Chosen by God: Living as one who is holy and loved

God chose you. What does that mean? How should we respond?

A good friend of mine takes care of the décor of our church. She wanted to buy a picture to hang in our entrance; however, when she went back to the website on which it was for sale, the artwork was no longer available. I told her, “No problem. I can make that.” Now that VBS is over for the summer, this became my new project. We’ll print it out on poster-sized paper and adhere it to palette wood. I haven’t actually done that part yet but this will give you an idea of the look…

I’ve looked at this passage a lot this week as I worked on the layout and design. It’s not surprising but there’s a lot of good stuff in it for us.

God Chose You

“Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved…” (Colossians 3:12).

He created the universe. He gave up the glory of heaven to live among us. He resurrected Himself from the dead. He promised to return in all power and authority to establish a world-wide kingdom of peace. No one else can make any of those claims. They all testify to His power, authority, glory, honor, and just plain old awesomeness.

He’s the One who chose you. He scanned eternity, saw your place in it, and said, “I choose her. She’s one of Mine. I’ll give My life to make her holy and set her apart unto Myself. I can’t help but do so – I love her.”

A Different Lifestyle

I think that kind of love and devotion from One so worthy warrants a response on our part. Sure, we can accept the love and blessing God bestows on us without allowing a transformation within ourselves. We can even choose to reject the love He offers – many do, sadly. However, when I take a moment to consider who God is and His desire to choose me, I can’t help but think my life should look different in response.

Heartfelt Compassion
Mercy, tenderness, and affection should well up deep within us and overflow to the surrounding hurting world. We can’t step over the homeless person asleep on the street. We can’t remain indifferent to the slaughter of the unborn and the subsequent trafficking of their organs. We can’t ignore the struggles of those persecuted for believing the same message of hope in which we believe.

Kindness
Ours should be a life lived with moral integrity as we focus on the good. Not only should an effort to do what’s good mark our lives, but we should also extend that effort to others. We must do what’s right in a given situation.

Humility
The world seeks to promote itself; the follower of Jesus seeks to promote Him. We recognize how awesome He is – I talked about that a little at the beginning of this article. That recognition helps us understand our lower place in the whole scheme of things. Life is no longer all about our power, our glory, or our honor. We now understand it’s all about Him.

Gentleness
Life’s hard; the world is harsh. Into that unforgiving environment, God gently brought a message of grace. He doesn’t beat us up with His Word. He doesn’t torture us until we convert. He comes to us lovingly, quietly, and stirs in us a desire to extend that gentleness to a world already beaten and bruised by their own behaviors.

Patience
Our tendency is to get angry when things don’t go our way. We fly off the handle when people make us mad. But you know what? Those things are always going to happen. Living as one chosen by God means we persevere through those times with a constancy and endurance not seen in those of the world.

Accepting One Another
Did you know that if you want to be a Rockette you have to be a certain height, certain weight, and have a certain leg length? They want all of the dancers to be exactly the same size. God doesn’t choose people who are all exactly the same, however. We come with different backgrounds, personalities, experiences, dreams, and every other descriptor. Sometimes our differences make it hard but God chose others just as He chose us. Our response should be to accept one another – even the different ones.

Forgive One Another
Yeah, He said it. It’s there – and it’s hard. We need to forgive each other. Think about how much God has forgiven in your life. He has forgiven just as much in the lives of His other chosen followers. It’d be pretty messed up of us if we can’t forgive them too. After all, their offense before sinless God is much greater than any offense they’ve made against us. And yet, He’s forgiven all of it.

Love
God’s love is unfathomable. I’m not even going to try to describe it because words can’t describe it. It’s enough that He couldn’t stand an eternity without you. He looked down from glory into our pit of sin where the nastiness of death bound us and suffocated us and said, “I’ll take her place. I’ll go into the pit so she might join Me here.” That’s love. Part of our response is to make every effort to love that way in return. We’ll never fully accomplish it but we can sure spend a lifetime trying.

Peace
Our natural tendency is to war against God; our nature is to rebel and fight His perfect plan. On our own, we’d never live in peace with Him. On the flip side, He never would have granted us peace either except for the sacrifice of the Prince of Peace, Jesus. I don’t think it’s too much to ask, then, that we also live in peace with one another.

Be Thankful
A little gratitude goes a long way. Remember where we started this article – the glorious, eternal, powerful God of all chose you to spend eternity with Him. Then He endured the greatest of torments to make it happen. Take a moment to respond with a “thank you.”

I'm Too Busy: How will God view our excuses when eternity comes?

The church is full of hypocrites.

A God of love would never send people to hell.

Everyone has their own truth and their own path to God.

My teacher told me God doesn’t exist.

I went to church when I was little so it’s all good. Or, I’m a member of the local church so it’s all good. I’m covered.

I’ve done too many bad things. God doesn’t want me.

I’m a good person. God will let me in.

I can take care of that some other time. I’m too busy right now.

I don’t feel like it.

All that Bible stuff is too hard. I’ll just wing it.

I went to church but someone there made me mad. I won’t go back.

I’d go to church but someone already there hurt me. I’ll never go somewhere where he/she is at.

They are just after my money. They don’t care about me.

We’ve all heard these excuses for why people reject Christianity. We’ve probably even said or thought some of them ourselves.

I’m not even going to offer a rebuttal to them. Instead, I’m going to skip the debate and go straight to the point. I’m going to focus on the heart of the issue. These are all excuses we use so we don’t have to face the truth. However, when the moment of truth comes, our excuses won’t matter one single bit.

I’m not going to sugar coat this or try to make it politically correct. I’m going to put it out there and leave the rest up to you.

You will stand before God at some point. He’s not going to consider your excuses and make allowances for them. God won’t say, “Yes, I know. The church was full of hypocrites so I understand why you didn’t go. Please, enter into eternity with Me.”

You’ll never hear, “Your teacher told you I don’t exist so it’s not really your fault that you rejected Me. We’ll blame your teacher instead. Heaven awaits you.”

God isn’t going to look at the calendar on your smartphone and reply, “Wow, you’re right. You were really busy with your career and your children’s activities and civic responsibilities and taking care of your home and still trying to fit in some fun stuff. I can see why you never took time to learn about Me. Sure, we can make an exception. I have a spot prepared for you in heaven with Me.”

Do you see where I’m going with this?

We throw out excuses for our rejection of God’s truth as if they’ll make a difference in our eternal outcome. We actually think God will consider those excuses as valid “Get out of jail free” cards in a cosmic, eternal Monopoly game.

I mean, after all, God is love and His is a message of grace, right?

This is God’s Love

“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

God is a God of love. As Creator of the universe, He has the privilege of defining love. He defined it as a sacrifice made by one person for the benefit of another person. He played it out by sacrificing Himself to pay the penalty for our sin so we might receive the benefit of forgiveness and eternity in heaven.

This is God’s Grace

“Since by one man’s trespass [Adam], death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. … But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:17, 20-21).

God is a God of grace. Grace doesn’t make excuses and exceptions to get around the truth. That’s called lying and deception and they’re trademark signs of Satan, not God. God’s grace recognizes our sin for what it is without excuse. Instead, He forgives it completely and totally because of the blood sacrificed by Jesus.

A difference exists between excusing an offense and forgiving one. To excuse an offense means to pretend as if it wasn’t actually offensive or didn’t hurt you. To excuse an offense gives power to the offender. To forgive an offense means to recognize that the person’s action was wrong, it did hurt you, but you choose not to hold it against them. To forgive an offense gives the power to the one offended. The latter is God’s grace.

No one will hold your hand

When that moment comes and you stand before God, I won’t be there to hold your hand and offer false promises of security. Your excuses won’t be there still promising false justification. That moment will be between you and God alone; all that will matter is what you did with the message of love and grace offered by Jesus. Did you accept it or did you excuse it away?

Please click here to read a full explanation of what it means to accept Jesus’ gift of love, grace, and salvation. It’s eternally significant.

Don't Stand Still: Make the journey and face the enemies

God didn’t deliver us so we could stand still.

That was my take away from a verse I meditated on this week as I posted it on Grow Barefoot social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+). The verse was Psalm 56:13.

A lot of us are content standing still. Hey, at least we aren’t just sitting in a pew – we’re standing! We serve a little in our churches, we pray occasionally, maybe open a Bible sometimes on a day other than Sunday, and pretty much try to live a good life. Sometimes we go a little crazy and put a Christian calendar on our desk at work or a Christian bumper sticker on the back of our car. They fit in real nice between the chrome fish and the stick figures of our family members.

It’s all good. We did those things five years ago, and if God doesn’t return, we’ll be doing them five years from now. And ten years. And twenty years. We’ll keep doing them and never stop doing them because we’re standing still.

So, in the midst of all our standing around, in comes a verse like Psalm 56:13, “For You delivered me from death, even my feet from stumbling, to walk before God in the light of life.” It invades our comfy little standing-around gathering and reminds us all what God did for us. It even has the nerve to go a step further and point out an appropriate response on our part.

Considering Psalm 56

Psalm 56:13 is the conclusion of a brief Psalm written by David when he was in dire circumstances. We have to consider the whole thing to fully understand David’s conclusive call to action.

Introduce the Problem
David is in the midst of his enemies; the Philistines have taken him captive. He knows his life is in danger. Fear overwhelms him despite God’s promise of a future kingship in Israel. The Philistines gasp and pant for the opportunity to crush him. They can almost taste his destruction as they know his defeat will bring them victory against the Israelite army. In their arrogance, they actually think they can stop God’s plan (Psalm 56:1-2).

The Response to Fear
David’s afraid – very afraid. He didn’t allow fear to paralyze him, however. He didn’t let it control his thoughts, actions, or emotions. As waves of fear came over him, he purposely chose to place his trust in God. That’s not a normal human response; David must have had enough life experience by this point to discipline his response to fear. He knew to trust, not panic or doubt God’s promise. After all, he had the very Word of God – a promise given through the prophet Samuel – that God had a future for David. In response, he could quiet his fears, assess the situation, and proclaim to his captors, “What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:3-4).

The Six Attacks of the Enemy
The Philistines didn’t come at David in only one way. They attacked him relentlessly from six different angles. They tortured him with words as they twisted and distorted the truth to which he clung. They schemed and connived every sort of evil against him. His enemies gathered together under a common cause of stirring up strife in David’s life. They hid themselves away in the deceptive shadows. They watched him from those shadows. As they schemed together, hidden and watching, they panted for a chance to crush and destroy him (Psalm 56:5-6).

God’s Response to David and his Enemies
The stage has been set, David’s attention has been focused in the right direction, and the enemies are scheming their evil plan. With that, we reach the climax of the Psalm. “Will they escape in spite of such sin?” David’s trust in the surety of the Word of God empowers him to prophesy his enemies’ demise – God will bring them down. Their outcome is certain.

David’s outcome is different, though. The same Word that promises the destruction of the enemies of God’s chosen people promises a future for those He has chosen. For them, God has a record of our walk… our journey… our wanderings. He has our tears preserved in a bottle. Our whole walk, including every tear, every moment of fear, every rejection, and every attack by the enemy, is recorded before God’s throne (Psalm 56:7-8).

The Outcome
David’s enemies imprisoned him; his situation looked bleak. Yet, he knew God’s Word and therefore he knew the outcome that awaited. He didn’t cower in fear. He didn’t stand still. He rose up against his enemies. He called out to them knowing they would retreat because he also knew that God was for him. He didn’t need to know the details. He only said, “This I know: God is for me” and that was enough.

Not just any God either. When David entered his dire situation and fear threatened to envelop him, he relied on the Word of God. He trusted the Word and even reached a point of praise in his prison. By the end, though, he had grown. He found victory from the threats and evil intents of the Philistines. He experienced the comfort and compassion of a God who keeps each of our tears in a bottle. He put God to the test and found Him faithful. The experience of his journey led him to add a new line to his song of praise. He not only sang “In Elohiym, whose word I praise” but now the victory of his test leads him to sing, “In YHWH, whose word I praise.” Yahweh, Jehovah, the one and only true God was the source of David’s victory and assurance for the future. With even more confidence and power, I believe he loudly dared any who might rise against him, “What can man do to me?” (Psalm 9-11).

Our Response
Here we are – almost to the verse that began this whole grand saga. God provides epic defeat of the enemy. He not only freed David from captors who lusted for his death; He delivers us from an even worse torment imprisoned in Satan’s lair. He offers us a walk of victory where our feet won’t even stumble. All that He asks is that we take that walk – make that journey. Rise up against those enemies and boldly declare, “God is for me… What can man do to me?”

We’ll never make that walk if we keep standing still.

What might happen if we start walking? We'll become healthier, stronger, and we'll start moving forward. Click here to read more.

Common Thread: Finding Jesus on every page

I spent last week studying for this week’s section of our current, ongoing study through the book of Hebrews. We’ve been studying Melchizedek, and quite honestly, his place in Scripture is about as difficult as his name.

I worked through a hard passage and ended at the same conclusion where I always end up. It’s happened so often that, if I don’t end there, then I go back and check my progression through the passage because I probably missed something.

Here it is – the conclusion I reach on virtually every Bible lesson I teach – God loves you and wants a relationship with you through His Son, Jesus.

That’s the whole message of God’s Word – from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 – from the days of Adam about 6,000 years ago until the days of Messiah’s reign sometime in the future. The whole thing is the story of how He expressed that love and made that relationship possible. I reached that end this time and thought, “That’s the same conclusion I reach every time. Why keep studying? I know the point of the book… God loves me and wants a relationship with me through Jesus.” We can learn this truth reading John 3:16; why spend hours studying?

Let’s use a thread to represent this statement. We’ll call it our John 3:16 thread because you can simply read John 3:16 and know everything you ever need to know, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” It’s simple and direct; with a few abbreviations we can even make it fit within the 140 character limit of Twitter.

Yes, this one statement has enough power to change the world. But it’s only a thread; it’s only a single strand of power and truth.

When I questioned why Jesus might possibly be troubled, I found it was because He loves us and wants a relationship with us.

When I wondered why Jesus had to go against all conventional wisdom, I learned it was because He loves us and wants a relationship with us.

When I struggled to understand Jesus’ parables, I found buried within them that God loves us and wants a relationship with us.

When I wondered what it meant to soar on wings like eagles, I realized we only can do so because God loves us and wants a relationship with us.

When I freaked out because a great cloud of witnesses surrounds me, I learned they are there because God loves us and wants a relationship with us.

When I was curious why the Bible sometimes calls Jesus the Rock, I discovered it’s because God loves us and wants a relationship with us.

When I wanted to know more about the name Immanuel, I learned it’s His name because He loves us and wants a relationship with us.

When I wondered why Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah had to suffer, I realized it’s because He loves us and wants a relationship with us.

Those are only the topics I’ve blogged about. More are in my books and many more sit on my shelves from old studies I’ve written and taught. Maybe someday I’ll get more of them posted here. Things like finding this message hidden in the garments of the priest in the Old Testament.

Or finding it in the complex person of the priest Melchizedek, which is where I found myself last week.

These topics all contain the common message of our John 3:16 thread. Each one is a powerful message of grace, love, and relationship restored. God wove each of these threads and countless more into an intricate and deep blanket that spans thousands of years and reaches every person of all time. We call that blanket the Bible.

The John 3:16 thread is enough but the whole design is so much more.

The world is a hard, cold place. When I need warmth and comfort, I’d rather wrap up in the whole blanket than try to curl up in a single thread.

The pits of inadequacy, despair, and depression can be deep, dark, foreboding places. I need the whole blanket to pull me up out of the pit. I may lose my grasp if I hold onto only a single thread.

The enemy’s attacks come at me from every direction. A single thread may not block every fiery dart but if the whole blanket covers me completely then the power of the Word can stop every attack.

Weaving it in to your life

The John 3:16 thread is all you need in your life. It’s simple and reveals God’s plan for our relationship. So much more awaits though when you start searching through the rest of Scripture’s pages to find that thread woven throughout the whole story, from beginning to end. I encourage you to open His Word, start studying it, and weaving His threads together into your own life so you’ll have the whole blanket when you need warmth and comfort, a pull out of despair, or defense from the enemy.

Priorities: My Children aren't that Important

You probably think my title is an attention grabber to pique your curiosity. Sorry, that’s not the case. My kids really aren’t that important.

Let me explain before you skip the rest of the article to leave me a nasty comment. But before I explain, I want to share some of this year’s Mother’s Day moments.

Fourth Child

My youngest is a pure expression of creativity. Her unique views of the world never cease to amaze. Many people create acrostic poems for Mother’s Day – even the well-known Proverbs 31 passage is an acrostic! Leave it to my youngest, however, to make an acrostic based on the second letter of each word. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that’s kind of impressive for her age.

Third Child

My younger middle child thrives on the beauty of musical order. She mixes structure with creativity and rhythm with emotion to bring music to life. She’s had a song in her heart since the day she was born. No wonder that she shared her feelings in poetry.

Second Child

My older middle child gets it – whatever “it” is. Her quick mind, sharp wit, and logical comprehension not only make her hysterically entertaining but also provide a deep understanding of situations. She was the first to find me Mother’s Day morning to share her love. Also no surprise that she was the one that turned to social media to further share her feelings. Yeah, I know, I need to work on my "duck face."

First Child

My firstborn and I have something I’ll never have with my other daughters. For her first years, it was her and I each day. She’s always been a daddy’s girl but we made many memories those first years before my second daughter joined us. Her independence level will soon take a final giant leap as she branches out into God’s plan for her life. However, we still remember those first days together; they influenced her gift this year.

My Korean Daughter

She’s been with us for two years and, God willing, she’ll be with us two more. She’s part of our family, though. She’s the one to take care of what needs done – how else could her grades average 100% for all classes while learning in a second language? No surprise, then, that she found time and opportunity to buy a card. She’s also as sweet as she is smart as you’d see if you read her message inside the card which began, “Dear My American Mom.”

How can I say they aren’t that important?

They’re amazing – beautiful, creative, intelligent, compassionate, expressive, and all the things we hope for in children. I love each of them to the moon and back.

But they aren’t the most important.

God is. I love Him more.

I’ve been seeing these cute little graphics on social media recently. They say things like,

• “Your children are the greatest gift God will give to you.”
• “Children aren’t a distraction from the most important thing. They are the most important thing.”
• “The most magical day of my life was the day I became a mom.”

They all seem pleasant and sweet on the surface but lies, failures, and disappointments hide in the details of each one.

Greatest Gift
My daughters are each a great gift, but they aren’t the greatest. My husband is a great gift, too. He ranks right up there with my girls. I won’t insult him by saying they are a better gift than he is. Even he’s not the greatest, though. Only one of God’s gifts is the greatest – that of His Son. That’s the only gift in my life that covers all my inadequacies, forgives all my mistakes, and keeps giving grace and love no matter what situations come.

Most Important
They are each so important. God created them unique to fulfill a role in His kingdom. I know He has an incredible plan for each of them – just like being their mom is part of His incredible plan for me. However, being Jimmy’s wife is also part of His plan for me and it’s every bit as important as them. Only God’s plan is the most important; I’m blessed that He chose to include them as part of that plan. His is the only plan that can meet the needs of a hurting world, bring salvation to the nations, and give us significance and importance through serving rather than exaltation.

Most Magical… or Amazing
God doesn’t work with magic, so let’s use the word “amazing” instead of “magical.” I think it still fits with the original intent. I clearly remember the moment each child lay in my arms for the first time. All four were absolutely amazing. They were incredible. But they weren’t the most amazing moments of my life. I remember standing at the front of a church, facing Jimmy as we promised our lives to each other. That was pretty amazing. I remember the moment each daughter accepted Jesus as her Savior. Those moments of spiritual birth were even more amazing than the ones of physical birth. My own personal moment of spiritual birth was amazing as well.

In fact, every time I consider God’s offer of grace and expression of sacrificial love through His Son, I experience the most amazing moment. I’m amazed that the Creator of the universe could love us so passionately that He couldn’t allow sin to separate us from Him. I’m amazed that God the Son lived in holy, perfect beauty with the Father and Spirit and yet chose to leave heaven to come to this dirt-clod we call earth. I’m amazed by His power that willingly laid down His own life and defeated death by resurrecting back to life. I’m amazed by His power to someday return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem with footsteps that will split the mountain in half. Jesus is the most amazing moment.

Finding Balance

I love my girls… they are a great gift, they’re important, and they’re amazing. However, only God is the greatest, most important, most amazing part of my life.

I base my identity on my position as a child of God, not on my position as someone’s mother. My success in life is loving and serving Him, not my ability to bear or raise children.

As women, we have seven different roles. We stay busy as wives, mothers, businesswomen, friends, servants, and homemakers. They’re all important but none of them is most important. Can we say an unmarried woman is less because being a wife isn’t part of her roles? Are women without children less because they’ve never birthed or raised a child? Are women who don’t engage in the workplace less because they don’t earn a paycheck? Are women with a messy home less because they don’t live in spotless perfection? Of course not!

Only the seventh role is the most important – our role as the beloved daughter of God Most High. It’s the umbrella that covers, protects, and sustains the other six. Then we can say, “Many women are capable, but you surpass them all! Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised” (Proverbs 31:29-30).


For more on finding balance and women's roles, please check out Seven Roles, One Woman: You Expect Me to do All That?

A Place at the Table: How do I reserve a spot with Jesus?

Your table is ready… follow me. I’d be happy to show you to your seat.

Our church family celebrated Passover again this year. Every year, I make place cards to mark the seats of our guests. I know people don’t use place cards very often anymore but I include them for a few reasons. First, we only have a certain number of spots available. I want to make sure we don’t end up with an odd spot here or there which might require those who arrive later to sit separately. Also, I want family groups to sit together. Families are crumbling today; I feel this is a special opportunity for grandparents, parents, and children to come together in a significant way. Finally, I want to make sure I have candle centerpieces in the right places for each mom to light her candles.

It’s kind of a big job to make sure every guest has their own place card. I made a full set about five days before the dinner but all week I was pulling some out and making some new as guests either cancelled their reservations or signed up at the last minute. Even the morning of the dinner I pulled out my supplies and made 14 new cards. It’s also a lot of work to make sure the place cards are all set out in the correct spot to ensure the table is ready when guests arrive. This year, a team of four people spent about an hour making sure every guest had a spot, specially marked with their name. Only when we were confident everyone had a spot could another team go through to prepare all the elements of the Seder.

So much work went into such a small detail of our evening celebration. And yet, it’s nothing compared to the work required for you to have a place card hold your spot at another significant table.

Passover, the Seder, Last Supper, Communion; all link together to display God’s plan for our redemption. They all link together to show God’s plan to take us unto Himself as a groom does His bride.

Jesus’ last Passover meal with His disciples – the beginning of the fulfillment of Passover and the foundation of Christian communion – also held the signs of a Jewish betrothal. I can’t go into all of it now but I want to focus on one single aspect here.

A young Jewish man and woman were betrothed before they were married. A betrothal was similar but much more strict and binding than a modern day engagement. Two significant events mark a Jewish betrothal – the marriage contract and the drinking of a shared cup of wine. Jesus completed the signs of betrothal when He spoke over the third cup, specifically, the Cup of Redemption. “Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:27-28).

You and I didn’t have the privilege of sitting at that table as did Peter, James, John, and the remaining disciples. We didn’t have the chance to look into Jesus’ eyes as we drank from the cup He passed thereby indicating our willingness to be His bride. But every time we participate in Communion, we spiritually join them at that table. Every drink of the cup of the Lord’s Supper is a reminder of our betrothal to Him.

A young Jewish man and woman completed their marriage in a second ceremony that occurred at an unknown time in the future. After a significant amount of time, the groom would return to the bride’s home to take her as his wife and be her husband. The wedding ceremony included a second cup of wine and the marriage feast.

Jesus offered the third cup to His disciples and they drank. However, that night He didn’t drink the fourth cup – the cup of Restoration. The fourth cup represented the promise to take us as His people and to be our God. Rather than drink the final cup, Jesus said, “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink anew with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29).

Jesus completed the third cup but not the fourth. He fulfilled the process of redemption but He waits to take us as His bride and be our groom. He awaits a future table when the marriage betrothal is fulfilled over the final cup and the wedding feast.

We weren’t able to sit around the Last Supper table with the disciples but we can literally, physically sit at the table of the wedding feast. When we arrive, we can find a place card with our name on it. He will reserve a seat held only for us.

How does that happen?

We prepare.

“Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty has begun to reign! Let us be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself” (Revelation 19:7).

We don’t prepare by striving to do all the right things, say all the right words, or go all the right places. We prepare by drinking the cup of redemption He holds out to us. We prepare by participating in the New Covenant He cut for us.

To drink the cup and accept the covenant means we recognize Jesus as our…

• Sacrifice who atoned for our sin
• Redeemer who paid the price to purchase us from the clutch of death
• Lamb whose blood made death to pass over us
• Groom who provides for our needs

Click here to learn more about a relationship with Jesus and how to reserve your place at the table.

The Servant Suffers: Finding victory in the pain of suffering

“Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). We know this to be true from these writings in the Old Testament / Torah but Paul confirmed it again in Romans 4 of the New Testament. For Jews and Christians alike, Abraham was a man of righteousness.

He was also a man of blessing. It was to him that God spoke, “Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3).

I doubt Abraham had any idea the persecution and trials that would befall the Jewish people – his descendants through Isaac and Jacob – over the next several millennia. From the Egyptian enslavement, through countless attempts at extermination, and culminating in a final attack prophesied by Ezekiel which is still yet to happen, the Jewish people have suffered. They have known pain unlike any other ethnic group.

Many people of compassion look at Jewish history and ask, “Why?”

The Hebrew prophet Isaiah offers a hint of explanation in one of his most well-known prophecies. Yet, we often overlook it.

Join us as we consider Isaiah 52:13-53:12 – the fourth of Isaiah’s songs of the suffering servant. In this five-part study, we’ll consider the role Jewish persecution had to play in the coming of the Messiah, the significance of Jesus’ humanity, the purpose for Jesus’ life and death on earth, and the outcome for all humanity, including the Jewish people.

Click on picture to view a downloadable, printable pdf file of the study.

What do I do with it?

Several people have asked for copies of various blog series over the years. We're thrilled to make them available to you in a free downloadable, printable format. We've even added questions at the end for personal reflection or group discussion.

Click here to view the full selection of available Bible study downloads.

As hard as this is to believe, not everyone in the world has an internet connection. Not everyone has access to online study resources or neighborhood Christian book stores. Some of those who do have access don't know where to start when it comes to Bible study. So here are some suggestions on what you can do with these free downloads...

• Use them as a guide for your own personal Bible study time on a daily or weekly basis.
• Send them to a friend, relative, or missionary living in a remote location.
• Start a short term study with friends at work, in your neighborhood, or in your church.
• Be creative! Let us know in the comment section how you may utilize these resources!

Click on the above picture to open a .pdf file. From there, you may either download it to your computer or print the file.

May God bless your time in the study of His Word!

Generations: Valuing the legacy of a godly heritage

December may be the month we celebrate Jesus’ birth, but apparently it’s also the month of death.

The passing of four people in my life have warranted mention on my blog – all of them died during the month of December. Perhaps the glow of Christmas lights on homes and trees paled in comparison to the opportunity to experience the enveloping and penetrating light of the glory of God. Perhaps heartfelt tender Christmas carols dulled when given the chance to hear the angelic choir of heaven. I’ve shared the passing of all four with you because each one had a profound spiritual impact not only on my life but on the lives of hundreds around them.

Each one had a story – a reason for which I shared their life with you. For one, her life was a testament to Christ’s power in breaking us free from the confusion of abuse. For another, his story reminded us that the hope of heaven reunites us with loved ones. The third revealed lessons learned from one who lived life serving God.

Yesterday I attended the funeral of Jimmy’s granddad.

None of us are born holy; Granddad was no exception. In fact, quite a few of life’s years passed by for Granddad before the message of God’s salvation started to pierce his soul and transform his life. Somewhere, someone reached out to him as a young man and shared the message of hope.

 

Granddad later became a preacher himself; I would venture to guess that his fifty years behind the pulpit have changed thousands of lives. But even that isn’t the impact I want to share with you.

As I’m spending time with Jimmy and his family, I see a different kind of lasting impact – the impact of a godly heritage. It may not extend far but it runs deep. Granddad was already married when he humbled himself before God to receive forgiveness for his sins. He and Granny would have raised a family, worked their jobs, and lived their lives even if Granddad had never accepted Christ. It would have looked different but they would have made it happen.

But Granddad’s life changed when he accepted Christ. He studied God’s Word so he knew its message and power for his life. He shared God’s Word so others may know that same message and power. He prayed God’s Word because he knew therein is our power.

He studied for, shared with, and prayed for his children. His influence led them to accept Christ as their Savior. The transformation of this one man spread to the lives of his two children.

It led his children to find godly spouses when they grew up and create Christian homes of their own. Within time, four grandchildren were born and raised in godly homes. What was one became two and then doubled to four.

God decided one of the granddaughters could come to heaven early; her short life ended in her teens. Even in the midst of such a painful tragedy, however, the message of the gospel promised the hope of resurrection and eternal life for the young girl. Salvation was already a truth in her life, despite her young years.

The remaining grandchildren grew to adulthood, married Christian spouses, and started families of their own. One man’s influence became two, which doubled to four, and now has grown to ten great-grandchildren. All ten greats (as Granddad always called them), are being raised in three different godly homes where they also are hearing the message of salvation and the importance of a life transformed in service to God. One by one they are responding to that message. While some are still babies and toddlers, almost all of them have claimed the name of Christ and accepted His salvation in their own lives.

My oldest daughter was the first of that generation. Granny and Granddad drove halfway across the country to visit her when she was only a few weeks old. He held her in his arms and spoke that he never expected her to remember him. He thought God would call him home before she would form any memories. Yet, God blessed him with a long life. That same great-granddaughter is now 16. She wrote on her Facebook wall when she learned of his death, "Today my Great Granddad got to go to heaven. He was the one person who no matter how he felt would always have something to say about God's grace and how much he loved his family. Though I don't have many memories with him, because of long distances, I can't wait to make some with him in heaven. Have fun Great Granddaddy. Love you!"

If Christ waits a few more years before His return, who knows what might happen from those ten greats. Will they all accept Christ? Will they begin ten different Christian families of their own? What impact will they leave on the world? How will God answer the powerful prayers of the Great-Granddad who left a legacy of a Godly heritage for them?

In our instant society, we want to see results now. We want to see broad impact. But let us not forget, we do some of the most important ministry in the home to an audience of our children.

"Know that Yahweh your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

Immanuel: All He ever wanted was to be God with us

Christmas isn’t about Santa, $5 gift exchanges at endless holiday parties, and elaborate trays of special cookies and candies.

I think we all know that.

Christmas isn’t about family either, though. It’s isn’t the blessing of being together with loved ones. It’s not a child’s eyes as she bursts into the living room on Christmas morning. It’s not dinner around the table with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.

I’m not sure we all know that, though.

Perhaps that’s why the holidays disappoint for many year after year. We dread that one relative that will point out everything wrong in our family relationships. We stress over the one child who eagerly tears open the gift only to be upset he didn’t get what he wanted. We worry the table may not look like the pictures on Pinterest. We remember the family members who aren’t with us as bitterness and unforgiveness have pulled us apart.

We invest a lot of time, money, and energy trying to find fulfillment in areas that can’t fulfill. We place expectations on people and situations that can’t live up to them.

So What’s the Point?

Enjoy the blessings of Christmas – the joy of giving, the comfort of a special meal, the connection of beloved family members. You can enjoy these moments when you don’t enter the holiday expecting them to fulfill your dreams of a magical holiday.

We find the joy, the comfort, the connection, and the abundance of blessings when we focus first on Christmas as seen in one biblical word – Immanuel.

 

Immanuel

It’s a Hebrew word only used a few times in the whole Bible. God inspired Isaiah to call the awaited Messiah by the name Immanuel. Later, Matthew confirmed the fulfillment of the prophecy in his gospel when he wrote of Mary’s baby, Jesus. Matthew wrote, “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel” (Matthew 1:22-23).

Immanuel; it translates to English as “God with us.” Hebrew is a pictorial language so sometimes we can see another level of significance in the letter pictures the ancient Hebrews used to form the words. This one has given me reason to sit and reflect as I write this article. The Hebrew shows pictures of a God who experienced chaos, life, and nails. Wow.

You see, God was in heaven enjoying the glory of ultimate, sinless beauty and perfection. Yet, He chose to leave that place of divine triune intimacy and experience the chaos of a world thrown out of whack by sin. He chose to experience life. The experience of life meant He would also experience death because of the permeation of that same sin corruption. He chose to experience the nails pierced through His hands and feet because of the condemnation of sin. He chose to be God with us in the midst of all of our chaos, sin, pain, life, and death.

God with us

That had been the plan all along, though. In the beginning, the plan of God with us didn’t include the chaos, death, and nails brought in by sin. In the beginning, He was God with us in a perfect garden free from the destruction of sin. It was there that God walked with Adam and Eve as they experienced relationship together. However, what was a place of peaceful interaction became a place of fear and hiding as Adam and Eve chose the pleasure of a sinful moment (Genesis 3:8). From the beginning, God desired to be God with us. We blew it.

So God inspired Isaiah to write that the Son of the virgin would be Immanuel. That way He could be God with us once again. Even if being God with us meant joining us in our own chaotic mess of life to experience the nails.

He became God with us in our mess to restore the peaceful interaction of our former garden relationship; to create the opportunity for that relationship once again in the glory of eternity. He became God with us to experience our chaos so that one day we will experience “God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

God experienced the chaos, life, and death of the nails so that we wouldn’t have too. He experienced them so that He might remove them from our lives and someday wipe away our tears, grief, and pain. He became God with us so He could be the fulfillment of all our hopes and expectations.

“The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Joy to the World: Finding Christ in the songs of Christmas

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can come out of the closet. I can admit the truth to people besides my daughters who were guilty accomplices right along with me.

Here it is – the Christmas music started early in our house this year. The first Christmas carol rang out from our iTunes Christmas playlist at least two weeks before we roasted the Thanksgiving turkey.

I worked around the house one day while “Silent Night” lulled out through the speakers. The second verse caught my attention – especially the last line of the verse.

How many times have we sung these words penned centuries ago? So many times, perhaps, that their power now falls on desensitized ears. The Christ – the Savior of our souls – is born! Four thousand years of prophesied waiting climaxed in the cry of a newborn baby!

I decided it’s ok to listen to Christmas songs early. Geez, listen all year if you want. These are some of the greatest praise and worship songs ever written! Why limit them to a couple weeks of the year?

“O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel…” along with those of us who are adopted in as children of Abraham.

“Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free…” for we long to live set free from sin – to live free in relationship with You.

“Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head…” Creator of the universe – humbled in a manger. The Word made Flesh – limited to the cries of a newborn.

“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant…” for we have fallen so far away from the life of joy and triumph promised to the faithful.

“Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King: Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled...’” because right now as always, we need to know your peace. We need to see sinners reconciled with holy God as only Jesus can do so they too may know peace.

And my personal favorite,

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come: Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room” for we need to receive Him more than any other gift this holiday season. He came – He gave all so that we might finally find the joy that nothing else in cursed creation can offer us.

Priorities: Finding a way to give thanks in a messed up world

As a family, we give thanks before each meal. We bow our heads and one of us – we take turns – prays a simple prayer of appreciation for the meal. I remember when my youngest could barely speak. She’d pray, “Baby Jesus, for this food. Amen.” We never figured out why she prayed to Baby Jesus, but she’s outgrown it now.

I doubt if any of us send up a prayer of appreciation for our clothes before we get dressed each morning. Or how about every time we get in the car and it starts? What about when we pay bills and the money doesn’t run out before we pay the last one. Do we think a prayer of thankfulness every time a thought of a loved one comes through our minds?

It seems so odd to me. We can be so rigid about the necessity of giving thanks before a meal but not express any appreciation the rest of the day.

What are some other things for which we can be thankful?

A lot of conflicting stories abound on every issue out there. I’ve learned to rely on Scripture to help me prioritize what’s important. Based on that, in no particular order, I’m thankful for…

• The transforming power of the Word of God; 1 Thessalonians 2:13. (ß Spend some time in God’s Word; read the verses to help you prioritize your season right now!)
• God’s gift – the sacrifice of His Son; 2 Corinthians 9:15.
• The peace of the Messiah; Colossians 3:15.
• The privilege to enter the presence of God; Psalm 100:4.
• Victory, because it is all about winning when it comes to eternity; 1 Corinthians 15:57.
• God’s grace and the privilege to pass it along; 2 Corinthians 4:15.
• The hard times God uses to help me grow; 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
• The part I have in God’s eternal kingdom; Colossians 1:12.
• Wisdom and power of God that are available to me; Daniel 2:23.
• Prayer that conquers worry; Philippians 4:6.
• God’s eternal goodness and love; Psalm 106:1.
• The amazing works of a loving God; Psalm 107:8.
• God hears us, answers us, and saves us; Psalm 118:21.
• The righteousness of Holy God; Psalm 7:17.
• The unlimited power and eternal nature of Almighty God; Revelation 11:17.
• The faith of believers all over the world who do their part in God’s kingdom; Romans 1:8.
• The teaching of Christ who points us to all truth; Romans 6:17-18.

You see, it’s ok if you burn the turkey or dump a pie on the kitchen floor (already had that one happen this year). It will even be ok if one of your relatives isn’t able to be with you this year. News of riots, wars, and nuclear talk failures can't even stop thankfulness. Why? Because even in the midst of daily stresses, relationship difficulties, and world turmoil, we have much for which to be thankful. We are thankful because God reigns, He gave His Son to restore our relationship with Him, and He and His kingdom will stand victorious for all eternity.

May some of these be added to your list of thankfulness this holiday season.