Christian hope

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Christ’s Birth: Immanuel !

I want a fresh Advent every day of this season. 

I do not want to commemorate a historical event. I do not want to get swept away by the commercial blitz. I do not want one short Christmas Eve service or children’s program or holiday concert to be the only occasion to think about a birth that changed my life and my hopes.

I want Him to come into my life now, today, every day, alive and powerful. I want the Spirit to birth new things in me.

And the good news is, that is exactly what Jesus said would happen!

Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.” 
   (John 14:23)

What hope, comfort, encouragement — and awe — there is in this promise: The Father, the Son, and the Spirit will come and make their home with each child of God.

For those who long to know the Father better, this promise alone is enough to dwell upon today ….

“…we will come and make our home with each of them.”

Come, Father, Jesus, Spirit into all of my days.　

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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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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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Transforming Light

“The whole earth is full of his glory.” That song of the seraphim has come to mind almost daily in the last week, as I watch the world turn red and gold.

I remember this day in the woods with a friend as a walk through golden air.

Today is gray and rainy, and I’m reminded again how light can change everything, even when darkness is threatening and clouds hang over us.

Yesterday my almost-three-year-old grandson visited me. He looked around and said, “There are lights shining everywhere.”

Yes, I am a lamp freak. Some women can’t resist a sale on shoes; I like to shop for lamps. The right lighting, in my opinion, can transform a room.

And this is what I want: the glory of the Lord filling my heart-house, shining its light everywhere, transforming me.

This old commandment — to love one another — is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you are also living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

Love is the basis of so much of Jesus’ teaching. Loving God. Loving one another. Loving even your enemies. But how hard that is to actually live out!

This verse is a comfort to me. It assures me that the Spirit is working in me to banish dark places of my heart, to shine the true Light that transforms me and makes me more and more like Christ Himself.

That is one of the hopes we have as Christians. The Light changes us! We learn to live the truth of Jesus’ commands, especially that all-important-but-really-tough command to love one another.

And as we are changed, the Light shines more brightly, transforms situations and relationships, brings God’s truth to the corner of the world where we spend our days.

Yes, Lord, this is what I want: the darkness disappearing, the true Light shining!

And I believe that verse refers not just to each disciple of Christ, but also to His church as a body. His kingdom is now. His light transforms now. He fills us with His glory and transforms us — and the world around us — with His light, as His church lives the truth of His commandment to love one another.

　

Scripture: Isaiah 6:3 (NIV); 1 John 1:7-8 (NLT)