Christmas: Recent Episodes
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Welcome to day 36 of Lent.Matthew 21:12-13 says, “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, ad he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”How quickly the emotions of the drama of Jesus’s last journey changes! After the crowds who shouted “Hosana!”, the story takes a radical turn. This is another of the signs of messianic prophecy that we think we understand but need to examine more closely. We see her the holy anger of Jesus more than at almost any other moment in his life.Do you know why he was so angry? Is it only about commerce in the temple? Why does he call the sellers thieves? What is the zeal that consumed him in this moment? Why did he overturn those tables? What can we learn from our Savior’s holy anger? How can his zeal become our hope? These are the questions begging to be answered as we consider this moment in Jesus’s journey to the cross.As Jesus enters Jerusalem, he knows he is on a mission of saving grace, and he knows how far that grace will extend. He knows that what is happening in the temple is not only a violation of his Father’s house, of promises made to Abraham but also of what he came to earth to accomplish. Without care for what people will think of him, he is driven by righteous values and holy anger to act on behalf of those unable to act for themselves.Parallel passages of this event are also found in Mark 11:15-19 and in Luke 19:45-48. Three of the four Gospels record this event. Maybe we should study this deeper. And as you do, answer these questions:
- What was Jesus angry about? What were the money changers doing wrong?
- What fills your heart with righteous anger? Where do you see modern-day money changers, and what are you called to do about it?
- It’s easy to put ourselves on Jesus’s side here, but how might you be guilty of some of the same sins as the moneychangers?
Yesterday marked the first day of Holy week where we think about, dwell upon, and meditate on the last few days before Jesus goes to the cross. We’ve spent 34 days thinking about what took Jesus to get here. We’ve talked about our sin, our confession, the brokenness in our world, the future redemption we await, and the faithfulness of God through all of it.And so as we start this week, let’s think about the purpose that Jesus lived his last week with. Every moment was magnified. Every conversation was focused. In every relationship, he leaned into a little bit more because he knew that in the next few days, the world would be turned upside down.Have you ever lived with that kind of purpose? Have you ever been so in tune with the Holy Spirit and your place in the world that you saw every moment from the significant to the mundane as a purposeful moment given to you for your sanctification?It reminds me of Brother Lawrence. He’s a 17th-century French Carmelite monk. He decided that he would devote his life to intimacy with Christ out of love and reverence for him. And so he viewed every situation as if he would have the presence of God with him. In the book Practicing the Presence of God, he writes, “I cannot imagine how religious persons can live satisfied without the practice of the presence of GOD. For my part I keep myself retired with Him in the depth of centre of my soul as much as I can; and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; but the least turning from Him is insupportable.”What if today, you remind yourself often that every work you do, from the drive to work to the meeting with your boss, picking up kids from school, cooking dinner, and whatever you do today, you did it acknowledging the presence of God with you and out of a heart of love and affection for the God who wants to be near.
There's this old story about Lazarus having to go before the religious rulers. Now we don't know if it's a true story or if someone made it up but nonetheless, it speaks to a bigger idea that many of the first century Christians lived by. It goes something like this:Lazarus was preaching about the death and resurrection of Jesus for salvation when the religious leaders arrest him and bring him before their council. They tell him that he cannot preach about Jesus anymore and must be quiet about what he claims to have seen. He boldly says "no, I will continue to speak boldly about Jesus." They say we will put you in prison if you continue to speak and he responds with "then I will speak it to the jailers." Finally, Caiaphas, the High Priest, says, "Lazarus, if you continue to preach about Jesus, we'll kill you!" Lazarus began to chuckle a little bit and responded. "Kill me, you are going to kill me. I've been dead and the one you are charging me to stop preaching about brought me back to life. Death is Dead!"Imagine going through the rest of your life with no fear of pain or death because you've experienced Jesus' power over it. That's what Paul is talking about in Romans 8:37-39. He says, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."When we think of our lives, we can find hope and power in the knowledge that death is dead. There is nothing that anyone can do to separate us from God's love. As we continue our Lent season, let us remember that the work done on the cross of Christ sets us free from fear and anxiety over death. But let it also remind us that we can now live lives of radical submission to Jesus.
I love comedy. I love to be funny. Mostly I use sarcasm to make jokes. The problem with that is that it’s usually at someone else’s expense. Sometimes I cross the line and I hurt feelings. I didn’t mean to hurt someone’s feelings but in my self-centered quest to be funny, it happens. If you really knew my heart, you would always just laugh a long with me.When Jesus is making his journey toward the cross, there is nothing funny about it. In fact, it exposes the heart of Jesus and it’s a beautiful thing. From the manger to the cross, in Jesus, we see tenderness, humility, sympathy, patience, love, faithfulness, grace, generosity, and more. But as his heart is revealed, ours is too, and the contrast is not only deeply humbling but it also exposes just how much we need the sacrificial death that Jesus is heading towards.Take a minute and read Mark's chapter 2. You will clearly see the contrast between the human heart and the heart of Jesus. Did you see it?Peter, James, and John all witness the glory of Jesus on the Mountain of Transfiguration, and Jesus said to not tell anyone about it. You have to wonder how they carried this spectacular secret in their hearts without telling anyone.After this, Jesus raised a boy from the dead. There is no greater power in this world than the power of resurrection. Jesus went on to tell his disciples that he too would die but come back to life. I don’t think they heard that second part because it says they were sad about this news.Jesus had the power over death, but he did not exercise that power to save his own life. He knew his glory and his power but he also knew his calling. Matthew 20:28 says that Jesus came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So you would think that after three years, his disciples would understand this.But at the end of Mark chapter 2, Jesus sees his disciples arguing. And what are they arguing about? Who among them is the greatest? Really? As the greatest one who ever lived and was willing to march to a criminal’s death, his disciples were arguing about who among them is the greatest.I wish I could say that I can’t relate, but I can. I sadly share this heart, and probably, so do you. I like to be the center of attention. I like to have the strongest argument. I like to be in control.As long as sin still lives inside me, I will still have moments when I want to be great, and when I do, I demonstrate how much I need the grace of this glorious and powerful Jesus, who did not save himself but willingly died to save people like me from myself. On the road to the cross, not only the heart of Jesus is exposed, but ours is too. And let me finish with this, Because of the glory and the power and the calling of Jesus on the cross, there is grace for everything that gets exposed.
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a story about a young man who as a teenager was involved in shooting a gas station attendant. He got away with it for years. He became a Christian, got married, had children, and even became a Youth Minister. But he had a secret that was eating him up. He confessed to his wife what he had done as a teenager and then he confessed to his church. He turned himself in and it was all over the media. He did a few years in jail and when he got out, the church would not hire him back and he became a plumber. I asked him if he regretted confessing to the murder and he said no, not at all. He knew God wanted him to come clean and that confessing what he did gave him so much more freedom.Confession is freedom. But in life there are consequences for our sins.Today I was reading Mark 14 and 15, and it reminded me of the consequences of sin. Jesus was arrested, beaten, whipped, and went to the cross as an innocent man. Why did he go to the cross as an innocent man? Because I have sinned against God. I challenge you to read Mark 14 and 15 with the viewpoint that it was your personal sins that put Jesus on the cross. There are consequences for sin, even if we don’t feel it. Sin separates us from God, but because Jesus went to the cross, He is now our advocate to the Father.1 John 1:9, 10. -- "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession is freedom.Today, reflect on these questions. How much of your prayer time is devoted to confession? Are you satisfied with that? What could you do to make your times of confession more specific and meaningful? How might meditating on Christ’s sacrifice change your confession? Who do you trust enough to confess your sins to?
When Nolan was about 8 months old he started crawling like a madman. One evening Amy was working and I was cooking a pizza and when I went to pull it out of the oven it got stuck. But little did I know that Nolan had snuck up behind me and when I turned, he had put his hand on the oven door to pull himself up and burned his hand.This was really the first time I witnessed my son suffer. He cried, we took him to the emergency room and he looked like the cutest little boxer with his hand wrapped up. It healed fine and you can’t even tell anymore. But I still feel the guilt of letting that happen.Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago when we were throwing a nerf football up in the air and he broke his pinky finger trying to catch the football I threw. When people ask him what happened, he says, “My dad broke it with a nerf football.”Now I don’t claim to be the best Dad in the world, but I’d like to believe I’m a pretty good dad. And one of the reasons is that I try my best to help my sons not to suffer needlessly. I provide food, snacks, drinks, sports equipment, musical equipment, gifts, clothes, and pretty much everything else they need. I don’t know what I would do if someone told me that I would have to watch them suffer because of the decisions of others. I don’t know if I could handle that.When I read Isaiah 53, and if you haven’t watched Day 13 or read it recently you should, I think about how God sent Jesus knowing he would have to suffer and die. And I think about the specific details outlined 800 years before it would come to happen. And when I think about the complexity of the plan that God laid out for our salvation and redemption, It’s a bit overwhelming.In verse 10 it says, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”Today as you think and dwell upon Lent, let’s draw our attention to the plan that God laid out. Instead of letting us suffer and die in our sin, he chose to prepare, plan, and execute the excruciating death of his son to satisfy his wrath, to cover our sin, and to tear down the wall of hostility that we had crafted. Today read through Isaiah 53 and dwell upon the type of love that God has to intentionally plan his rescue mission like this.
One of the pictures we keep coming back to during the lent season is the idea of a rubber band. We realize the tension that we experience dealing with sin and redemption, grace and justice, the present of sin and the future of heaven. And on the 25th day of lent, we feel that same tension but through pride and humility.If you are like me, you sometimes make little pleas to God saying, “look what I gave up for you.” Some of it is probably pride, but some of it is my reminder to myself that being a disciple of Jesus is not just choosing to follow him, but surrendering everything.Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous German theologian/martyr, and one of my favorite Christian writers talk about how for many Christians faith has cost them nothing. In fact, he has a term for it. He says that salvation cost Jesus his life, but it has become cheap for you. He calls it cheap grace. And so when I think of surrendering to Christ, a part of me feels a sense of pride for what it has cost me.But that’s where the tension comes in because at the same time, I’m feeling pride, I’m also feeling humbled by who I am surrendering to. James 4:6-10 says, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”What this verse tells me is that the pride I’m feeling is not self-gained pride, but pride to be associated with the one who has saved me. That my humility can be turned to pride as God draws near to me.That’s the tension that I find myself in, completely humbled by the fact that God would want to be near me but full of pride that he is.
For 23 days now we have either hinted at or told you to sacrifice something to be able to focus on the events that leads up to Jesus’ resurrection, most call this, Easter Sunday. In the Bible, fasting is just a normal thing that people did from time to time. See Matthew 16:16-17. I think fasting is a spiritual discipline that has been lost in Christian culture. The Muslims do it every year during the Holiday of Ramadan, to hopefully gain God’s attention. Spoiler alert! God’s attention is already on us.Let me tell you about my most memorable experience on fasting. I was working at a church and three elders, and I, decided to fast for three days. We would not eat and instead of eating we would spend that time in prayer and reading scripture with the hopes that God would tell us what to do next in the church. (There happened to be a power struggle going on.) At the end of the fast, God did not speak to us as much as he spoke to me. I did not hear God’s audible voice, but when I woke up the morning after the fast, it was crystal clear that I needed to resign from my position at that church and look for work elsewhere. So, I did. It was not the answer I was looking for, but in hindsight, God knew what he was doing and I did not.Fasting really needs to be a part of our lives on a regular basis. The purpose of fasting is not to earn God’s love or favor, but to more deeply surrender to it. So how do you fast? Let me give you a few guidelines.
- Give yourself to prayer. Replace the time that you would spend deciding, selecting, cooking, and eating food, and replace that time with prayer. It is this more focused communion with God that produces some of fasting’s best fruit.
- Don’t make a show of it. Fast in private. Pride in fasting robs fasting of its spiritual benefit. Seek God; don’t seek the approval of others for seeking God in this way.
- Bathe yourself in God’s Word. Replacing your eating schedule will also give you more time for actual Scriptural meditation. Fill you mind with God’s Word until you just naturally speak scripture into others.
- Make sure you are ready. Make sure you are physically, financially, and situationally prepared for whatever fast, for whatever time period, you are about to undertake.
- Be quiet before the Lord. Since fasting is about ceasing activity, don’t replace it with activity. Rather, wait on the Lord. And as you wait, remember that the wait is not about what you might get from the Lord, but more importantly what you become as you wait.
- Confess what has been revealed. Fasting is a way to fight the spiritual blindness that affects us all. So be ready to confess new areas of sin, weakness, and failure that God has revealed as you have fasted.
- Make a new commitment. At the end of your fast, think about where God is calling you to new commitments of faith and discipleship where you live and work every day.
- Be thankful. God is not finished with you yet!
Sacrifice is a tough idea. You can sacrifice your body to be a professional athlete, you can sacrifice your money for a noble cause, you can sacrifice your morals for a job promotion, and you can sacrifice your life to save someone else. Sacrifice is a part of life, and it requires us to weigh the cost.The Bible talks a lot about sacrifice. The sacrifice of animals on the altar represented the brokenness of sin in our world and how it had to be atoned. Philippians uses the idea of sacrifice when Jesus “made himself nothing” just to walk among us as a human.But these sacrifices just point to a bigger sacrifice. They point to a once and for all sacrifice that would render all other sacrifices futile. In Matthew 13 Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a man finding a treasure and a merchant finding a pearl. They sell everything they have for the treasure.I used to think that these parables were just about us finding God and then giving up everything for Him, but I think there’s a dual meaning. I think that Jesus was showing us that he was giving up everything for us. The beauty of the Gospel is not that we gave up everything for God, but that he sacrificed for us.Maybe today you can think about how God sees you as a treasure. You can dwell on how God stepped out of heaven to look for you. You can rest in knowing that Jesus’ sacrifice was so that he could be with you.
I don’t know if you have ever studied Psalm 51 before. It is David’s repentance Psalm after he has an affair with Bathsheba, kills her husband, and covers it up. But the prophet Nathan confronts him and he stands before God broken and ashamed. And so David pens this poem, this psalm that is full of hyperlinks (references to other Bible verses), 1 large Chiasm (a Hebrew literary tool), and even the gospel message of salvation through faith.Here is how I study the Psalms. It may look like a mess, but here’s the idea. So much of Hebrew poetry is repetition. It could be thoughts, words, and even rhymes. But since my Hebrew isn’t too great, we’ll skip that one.
What I want to draw your attention to is the middle part of the Chiasm. In Hebrew poetry, a chiasm is descending and ascending thoughts and ideas pointing to the truth it’s trying to communicate in the middle.David starts with blot out my transgressions in verse 1 and 9, wash and cleanse in verses 2 and 7, acknowledge evil and failure in verses 3-4a and 5-6 and then the middle is in verse 4b. It says, “So that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your sight.”Sometimes we become so me-focused on our sin that what God seeks to do is to show his glory through the faithfulness of his people. Let me say that in a different way. When the people of God, namely you and me, follow God with holiness, God’s glory, fame, and renown is greater. But when we fail to do what God says, we tell others that he is not a God worthy to be followed.Today, when you think about sin and iniquity, think about how it reflects on God when you sin. And then follow the words of King David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”
On Day 18 of Lent, open your Bible and read Isaiah 46:5-13.Did you read it? If not, do not read any further until you have read Isaiah 46:5-13. Did you read it? Yes? Great! Did verse 9 stand out to you?“…for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.” Surprise is a normal part of life for all of us. However, We do not surprise God. God is not like us. He saw our need, he planned how to meet that need, and everything happened just as he planned. Christ’s march to the cross reinforces for us that our rest and hope are not in our knowing, but in his ruling. The story of our redemption is historical proof of the unstoppable sovereignty of God. May these words stimulate rest in the middle of surprise:Surprised again.Quiet conversation erupts into heated debate.Surprised again.Sickness interrupts well-being.Surprised again.A loved one is unexpectedly lost.Surprised again.A long-trusted leader falls.Surprised again.An unexpected gift alleviates need.Surprised again.Opportunity’s doors open wide,Surprised again.A sleepless night plunders rest.Surprised again.Sudden conflict crushes peace.Surprised again.An emergency alters day’s schedule.Surprised again.Divine provision propels a plan.Surprised again.Sudden mystery sows confusion.Surprised again.Grace proves too big to grasp. It is the story of my life.I am surprised again and again.Surprised again, reminded again and again, that I am not sovereign.I am surprised again but not afraid.My surprise, my misguided expectation,the mystery I live with,my lack of control,does not mean my world,my life,my present,my future,is out of control.I will be surprised again and again,But I am not afraid, because you, Lord, are incapable of being surprised.~Paul Tripp Reflection Questions
- Do you like surprises? What emotions do surprises evoke for you?
- When has life surprised you? When has God surprised you?
- How can a perspective on God’s sovereignty help you deal with the surprises of life? What are some things you can do to live with joy and hope amid the uncertainties of life?
When I was young we would go to the beach and while we were swimming we would reach down and try to find seashells, hermit crabs, and very once in a long while, sea dollars. We often found pieces but rarely did we find a whole sea dollar.One time we were at South Padre with my cousins, and I found a full sand dollar. I was so excited and was showing it to them. I told them be super careful because it will break. They handed it to our younger cousin and she broke it. I was mad because I knew that it was so rare to find one and I didn’t know if I would ever find one again.In the middle of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, he reminds us about treasures. He says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.”Now some call this the treasure principle, but for me, it’s just logic. Jesus tells us that we should not invest in things that are temporary but in eternal things. But then he says that where your treasure is, your heart will also be. To many people that doesn’t make sense. You could assume that your treasure will be where your heart is, but in all reality, your heart follows your treasure.That’s because the human condition tells us that we will sacrifice for something that we consider worth it, whether it’s with our money or a discipline. But have you ever paused to take a look at where your heart is by where your treasures are? If you look around your house at your most prized possessions, do they tell the story of your family, your accomplishments, and your failures? Does your checkbook tell the story that your treasure is more and more stuff or does it show investments in eternal things?During lent, nothing is off limits to search. And sometimes our checkbook or our assets reveal the trajectory of our lives. Maybe today you could spend some time thinking about how to invest in eternal things.
When I think back to a time that was in my early thirties, I was a very spiritually immature person. Keep in mind, I had been going to church since 9 months before I was born. But my focus on life was happiness. I thought if I only could make a little more money, then I would be happy. If only I could get the next promotion, then I would be happy. Hardly ever did I ask my family if what I was doing was making them happy. (I knew what my wife would have said!)The problem was, I was NOT happy. I realized I was not living a life that was honoring God. So, I began to fix that. I decided I would read the Bible more and pray more, and then I would be happy. Doesn’t God want us to be happy?About a year later, a was still faithful in reading the Word and praying and being active in Church, and I was asked to be the next Youth Minister. After a time, I decided that would make me happy. And for a short time, it did. Then tension between me and my boss began to grow. And I was no longer happy. I tried to fix some of the problems in our church behind my boss’ back because it was things that “God wanted me to do.” But I grew more and more discontent and unhappy. I decided it was time to get out of ministry because I just couldn’t be happy in it.As I tried to get out of ministry, an opportunity down the river 30 miles was offered to me. But first, I tried to figure out why I was trying so hard to be happy. What I learned was this. Being happy is an emotion that if we lean on it too much, it could replace the God whom we claim to be serving. Often, we make the mistake of thinking we have a heart for the Lord, when really we’re just thankful for him because at that moment he seems to be delivering to us what we have truly set our hearts on. Can I get an Amen?What I was realizing is that God had given me joy in life, even though all the circumstances of my life were not perfect. He blessed me with a wonderful family, a very patient wife, a good job, some great friends and much more. But I was focusing on the things that were not perfect and either failing at making them perfect or worried about the attacks of the enemy. I was allowing all the negativity of the world to steal my happiness, the emotion I desired. But all along, there was joy if I would just trust God with my life.David says in Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; / a broken contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”My heart is broken. This world is broken. I will never find happiness from this broken world. But you are never in a safer, more blessed place than when your heart is broken and you finally surrender yourself to trust God in order to find joy.In this season of reflection, confession, and willing sacrifice, how about looking at the evidence of your life?
- What is your current emotional state? Is there any negative emotion that is present in your life more often than it should be?
- If “our emotions are a window into what our hearts really love,” what do your emotions say about what you love?
- Think about the spiritual habits you engage in, perhaps even your devotional times—are you covering up sins or idols with religious practice?
About every 3 months, we have to get our in our yard and pull weeds, do extra edging, trim bushes and trees, and lay some mulch. After a freshly cut grass, beautiful trim work bushes under control, trees trimmed, and the mulch where it supposed to go, we stand back and it looks good. Now our backs are hurting and we’re stinky, but the yard looks good. But do you know what happens in a couple weeks, or maybe a month? You guessed it, the yard is back to a mess, mulch has somehow traveled across the yard, bushes are overgrown, trees need trimming, and weeds are all over again. It’s exhausting trying to keep my yard clean and nice when things keep growing out of control all the time.And so it is with our hearts. Even with the saving grace of Jesus, there are sins that continue to grow like weeds, refusing to die fully but come back when no one is tending the garden of your heart. And so often they creep in without us noticing.Maybe you find yourself feeling jealous of someone’s new car, their relationship, or their faith. Maybe you find yourself consuming screens, food, or whatever your vice may be. Maybe you continue to find yourself angry or apathetic without a full understanding of who or what you should be angry about.Sin has a way of becoming big, long before it’s even noticed which means we need to continually search our hearts and minds for the things that are contrary to God’s desires. I often go back to Romans 8:1-4 where Paul is describing what it is like to live as a redeemed disciple of Jesus. He says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”During Lent, we focus on our sin, not so we can experience the full measure of grief and shame, but so that we can understand the way the Spirit is transforming us into the likeness of Christ. When we understand our sin, we understand what it truly means to be “set free in Christ Jesus” and “walking according to the spirit.”Spend some time today looking at your responses to the people and situations in front of you and how you may find weeds among them. Ask yourself, “What is causing me to react the way I do or why do I choose to respond that way?” It’s a good way to begin to see the root causes of our sin.
We’ll it’s the 9th day of lent and I hope you’ve had some opportunities to feel a bit closer to God, a bit more disciplined in your spiritual walk, and maybe some opportunities to share it with the church. On the 9th day of lent we turn our focus back to our own shortcomings.I think that sometimes when we talk about sin, we talk about the do not lie, do not steal, do not murder. And while those are real sins that shouldn’t happen, sometimes we forget that when we worry, when we are anxious, when we don’t trust God, or when we cannot wait for him, we are exercising an idol in our heart that goes against God and his desires.1 John 1:8-10, John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”We all have sin, maybe it’s significant, maybe it’s the ones we don’t call sin. But all of us have sin and seeking to root out that sin helps us to not only walk in closer connection with Jesus, but we see the significance of the cross more clearly.A long time ago I was reading a book called “The Gospel centered life” by Robert Thune and Will Walker. In the book they presented a diagram that has stuck with me for almost a decade. Here it is:
Over time, the more we understand our sin and the more we understand God’s holiness, the more significant the cross becomes to us. But when we let all the things that stand at odds with God’s grace and mercy, we limit or shrink the work of Christ in our lives.During lent, we focus on sin and death because it gives us a bigger picture of Easter Sunday, that Jesus’ death and resurrection can bring you new life in the midst of your brokenness. That God can actually transform your anxiety, distrust, worry, and whatever else it may be that is stopping you from acknowledging the work of Christ in you. Take some time today and think about what it is that is stopping you from the fullness of God’s grace. Spend some time answering these questions:
- What is a reoccurring thought you have and what is its root? (i.e If I worry about money the root may be that I don’t trust God to provide for me)
- Where do I need to let God be in control? How can I make changes to do that?
- What do people around me describe as my sins? How can I change them?
- Do I truly believe that God can heal me from my…? (anxiety, depression, worry, lack of patience, addiction, etc.)
I grew up about an hour from South Padre island and growing up we would go all the time. I loved playing in the water, relaxing on the beach, looking for animals on the jetty, and fishing. We ate seafood, got sunburned, and usually stopped at dairy queen on the way home.When I got older, I moved away from the valley and missed the beach. When we moved to Houston, we started going down to Galveston, but it just wasn’t the same. No offense to you islanders, but the beach at Galveston doesn’t compare to South Padre island.This past summer, we planned a trip to the valley to see some friends, my grandma, introduce Amy and the boys to a botana platter, Mexican bakeries, and South Padre. I was looking forward to it for months before.This is the picture I often get of heaven. That we get little pictures of it here, usually in the form of an experience like a camp or conference, vacation, or sabbatical. We get to experience the goodness of God in an intense way and all the worries and struggles seem to melt away.But then we also look forward to an uninhibited heaven where God will be always available. That the intensity of our relationship will be fully on display at all times and that we will get a chance to be without sin, brokenness, and distraction from Him.Revelation 21:1-4 says:"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”During lent, we look for little moments where God can come in close and where we can experience small pieces of heaven but also when we mourn, struggle, and fail, that we can look forward to a new heaven that awaits us.
- Where is a time in your upcoming day where you can pause and not be distracted to just sit in the presence of God?
- Where in your life do you need to remember that one day, things will be ordered?
- How can you help others find the closeness of heaven in their life?
- When you think of heaven, do you feel excited or scared? Why do you think you feel that way?
Have you ever thought about how Lazarus went through life after Jesus raised him from the dead? Maybe you do a better job focusing on the important things, do some of the things you’ve put off until the right time, or say the things you haven’t had a chance to say to loved ones before.The thought of death brings a renewed intentionality to our life. When someone we know passes away, especially at a young age, we often think of how we’re living our own lives and the purpose to which we live changes.Jesus calls his disciples to die. (Luke 9:23; Mark 8:35; John 12:24; Gal 2:20; Romans 6:1-4; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Cor. 15:31) Paul and Peter reiterate it in their letters. But what is different about the Christian faith and the calling of Jesus is that in order to gain new life through him, we must die to ourselves.Paul talks about this in Romans 12:1-2. He says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”Paul understands, probably because he has lived it, that this life is about giving up all of our ambitions, desires, plans, and even understanding and allowing God to transform. And the new life that we get helps us to be able to understand God’s will.During lent, we focus on our death so that we can find life through Jesus’ death. And when we choose to find union with Jesus’ death we find life. But the paradox is that our death comes when we choose to follow Jesus and when we lay down our ambitions and selfish desires.The call to come and die is a call to daily choose God over ourselves. The call to die is a call to find life through Jesus and commit our day, our jobs, our free time, our families, and our motivations to Christ himself.Today take some time and think about some of your motivations and how you need to daily lay them down at the cross of Christ.
I grew up in South Texas and every year kids would come to school with ashes on their forehead and I remember thinking to myself, “whoa, they’re a Christian? I’ve never seen it!” It was easy for my self-righteous, pastors’ kid, teenage self to line up all my good deeds against the perceived sins I saw in others and judge them accordingly.During lent we spend a lot of time talking and dwelling on sin and death. That’s the reason we observe with ashes because dust and ash represent the dirt we were created from and the dust our bodies will turn to in death. But the thing we must remember is that death was not the plan for us. Death was the consequence of the sin we committed as humankind and the sin we commit each day. And when I think of sin and death, my mind immediately goes to King David. After committing adultery with Bathsheba, killing her husband, and thinking he got away with it he is confronted by the Prophet Nathan with the news that God knew what he had done. His sin was great and the consequence was death. We get a glimpse into the heart of David as he is dealing with his sin through Psalm 51. He says:“Have mercy on me, O God,according to your steadfast love;according to your abundant mercyblot out my transgressions.Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions,and my sin is ever before me.Against you, you only, have I sinnedand done what is evil in your sight,so that you may be justified in your wordsand blameless in your judgment.Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,and in sin did my mother conceive me.Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.”It’s often easy to disregard our sin and its effects on us. It’s easy to focus on the good deeds and the worship side of faith without spending too much time on our sin and its consequences. But when we recognize our sin in light of God’s holiness, we realize how much we need Jesus. There’s a longing, a brokenness, like an itch that needs to be scratched or a sock that’s fallen off a heel.The reason we spend so much time focused on sin and death during lent is so that we can expectantly wait on the resurrection to free us from the bondage of sin and death.David continues in verses 14-15 by saying, “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.I often feel the need to repent of my judgments, the judgments of an ignorant teenager, and the judgment of an adult. I recognize that even at my best, I'm a sinner in need of repentance. And I hope that my continual deep dive into my own sin and selfishness leads me to see how undeserving I am for salvation. And because of that I, want to declare God's praise as David did.During lent we focus our attention on our sin and confession and wait expectantly for Jesus to fulfill the promise of healing the brokenhearted, setting right the sinner, and satisfying the wrath of God on us.
Colossians 1:15-20 Listen to this text. Let it sink in. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all […]
Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is [a]righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the]foal of a donkey. What a great verse! Clearly prophetic words about Jesus Christ. Don’t just take my word for it, hit pause […]
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with […]
Matthew 2:9-12 There has been a lot of talk about The Christmas Star that is happening right now. People are excited to have the chance to see it. There has been a lot of talk about it. I imagine that is how it was for the wise men. But that time it was different. The […]
Matthew 2:3-6 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the [a]Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land […]
I think God had something of a soft spot for shepherds. Maybe it was his connection with King David, or how simple of animals sheep are, but sheep and shepherds show up a lot. So imagine, a group of shepherds out in the field and a bunch of angels show up and begin singing and tell them about Jesus. They go […]
Luke 2:8-14 Put yourself in the place of the shepherds. They are out watching over their flocks one night. Just like every other night. When an Angel of the Lord shows up. It freaks them out. The angel says “don’t worry, I bring you good news. Today in town of David, the Lord has been […]
Our scripture for today is Galatians 4:3-5. If you haven’t read that yet, hit the pause and then when you are ready, hit play and I’ll try to explain. Now that you have read the scripture for today, you are probably thinking, what did that mean? Well, let me give it a try. Three phrases […]
“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” So Mary and Joseph have to leave their home and Go to Bethlehem […]
As we begin the birth narrative of Jesus it’s important to look back so we can get an idea as to what God is doing. It was a well known fact in Jewish tradition that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. The problem is that Mary and Joseph don’t live in Bethlehem but in […]
Advent Day 8 Joseph Obeyed Matthew 1:24-25 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. What would you have done if you were Joseph? Your wife […]
I remember the day Amy sat me down and told me that we were going to have a child. There was so much excitement at first but then this overwhelming feeling that I was not prepared for this. I can imagine that this was just a tiny bit of what Joseph was feeling when Mary […]
Luke 1:26-33…let’s visualize the text…Imagine this with me. Elizabeth is 6 months pregnant. I believe this is only mentioned to give us an idea of the timing. Anyway, God sends Gabriel…you know the angel…to visit a virgin in Nazareth named Mary. She is engaged to Joseph who is from King David’s family. The angel tells her “You are […]
Luke 1:24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” Promise Fulfilled! God promised Elizabeth a child, even though she was too old. And if God […]
Luke 1:8-23 (ESV) – “Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there […]
“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, […]
Join us this Christmas reading selected texts from the Bible that are part of the Christmas Story. December 1 – Luke 1:5-7 December 2 – Luke 1:8-23 December 3 – Luke 1:24-25 December 4 – Luke 1:26-33 December 5 – Luke 1:34-38 December 6 – Matthew 1:18-19 December 7 – Matthew 1:20-23 December 8 – Matthew […]