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Christ’s Birth: Rescue!

For the LORD has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.
         (Jeremiah 31:11)

Do you have days that look pretty gloomy? When you can’t seem to get out from under the heavy clouds?

God has not only has redeemed us from a kingdom of darkness, but He rescues us every day from our enemies. In Psalms, David constantly rejoices that “the Lord delivers me from my enemies.” And that was not just some special arrangement God had with King David; God does the same for us, every day in all the hours of our lives.

Our enemies? They are external: Bombardment by society’s values and philosophies. Busy schedules. Financial strains. Health concerns. Temptation. Growing hostility toward Christianity. And they are internal: Discouragement. Depression. Doubt. Fear. Worry. Stress. Selfishness. Anger.

Make a list of your own enemies. You know what battles you must constantly fight, what things sometimes loom up and look impossible and overwhelming, the situations you are tempted to call hopeless, the dark things that sometimes hold you in a strong grip.

Here’s the good news: The baby born that night is alive today. He comes to redeem His people, to release us from enemies too strong for us and to reclaim us once again as His children.

Listen to what your Father tells you, His ransomed children who have been rescued:

He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. (Titus 2:14)

Let all that I am praise the LORD;
     may I never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins
     and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death
     and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.
     My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
           (Psalm 103:2-5)

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. (1 Peter 1:18)

I have paid the price to set you free. (Isaiah 44:22)

In his love and mercy he redeemed them.
He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.
         (Isaiah 63:9)

I cannot tell you how important that last verse is to me. I have staked my life on it.

He promises redemption, freedom, healing, a life crowned with love and mercy, strength renewed, defeat of your enemies. He will carry us through all our years.

Many of my days that started under dark clouds have been redeemed. Bought back from a dark outlook. Reclaimed. Freed. Filled.

Look for your redemption every day. He says He will do it. And may we never forget all the good things He has done for us.

Then you can write your own Psalm, just a few lines declaring that, In his love and mercy he redeemed me. He lifted me up and carried me through all my day.

Amen. Thanks be to our Father.

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Christ’s Birth: Ransom!

It is December. Luminaries lined our streets this weekend. Stars of all sizes shine in the night above our villages and farms. Colored lights and candles and cars topped with trees and long checkout lines and nativity scenes and Christmas secrets and old carols and full schedules … The Christmas season is suddenly upon us.

(And did you notice I even have snow on this page?)

Actually, season openers started weeks ago with holiday events, sales promotions, and the usual decorations. But here it is, December, the month we Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. Why are we celebrating? What difference does an event 2000 years ago make in our lives today? 

Redemption. Redemption. Redemption! That’s the difference that the Baby in a manger brings to our lives.

The Greek and Hebrew words for redeem both refer to a buying back, paying a ransom to remove from bondage. The word “Redeemer” is a title given to God, who rescues His people from bondage and reclaims them as His own.

The baby born that night — in a shelter for animals, to a young couple far from home, a mother who was pregnant though unwed and a father who undoubtedly had many questions and moments of uncertainty — that baby would be the ransom God would pay to reclaim you as His own child.

Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.   (Isaiah 43:1)

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity–the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.  (1 Timothy 2:5-6a)

When we can do nothing to escape the bondage that holds us, when we are helpless to crawl out of the darkness ourselves, He comes to rescue us and claim us as His own.   

A baby’s cry in the night. He was born to pay the price for our freedom. I didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve it.

Wow. He must love us dearly.

Father, Remind us, “reclaim” us every day as Your children and bring us back to You.

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Glimpsing the Never-ending Kingdom

I caught a glimpse this past week. The glimpses are what keep me going, keep me believing.

After days of clouds and rain, the sky beamed blue, the sun unleashed brilliance, white puffs drifted. At 4p.m., I was running errands, stop at the bank, library, post office. Hurry toward my next appointment.

And then something brought me to a halt, told me to note how far the shadows stretched, how low the sun hung over the hills to the west, and how the cold had seeped into our town in spite of the sun.

This moment came at the end of a day when:

… I read the obituary of a prominent man from our area whose life-long influence in both church and business helped to shape this community, its culture and its economy. He died last week.

… Littlest Grandson came to my door, carefully holding something and wearing a gleeful grin. “Grandma, I have a present for you.” He presented me with copies of their most recent family portraits. Beautiful, each one of them, all spruced up and smiling. But when did this happen? When did Oldest Grandson grow so tall? When did Granddaughter turn into such a lady?

… Sister called. We’re trying to get something on our family schedule. First available day is December 1. December?! What happened to November? For that matter, I don’t think I was quite finished with October yet.

Then the moment of blue coldness in late afternoon whispered of winter, the year slipping away, and … how do I describe what happened?

I only know these moments as glimpses. That’s what I’ve named them. The Spirit permits me a peek through a window in the universe. Or, maybe, for a few seconds, He puts God-dimension glasses over my eyes.

Whatever it was that happened, it was the glimpse that I had been hoping for, asking God for. I had been praying for better understanding of this —

His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from
        the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the LORD
           of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen!

This is a hard thing to take hold of. How can something never end? Everything of this world begins and ends and is measured by the time between those events. We do not know how to live without that regulation.

For just a breath, a blink, I glimpsed my life outside of time. My real life, your real life, child of God, is in a realm outside of the time by which we arrange our lives now. In that realm, Christ rules forever. “My kingdom,” said Christ, “is not of this world.” (see John 18:36)

Our life in that kingdom is not a separate thing from our life on earth. We do not live earthly lives and then move into Christ’s kingdom. Our life in the kingdom is right now and is not of this world.

The end of our earthly life is, as the obituary put it, going to see our Lord and moving into a new dimension of being with the living God.

Reading Isaiah can be a roller-coaster of emotions. The harsh words of judgment for those who do not listen to the Lord and descriptions of the wasteland and destruction that await people who forget God, all shake me. I see so much of our society today in these passages, and we are so prone to get entangled with the world around us.

Yet in almost every chapter, there is a message of hope. Hope for rescue and healing. Hope for life in a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. A kingdom that will go on without end.

Why? Why would the God of the Universe bother with all of us who have caused Him so much anger and grief?

He tells us why. He is the Eternal Father, He has claimed us as His children, and his passionate commitment will make this happen. The NIV says the Lord’s zeal will make it happen. He is determined, intensely devoted to healing His creation and His people.

Yet I still dare to hope
    when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has claimed us as His own, and we live not only today but without end in His kingdom. 

Spirit, give us a glimpse of that realm, the without-end kingdom of the Prince of Peace.

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Scripture: Isaiah 9:7; Lamentations 3:21-23 (all NLT)

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Hope: A great light will shine in the deep darkness

Sometimes we children purposely sought the darkness. In a small storage room under the basement stairs, we shut the door against any crack of light and played with flashlights or some glow-in-the-dark toy. Intentional darkness could be banished at any time by simply opening the door.

Years later, deep in a Kentucky cavern, the tour guide flipped a switch and I felt darkness. It was heavy, pressing on my skin and creeping into my lungs. If I moved even a finger, I thought, I might lose my balance and fall. I was caught, afraid to move and almost unable to breathe.

Still, the guide would soon turn those lights on again … I hoped …

The most terrible darkness is that which we cannot banish ourselves. It comes uninvited, unwanted, and powerful. However darkness comes to your life — through depression, health issues, loss of dreams, divorce, death and grief — it can overwhelm and paralyze.

But for the children of God, there is hope even under the heaviness of such darkness!

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulon and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles … will be filled with glory.

The people who walk in darkness
     will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
     a light will shine.

This passage is written about the land of Judah, about to be crushed and destroyed. The people would be taken as slaves, and lush vineyards and fertile hillside gardens would become a wasteland of briars and thorns. Everywhere, trouble and anguish and dark despair.

Yet, in the midst of all of this misery, there is a hope. The deep darkness will not last forever; a great light will come. 

For the people of Judah, the prophecy looked forward to the Messiah, their Deliverer. For the people of the world today, for you and I, this passage also points to the One who delivers us, who shines in our darkness.

Zebulon and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the land they were given in Canaan was the land called Galilee. Much of Jesus’ ministry is associated with Galilee … and yet, it was also called the land of the Gentiles. Many people lived there who were not of the twelve tribes. Awesome prophecy. To those who do not know God, Jesus carries the only light that banishes darkness.

He comes, first of all, to bring us to God, bring us out of the kingdom of darkness. And then, for those who become children of the heavenly Father, His light can defeat whatever darkness we must walk through here on earth.

God said that He would give a sign that He was with His people. A virgin would give birth to a son who would be called Immanuel, meaning ‘God is with us.’

Christ is still the sign that God is with His people. We’re nearing that time of year when we sing, “To us a child of hope is born …”

What hope does He bring to your life, child of God? How does He shine light in whatever darkness you must walk through?

I almost never write sermon notes in my Bible, but there are notes in the margins of Isaiah 9:6.

And he will be called:
     Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
     Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His names tell us what hope He brings.**

Wonderful – takes care of the dullness of life
Counselor – takes care of the decisions of life
Mighty God – takes care of the demands of life
Everlasting Father – takes care of the dimensions of life
Prince of Peace – takes care of the disturbances of life

And I would like to add: The Great Light takes care of the darkness in life.

　

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Scripture: Isaiah 9:1,2; 8:22; 7:14; 9:6 (All NLT)

**I’d like to give credit, and I think this list comes from a sermon by Dr. John Williams, Jr., but I’m not 100% certain.

　

　

　

　

　

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More Cell Phone Parable (And then I’m done, I promise)

Oops. Yesterday’s little parable of the cell phone has a few holes. I was reminded that the cell phone does NOT always know!

Lubec, Maine, is in the Eastern time zone. But the little town sits on a finger of land jutting out into the Atlantic and is so close to Canada that it picks up signals from Canadian towers and displays Atlantic Time instead. 

Another interesting fact I’ve just learned: on most devices, it is possible to disable the feature that automatically changes displayed time.

Thus … The Cell Phone Does NOT Always Know.

But there are parallel spiritual lessons here as well: keep your connection alive and functioning, and make certain you’re tuned in to the right tower!

As a matter of fact, this is exactly what Isaiah says after God has warned him not to think like those around him. In the midst of Judah’s trouble, people were asking mediums and spirits of the dead for advice. Isaiah warns: 

Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.

The wrong connection leads only to anguish and despair. That’s very clear.

If there is no tower or signal, a phone is useless. Without our connection to God through Christ, we are also useless. We can do nothing, Jesus said, if we are not connected to Him (John 15:5).

The connection He’s given us is the Holy Spirit, “who leads into all truth.” That Spirit of truth “will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

We remain in the Vine that produces bountifully, and the Spirit reminds us daily of Christ’s words in us and keeps on teaching us . . .

Yup, sounds like a good connection that will produce truth in our lives, will make adjustments to our attitudes so we can live according to God’s instructions, and will keep us from weariness, hunger, trouble, anguish, and dark despair.

Spirit, keep my connection strong.

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Scripture: Isaiah 8:20-22; John 14:17,26 (all NLT)