MY TIMES ARE IN GOD'S HANDS
PSALM 31:1 A psalm of David. In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. 9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. 11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbours; I am a dread to my friends-- those who see me on the street flee from me. 12 I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. 14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." 15 My times are in your hands; 16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
New Year's Eve is one of those few days in the year when just about everybody is thinking about the same thing. There's something dramatic about watching the old year slip away by counting the hours left in it, then the minutes, down the seconds when the old year has passed into history, never to come again.
We seldom think much about time except when we're running late. Time is a lot like a river and it's carrying all of us downstream. Where is it taking us? What are we doing while we're on the trip? A lot of people have trouble with time management, with putting first things first. Someone put it this way:
This is the age of the half-read page
and the quick hash and the mad dash
and the bright night with the nerves
tight the plane hop and the brief stop, the lamp tan in a short span,
the big shot and the good spot,
and the brain strain and the heart pain,
and the cat naps till the spring snaps
and the fun's done and then comes taps.
If there is anything we truly need in this New Year, it is to get closer to God, to grow in the love of our Savior, and to carry out His will for our lives. That will carry us through no matter what the river of time may bring our way. Psalm 31 is almost entirely a prayer, but you can tell that it's not the kind of prayer that one prays out loud or one that is prayed with folded hands. No, it appears to be the kind of prayer Paul had in mind when he told us to PRAY CONSTANTLY. It's the kind of prayer that you pray while working or driving or when you're under a lot of stress, as David was here.
Prayer and good Christian self-talk go a long way to having that Happy New Year that we have been wishing each other. Let me define my terms here: Christian self-talk is the fine art of handling the stress that comes your way by reacting to it in a Christian manner. David joins prayer and good self-talk when he tells God of his circumstances and lays it upon the Lord for help. Notice that he does not minimize his troubles; this is no whistling in the dark. He describes the trouble in all of its sorrowful details.
He said:
* 9 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief. 10 My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak. 11 Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbours; I am a dread to my friends-- those who see me on the street flee from me.
*
(Then comes the good Christian self-talk, combined with prayer) But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." 15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
After all, it isn't what happens to us that determines whether we will be sad, mad, or glad. No, it is what we tell ourselves about what happens to us that creates our emotional state. What we tell ourselves as Christians is largely shaped by how familiar we are with the Bible. After all, God's word tells us that it is a lamp for our feet and our light for our path. Jesus himself used Ps. 31 for his comfort in the last thing he said on the cross: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. He set the example for us to pray fervently and often and to tell ourselves the truth about any circumstance that 1998 may bring our way. The psalm goes on to say:
* 16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. 17 Let me not be put to shame, O LORD 19 How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.21 Praise be to the LORD, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a besieged city. 22 In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!" Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help. 24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.
There may be times in this coming new year when you too will feel cut off from God's sight. You may wonder if God has forgotten you. Oh, there's good news for you here, my friend, good news that you hear at the end of many a worship service. The Lord make his face shine upon you. The Psalm says: Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
When God's face is shining upon His people, that means that he is SMILING upon them. What more could you ask from the New Year than that? We have a God who came here personally to smile upon us while He walked and talked with us. He endured the Father's dread frown over our sins so that we could see His face smiling upon us forever. God was forsaken by God so that we would not have to dread the time when our lives will pass in review before Him.
That's not all--not only do we have the goodness of God that we experience each day, but as we say today: there is more where that came from.. The Psalm says: How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. This is the God who is able to do so much more than we can ask or imagine. Trust him for your future, both your future on earth and your forever future. The Greyhound Bus Company used to have a slogan that every Christian should apply to the Lord God. They told us: leave the driving to us. The God who is smiling on us says: Leave the driving to me. You just trust me and I'll get you where you need to go.
Let God be your driver, and put yur time in God's hands!
Take time to work--it is the price of success.
Take time to think--it is the source of power
Take time to read--it is the fountain of wisdom
Take time to worship--it is the highway to reverence
Take time to be friendly--it is the road to happiness
Take time to laugh--it helps to lift life's load
Take time for God's Word--it brings Christ near and
It washes the dust of earth from your eyes.
Take time for God--it is life's only truly lasting
investment. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The Poetry of the Day We Call Christmas
The most profound things in life are often the simplest.
The birth of a child. The birth of THE child. So simple, yet so profound that theologians have wrestled with it for 2,000 years. And, often, their prose has failed them. Instead, they’ve resorted to poetry.
One of the first to wrestle the nativity into words was John,the author of the Fourth Gospel. “In the beginning,” he wrote, “was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Centuries later, Charles Spurgeon preached of the incarnation: “Everything here is simple; everything is sublime. Here is that simple gospel, by which the most ignorant may be saved. Here are profundities, in which the best-instructed may find themselves beyond their depth. Here are those everlasting hills of divine truth which man cannot climb; yet here is that plain path in which the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err, nor lose his way.”
Merry Christmas, friends. May you make room in your hearts, lives, and families for the babe in the manger. And may your mouth, too, be filled with poetry in the face of the awesomeness of God's gift of His Son!
Yes, this season is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and this season brings with it a reminiscence of Christmases, as we’ve known them throughout the ages spent amongst family and friends.
Christmas is a time for bonding with one another.
Christmas is a time for reaffirming our love toward our families.
Christmas is a time for celebration and reflection.
Christmas is a time for considering who you are in Christ.
May you experience all of these aspects of the holy day this year!
Merry Christmas -- and to all a Holy Night!
The birth of a child. The birth of THE child. So simple, yet so profound that theologians have wrestled with it for 2,000 years. And, often, their prose has failed them. Instead, they’ve resorted to poetry.
One of the first to wrestle the nativity into words was John,the author of the Fourth Gospel. “In the beginning,” he wrote, “was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Centuries later, Charles Spurgeon preached of the incarnation: “Everything here is simple; everything is sublime. Here is that simple gospel, by which the most ignorant may be saved. Here are profundities, in which the best-instructed may find themselves beyond their depth. Here are those everlasting hills of divine truth which man cannot climb; yet here is that plain path in which the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err, nor lose his way.”
Merry Christmas, friends. May you make room in your hearts, lives, and families for the babe in the manger. And may your mouth, too, be filled with poetry in the face of the awesomeness of God's gift of His Son!
Yes, this season is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and this season brings with it a reminiscence of Christmases, as we’ve known them throughout the ages spent amongst family and friends.
Christmas is a time for bonding with one another.
Christmas is a time for reaffirming our love toward our families.
Christmas is a time for celebration and reflection.
Christmas is a time for considering who you are in Christ.
May you experience all of these aspects of the holy day this year!
Merry Christmas -- and to all a Holy Night!
The Little Baby was the Savior of the World!
In Luke chapter 2; we see the Christmas story of Jesus as a baby:
Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register, along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7 NASB)
Look at verse 7: “She gave birth.” Mary, a young girl, a virgin, a woman who had never had sexual relations with a man, gave birth. The conception was a miracle – but there is nothing here in the text to indicate that the birth was anything other than the normal process of labor.
Mary gave birth just as many of the women here this morning gave birth: her water broke, she began to have contractions, she felt overwhelmed by the process going on inside her body; her back hurt, there was pain and effort and sweat and pushing and stretching and burning – and then, finally, amazingly, this new little creature came forth from her body; a new creature covered with mucous and amniotic fluid and blood and vernix – hair (if any) plastered to his head, that head possibly misshapen from hours of pushing, his skin bluish in color until the first breath, and first cry.
Mary gave birth – and the baby, Jesus, came into this world just as you and I, through His mother’s strong efforts, bloody, slippery – and yet beautiful.
The point of all this? Jesus was a baby – a normal baby, born in the normal way. Jesus was really human. Jesus was a baby who soiled himself, spit up, cried when He was hungry; He was completely dependent upon his parents for meeting His every need. He could do nothing for himself. With His little hands, he grasped fingers held out to Him. He couldn’t communicate at first except by crying. He took months to learn to crawl, and more months to learn to walk, and to speak. Jesus was a normal, human baby.
Secondly, Jesus was born to a poor family in especially difficult circumstances. A teenaged girl and a young carpenter, struggling to protect the baby in the first days of His life.
And think of the humble circumstances of His birth. While I am sure Mary and Joseph did their best to make their newborn comfortable, safe, and clean, no stable is a sanitary place. How far were they from water? How did they clean Him up after the birth? What did that manger look like – that manger that for years had been the repository of grass and hay falling out of the mouths of cows?
Third, Jesus was born with the appearance of illegitimacy. Few believed Mary’s story of the angel Gabriel; surely most of those who saw her pregnant assumed she became that way through the normal process. Indeed, this stigma of illegitimacy followed Jesus all his life; the Pharisees allude to it in John chapter 8.
Such was the baby Jesus. Fully human. A humble baby from a poor family. In most eyes, illegitimate. But He grew up to be our Lord and Savior, and He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!
Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register, along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7 NASB)
Look at verse 7: “She gave birth.” Mary, a young girl, a virgin, a woman who had never had sexual relations with a man, gave birth. The conception was a miracle – but there is nothing here in the text to indicate that the birth was anything other than the normal process of labor.
Mary gave birth just as many of the women here this morning gave birth: her water broke, she began to have contractions, she felt overwhelmed by the process going on inside her body; her back hurt, there was pain and effort and sweat and pushing and stretching and burning – and then, finally, amazingly, this new little creature came forth from her body; a new creature covered with mucous and amniotic fluid and blood and vernix – hair (if any) plastered to his head, that head possibly misshapen from hours of pushing, his skin bluish in color until the first breath, and first cry.
Mary gave birth – and the baby, Jesus, came into this world just as you and I, through His mother’s strong efforts, bloody, slippery – and yet beautiful.
The point of all this? Jesus was a baby – a normal baby, born in the normal way. Jesus was really human. Jesus was a baby who soiled himself, spit up, cried when He was hungry; He was completely dependent upon his parents for meeting His every need. He could do nothing for himself. With His little hands, he grasped fingers held out to Him. He couldn’t communicate at first except by crying. He took months to learn to crawl, and more months to learn to walk, and to speak. Jesus was a normal, human baby.
Secondly, Jesus was born to a poor family in especially difficult circumstances. A teenaged girl and a young carpenter, struggling to protect the baby in the first days of His life.
And think of the humble circumstances of His birth. While I am sure Mary and Joseph did their best to make their newborn comfortable, safe, and clean, no stable is a sanitary place. How far were they from water? How did they clean Him up after the birth? What did that manger look like – that manger that for years had been the repository of grass and hay falling out of the mouths of cows?
Third, Jesus was born with the appearance of illegitimacy. Few believed Mary’s story of the angel Gabriel; surely most of those who saw her pregnant assumed she became that way through the normal process. Indeed, this stigma of illegitimacy followed Jesus all his life; the Pharisees allude to it in John chapter 8.
Such was the baby Jesus. Fully human. A humble baby from a poor family. In most eyes, illegitimate. But He grew up to be our Lord and Savior, and He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
The Power of Music
Music has been called the universal language. Certainly, there is great power in worship and praise and instrumental music used in churches. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people, and there are few things as wonderful as a beautiful hymn or praise chorus. Every time our choir sings, I feel the whispers of angels moving their wings in affirmation.
I have posted in the previous three posts three songs that have touched my heart in recent weeks. I mainly listen to Christian radio, and songs like Casting Crowns "Praise You in the Storm" lift my spirit high. But there are a lot of wonderful songs seeping into the regular radio -- many Christian values are being spoken in country music songs like "Three Wooden Crosses." And every once in a while you will find a song in pop music or rap music that resonates with Christian values, such as the Black Eyed Peas "Where is the Love?" Listen closely to the lyrics and the prayer in the chorus. It echoes the remarks on love from Jesus in the Book of John. It is a good question to ask ourselves, all across this nation, "Where is the Love?"
I have posted in the previous three posts three songs that have touched my heart in recent weeks. I mainly listen to Christian radio, and songs like Casting Crowns "Praise You in the Storm" lift my spirit high. But there are a lot of wonderful songs seeping into the regular radio -- many Christian values are being spoken in country music songs like "Three Wooden Crosses." And every once in a while you will find a song in pop music or rap music that resonates with Christian values, such as the Black Eyed Peas "Where is the Love?" Listen closely to the lyrics and the prayer in the chorus. It echoes the remarks on love from Jesus in the Book of John. It is a good question to ask ourselves, all across this nation, "Where is the Love?"
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Making Mud Pies in a Slum
C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite writers wrote in “Weight Of Glory": "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what it meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
“We must follow Jesus whole-heartedly vs half-heartedly. When we follow Jesus hardcore we get infinite joy and when we follow him half way we get “mud pies in a slum.” The question is can people see that the approval of others and financial security are merely “mud pies” in comparison to the adventure of following Christ.
1 Peter 4:1-5 “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
You must prepare yourself mentally! Do not quit. Stay faithful to Jesus Christ!
You must know that if you decide to live for God others will try to talk you out of it. But the rewards are far greater than anything they can give you. Stay strong in the Lord. Stand firm! Worship the One Who made you and guides you and loves you!
Isaiah 55:8-11 ““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” NIV
“We must follow Jesus whole-heartedly vs half-heartedly. When we follow Jesus hardcore we get infinite joy and when we follow him half way we get “mud pies in a slum.” The question is can people see that the approval of others and financial security are merely “mud pies” in comparison to the adventure of following Christ.
1 Peter 4:1-5 “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
You must prepare yourself mentally! Do not quit. Stay faithful to Jesus Christ!
You must know that if you decide to live for God others will try to talk you out of it. But the rewards are far greater than anything they can give you. Stay strong in the Lord. Stand firm! Worship the One Who made you and guides you and loves you!
Isaiah 55:8-11 ““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” NIV
Monday, December 03, 2007
Serving Him in All We Do
We hope and pray you are growing in Christ. We hope you desire to serve others though your church, to be a blessing for the Lord. The desire to serve is a wonderful sign of spiritual fruit in your life. Your God-given gifts and talents are given the chance to blossom when you serve your church body. The Bible tells us that we are a family, and we need each other. The apostle Peter taught, "Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms" (1 Peter 4:10). "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).
The Lord put us together where we are to bless one another, and to complement one another. "Various forms," Peter said in the verse above. That means we are not all given the same gifts. Some may be gifted in the arts like writing, music or art. Others excel in organizing, children's ministry, youth work, counseling, teaching, construction, crafts, hospitality….and many spiritual gifts. The Spirit gives us great gifts! We want to encourage you to use your gifts for God.
Now you may be trying to decide just what area of ministry to serve. We will be doing a follow-up survey in December to help us get to know you better and to assist you in determining your place in the body of Christ. We desire to see God use your unique blend of experiences, talents, traits, and gifts to best accomplish His work. We each have a part to play in God’s great symphony.
The Apostle Paul calls us the '"Body of Christ," and like our human bodies, each part has a specific purpose. You were designed for a specific work and we want to make sure that you serve where your gifts will best be used. One of the main reasons for burnout in ministry is people serving in areas where they are not truly called. Carefully praying and discerning your gifts will maximize the potential for you to experience one of the greatest joys you'll ever know - being used by God in the capacity for which you were designed. God uses ordinary people for extraordinary purposes.
We believe that no one has sinned so greatly that the blood of Christ cannot make a place for you to serve in the body of Christ. We want you involved where God will be glorified through the gifts and talents He has given you. I encourage you to trust God to place you in the perfect area of ministry for which He has equipped you. When we become part of a church body we are not only on the receiving end of others' gifts, but we get the opportunity to use our gifts to bless others. Once again, I want to thank you for your prayers and support. Your service is greatly appreciated. May God richly bless you as you experience the abundant joy of serving Him with all your heart!
The Lord put us together where we are to bless one another, and to complement one another. "Various forms," Peter said in the verse above. That means we are not all given the same gifts. Some may be gifted in the arts like writing, music or art. Others excel in organizing, children's ministry, youth work, counseling, teaching, construction, crafts, hospitality….and many spiritual gifts. The Spirit gives us great gifts! We want to encourage you to use your gifts for God.
Now you may be trying to decide just what area of ministry to serve. We will be doing a follow-up survey in December to help us get to know you better and to assist you in determining your place in the body of Christ. We desire to see God use your unique blend of experiences, talents, traits, and gifts to best accomplish His work. We each have a part to play in God’s great symphony.
The Apostle Paul calls us the '"Body of Christ," and like our human bodies, each part has a specific purpose. You were designed for a specific work and we want to make sure that you serve where your gifts will best be used. One of the main reasons for burnout in ministry is people serving in areas where they are not truly called. Carefully praying and discerning your gifts will maximize the potential for you to experience one of the greatest joys you'll ever know - being used by God in the capacity for which you were designed. God uses ordinary people for extraordinary purposes.
We believe that no one has sinned so greatly that the blood of Christ cannot make a place for you to serve in the body of Christ. We want you involved where God will be glorified through the gifts and talents He has given you. I encourage you to trust God to place you in the perfect area of ministry for which He has equipped you. When we become part of a church body we are not only on the receiving end of others' gifts, but we get the opportunity to use our gifts to bless others. Once again, I want to thank you for your prayers and support. Your service is greatly appreciated. May God richly bless you as you experience the abundant joy of serving Him with all your heart!
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