Seek the Power to Consistently Follow Jesus  

Last Sunday I told our congregation to ignore the clock in the back of the sanctuary. No, it wasn’t because I was planning on preaching a long sermon or because I felt the need to encourage some antsy people to quit focusing on how much time was left before they could head out to lunch. My suggestion had resulted from the fact that the clock was malfunctioning and was showing the wrong time. Throughout the morning I had noticed its inconsistency. It hadn’t completely stopped working yet. It ran a while, then the hands stayed in one spot for about an hour, then they started moving normally again. I recognized the sign of the battery running out, but didn’t have a replacement on hand. It reminded me that a clock doesn’t have to completely shut down in order to be ineffective. If it’s inconsistent and just running some of the time, you still can’t rely on what it says.

Inconsistency is a fault we should pay attention to as followers of Jesus. I’m not referring to those who have turned away from their faith or who have stopped trying to do God’s will. I’m talking about believers who walk with the Lord at times, but who just as often falter in their attempt to “keep on ticking” for Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, we’re all going to stumble on occasion. However, if we find ourselves consistently being inconsistent, we ought to be concerned. A constant stopping and starting isn’t the picture the Bible paints of the spiritual journey of a Christian. Some people like to point to Paul’s description in Romans 7 of someone’s struggles and inability to do God’s will as evidence that believers can’t help but live life on a spiritual rollercoaster. But if you read through the end of the chapter and into the next one, it’s clear that there can be deliverance from such an up-and-down journey. We can and should consistently walk according to the Spirit, which includes consistent obedience and victory over sin in our lives. We are “more than conquerors” through Christ.  

  The problem with the clock in our sanctuary was that its source of power was running low. I would suggest that if we’re suffering from the issue of an inconsistent walk with the Lord, maybe we need to consider the possibility of a lack of power being the cause. Maybe we’ve allowed our battery to run low as we’ve neglected to keep our connection with the Lord flowing and strong. Or maybe some of us haven’t ever fully hooked on to all the power that God has made available to us. Jesus told the disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). This power they subsequently received on the Day of Pentecost was not only the power to do miracles and the boldness to witness, but it was also the power to follow Jesus and do His will more consistently. Just look at the difference in the up-and-down life of Peter before Pentecost and his more consistent walk with the Lord after that experience. Those disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, had their hearts purified by faith (see Acts 15:9), and were empowered to live a more godly, Christlike life.

Don’t fall prey to the idea that a spiritual rollercoaster is the best you can hope for in life. Or worse, don’t use that concept as an excuse for your inconsistent obedience to God’s will. Seek to be filled with the Spirit and to be endued with the power to help keep your clock running faithfully and consistently for the Lord.   

 

We Aren’t Going to Live Here Forever

Many were saddened to hear about the death of popular celebrity Betty White. As you probably know, she passed away just a few weeks prior to her hundredth birthday. There had been big plans to celebrate her reaching that milestone. Maybe some of those events will be transformed into memorial tributes instead. As I spoke to someone shortly after finding out about her death, this person asked me if I knew what she had died of. Although I knew she was asking about the official cause, I jokingly suggested that it was probably old age. In one sense, it shouldn’t surprise us when someone at ninety-nine years of age dies. Yet I heard another entertainer express shock at this occurrence. She said she had thought Betty White would live forever. Undoubtedly, she didn’t believe that to be literally true. However, it reveals how we sometimes take life for granted and lose sight of the inevitability of death, whether for ourselves or someone else.

     In Psalm 90 it refers to how quickly life passes by. It suggests that a thousand years in God’s sight is like one day. It pictures time sweeping by like a fast-moving flooded river. It compares the years of our lives to grass – “In the morning it flourishes and grows up; in the evening it is cut down and withers” (v. 6). This psalm suggests that we do well to see seventy years, and are blessed to experience the strength to reach our eighties. However, the most familiar portion of this passage is probably the twelfth verse: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

There is wisdom in keeping a proper perspective concerning the length of our time here on this earth. It’s foolish of us to ignore the fact of our mortality or to act like we’re going to live here forever. There is great value in realizing that we just have a short time to accomplish what we’re going to do in our lifespan. Additionally, it is wise to prepare for what awaits us once this life is over. While we don’t live in this flesh on this earth forever, we need to come to terms with the truth that we will continue to exist in one condition or another. We will live forever, either in the glorious presence of God or in a tragic state of separation from Him while facing the consequences of our sin.

As we continue in the opening days of a new year, it can be a good time to regain such a perspective about life if we’ve strayed away from it. We think about people we knew who were here as last year began, but who were not still present by the time the year drew to a close. We don’t know how many of us will still be living the next time the calendar is turned. We don’t have to be in our nineties, or even our eighties or seventies, to realize that we don’t have a lot of time left. No matter how old we are, life is short and any of us could find ourselves face-to-face with our Creator at any time. None of us are promised tomorrow, much less another year.

I’m not suggesting that we become fixated with dying. We’ve got too much living to do. However, in order to live well, we need to stay aware of our limited time and make preparations for the life hereafter. Don’t take your life or the lives of those around you for granted. Whether we live to be as old as Betty White or die tomorrow, let’s live wisely.  

 

Are You Ready for the Trip into a New Year?

One of our daughters and her husband planned a surprise vacation for their family after Christmas. Their kids knew there was a trip coming, but didn’t know where they were going or exactly when. So on Christmas morning they unwrapped various clues until the details of their adventure was revealed, including the fact that they were leaving the next day.

We face a similar situation as we head into a new year. We know that we have a journey ahead of us. However, we don’t know where all it might take us. We may have some hopes and plans for the next twelve months, but if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that our intended activities can be drastically disrupted by events taking place in the world around us. So although we know we have a trip to take in 2022, there’s much uncertainty about the details of what’s coming. So how do we get ready for such an unpredictable journey?

First of all, we should make sure we’ve packed our bags with the main items we’ll need no matter where that journey takes us. While there are many important items we could mention, I’ll narrow it down to the basic trio Paul emphasized to the church at Corinth. “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13). Wherever this year takes us, we’ll need to be grounded in faith. Our circumstances will require that we maintain a steadfast trust in the Lord. We will need to have faith that He is still in control and that He is the good God who loves us. A faith that stands firm in the face of an unbelieving world and fear-provoking circumstances will help keep our heads above water no matter what rivers we may be called upon to cross.

We also need to pack plenty of hope – not the wishful, uncertain hope we might have in people or in some concept of fate. We need to have hope in a faithful God. We will undoubtedly face temptations along the way this year to give in to despair. At those times, it will be important to remind ourselves of the sure hope we have in the fulfillment of God’s promises both in this life and in the life to come.

We will also need to be filled with plenty of love. Let’s not give in to the culture of hate and anger that is so prevalent today. That doesn’t mean we pursue the kind of love much of our society advocates, one that compromises truth and excuses wrongdoing. We need God’s kind of love that is both holy and forgiving. Pray that whatever you do this year will be done with a spirit of Christlike love.

In addition to those qualities, we’ll need a guide or map for this trip in 2022. We may not know exactly where we’re going, but all along the way we’ll need God’s Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show us the next step to take and which roads to avoid.

Probably the most essential aspect of this trip into the new year is to make sure we’ve got the right traveling companion. No matter what 2022 holds in store for us, we can face it if we know the Lord is right there with us as we make the journey. We need to make sure we’re in a right relationship with the One who promises to go with us over the majestic mountains and through the dark valleys. As one old song suggests, “If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere.” So go with Jesus in 2022, and you’ll be ready for whatever comes your way.     

 

Good News: A Savior Was Born

I was thinking about some of those people who were caught in the recent tornado in Kentucky. I heard one man from his hospital bed telling of his harrowing experience. He described how the roof lifted off the building and the walls collapsed on him and his co-workers. He said he was at the very bottom of the pile, pinned under all the rubble. As tremendous pressure was weighing down on his body, he could only slightly move one arm, just enough to raise himself up so that he could continue to breathe. He and others with him were stuck. They couldn’t get out to save themselves. All they could do was wait for someone to come and rescue them. When help came, they were finally able to get enough of the debris off these victims in order to free them from their storm-created prison.

The Jews in Jesus’ day were also looking for a rescuer. They were stuck under the oppression of the powerful Roman Empire with no way to free themselves. They were expecting a savior who would establish his earthly kingdom and return control of their homeland back to the Jewish people. However, when Jesus came, it wasn’t to be a political savior for the Jews. Jesus came to be the Savior of the whole world. He saw more than the Jews stuck under Roman rule. He saw a world that was pinned under the weight of sin. He knew that the greatest need people had, including the Jewish people, was to be delivered from their spiritual bondage.

That’s a predicament we’re all helpless to free ourselves from. Until we experience salvation through Christ, we’re trapped and can’t do anything about our spiritual plight. We can’t fight against sin in our own strength and win. We can’t be good enough to crawl out of our lost condition. We will inevitably fall prey to bad actions, ungodly attitudes, or impure motives, causing us to sink deeper and deeper into the rubble. There is no way out on our own. We need a rescuer. And that’s where Jesus came in. He was born to be our Savior. He came to deliver us from the awful weight of sin, shame, and guilt that has kept us down. He came to set us free to live life the way God intended – in a right relationship with Him, enjoying His fellowship, and becoming a holy people.

This is why the angel in his famous announcement referred to this as good news: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). The fact that a Savior was born is what made it such good news. If God had come in the flesh as our Judge, we would’ve been in big trouble. Or if the one true Light of the world had shone in the darkness simply to show us the reality of our sinful condition, that wouldn’t have been enough. It would just expose our need to be saved. Thankfully, Jesus came to do more than that. He came not only to reveal our sin, but also to save us from it.

The fact that a Savior was born is what makes everything else we remember about Jesus’ birth so meaningful and such an occasion for joy. It’s what makes it good news. So as we celebrate Christmas, let’s rejoice in Him as our Savior. Or if you’re still stuck under sin’s bondage, reach out to Him and let Him rescue you today.

 

Like Jesus, We Should Be Misfits in This World

Recently I watched a few minutes of the holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. If you’re familiar with the story, you know part of the theme has to do with being different. Rudolph didn’t fit in due to his shiny red nose. Herbie the elf was likewise snubbed because of his desire to be a dentist rather than a toymaker. There was even an island of misfit toys filled with playthings which were flawed or unusual in some way. One of the lessons of the tale is that it’s acceptable to be different. One’s uniqueness can even be a positive quality, as Rudolph’s nose illustrated when it “saved the day” by allowing Santa to drive his sleigh in spite of the bad weather.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, we’re reminded that He was also a misfit in this world. He was definitely different – the unique combination of being fully God and fully human. He stood out as different, sometimes in ways that people didn’t like and ridiculed. And the very qualities that made Jesus different are what led to His bringing the salvation we all needed. The fact that He didn’t fit in with this world was one of the reasons He was rejected and put to death. Jesus being a misfit wasn’t due to His being flawed in any way. On the contrary, it was the result of the world being flawed in the presence of His purity and goodness. The Apostle John describes Him as being the light shining in the darkness (John 1:5). Jesus didn’t come to blend in with the darkness. No, He came to be a light to penetrate the darkness. As the light, Jesus illuminated and enlightened. He revealed the way things really were. He showed more clearly what God is like, as well as revealing what people are like, including exposing any sin in their lives. The holy God-man was quite a contrast to a spiritually-corrupt world.

 All of us have probably felt like we didn’t fit in at some point in our lives. That’s just part of our common experience as humans in this world. However, as followers of Jesus, we should be misfits in some ways, similar to Jesus’ experience. Unlike Him, we have our flaws, and even our shortcomings and sins. However, God’s Word stresses that we’re not “of the world” (John 17:14) and we are not to allow ourselves to be fitted into the mold of this world (Romans 12:2). As Jesus was the light, He said that we also are to be lights in this world (Matthew 5:14). Likewise, we are to be making progress in becoming more holy and more like Jesus, which will make us stand out as different from an ungodly world. So not only should we expect to be misfits if we are faithfully following Jesus, but we should be concerned if we find ourselves failing to live up to that description. If we’re letting the light of Christ shine through us, we’re going to stand out as being different – in ways that some people will like and in ways that some people will despise.

At one point Rudolph’s parents tried to hide his uniqueness with a fake nose so that he wouldn’t be shunned by others. Maybe we’re tempted to hide our lights in order to try to fit in better or to avoid the fallout from others. However, we need to fulfill our calling to be a holy people, a Christlike example, and a truth-telling witness for the Lord. Be willing to be a misfit in this world in order for the darkness to experience the life-giving light.

 

Expect the Unexpected at Christmas

The holiday season is often a busy time for many of us. With all the planned activities on our schedules, any unexpected events can be especially challenging and unwelcome. Take last weekend for example. I was eating dinner on Saturday when a crown came off one of my teeth. I immediately thought of the possible repercussions since the next day I was scheduled to preach, eat “Christmas dinner” with others from our church, and attend my granddaughter’s ballet performance in “The Nutcracker.” Thankfully, it didn’t keep me from participating in any of those activities, although I did have to make some adjustments. However, speaking of the ballet – on our way to enjoy that event, the low-tire-pressure warning light on our car suddenly appeared. As I watched the indicator informing me that one tire was quickly losing air, I felt the temptation for my own spirit to deflate. However, in spite of the flat tire, we were still able to make it to the performance, and I had help afterwards getting it changed. So while these occurrences were certainly unexpected and I would have preferred not to deal with them, I could also think of worse times when they could have happened. Even in the midst of those inconvenient surprises, everything worked out.

    That first Christmas wasn’t without its unexpected and inconvenient moments too. The one that we most often think about was when Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem. As Joseph went into the local inn to secure accommodations for the night, he was greeted with the unwelcome news that there were no vacancies. With his very pregnant companion ready to give birth at any time, that wasn’t the information they were hoping for. Instead, they were relegated to having to bed down in an area used as a stable. The Bible is silent about their reaction to this unexpected predicament. Did Joseph get into a heated argument with the innkeeper? Did Mary deride Joseph for his lack of foresight in securing a room? We can imagine how some of us might have acted based on how we tend to respond to our own unexpected inconveniences. However, I like to think better of Joseph and Mary. I believe their godly character is one reason God chose them to be the earthly parents of this unique child. Maybe they felt initial irritation and concern at this development, but I like to think that their faith quickly kicked in and they put their situation in God’s hands. They trusted Him in spite of the less-than-ideal circumstances.

Can we do that when unexpected events throw a wrench into our busy holiday schedules? Can we whisper a prayer of faith in God and trust that He’s going to work everything out? Can we let Him calm those initial reactions of fear, anger, and frustration, and bless us with peace in the midst of the storm?

God has used Joseph’s and Mary’s unexpected situation to illustrate the humble beginnings of Jesus. And what a great picture it has become of the truth about people needing to make room in their lives for the Savior. God brought good out of a seemingly negative event. Let’s trust Him to do that in our case too. We’re going to face some unexpected moments. We’re going to be inconvenienced by some bumps in our road this holiday season. But let’s face them with a firm assurance that God is in control. Nothing is unexpected to Him. Let’s trust Him to use those occasions for some good purpose in our lives or in fulfilling His plans. He did it with a “no vacancy” sign. And He can do it with a flat tire or whatever else may come our way.

 

This Is a Great Time to Get Reconnected

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is past, my wife and I have started watching a few Christmas movies, especially the newer ones offered up on the Hallmark Channel. There is often a common scenario in many of those rather predictable storylines, whether it’s in their Christmas movies or in their other romantic flicks shown throughout the year. It usually involves two people who were once in a relationship but had gone different ways, coming back together years later. They may have to work through some issues related to their previous break-up – there may need to be some confession, forgiveness, and change of heart – but eventually they end up reconnecting and their relationship being restored, maybe even stronger and on a more permanent basis than it had been before.

 The holiday season is a wonderful time to reconnect with people. We may have opportunities to spend time with distant relatives we only see once a year. Or we might send a Christmas card to folks we haven’t heard from in a while or haven’t seen face-to-face in decades. Maybe we’ll even include a little note updating others on what has been going on in our family over the past year. In some cases, the holidays are our main opportunity to reconnect with folks from whom we’ve been separated by distance, busyness, or issues which have strained our relationship.

This is also a great time to reconnect with the Lord. If we’ve allowed issues to get between us and our relationship with God, there’s no better time than the present to deal with them. Maybe something happened in our lives that made us question God’s love for us, His ability to answer prayer, or even His existence. We walked away from Him and our faith. However, we recognize that something important is missing in our lives. Nothing else has been able to fill that void or satisfy the deepest yearnings in our hearts. It’s time to humbly seek God again, to honestly look to Him and His Word for the truth about those issues, and to put our trust in Him.

Maybe others of us haven’t made such a drastic break in our relationship with the Lord, yet we’ve definitely put some distance between us and Him. We’ve delved into activities that we knew He wouldn’t approve of. We’ve given our love to the things of this world rather than to Him and what He considers important. We’ve fallen into old ways of living and sinful habits that we once left behind. It’s time for us prodigals to go back home to our Father, confess our wrongdoings, and trust that He will lovingly welcome us back home.

Then there are others of us who have simply grown complacent in our relationship with the Lord. We haven’t lost our faith or fallen into some sinful lifestyle, but we aren’t actively pursuing a closer walk with Him. We’ve allowed our love for Him to wain and grow cold. We haven’t turned away from the Lord, but we just aren’t seeking to know Him and fellowship with Him as earnestly as we’ve done in the past. We, too, need to reconnect with our God and Savior.  

So as we go through this season of the year, let’s use it as an opportunity to reach out to the God who is always lovingly reaching out to us. He is ready and wants to reconnect with us, if we’ll just take a step toward Him. James 4:18 promises that if we will draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Give it a try. Make this a special season for reconnecting not only with other people, but also with the Lord.