast a light into the dark corners of our lives. He will not give up. Christmas is about God following us all the days of our lives. He wants us back and He won’t give up!

Adeyemo wrote, “…like the hound of heaven in Francis Thompson’s poem of that name, he pursues the nation that flees from him. …God pursues his people in love, longing for them to turn to him so that he can welcome them home, just as the father welcomed the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). Hosea recognizes that God’s gracious forgiveness and compassion are the only means by which his people can ultimately be restored to him.

In his work, “A Gift for All People,” Max Lucado writes, “What a surprising way to describe God: A God who pursues us. Dare we envision a mobile, active God who chases us, tracks us, following us with goodness and mercy all the days of our lives? He’s not hard to find. He’s there in Scripture, looking for Adam and Eve. They’re hiding in the bushes, partly to cover their bodies, partly to cover their sin. Does God wait for them to come to him? No, the words ring in the garden. ‘Where are you?’ God asks (Gen. 3:9), beginning his quest to redeem the heart of man. A quest to follow his children until his children follow him.”

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Luke 2:11

Very Good News

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 17, 2014

The Angel told the shepherds “don’t be afraid.” Instead of fear the Angel had good news for them! Luke 2:11 reports the Angel’s words: “I bring you good news…” Notice first of all that what 17 good newsthe Angel was about to proclaim was “good news.” He prepared them for it by telling them he had good news. He didn’t have bad news, he had good news! That was to calm their fears. Not only was this supposed to calm their fear, it was also intended to build anticipation for what the headline would be. A preacher named William Taylor went to California in the gold rush of 1849 and settled in San Francisco. There was no church in San Francisco in those days and there wasn’t much interest in building one. Gold fever had infected everyone and that’s all they thought about. Nobody wanted to hear a preacher. So, on Sunday morning, he would roll a wooden barrel down to a street corner, climb up on it, and shout, “What’s the news?” Then as people gathered around to hear what he had to say, he would always begin with, “Thank God, my brethren, I have good news for you this morning!” And he would proceed to preach. He would proclaim the good news.

We are all afraid of death and dying to some degree. As one writer put it, “You have no hope, you have no assurance, you have no peace. There is good news for you, and the good news is this, that way back (2000) years ago God sent His Son into the world because He realized that man could not save himself, but was hopeless, utterly depraved and helpless, and therefore needed a Saviour. And so He sent, in the fullness of time, His Precious Son who took upon Himself the responsibility of a lost world that was plunging into an eternal hell, and bore our sins in His body on the Tree. He assumed our responsibility and went to Calvary and there He died for all those who had fallen in Adam. Now the good news is this, that Christ died according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He arose again, and that today there is salvation, freedom from want and fear and oppression, freedom from death and freedom from the specter of eternity, to all those who will put their trust in Him. It is so simple. That is what makes it good news.”

Another writer compared the pronouncement of the Good News to that of a prison inmate on death row getting a personal call from the governor of the state. It went, “Son, I have good news for you. Yes—take a minute to catch your breath. Listen now—your death sentence has been commuted. And not only that, but by the authority vested in my office, I offer you today a full and complete pardon. You are a free man. Wait—there’s more. Not only am I setting you free, I’ve made arrangements to adopt you into my own family. We have a room waiting for you in the governor’s mansion and you’ll always have a place at our table. Welcome home, son.” This author goes on to say, “I don’t know about you, but I’d call that amazing grace!”

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Luke 2:9-10

Don’t Be Afraid!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 16, 2014

The Angelic appearances are a significant part of the Christmas story. We love the passage from Luke where the Angel appeared to the Shepherds. In Charlie Brown’s Christmas, Linus reads the 16 angelspassage, Luke 2:8-14. It is really very profound. Verses 9 & 10 tell us about the Angelic visitation: “Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said.”

Whenever the “glory of the Lord” shone on people in the Old Testament the normal reaction was fear. Moses ascended the mountain and called the people to join him amidst the thunder and the lightening, but they were too afraid. They sent Moses up on their behalf and Moses came down the mountain glowing from his exposure. As you read of Angelic visitations in the Bible the normal response is fear. But that’s not what God intends. Someone said that there are 365 “don’t be afraid’s” in the Bible but I’ve only been able to find about a hundred of them. I suppose if you included “fear not,” “be not afraid,” and some other similar phrases you might get to 365, but I’ve not been able to do it. Yet I love the idea of there being a “fear not” for every day of the year. But I don’t think that gimmick is necessary to grasp the clear truth that God loves each and every one of us and pays close attention to us and watches over us in our day to day lives. The words of the Angel should reassure us all!

The Bible clearly teaches us to not be afraid of life’s problems and pains. Do you think God would let something happen to you that He couldn’t control? Absolutely not! His mighty hand extends beyond the veil of flesh and bone into eternity. He guarantees us safety. Jesus said that we’re too valuable for God to allow any permanent damage. In Matthew 10:29-31, Jesus says, “…not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” God sovereignly controls the details of every person’s life and he does so with a purpose. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” So no matter what the problem, “Don’t Be Afraid!” Take it from the Angel!

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Matthew 2:1

The Great Divider

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 15, 2014

The history of all mankind is divided into two eras; before Christ and After Christ. Of course the trend today is to make BC stand for “before the common era” and AD to stand for “After the common era.” However the two abbreviations were 15 changesoriginally “Before Christ” and “After Christ – or the Year of Our Lord.” Jesus is the great divider of all things. That’s what Christmas time marks whether you acknowledge it or not. It marks the coming of the new era by the birth of a baby in a manger in Bethlehem as recorded in Matthew 2:1. How does that minor event in a stable in an unknown little city in the mid-east change anything? I would argue that it changed everything because it changes one person at a time.

Look at the Apostle Paul. It was around 33 AD on the road to Damascus. Schenck writes, “Our gracious God stopped Paul the persecutor and pointed him in a different direction. In an instant God turned his whole view of life and the world upside down. Paul had thought God hated Christians; it turned out they were the ones who understood His will. Paul had thought God was all-concerned with the details of the Jewish law; it turned out He was more interested in bringing lost sheep back into His fold.” My life is also divided by the same thing. I lived for 32 years “before Christ” came into my life. When I think of those years and those memories I am often reminded that this was before Christ became to me what the Scriptures teach that He is; the Savior of all mankind. It wasn’t until after I met Christ that I saw myself as I truly was. Just as Paul saw himself when he met Christ on the road, so did I see myself when I met Christ. Like Job, I had always minimized God’s love but again like Job, through the course of personal suffering, I got a glimpse of God’s love and that changed everything. It always does.

Christmas can change everything in our lives. But we’re usually way too busy for it. We must stop the frenzy and take time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. For many, Christmas is only an excuse to party and revel and then quickly pass on to other pursuits, but those who listen with the ears of faith find a message that gives life and hope to a world lacking both. His birth does more than change the way we keep track of time – it changes who we are and how we live. When we grasp the depth of God’s love communicated to us at Christmas time it can’t help but change our lives. It’s in the incarnation, God becoming man, where the most profound message of the Christian faith can be found. Such unfathomable love changes every in a life that will make time and room for Him.

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John 21:6-11, 2 Samuel 24:10

Numbers Count!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 12, 2014

We often sing, “Count your many blessings, and name them one by one. Count your many blessings and see what God has done.” I like that little song! The idea of counting to exalt God is a common theme in both the Old and the New 12 countingTestament. God instructed Abraham to count the stars. He couldn’t, but that was how many descendants God would give him. God instructed Moses to count the children of Israel as mentioned above so that they would see how great God is. Jesus instructed the fishermen to count their fish on one occasion so that they would see when man fishes he catches nothing. Jesus asked the fishermen, “how many fish have you caught?” They answer, “Zero, zilch, nada, nothing!” Then Jesus directs them on where to fish (the other side of the boat) and they catch so many that they couldn’t count them. Jesus instructed Peter to bring the fish to Him. Peter lugged the net full of fish to Jesus and then we read that there were 153 fish (See John 21:6-11 – King James). How did they know? They counted them! After counting them, they glorified God.

In churches that I’ve been affiliated with in the past it was considered unspiritual to count people who came. Many pastors still argue that it’s not about how many people come to your church but how faithful you are to God’s word. But I like to see “counting” as another way of being faithful to God’s word. There’s nothing unspiritual about “counting” the many blessings that God gives us as long as we’re counting them to praise God and not ourselves. Further, numbers matter to God especially when a number represents a beloved soul. In the lost sheep the shepherd had 100 sheep and he went looking for one that was lost. How did he know that one was lost? He counted them! The same with the woman and the 1 lost coin. It mattered to her. When people criticize those who count the number of people in their congregation, I like to ask them if they count their money. Of course they do! Then I ask, “is money more important than people?” Of course not! Every single person that worships with us at my church is important to me! People count. When numbers represent people, numbers count!

In 2 Samuel 24:10, David decided to count the people. Counting the people brought God’s judgment on them and David. He repented and said, “After David counted the people, his conscience troubled him. David said to the LORD, ‘I have committed a terrible sin by what I have done. LORD, please forgive me because I have acted very foolishly.’” It’s difficult to understand what sin David committed by counting the people. It’s especially difficult when we remember that God directed Moses to count the number of the people on several occasions (See the book of Numbers) and it was not a sin. What’s the difference? The difference between the two countings seems pretty obvious to me. When God directed Moses to count the people he was illustrating to Moses and all Israel coming out of slavery how great and mighty He was. God wanted Moses to see what God had given him. When David decided to count the people himself, he was interested in seeing how great he, himself, was. Possibly, David wanted to number the people so that he could show his detractors and other nations around them how powerful he was. This counting was not intended to exalt God, but David, the man. Whether it’s the donations from Sunday or the attendance at worship, we count so that we can praise God.

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Proverbs 11:24

The Prosperity Gospel

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 11, 2014

Yesterday I shared how I don’t want to be like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day who exhorted the wealth from people who could not afford it. Jesus closed his condemnation of them by saying their judgment will be severe. These warnings 10 prosperityabout the responsibility of religious leaders, those who teach God’s Word, to exercise care in their exhortation to their congregations always give me pause. I have found in my life that God blesses me when I give and I’m convinced that’s a biblical principle explained in Proverbs 11:24, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” But to exhort or beguile through guilt or any other means the poor to give what they cannot afford is a crime against God’s love.

Many preachers today from their pulpits and from the television exhort, coerce or manipulate the poor to give with promises of wealth in return. We see it all the time. The poor seem to be more susceptible to “get rich quick” schemes than those content with a mediocre income. Most lottery tickets are purchased by the poor. Most gambling is done by the poor. When gambling is introduced to a community the need for homeless shelters and free meals always increases. I find it fascinating that God didn’t condemn the widow who gave “all she had” but the religious leaders who “cheated widows” out of their wealth.

I believe God will care for the widow, but I’d advise her to pay her rent before she gave. I’d advise her to buy groceries and pay her utilities before she gave. But then to arrange her life and her finances to enable her to give generously in the future. I would not want to be numbered with the Religious leaders of Jesus’ day or with the “name it and claim it” preachers of today. One commentator writes, “The waves of our indulgent, selfish, materialistic society have washed ashore on Christian theology in many forms, including the prosperity gospel. Although the Bible teaches that God is sovereign and man is His servant, the prosperity gospel implies the opposite. Teaching that claims we can demand things of God is spiritual justification for self-indulgence. It perverts prayer and takes the Lord’s name in vain. It is unbiblical, ungodly, and is not directed by the Holy Spirit.”

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