When Santa Learned The Gospel

Everyone is on the naughty list until they receive God's perfect gift.

Video: When Santa Learned The Gospel

Follow Santa's journey in this unique Christmas fable as he learns about Jesus' message of grace and discovers what it means for both the naughty and the nice.

This video sits alongside the book, written by Simon Camilleri and published by 10Publishing.

(No compensation for any links.)

From Naughty

Romans 3:10-12 As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous- not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one."

Ephesians 2:12 NLT In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.

All around the world the message has been told that trying to be good enough is good enough. That's the message that we are told in the story of Santa, it's the best that Santa could hope for, if people were good enough then he would get to keep his job.

According to God's standards, no matter how well you do at being nice and keeping the rules, you are still on the naughty list. God's requirement for us is to be righteous, a word that we over use in our culture, so we fail to realize that the standard of righteousness is defined by God's holiness.

Holiness sounds like a crazy goal for anyone to be required to obtain, even God's people in the church neglect this principle so that we can be more acceptable to the world and not be seen as strange. But when you dig into God's word you will find out that the Bible has over 900 references to the holiness of God and it also tells us that we are required to be holy.

To Nice

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

1 Peter 1:21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

We need a rescue from our sin nature but we had no way to get away from the consequences that we deserved. Our situation was just like God's chosen people in Egypt, enslaved to the kingdom of darkness, we didn't have any hope of getting out unless God sent a rescuer.

The good news of the gospel is the only way that we can get on God's list that he will check. When he opens the Book of Life my name will be on his list because of his forgiveness that I could have only received from him by accepting Jesus work on the cross.

RELATED ARTICLES

Why Do I Need A Savior? (thebonhoefferproject.com)

Jesus Didn't Call Us To Be Nice (relevantmagazine.com)

Why Do We Need A Savior? (gotquestions.org)

The Peace Of God With Us

God's people will have peace when sin is defeated.

Isaiah 9:1-5 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

2 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. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 

4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.

God redeemed his people from Egypt and ended their slavery to that kingdom of darkness but it didn't last forever. Another dark kingdom would come along and oppress God's people again and again but most of the time it was their own fault. 

God was using the nations to reprimand his people, they are living in the same darkness as the rest of the world because they are living just like the rest of the world. Despite the warnings from God through Moses that they were given before they even got to the Promised Land they have failed to live by God's standards over and over again. (Deuteronomy 31:14-30, 32:1-47)

Since Israel refused to be a light to the nations God eventually chose to punish his people, the one nation became two and later they both were defeated. First the Northern Kingdom was taken away by the Assyrians 800 years before Jesus comes, and then the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians 200 years later.

The people of Isaiah's day needed the message of hope that peace was coming to their nation. The message of peace was received by King Ahaz that he would have victory over his enemy but there is more to the prophecy than that, there was a distant prophecy and also another application of the prophecy that we are still waiting for thousands of years later.

God's message through Isaiah told about a new ruler, that would be victorious over their enemies, a ruler that will bring true peace that will end all wars. It sounds like God must be sending a mighty warrior to save the day but suddenly we get a prediction that a baby boy is on the way.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 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!

They wanted a great military victory that would get rid of their enemy forever but that's not the way God works. The people living in darkness that heard Isaiah speak these words probably didn't find much comfort in the announcement of a baby. They wanted to immediately see a great light of hope that would give them the peace that was promised in the previous verses.

One of the most difficult things to understand is why God loves to send a baby to do a man's job. Why can't a full grown man arrive on the scene and take care of things right away? We want someone with strength, know how and determination but God prefers to send a special baby to do the job.

Jesus first advent was prophesied for hundreds of years and then there was another 400 years of silence after Malachi. When baby Jesus finally arrives it is very similar to the situation when God's people were in bondage to Egypt. 

Back when they were in Egypt for 400 years without a word from God, there was a baby that would eventually be their savior, he would have to be protected from Pharaoh, and then the baby reached 80 years old before his ministry began. 

The light of the world came in peace to be with us.

Luke 1:78-79 Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

If you look at world history in Europe and the Middle East for hundreds of years before Jesus arrival you will begin to understand how miserable the conditions are when Jesus is born. The Promised Land has been invaded by many different countries, various world powers will rise and fall, many of them will invade Israel, including Jerusalem, and the temple.

Finally God is with us, up close and personal, but without the fear that was always present back in the Old Testament. When God came to us as a baby there wasn't any restrictions on who could see or touch him. But, as accessible as he was and as exciting as the news was, his arrival was unnoticed by almost everyone.

Eventually the baby grew up and although he did nothing wrong, he became a disappointment for his people, they were just like King Ahaz, they wanted a military victory. They wanted a savior from today's problems but Jesus came to solve their eternal problem.

The final war that will bring us permanent peace is on the way.

Daniel 7:13-14 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal-it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

There will be a final war to set-up the eternal kingdom of our savior, God's people will rejoice at his arrival and his final victory over evil. (Isaiah 9:3-5) The everlasting kingdom of the Messiah will give permanent rest for his people but the sad truth is this peace is not for everyone. 

God's peace will be rejected by the enemy and the children of the enemy, they will not survive the harvest that Jesus told us about at the end of the age. You must accept God's offer of peace before it is too late, those that are not a part of the kingdom now cannot become citizens of his kingdom later. (Matthew 13:36-43)

Peace in this world can only happen if you have peace with God. 

My ultimate enemy has been defeated and I have accepted God terms to make peace with him. Even in the worse chaos I know that I am secure for eternity in God's eternal kingdom of peace. 

When this world has no peace to offer I need to remember that: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

RELATED ARTICLES

What Happened Between the Old and New Testament? (olivetree.com)

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Advent Word Study: Yakhal / Hope

A video by BibleProject.com

Video: Advent Word Study: Yakhal / Hope 

The Hope Of God With Us 

God's people don't need to look for hope in anything or anybody other than him.

The Hope Of Christmas

You're still the light when the world looks dark and you're still the hope of my heart.

The Best News Ever

Because of Jesus I have an incredible hope.

The Hope Of God With Us

God's people don't need to look for hope in anything or anybody other than him.

Isaiah 7:10-14 Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.” 12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”

13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

God's people are in the Promised Land, but they are not living the lifestyle that they promised. God's chosen people have turned their backs on God's way to live which they enthusiastically promised just a few hundred years earlier. (Exodus 24:1-18)

If they made the right choices their obedience would continue the special favor that they had already received from God. They would continue to receive so many blessings including security and abundance so that all the nations around them would glorify God. (Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

Pleasing God is the most important thing in the world and the only way to please him is to become like him and that means being holy. Not only are they not holy but God's people are just as bad as the nations around them.

Isaiah 1:4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are- loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

Their lack of holiness will bring about their ruin, the nation has already split into two and God has promised that he will discipline his people. They will be "cut down" until there isn't any visible signs of life. But God would keep his promise to bring Messiah through the lineage of King David. God will cut his people down but out of the tree stump a holy branch will appear. (Isaiah 6:9-13, 11:1)

King Ahaz had a great opportunity to do the right thing when the alliance of Syria and Israel threatened to come after Judah to force them into their coalition. The alliance of Rezin, of Syria, and Pekah, of Israel, will fail to force Judah to join them and they will also fail against the Assyrians. (2 King 16:5-20, 17:5-18 and also in 2 Chronicles 28:5-27)

God gives his people hope in spite of their disobedience.

(Isaiah 7:1-9)

King Ahaz was afraid of the future like trees shaking in a storm (Isaiah 7:2) and fear of the wicked schemes of man. (Isaiah 7:4-6) His fears sent him to Assyria for help instead of trusting God. Ahaz still gets another chance, even though he went to Assyria to get help, God still tells Ahaz through Isaiah that the threats coming against Judah will never be successful despite the fact that he didn't trust God for his future.

The nations can plot to come against God's people but it is God who decides the victory. Isaiah tells us what God thinks of their plans very clearly in Isaiah 7:7-8, 16. Don't be like Ahaz, he relied on his own wisdom instead of listening to the message from Isaiah that the feared invasion isn't going to happen. He should have accepted God's word as his source of hope and joy but if you don't have faith in God then you will have nothing but fear of the future. (Isaiah 7:9) 

God gives his people a sure sign of the hope of Messiah.

(Isaiah 7:10-16)

But God didn't just tell Ahaz that the plot against Judah would not succeed he also gave him a rare opportunity to ask God for any sign whatsoever that would prove what God said was true. Ahaz said that he wouldn't test God but he wasn't being strong in his faith, he had already tested God's patience by putting his faith in the strength of Assyria. 

Jon Courson's Application Commentary - “The Lord will indeed give you a sign,” Isaiah said. The word “you” is plural. Therefore, it speaks not only to Ahaz, but to all humanity through all of history. You who feel threatened, intimidated, pressed upon, worried, anxious—the Lord will give you a sign: A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son whose name means “God with us.”

At least 700 years before Jesus birth God gave a sign for his people to know that he is with them back then and will be in the future when the Messiah finally arrives. 

The folly and sin of seeking hope in man's wisdom.

(Isaiah 7:17-25)

Israel and Syria are described as smoldering sticks that are not going to exist much longer. Both of these countries would lose their military strength and become useless for protection. In Ahaz' lifetime he would see the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel but Judah would still survive.

Isaiah 2:22 Don't put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?

Isaiah 8:13 Make the LORD of Heaven's Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.

Assyria would prove to be the enemy of Judah and would destroy her but the promised survival of Judah would eventually lead to Hezekiah, a future Godly king that would lead the nation back to God.

God with us restores our hope.

The loss of "God with us" back in the Garden of Eden was restored for brief moments in the history of God's people. 

God was with his people when he:

• Moved them to Egypt to save them from famine. 
• Took them out of Egypt and made a nation of them.
• Gave them unexplainable military might.

God has always been with a chosen people that have known his presence in their lives but now we can celebrate the most wonderful news of "God with us" in a more personal way.

Matthew 1:22-23  All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

The son of God came as it was promised long ago to give us victory over our enemy! King Ahaz received the promise of victory over his enemy and now with the arrival of Jesus we can celebrate our own victory.

The New Testament writers quoted Isaiah more than any other prophet, Matthew makes the connection with the prophecies of Isaiah at least a dozen times to prove that Jesus is our God and also our savior.

God with us gives us eternal hope

The "God with us" doesn't have to end! God is with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we put our hope in Jesus, our Messiah, we will receive God with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

God's chosen people have never deserved the privilege that God has offered to us. We don't deserve it any more than the people we read about in the Old Testament. Our friendship with God has been restored by God's mercy and grace through our savior so that we can have victory over our enemy because God is with us. (Romans 5:1-11)

RELATED ARTICLES

Ten Key Verses On Hope (crossway.org)

Advent Word Study: Yakhal / Hope (bibleproject.com)

The Hope Of Christmas

You're still the light when the world looks dark and you're still the hope of my heart.

Video: Matthew West - The Hope of Christmas

Take me back to eight years old
The little church on a dead end road
With a candle flicker in one hand
And dad's hand in the other
Take me back to silent night
My heart was full and the world was right
'Cause right now the world looks nothin' like
Those innocent Decembers
These days peace on Earth is hard to find
And I need you to remind me one more time

You're still the hope of Christmas
You're still the light when the world looks dark
You're still the hope of Christmas
And You're still the hope of my heart

Watch the snowflakes fallin' down
Like a blanket on this town
For a moment we can hardly see
The pain this year has brought us
May the sick find healing's touch
May hatred's fight be one with love
And may every heart make room for You
The one who came to save us

'Cause You're still the hope of Christmas
You're still the light when the world looks dark
You're still the hope of Christmas
And You're still the hope of my heart
You're the hope of Christmas

I bowed my head to pray tonight
Felt my little girl by my side
She slipped her tiny hand in mine
And we both talked to You
And it took me back to 8 years old
My daddy's hand and a story told
About Heaven's love and the manger lo
And a promise that's still true

You're still the hope of Christmas
You're still the light when the world looks dark
You're still the hope of Christmas
And You're still the hope of my heart

Romans 15:13  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Christ, I Am

Accepted, secure and significant.

In Christ, I am accepted …

John 1:12 — I am God’s child.

John 15:15 — As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1 — I have been justified.

1 Corinthians 6:17 — I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 — I have been bought with a price, and I belong to God.

1 Corinthians 12:27 — I am a member of Christ’s body.

Ephesians 1:3-8 — I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.

Colossians 1:13-14 — I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.

Colossians 2:9-10 — I am complete in Christ.

Hebrews 4:14-16 — I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.

In Christ, I am secure …

Romans 8:1-2 — I am free from condemnation.

Romans 8:28 — I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.

Romans 8:31-39 — I am free from any condemnation brought against me, and I cannot be separated from the love of God.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 — I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.

Colossians 3:1-4 — I am hidden with Christ in God.

Philippians 1:6 — I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.

Philippians 3:20 — I am a citizen of heaven.

2 Timothy 1:7 — I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

1 John 5:18 — I am born of God, and the evil one cannot touch me.

In Christ, I am significant …

John 15:5 — I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine and a channel of His life.

John 15:16 — I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.

1 Corinthians 3:16 — I am God’s temple.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 — I am a minister of reconciliation for God.

Ephesians 2:6 — I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.

Ephesians 2:10 — I am God’s workmanship.

Ephesians 3:12 — I may approach God with freedom and confidence.

Philippians 4:13 — I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

Who Will You Trust?

God has a plan and a purpose for everything that comes into your life.

Habakkuk 2:4  “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

Habakkuk 2:14-16  For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD.

15  “What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness.  16  But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced. Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the LORD’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame.

---

Habakkuk cries out in desperation and asks God why he isn't doing something to end the evil and injustice that surrounds him. He is tired of the oppressive evil and injustice that he sees in the nation that is supposed to be God's chosen people. How can God allow his people to go on this way?

But when God replies, Habakkuk has to ask God if he really knows what he is doing, how can a notoriously more evil people be used to judge God's people that are less evil? (Habakkuk 1:12-17)

Habakkuk was waiting for an answer from God to help him understand what he is doing. God let's him know that Babylon will be judged and it will be more devastating than the judgment of God's people that Babylon is bringing.

We have to decide to trust and accept that God has a plan and a purpose for every good and bad thing that comes into our life.

Look at the proud! They trust in themselves.

In Habakkuk chapter two we can see that pride is at the center of the sins of the Babylonian culture. It's the same with us today, we long for acceptance and approval so we seek our own glory instead of God's, we never learn that self gratification never works.

Pride will leave us empty and always striving for more, we can win a contest, get a trophy and a lot of applause but when the attention fades away we are still looking for approval and acceptance. We can be like the Babylonians, we can conquer the world, but we will not find satisfaction unless we continue to exploit, abuse and conquer someone or something else.

Pride is a strange creature; it never objects to its lodgings. It will live comfortably enough in a palace, and it will live equally at its ease in a hovel. Is there any man in whose heart pride does not lurk?

-Spurgeon

The Babylonians sins are our sins, our evil culture looks too much like theirs, obviously we are slow learners because the history of sin continues to be repeated as we continue to do the same things that they did:

• Selfish ambition (Habakkuk 2:6-8), 
• Greed (Habakkuk 2:9-11), 
• Exploit people (Habakkuk 2:12-14), 
• Drunkenness and violence (Habakkuk 2:15-17) 
• Idolatry (Habakkuk 2:18-20).

Everybody that rejects God to live for themselves is going to keep doing the same sins and be shocked when they don't get a different result.

The righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

God's righteous people will admit that he is still in control and no matter what happens he never leaves his throne. God sees everything that we are going through just as he did in the Bible, look how many godly people went through extremely difficult experiences without losing faith.

It is difficult to understand that God is in control but scripture also tells us that we are responsible for our choices. In our minds it is an apparent contradiction that we cannot resolve, it is true that God is in control but it is equally true that we are not puppets and we get to choose because we have free will.

The righteous won't manipulate and use people, they won't look at others and think about what that person can do for them. I can treat people better because my glory and honor comes from God and his love and applause are all that should matter to me.

Habakkuk 2:20  But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.”

I need to stop complaining when difficult times come my way because he sends them for his purpose and his glory. I will trust God to take care of me and work everything out for my good because of his great love for me and my great love for him. (Romans 8:28)

I need to love God in all of his glory and allow him to remove my pride, I need to trust in his power and allow him to be my source of honor and glory.

Waiting On The Lord

There is hope greater than the darkest day I will ever face.

Habakkuk 2:1-4 I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint.

2 Then the LORD said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. 3 This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

4 “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

---

The man of God is right to be upset about the evil world that he lives in, Habakkuk complained to God about it and asked him why, why don't you do something, why have you let evil go unchecked for so long?

We can't help feeling this way if we have a godly perspective of sin, we should be bothered, we should be anxious for God to bring about his greatest promise, we should be yearning for the day when his righteous kingdom will come. (Matthew 6:10)

Habakkuk's complaint receives an answer from God that he doesn't like, the world around him is going to get worse, God is going to use a notoriously more evil people to punish his own chosen people. Man's wisdom says that God should punish the worst people first and work his way down the list to the next most evil people but God doesn't try to do things so that they make sense to our little brains.

God's plan is in motion and everything that happens is a part of that plan. Thankfully God gave us the book of Habakkuk so that we can learn how to face our struggles as we wait on the Lord.

Wait Patiently

The last thing that anybody wants to hear is "be patient" but that's exactly what Habakkuk did. When someone tells us to be patient, it probably means that we aren't behaving very well, it is much easier to blow up than it is to make a deliberate choice to be patient.

We have to decide for ourselves if the circumstances will make us better or bitter. We rarely look at these situations and consider the potential that we have to become more like the person God wants us to become or the person that the other people in your life wish we would become.

Wait With Perspective

It is easy to be overwhelmed and fearful when you are in the middle of the chaos but hope is also pretty easy to find if you change your perspective. If you are at the city gates and you see an attack coming you have every reason to be afraid but if you change your perspective by climbing the watchtower and you see reinforcements on the way it will set your mind at ease.

Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

That is the perspective that the apostle Paul had in the middle of his suffering, he suffered greatly but he viewed it all as a temporary setback that would amount to nothing in comparison to the glorious eternal future that he would enjoy.

Wait Obediently

The main qualification for sitting in the watchtower is watching, this is the last person that you want to find taking a nap, there has to be a commitment. The stakes are too high for such carelessness.

Instead of viewing waiting as a time to rest, think of being a waiter, one that is a servant or an attendant. Instead of being idle, you must keep being active, you don't stop praying, attending worship or studying the Bible just because you aren't getting anything out of it.

Wait Focused on God

When evil days are upon us and it seems like God is withholding his blessings from us, that's when we get to prove our motivation for being a child of God, that's when we prove why we are in a relationship with him.

The blessings and benefits are so great that we can easily focus on the gifts and not the giver of the gifts. Are we desiring the Lord or the Lord's things? Are you faithful even when you aren't getting anything out of it?

Satan's accusation against Job was that Job was loyal and loving toward God because he was getting the things. That's how most of us begin our relationship with God, we are at a tough spot in life that we want help with, it's okay to start there but God expects us to deepen our relationship with him so that it is a true love relationship instead of a self serving, exploitative relationship.

Wait Joyfully

Because of our faith we can live with the difficult circumstances and the evil days that we encounter, the gospel gives us a reason to have confidence in God’s wise and good control of our life, even in the worst of times.

One of the disadvantages of living in such a blessed society as we have is that we lose our joy so quick. The lives of God's people in the Bible were so much more difficult, the evil around them was so much greater, they suffered through evil invaders and they had very little comforts yet they tell us that we need to always have joy. (2 Corinthians 6:10, Philippians 4:4-8)

If we are waiting on him now then he will wait on us when he returns!

Luke 12:35-38 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded.

I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

I don't know how the good news of this parable gets so little attention. How could we overlook such an amazing promise that has been given to the servants that are ready and waiting for Jesus return? How can we lose our joy so easily?

Jesus left us behind to serve him as he prepares a place for us in his father's house, part of making the house ready will be setting the table for a grand feast, a celebration so spectacular that I will have to be given something good enough to wear.

After I am dressed in my new clothes, I will be waited on by my Savior, he will approach the table wearing servants clothes, he will pull the chair out and seat me at the table and then begin to serve me. How can anybody love me that much after I have betrayed them? (John 14:1-4, Revelation 19:6-8)

I need to wait on the Lord in the same way that he will wait on me, I need to serve him enthusiastically even in the darkest of days as I wait for his return, I can rise above the dark days around me because of the amazing future that you are preparing for me.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Just Shall Live By Faith (desiringgod.org)
Book of Habakkuk (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Excited About Jesus

Our desires can distract us from our greatest needs.

Luke 19:37-41  When He reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of His followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

38  "Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!"

39  But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, "Teacher, rebuke Your followers for saying things like that!"

40  He replied, "If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!"  41  But as He came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep.

---

From the beginning of Jesus ministry there was alway a lot of excitement, Jesus didn't go very many places quietly, there was a noisy crowd with him and his disciples just about everywhere that they went.

As Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem, the city was all worked up about Passover, there was the normal festival excitement but this was so much more than that. This Passover came at a time when the local news featured miraculous stories about a man born blind that could finally see, a dead man that came back to life after three days and then there was also the thousands of people that were fed from a sack lunch.

Could this Jesus be the political Messiah that we have been looking for and is he getting ready to announce that he is going to take charge?

The excitement had intensified to a higher level than ever, the rumors and speculation were all over the city. the crowds loved the drama and they often daydreamed about the possibilities. Everyone knew that they needed better leaders and Jesus seemed to be the one that could bring them a better life.

Jesus tried to make it crystal clear that he wasn't rising up to power but instead he would be going down to the grave. What they thought would be Jesus moment of glory would quickly turn out to be a great humiliation.

It is too bad that their excitement for what Jesus was doing didn't equate to love for Jesus, too bad they were more interested in the temporary benefits of Jesus in the physical realm and they didn't perceive or care about the benefits that he would offer them in the spiritual realm.

They remind me of the generations of people in the Old Testament that saw many signs and miracles, they got to experience God close up and witness such mighty deeds, they would taste of his goodness and delight in him but soon they would push him aside.

The people of Israel, on the heels of unthinkable miracles, with their pockets full of Egyptian jewelry, grumble at their less-than-five-star accommodations in the desert. This wasn't just headache-induced grumbling or low-blood-sugar complaining. This was faithlessness.

-John Piper

We like to criticize the people in the Bible but most of the time we are them. Our pockets are full, we have homes that are more accommodating than most of the world, our stomachs are overfilled, and just like the Israelites we grumble about the Lord's goodness and we pray for even more blessings.

When my excitement for Jesus is based on what he can do for me it won't take long for the thrill to go away. It is easy to love and serve him when there is a perceived return on our investment in this life but when the flow of blessings seems to slow down we are easily disappointed and our willingness to serve can disappear.

1 Corinthians 15:19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

Our hope in Christ should be for the eternal benefits but too often our hope is for Christ to provide the perceived needs that we think that we have in this world. We begin to use Jesus for what he can do for us down here in the physical realm rather than focusing on what we can do for him because of what he has done for us in the spiritual realm.

After Jesus resurrection and ascension the disciples got a new focus, they realized that the purpose of his ministry wasn't to give them a better life now, their excitement was based on the reality of a better life later in Heaven.

Just like the disciples, we can go from being disappointed with Jesus to become excited about Jesus again, if we realize that our hope in Christ goes beyond our current situation. It is okay to pray for a better job, restored relationships or for healing but if our hope becomes focused on the things of this life then we are going to be disappointed because we will never have everything our way.

Forgive me Lord for being so fickle, for losing my excitement and for trying to get you to fulfill my plans, I need to stay focused on your purpose for my life.

Simeon: A Song Of Hope

Jesus gives me hope for this life and for eternity.

 

Luke 2:25-32  At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 "Sovereign Lord, now let Your servant die in peace, as You have promised. 30 I have seen Your salvation, 31 which You have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and He is the glory of Your people Israel!"

---

The first two songs that are associated with the story begins with Mary's song of trust after she received the news of her pregnancy, her song is followed by the Angel's song declaring peace to the people that God is pleased with, the third song is a song of hope that is sung by Simeon.

We do not know very much about Simeon but what the Bible shares with us is enough. We know about the character and honor of this man, we know that God made a promise to him, and most importantly he believed the promise and God came through for him.

The Man's Character

He was a devout man that was right with God, from what we know of the other men of Jerusalem, he might have been the only one. Simeon was eagerly waiting, there was an expectation, for the arrival of the Messiah. I think that maybe he was like a kid that is waiting for Christmas morning.

We can see from these verses that Simeon's faith is mature, the fact that the Holy Spirit was upon him was an unusual occurrence at this time, this isn't said of many people before the Holy Spirit came to the early church after Jesus' resurrection.

Simeon endeavored to have a right relationship with God. He didn't go after God so that he would get something from God, he pursued God first before the promises came along, Simeon knew that he should seek the giver, not the gifts that he can provide.

The Promise Comes

Simeon is still living with the power of the Holy Spirit when Jesus is brought to the temple. Can you imagine the commotion that he must have made as he rushed to see Jesus? What did Jesus' parents think about this old guy rushing up to hold their son?

What did the people around them think about the prophecy that Simeon made about Jesus? It seems that nobody else in the temple that day had any idea what was happening. They must have been cold spiritually to ignore the excitement and the prophecy of this old man. The light of the world, the glory of God's people was here and yet there wasn't any response from anybody else.

My Source Of Hope
Romans 15:13  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Since I have been made right with God, I also have the same hope that Simeon had, this is the state of mind that all of God's children have. The righteousness of Jesus has been transferred onto me so that I am right with God and I have the hope of seeing the Messiah some day.

The hope that comes from God will give you peace and joy that will get you through the difficult times that you experience in this world. This hope will also give you peace and joy when you realize that the end of your life on earth is near, there will not be any reason to fret or worry about dying, this hope is good for today and will stay with you for eternity.

1 Peter 1:3  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

The resurrection of Jesus is proof that I will also rise. Praise God for such an awesome Christmas gift! I will rejoice despite the waiting for my hope to be realized. I will continue to live for Jesus each day out of gratitude for the hope that I could never deserve.

RELATED ARTICLE:

How Advent Teaches Us To Wait Well (crossway.org)

Better

God is in control so you know it will get better.

Video: Hezekiah Walker "Better"

People come, People go

Your life has been

Out of control

You're confused

Don't worry your soul

It will get better

Better

It will get better

Better

It will get better

God is in control

Find your praise

Within your heart

Hold it close

Don't ever depart

It gets cold in the night

But you'll be alright

Whatever state I find myself in

I learned how to be secure

Knowing that God

Will supply all my needs

And He'll work things out for my good

---

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Trusting God Beyond Reason

God doesn't need my help to figure out how to take care of my needs.

John 4:46-50 As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine.

There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. 47  When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.

48  Jesus asked, "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?"

49  The official pleaded, "Lord, please come now before my little boy dies."

50  Then Jesus told him, "Go back home. Your son will live!" And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.

---

Who was this government official that was so humble that he didn't send for Jesus but rather he inconvenienced himself and made the journey to Cana?

This guy has a plan and he is determined to make it happen. He believed in his plan enough to make the trip to Cana so that he could have Jesus come to his home and perform a miracle. He had faith that Jesus could heal him but then Jesus tested his faith and told him to go back home with nothing but a promise.

Imagine going home empty handed without Jesus. This guy's plans didn't work out, he doesn't have Jesus coming back to heal his son, all he has is Jesus promise that it is handled.  If I were there I probably would have wanted a house call from Jesus, something tangible that I could use to explain how my request was going to be fulfilled, but this guy took Jesus at his word and walked away with nothing.

Wouldn't that be a long walk back home? What would he say to his friends and family as he got closer to home? Faith steps into the unknown because Jesus said so. I would probably wonder if I did the right thing when I walked away from Jesus or if I should have insisted that he come with me.

Sometimes we ask God to work but we also want to tell him how to do it, we try and take control or give God some advice on some of the options that are available, we have to remind ourselves that God is God and he is going to do things that are beyond our reasoning and if he says that he has taken care of something then it is done. 

With the opportunities that we have of knowing the whole life of Christ, and understanding the doctrines of the gospel as they are revealed to us in the New Testament, with many years of observation and experience, our faith ought to be much stronger than it is.

- Charles Spurgeon

It is a shame that we have so much revelation about Jesus and yet we find it difficult to trust him. The people of Jesus day didn't have a bunch of Bibles on their shelves at home, they didn't have the fellowship of believers and they didn't have the death and resurrection to strengthen their faith in him, we have so much more reason to believe today and yet we have weak faith.

Jeremiah 17:5,7 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence."

I need to live by faith and not by sight, not in the things that I can figure out on my own, not in telling God how to do it but allowing him to have complete control.

Help us to have faith and trust in you every day for every detail of our lives, I want to trust you even when it doesn't seem reasonable.

Great Turn Arounds

These guys needed to be saved from politics, philosophy and religion.

The Ethiopian meets Philip

Acts 8:30-31 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

Philip was making disciples in Samaria and with great results, the crowds were amazed at the message and the power that Philip had. Philip enjoyed great success there but instead of moving on to another town and doing it again God tells him that he has an appointment in the desert. (Acts 8:4-13, 8:26)

The Ethiopian was a government official from North Africa, he was reading from the Old Testament, he feared God but he didn't understand the teaching about the Messiah. (Acts 8:26-40)

Saul meets Ananias

Acts 9:3-5 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!

Saul was a very religious man, born in Tarsus and moved to Jerusalem, he was trained in Judaism by a famous Rabbi. (Acts 22:3)

Saul has been zealous in his efforts to get rid of the Christ followers, he thought he was doing God a favor until he meets Jesus in a beam of light shining down from heaven.

Cornelius meets Peter

Acts 10:21-22 So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?” They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.”

Cornelius was a military man in the Roman army, he was a good guy that believed in God, prayed and did nice things for those around him. In response to Cornelius faith God had a plan for him to meet Peter. (Acts 10:1-8)

Three very different guys with very different backgrounds. A man of politics, a man of philosophy, and a man that is very religious all have the same need. They all share the same heartache that is caused by sin, they all have a hunger for more in life and they all need help dealing with their situation.

1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

There is hope! These guys were not stuck on a road to disaster without an escape, they have been given an opportunity to make a U-turn.

All three men were told about the hope that had just recently been revealed, hope that is rooted in Jesus and his work that he did on the cross, hope that is secure because they saw him come back from the grave.

Repent And Be Refreshed

Acts 3:19-20  Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.  Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and He will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.

These three men from totally different backgrounds were impacted by the message of hope. When the gospel reached them they were caught up in the politics, philosophy and religion but they realized that their thinking was all wrong.

Their belief systems could not bring them to the satisfaction that comes from the living hope that we have in Jesus. All of them were open to the gospel message and the results of their faith helped take the gospel to the nations.

1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Thank you Lord!

It Is Well

The sky, not the grave is our goal!

 Video: It Is Well With My Soul - BYU Vocal Point

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18  That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever

Have you known that kind of peace in the midst of chaos in your life? Have you felt God’s love when you’ve walked through a tragedy?

In Christ, it can be well for you whatever the circumstance. He died for you. He sympathizes with your pain. He stays with you. And he promises to deliver you to himself, where he will forever guard you perfectly from sin, death, suffering, and grief.

Overcome The World

Our Savior has overcome and he promises that we will too.

 

John 16:29-33 Then His disciples said, "At last You are speaking plainly and not figuratively. 30 Now we understand that You know everything, and there's no need to question You. From this we believe that You came from God."

31 Jesus asked, "Do you finally believe? 32 But the time is coming--indeed it's here now--when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving Me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with Me.

33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

---

The fact that you have the technology to see this blog post and choose to read it or click away to something else says that you probably have a very comfortable life. The odds are that you probably live in a culture that offers you a comfortable lifestyle, beautiful stuff at your side, and instant everything that requires little effort.

But there are some of you that have had a miserable existence, I am not talking about people that have first world country problems, these people have nothing easy or comfortable about their life. People that you loved and trusted have let you down, friendless, beat up and unloved, you find yourself all alone and hopeless.

That is the kind of people that Jesus had around him during his stay on earth, his people were beat-up and tired, they had been raided by foreign governments and their own religious leaders didn't have anything to offer.

Jesus Was A Man Of Sorrows

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.

Imagine living here after being in heaven for all of eternity past, imagine starting life over as a child, a child that is fully God but also fully man. You get cold, feel pain and you require sleep just like everybody else yet you are also God.

Imagine leaving the perfection of the best place ever to come to a broken world so that you can go head to head with your worst enemy. What would it be like to know that you were here for the sake of dying for people that don't like you and for friends that would turn their back and run. (John 13:37-38)

Jesus gave up a lot to come and be "God with us" but he didn't show any sorrow about what he lost by leaving heaven. The main source of his sorrow was for the condition of man and the fact that they rejected the only hope that could ever help.

  Video: Tenth Avenue North - I Have This Hope

Jesus Had The Best Friend

I am not alone because the Father is with Me.

The disciples’ faith was strengthened by Jesus’ words but it wouldn't be enough to pass the test that was coming. In a few hours they would scatter in fear but Jesus said that he had a close friend that was better than his earthly friends that he could count on.

Jesus had confidence in God and he was dedicated to God's plan. At his time of death he was able to say, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

Jesus Best Friend Can Be Mine

I have overcome the world.

The victory that Jesus had over Satan makes it possible for me to become friends with God. Jesus worst enemy is also mine but thankfully Jesus closest friend can also be mine as well. I can have a close intimate relationship with God through my faith in Jesus as my substitute for the punishment that I deserved.

Since Jesus overcame I know that I will overcome, I can rise above this evil world and I can live without the horror of death, I can have the same confidence that Jesus had that death is not the end.

We can be encouraged by five aspects of God’s love and grace:

1. There is always hope in Christ for future spiritual growth. (John 16:25) 2. Be encouraged by your privilege in prayer. (John 16:26) 3. Be encouraged by the Father’s special love and grace. (John 16:27) 4. Be encouraged by God’s sovereign plan of salvation. (John 16:28) 5. Be encouraged that ultimately your peace is in Christ, not in your performance. (John 16:29-33) Overcoming Spiritual Failure - Steven Cole on Bible.org

Jesus Disciples Overcome

Every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.

God is still governing this world, don't let the daily battle get you down and cause you too much grief, there aren't any term limits on God's reign. He is in charge of the circumstances around us and he always will be. What we see as chaos isn't a surprise or a source of concern to him.

This is not my home, and I will never feel perfectly at peace and perfectly comfortable here but I must continue to the the good works that he has planned or me to do until the day I die and overcome this world just as Jesus did.

RELATED ARTICLES

How Can Jesus Be God And Man? (desiringgod.org)

What Does The Bible Say About Sadness? (gotquestions.org)

Be Confident In God’s Strength In You (pastorrick.com)

A Bad Day

The worst day in history is the source of our greatest joy.

 

John 16:16-24 "In a little while you won't see Me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see Me again." 17 Some of the disciples asked each other, "What does He mean when He says, 'In a little while you won't see Me, but then you will see Me,' and 'I am going to the Father'? 18 And what does He mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand."

19 Jesus realized they wanted to ask Him about it, so He said, "Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won't see Me, but a little while after that you will see Me again. 20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to Me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. 21 It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world.

22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. 23 At that time you won't need to ask Me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and He will grant your request because you use My name. 24 You haven't done this before. Ask, using My name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

---

Have you found yourself enduring a bad day? Maybe a week or a month or even a longer season of life that was incredibly difficult. No matter what the length of the trial, getting through it can seem impossible, without hope you can get so caught up in the situation that you become stuck.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples, it is Thursday night just after a rather eventful supper, first there was a confusing situation with Jesus acting like a servant, then there was the departure of their friend Judas, followed by the prediction that Peter would deny Jesus.

Jesus keeps talking about leaving them, where is he going? They were supposed to be governors in his kingdom! If he is going to die then how will we see him again in a little while? Why isn't Judas back yet?

The disciples are at the beginning of the worst days in their life, soon they will see their best friend be brutally beaten, none of them can see that this dark moment is going to be the best thing that could ever happen. I cannot imagine seeing a friend die in such agony. We like to think that we would have done better but I doubt that we would given the confusing and desperate situation.

They couldn't understand that the cross that brought them so much grief was going to be their greatest source of hope. Jesus spent a lot of time letting them know what was coming and encouraging them to refuse to give up hope.

Why does he give us joy? He is a sensitive Savior (Psalm 103:13-14) He is a suffering Savior (Hebrews 4:15, 5:7, 12:3) He is a risen Savior (1 Corinthians 15:17) The apostles were transformed from fearful, defeated, confused men into bold witnesses who were willing to suffer and die because they saw the risen Lord Jesus. How does he give us joy? Showing us the glory of the cross (Acts 2:23; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30) Giving us an eternal perspective (Psalm 73:1-28) Being our mediator (John 16:23-24) Showing us a risen Savior (1 Peter 1:8) Sorrow Turned Into Joy - Steven Cole on Bible.org

Your grief will be temporary, your joy will be timeless!

Jesus doesn't minimize their sorrow or tell them to man up. The same love and compassion that brought him down here to live in this dark world is the same love and compassion that wants to ease the sorrow as he prepares his closest friends for his departure.

There is no way that they could understand that the bad days that are coming are nothing compared to the joy that is on the way. (Romans 8:17-18) They will soon realize that the very event that brought them all of this sorrow is the source of their eternal joy.

My worst day is nothing compared to the days that were coming toward the disciples.  I need to remember that Jesus is just as compassionate about my bad days as he was to his disciples. He would tell me that I will see him soon and all of my sadness will be turned into joy.

The disciples excitement and joy after the resurrection is nothing compared to the joy that we will experience when we step into heaven and see Jesus in our forever home. Think about that when life gets hard.

Magnify

I don't need to see everything just more of Jesus.

 Video: Magnify by We Are Messengers

I've been trying to make sense of the sorrow that I feel

Holding on for life to the only thing that's real

I've only scratched the surface, I've barely had a taste

But just a glimpse draws my heart to change

And one sight of you lays my sin to waste

I don't need to see everything, just more of you

Take it all, take it all away

Magnify no other name

Open up, open up my eyes

To you

Take it all, take it all away

Magnify no other name

Open up, open up my eyes

To you

My sight is incomplete and I've made you look small

I've been staring at my problems for way too long

Re-align where my hope is set, until you're all that's left

But just a glimpse draws my heart to change

And one sight of you lays my sin to waste

I don't need to see everything, just more of you

Oh God, be greater, than the worries in my life

Be stronger, than the weakness in my mind

Be louder, let your Glory come alive

Be magnified

The sorrow that we all carry because of our sin can only be relieved when our hearts are changed by the gospel. When my eyes really saw Jesus for the first time I could agree with the lyrics "just a glimpse draws my heart to change."

Psalm 34:3  Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! 

Now my sorrows are lifted, my sins are forgiven and my problems in life are not as big as they seemed before I saw how big my Jesus is. This song reminds me of the old hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." The things of life will grow strangely dim next to his glory and grace!

Is your focus is in the right place? Is he magnified? Are you trying to get all of the answers to why you are struggling or can you say "I don't need to see everything, just more of you?"

The Space Between Grief And Hope

God wants us to face overwhelming trials with faith as we draw near to our hope in Jesus.

John 11:23-27  Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again."  24  "Yes," Martha said, "he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day."

25  Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying.  26  Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?"

27  "Yes, Lord," she told Him. "I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who has come into the world from God."

---

A lot of people are unhappy and confused about Jesus, the message that Lazarus was sick and needed his help had reached Jesus in plenty of time. Some of the people at the funeral were baffled by the fact that Jesus could have just spoke the words and Lazarus would be healed without Jesus coming to see him.

Four days later Lazarus' family was dealing with their loss when the word gets back to the house that Jesus has made his way into their village. How could he show up so late? When the message about Lazarus was given to him he wasn't that far away so where has he been? There isn't much that can be done now.

Jesus encourages her with the thought that she will see her brother again and that death isn't a permanent condition for God's children. Jesus asked her if she believed and she confirmed that she knew that he is the Messiah but that hope didn't get rid of her grief. Jesus didn't expect it to end her sadness, he didn't ask her if she felt better now that she had that resurrection theology straight in her head, according to Jesus it was not how she felt that was important, but what she believed.

Ephesians 2:6  For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

We have amazing hope but still there is an empty void that will not be filled right away, if ever, so we still have grief but it is tempered with the hope that we will be reunited with that person again. This trial will test our faith, it is a lot easier to talk about our faith as a theory than it is to exercise it, it is easier to believe that all things work together for good than it is to believe that this individual trial is for good.

There are seven qualities of overcoming faith that will help us work through life’s overwhelming trials and losses:

1. Overcoming faith takes overwhelming trials to the Lord.
2. Overcoming faith trusts that God is in control of all our circumstances.
3. Overcoming faith does not limit God.
4. Overcoming faith trusts in the promises of God regarding eternity.
5. Overcoming faith personally applies God’s truth in the present.
6. Overcoming faith centers in the person of Jesus Christ.
7. Overcoming faith believes what it knows and grows from there.

From Bible.org "Overcoming Faith"

As Jesus approached Mary and Martha differently he does the same for us, with Martha he talked to her about her belief but with Mary he sympathized and wept with her. Jesus told us that apart from him we cannot do anything and if we have have him we can do anything but sometimes our emotions overrule the facts.

Emotions Are Okay
John 11:33-36  When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within Him, and He was deeply troubled. "Where have you put him?" He asked them. They told Him, "Lord, come and see." Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, "See how much He loved him!"

Emotions are okay, even Jesus was emotional, our emotions can be opportunities to grow. In our grief we learn to pray, in our weakness we learn of his strength, in our sorrow we learn more fully about his grace.

All of this annoys us, none of it is fun or comfortable but God knows that we grow more like him the most when our lives are less satisfied with the things of earth. If we were fully content and satisfied with our time here on earth then we wouldn't long for heaven so much.

1 Thessalonians 4:13, 18  And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. So encourage each other with these words.

You may be tempted to run the other way but you should come to Jesus. We tend to think that God doesn't love us when we suffer, we think that our circumstances are proof of the level of love that Jesus has for us and bad stuff must happen because he is angry with us. (Romans 8:35-37)

Grief doesn't stop happening but we also have hope that should never stop. That's where we are until Jesus returns, somewhere between grief and hope.

Hope And Glory

Jesus is the only one that can heal our land.

Hear our cry, Oh King of heaven 

Jesus hope to every heart 

We are lost, without Your glory 

We are lost, without you God 

Be the fire, that burns within us

Flames of love that purify

Send the power and Your salvation

Let us see Your kingdom come

Only You can move the mountain

Only You can heal our land

Chris alone our hope and glory

Chris alone in You we stand

Turn Your eyes and show us mercy

How we need Your Father’s love

Lead us home and out of darkness

With Your gospel burning bright

Only You can move the mountain

Only You can heal our land

Christ alone our hope and glory

Christ alone in You we stand

(Repeat)

We believe our God is mighty

We believe our God is here

We believe our King is coming

Christ alone in You we stand

Praise the Lord our God is mighty

Praise the Lord our God is here

Praise the Lord our King is coming

Christ alone in You we stand

This Is My Story

Do you need God to change the direction of your story?

Big Daddy Weave - "This Is My Story" 

If I told you my story
You would hear Hope that wouldn't let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear Love that never gave up
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life, but it wasn't mine

If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him

If I told you my story
You would hear victory over the enemy
And if I told you my story
You would hear freedom that was won for me
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life overcome the grave

If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior all the day long

For the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell
For the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior all the day long 

Proclaim His Greatness
1 Chronicles 16:8-9 Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.

My story is a story of:

✔  Hope
✔  Love
✔  Life
✔  Victory
✔  Freedom

It is an amazing story that should have never happened, you have to realize that I didn't do anything to deserve the story, it is only through God's grace that my story has a new twist in the plot.

The story didn't look good when it started but God has taken all of the broken pieces that I made of my life and made me a new creation.

You can Find Peace With God today and he will turn your story around.