Tag: Christmas

Carol to read, pt 3

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Risen with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

Carol to read, pt 2

Christ by highest heaven adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Immanuel

A carol to read

because sometimes reading it without the music will make its words feel more meaningful.

Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”

The Greatest Gift


For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
–Colossians 1:19-20
2000+ years have come and gone, and yet another celebration of the most wonderful event in human history is being observed. And I find myself with a sense of sadness along with all of the joy. I’m saddened because of the fact that Christmas is celebrated by far more people than have any reason to celebrate.
And my heart aches to think that in the midst of competing messages about the “reason for the season,” the true meaning of Christ’s redemption of the lost is the most ignored and least understood message out there. One of the songs of Christmas rings in my mind as I ponder it. A song in which a little four-word phrase summarizes the true meaning of Christmas. The phrase is “God and sinners reconciled.”
Christmas means that although we do not in any way deserve God’s favor, He became one of us to take the punishment we deserve and bring us reconciliation with a Holy God. It was a plan well-pleasing to the Father, because the sacrifice made by Christ on our behalf would be completely sufficient to save us forever.
The Creator of the universe, Who lay on a bed of cattle feed that first Christmas, grew up and lived a perfect, sinless life. “But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The punishment that (earned our peace with God) was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) Healed of the great physically and spiritually terminal disease of our sin. If you have placed your trust in nothing but Jesus’ sacrificial death in your stead to make things right between you and God, then you have received this great Christmas gift of reconciliation. If you haven’t, then God awaits your decision, so that He can save you from your sins and from the penalties your sins have earned you.
That’s why my heart turns directly to you today. I want to ask you, dear reader, what about you? Have you been reconciled to God through the blood shed by Christ on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins? Or do you remain unreconciled? I’m not asking if you are religious. I’m not asking if you’re good. I’m not asking if you’re sorry for the bad things you’ve done. I’m not asking if Christmas and thoughts of Jesus make you feel warm inside.
I’m asking you if you have received God’s forgiveness of your sins by taking the gift of Jesus’ death as your own road to heaven. It’s the greatest gift. Please don’t mark it “Return to Sender.”
It’s important that you receive salvation, if you have not already. Because if you do not do so, there is no Christmas peace in your future. There is no hope in your future. There is no love in your future. There is no comfort or joy in your future. The only thing that awaits you if you haven’t understood the true meaning of Christmas and received this greatest of gifts is the pain of being eternally separated from God. The pain of being punished forever by His holy wrath is your inescapable destiny. Ten trillion centuries will pass by and the suffering of those who have rejected Christ’s offer of free salvation will not be over, but just begun.
However, heaven will be a wonderful place! I want more than anything in the world for you to be there with me one day. (And God wants that even more. Heaven will be a place where you’ll never hurt again. You’ll never be lonely, bored, angry, frustrated, scared, sick or unfulfilled again. The perfect and perfectly satisfying intimate fellowship with a wonderful God for whom you were created will be yours forever. And you shall never be in want of anything else for all eternity.
Are you sure you’re saved? Are you sure your eternal destination is heaven with God? Be sure. Be very sure. And be sure now You can come to Jesus today, right where you sit in front of your computer, because God will hear you call upon Him, and “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
Simply turn to Jesus now, and in your heart confess to Him that you have sinned against Him. Tell Him in your own words that you acknowledge you have done things that violated His law and made you unacceptable to God.
Then express to Him that you believe He loves you and that He came and died on the cross, willingly taking the punishment you deserve for sinning against God, and that He rose again from the dead.
Then tell Him that you are receiving the forgiveness of your sins that He promised you, and ask Him to be your Savior, giving you the gift of an everlasting relationship with God.
It’s that simple. No one who comes to Him will be turned away. Don’t delay. Accept God’s loving gift of salvation today. Then pass this message on to others you know need to hear it. (You can even put it in an email that you send to others, so that they, too, can receive the greatest gift this Christmas.)

The Uneven Trade


Being in the form of God, (Christ) did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
–Philippians 2:6-8

He came from Heaven.
He was the Good Shepherd, Whose unmatched love for the sheep of His flock moved Him to humble Himself and become one of them. As their Maker, He had every right to come as a judge and condemn them for their rebellion. But in love He chose to come instead to save them from the condemnation their sins had earned. Voluntarily emptied of His rights as their Holy God, He would live among them and serve them. He would show them how to live, to honor their Creator, and to love each other.
All the while He knew that one day He would willingly suffer their rejection and scorn. And by His own permission, they would violently kill Him. On that day this Shepherd-turned-sheep would become the Passover’s sacrificial Lamb of God, and be led up Calvary’s Road to be slaughtered.
It would be there on that hill that He would offer us the most uneven of trades: He would take from us the punishment we deserved for our sins against God, and give to us the reward He deserved for His righteousness.
Later, He would rise from the dead so that all who trust in Him for salvation might live with Him forever.

God is With Us

God With Us

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,
and shall call His name Immanuel.”
–Isaiah 7:14

Immanuel, as you may know, means “God with us.” When we understand the meaning of that Christmas promise, made by prophecy from God centuries before Christ came, then we begin to understand why Christmas is something to celebrate.
Without understanding the name’s meaning, some have thought that the special thing about the virgin birth was the virgin herself. They have the impression that she might even be worthy of worship or someone close enough to the throne of God to intercede for them there when they pray. But this first announcement God made of the virgin birth long before it happened shows us that it wouldn’t be the virgin that should be noticed. The sign of the virgin birth was that the child would be “Immanuel” – “God with us.” That’s what is so special about this event. The Child would have no human father, because while He would be a person like us, He wouldn’t be just a person. He would be God. God, Who had come to be with us. To be one of us. To be for us.
And when that Child was born, truly it was “good news of great joy, which shall be to all people,” as the angel promised the shepherds. Because if God is with us, out of that truth flow solutions to every problem. God is with us. That is good news!
It’s especially good news for the person whose loneliness is magnified at Christmas. God Himself is with us who know Christ.
It’s good news to the sinner, who fears the judgment and condemnation his life has earned. God is with us. And for us. And He loves us enough to come to us, live with us, die for us, and rise again to life to save us.
It’s good news to the agnostic, who wonders if God is really there, and if He really desires involvement in our lives.
It’s good news to the hurting and the oppressed, to know that God will take up their cause as a strong Defender.
It’s good news to those who mourn the loss of loved ones, knowing that the God of eternity is with us, and will reunite us with those to whom we had to say goodbye.
It’s good news to those who have an aching emptiness because they haven’t found a fulfilling purpose in life—to know that they were created with a purpose and that the Creator is with them to find it.
Even better news–If you have received Christ, then God is not just with you, but in you. He was with Herod, the Pharisees, and other religious leaders, but they rejected Him, so He was not in them.
By faith, you can have God with you, and living in you, giving you new life and life eternal. Don’t miss that great Christmas miracle. Because this God, the Savior, Who is with us, is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. In each of those things, He is a truly wonderful Gift. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes on Him would not be destroyed, but have everlasting life.”

The God Vaccine


“These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
–Matthew 15:8-9
In the last several weeks, you may have gone to get a flu shot, to vaccinate yourself against getting the flu this season. It’s interesting how they make a flu vaccine, and how it works. You see, the flu vaccine is essentially an altered strand of the previous year’s flu virus.
When this harmless strand is injected into your body, it triggers your immune system, in effect training it to know what to look for, so that when you are exposed to the flu virus this year, your body will recognize and reject it before it infects you. In simplest terms, the flu shot gives you a little bit of something that looks to your body like the flu, in order to keep you from getting the real thing.
But did you know that in this season of the year, there’s another thing people are unwittingly “vaccinated” against? Unfortunately, they’re being vaccinated against an “infection” they need to have in order to live.
Here’s how it happens: They go to church and celebrate Christmas. They take communion and sing carols about the birth of Christ. They watch Christmas plays and listen to messages about the Christ child. They give and receive presents and cards. They pray with great sincerity about “peace on Earth.” They shake hands with people, smiling and wishing them a “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” They don’t realize they’re injecting themselves with that little bit of something that looks like a relationship with God that keeps them from getting the real thing.
Jesus warned against that kind of worship that people are so prone to at Christmas and Easter. He warned us that God isn’t impressed by lips that sing His praises if they come from a heart He hasn’t been allowed to utterly change.
My friends, you don’t want to get a “God vaccine” this Christmas. Don’t let mere religion immunize you against a relationship with Jesus Christ. Get the real thing, if you haven’t already. Get a relationship with God, that guarantees you eternal life with Him in heaven.
It’s not about going through the motions of religion, at Christmastime or anytime. Following traditions and teachings of mere men is worshiping God in vain, Jesus said. In vain. Worthless. Of no value. Such worship will gain you absolutely nothing for eternity.
The Good News of Christmas, though, is that it doesn’t have to be that way; because “the real thing” is God’s Christmas gift to you. And this gift is not like the “free gifts” the world offers, where you get something for “free, when you buy . . . .” I’m talking about a real gift that is truly free: The gift of salvation from your sins and everlasting joy in heaven. It costs you nothing, because Jesus has already paid for it so that He could give it to you. The blood He shed on the cross is your gift certificate, purchasing your eternal peace with a holy God.
The first “Christmas tree” ever was cut down, and its boards were made into a cross. On it, Jesus, the perfect Son of God, hung and bled and died for only one reason. It wasn’t to set an example for you. It wasn’t to inspire you. It wasn’t to found a religion for you to follow. It was to completely pay the debt you owe God for breaking His perfect laws.
Jesus absorbed all of the punishment you deserve for your sins, and rose again from the dead to give you eternal life. All you must do is believe that, and you will be saved.
Redeem your “gift certificate” from Christ today, right where you are. Tell Jesus you know you have sinned against Him. Tell Him you believe that He died in your place, being punished for your sins. Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins. Tell Him you’re trusting Him to give you now the gift of eternal life in heaven.
If you do that, then you can truly celebrate Christmas, with a new heart, given to you by Christ Himself. You will no longer be vaccinated from the truth that sets you free. You’ll have the real thing. And you’ll wonder how you made it through so many Christmases without it.

Whiter Christmas


Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
–Psalm 51:7
Experiencing a whiter-than-snow Christmas isn’t just something you have to dream about.
Snow is the purest, brightest, whitest substance that exists. Anything else you would call “white” could be held up next to clean snow, and you’d have to call it “off white.” But God’s word tells us that when a dirty, dark sinner comes under the blood of Christ, God washes him even whiter than snow.
That’s how complete God’s cleansing is. It makes us whiter than the whitest. Purer than the purest. Cleaner than the cleanest things we can imagine. And that’s what we who truly celebrate Christmas from the heart have experienced.
What’s more, this is not just a surface cleaning, not just a whitewashing of the outside that leaves the inside dirty. God’s cleansing of the repentant heart is a “purging with hyssop.” Purging is complete cleansing of our souls from the inside out. When we trust in Christ, God digs deep, cleansing us to the core.
The hyssop branch was used in Old Testament times to sprinkle the altar with blood, thus purifying it. And on the cross, Jesus drank from a sponge lifted to Him on a hyssop branch. The Purest of the pure consumed our sinfulness, so that He could give us pure living water to drink and be cleansed. He who knew no sin became sin for us and our sin was crucified with Him.
Now, we who knew no righteousness have become righteousness by drinking of the cup from which flows His precious blood, that washes away all of our sin. We who were so sinful that God in His holiness was unable to look upon us have now become purer than freshly-fallen snow, glistening in the unsurpassed light of Christ’s eyes that shine upon us. As we reflect His light, we are made so spiritually bright that the sinful eyes of the unregenerated world can hardly bear to look upon us without squinting.
When we first trusted in Christ alone to save us, our hearts were baptized clean by the living water of the Word of God and the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit. The sepulchers of our carnal bodies became temples of the Holy Spirit, and now we are forever inhabited by God Himself. We are no longer ashamed, for “all who look to Him are radiant.”
Brothers and sisters, rejoice in this greatest of all miracles this Christmas, and share it with others. (When someone you know celebrates that you are having a white Christmas this year where you live, or bemoaning the fact that you aren’t, use it as an opportunity to tell them why your heart is full this Christmas regardless of the weather.)
And as the new year begins, dwell and walk each day in this greatest of all joys: The joy of being so deeply purged and cleansed that even a God of unmatched holiness finds you flawless, and wants to use your life to bring others to Him also.

Briana and her snowman this week

A Father’s compassion


As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
–Psalm 103:12-14
A few Decembers ago, I was eating lunch at a restaurant that had an “angel tree” for Christmas. As you may know, an angel tree has paper angels on it, with the names of needy children. People are asked to take an angel, buy a Christmas gift for the child, and return it to the restaurant.
As I ate, I saw a father and his little boy approach the tree. The small boy was going to pick out an angel for them to take, but as he reached out for the one of his choice, with his hand he accidentally dislodged one of the tree’s ornaments from the branch and it fell with a crash. Shards of shiny broken glass scattered across the floor.
The boy saw what he had done and immediately looked up to the face of his Dad. Pulling on his Dad’s pants leg with one hand and pointing at the shattered mess on the floor with the other, the boy said, “Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.” The tone of his voice indicated he was asking a question more than making a statement, though. “Sorry? Sorry? Sorry?”
The question the boy was asking was, “Do you forgive me? Will you make it all right, Daddy? I just messed up and I don’t know how to fix it. What do I do now? Will you fix this for me?”
In that moment, I wondered, a bit nervously, if this Dad would pass the test before him. I couldn’t help smiling when he did.
Without one unkind word or expression, the father put his hand on the boy’s shoulder to reassure him that it would be all right. His comforting look into the boys eyes completely changed the child’s demeanor in an instant. The panic over what had happened vanished from the boy’s face, and he was at peace.
Then the boy reached down to start cleaning up the mess, but his Dad held him back, saying softly, “Wait now, don’t touch. It’s sharp and it can cut you.” Then the father stooped down and began to clean up the broken pieces himself with his own hands while the boy watched.
As a father pities his child, so is the Lord’s compassion for His children.
How many times we have wanted to serve Him well and failed, only to find Him a Father who is merciful and compassionate beyond our ability to imagine. When we “fear Him” and turn to Him in our times of failure, hoping once again to find forgiveness, He always passes the test of being faithful to forgive just as He promised.
After that boy had received his father’s assurance of forgiveness, the Christmas ornament was still broken. In the same way, there are consequences for our sins. But time and time again our compassionate Father in heaven stoops down to help us deal with the consequences of the sins He has forgiven. Sometimes those consequences are sharp and they cut us. But when we let Him, He does a mighty work and cleans up the messes we can’t fix. Mending hearts shattered by our rebellion. Repairing relationships damaged by our thoughtlessness. Restoring trust that has been broken by our spiritual carelessness. Resurrecting that which we have destroyed.
And this Christmas season, we celebrate the greatest Divine stooping of all time. When God came all the way to earth, completely entering the human race Himself to take upon Himself all of the eternal consequences for our sins, that we might be forgiven, set free, and made clean and holy. Indeed, we do have a Father who is compassionate toward us.
Come and worship.