The Journey: Part 6 – “Telling Others About God”

     It is difficult to talk about God because too often Christians are only answering one question, while most the world is asking four. This is largely due to the idea that talking about God used to be a presentation. It worked for a while, but those days are long gone and the presentation has been replaced by a conversation. It’s a conversation that many are not equipped to have because they don’t understand the questions that form the conversation.

     I believe that most people live life feeling like they have begun watching a moving half way through. They have no idea how they have arrived at their present, nor what is good or bad about their present, and have no idea where the movie is going or how it will conclude. Most are simply floating around trying to do the best they can with what they make of the situation. 

     Perhaps talking about God means allowing those around you to push the pause button and ask you what in the world is going on. Can you tell them how the story began? Can you tell them how the characters have arrived at their present state? Can you explain what is good and bad about the character’s situation. Can you provide insight to where the story is headed? I think this is why telling others about God is a conversation requires a conversation.  

     The conversation must be told from the perspective of a witnesses. Examples of this are found in the gospel accounts. These examples include those who have been healed (Luke 8:38-39), and those who recognize Jesus based upon how He fulfills his role (John1:40-41). In both these cases the witness tell others about Jesus based upon their personal experience in line with the teachings of Scripture. This type of conversation is to include and transfer of the teachings of Jesus as commanded in Matthew 28:18-20 where Jesus states, “18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been  given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age".

     As you may have already concluded, telling takes prior preparation. A familiar text in our church makes this point clear. We are challenged in 1 Peter 3:15 to, “honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”. Based upon this and other texts, I suggest the following strategy. Pray, study, live as an example, serve, and prepare to answer questions. I believe this strategy to be what is needed to present yourself as one desiring to be used by God.

     Finally, with the example of Paul the Apostle, we are to tell the simple things of Gospel in a culturally aware manner.  Examine how Paul does this in Acts 17:17, 20:20. Here we read, “17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace, every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean        and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean."

     Paul’s message was strange because its focus was on the death and resurrection of Jesus. This same focus is strange in our day as well. Two aspects of our culture that make it strange begin with secularization. Secularization defines our culture as one that no longer depends on religious institutions as sources of truth. Alongside secularization is pluralism. Pluralism defines our culture as one with no dominate worldview. This also causes many to define the Christian message as religious babble.

     This brings us back to our main thought. Telling others about God is not a script, but a conversation. This conversation needs to answer the four worldview shaping questions of our day. Christianity must be communicated with the context of questions of origin, meaning,       morality, and destiny. May your life speak into the conversation in such a way that offers the hope of the Gospel.

The Journey: Part 5 "Sharing with God"

     Introducing this study, Chic Shaver states, “If I really believe in something, I am going to support it 100 percent. And God, I believe in You know, like I never did before! So, I want to please You and serve you, and share all I have with You.” This is in line with what the Apostle Paul, teaches in his letter the Corinthians when he writes “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31). My personal thoughts include these and a few others. Here I will share that believing in God and doing all things for His glory include sharing and partnering with Him as He fills us with Himself. I wish to explain how we can share with God by giving to each other.

     Giving begins with how we choose to love. In Matthew 22:36-40 we see Jesus answering a question that was intended to trick Him. However, as usual Jesus answers wisely. The text states, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Applying Jesus’ answers teaches us that loving God requires that we love with all that makes us who and what we are.

     Along the lines of this topic we can also apply the idea of obedience to God is the best measurement of our love for one another. Consider the words found in 1 John 5:1-3 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. These words prompt a question. Why do so many wish to diminish the importance of obedience which leads to an abuse of grace? Answers are many and varied but perhaps we should consider that love, not fear of punishment or attempts to manipulate for benefit, is the motivator of obedience. In this case, we may strive to love less to love more. In John 12:24-26 Jesus states, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”.  

     Finishing on a very practical note, please consider that the ability to share is the by-product of work. Paul the Apostle makes this point very clear in Ephesians 4:28 where he writes, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need”. This may be the practical way to be fully committed to God and His work and make our work personally fulfilling. Therefore I challenge each of us to do something specific this week that obeys God for the sake of loving another and having something to share.  

The Journey Part 4 – “Talking with God”

 

            To introduce this message, we once again turn to Chic Shaver. He states, “to maintain any relationship, you have to communicate. It’s no different in your relationship with God. And since you are dealing with the Creator of the universe, it is not too much to expect that you would some time each day. Whatever the time, and private place, you can talk to Him and He speaks to you. The writer of the book of Psalms said it this way: ‘In the morning, O Lord, you will hear my voice; in the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation’ Psalm 5:3.” With Shaver’s words in mind we can turn our attention to the main point of this message. The remainder of this post will describe prayers that receive answers.

            To address this issue, we can look the Scriptures to learn when God answers prayer. God answers prayer when we have the right attitude. We may wish to disagree with this statement because of all the prayers we read in Scripture that seem to be from a disrespectful heart. We may need to be reminded that asking questions from a place of pain is not a negative attitude. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 helps us learn what attitude is required as we pray. Here Paul states, "Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”.

            God also answers prayer when we pray per his will. In 1 John 5:14 we read, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything per his will he hears us. Do not get caught up with the words “ask anything” because this will cause you to pray selfishly and be disappointed with prayer in general. The focus is the will of God. Opening your heart and mind to the will of God will birth answerable prayers and unity with God.

            If God’s will is the focus of our prayers, it will lead to avoiding the cherishing of sin. David teaches us that God answers prayer when we are not cherishing sin in our hearts. Psalm 66:18 reads, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” If you feel that your prayers are not being answered, ask God to search your heart for treasured sin. Perhaps this would be a good time to confess those sins that may be at the front of your mind as you read this.   

            One sin that is specifically pointed out as having a negative effect on our prayers is husbands poor treatment of their wives. In 1 Peter 3:7 we read that God answers prayer for husbands that are properly caring for their wives. Here Peter writes, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” Being that this text was written in a male dominated culture, I would like to believe that the same could be said for wives in relation to their husbands. Though this may be true, I do believe that the husband has a particular requirement as the leader of the home.

            Moving from this specific issue, we conclude this point by stating God answers prayer when we are not being selfish. James 4:3 brings understanding to this point when James writes, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. This may be one of the most difficult aspects of this message because selfishness comes natural to all of us. It is usually the at the center of most of our problems that we are bringing the Lord in prayer. Maybe we should inspect our own heart prior to or at least at the beginning of our time of prayer.

            Knowing when God answers prayer naturally leads to a need to understand what the Bible specifically calls for us to pray. A brief look into the New Testament displays many things that are meant to be brought before the Lord. Beginning with Jesus, we are called to pray for the sending of laborers into the harvest. Jesus states, “therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:38)" Love is also an important subject of prayer as Paul calls the Philippians to pray that love would abound with knowledge and discernment (Philippians 1:9). Paul instructs Timothy to pray for All people and leaders when he states, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (1 Timothy 2:1-2). All these and many more are to be lived out as God answers our prayer for wisdom. We learn this from James as he reveals, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (James 1:5).

            To close this message with a challenge, I invite you to pray as Jesus taught us to pray. The model prayer is found in Matthew 6:9-13. If we follow this model in all our prayers, we will grow in our communication with God. This growth will produce a more fruitful prayer life. Notice the breakdown of the model prayer.

           

Praise

 9 Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.      

Position

10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Provision

11 Give us this day our daily bread, 

Pardon          

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Protection

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The Journey Part 3 - "God's Word"

      Chic Shaver writes, “If you were to discover that God’s plans for the world and for you had been written down in a book, what would that book we worth to you? If you got your hands on that book, how much would you spend reading it? Rather, how much time do you spend reading it? That book exists. It’s called the Bible, and it is full of things God wants you to know.” With this in mind, we will focus on the importance and application of God’s word.

     Towards this end, I want to ask two basic questions. First, why is the Bible important?

Answering this question requires a look into what Jesus teaches about God’s word. As part of His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus states that God’s word is truth and that by it we are sanctified. This leads to the idea found in John 8:31where we learn that by obeying the word of God we show that we are His disciples. Living as a disciple of Jesus leads to freedom by knowing the truth (John 8:32). Therefore, may we all make room for God’s word so that we can properly respond to Jesus’ leading in our lives.

      The second question is similar to the first. What will God’s word do for you? God’s word is able to make you clean and wise towards salvation (2 Timothy 3:15, John 15:3). From this place of being saved and spiritually clean, the word of God continues to work in our lives by building us up giving us a common heritage in Christ (Acts 20:32). Part of this common heritage is the work God has planned for us. Paul tells the young pastor Timothy that the word of God equips us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

     As we live out the work that God has for us, we experience the opposition of evil. Evil requires both an offensive and defensive approach. In Ephesians chapter 6 we read discover the what we are to use in this fight. In this passage the word of God gives as a tool to defeat the evil. Evil does not only come from the outside, but from our own sinful nature. The biblical prescription for this problem is multi-faceted but one very helpful truth is that hiding God’s word in our heart guides us away from sin (Psalm, 119:11).

     I want to conclude these thoughts with a personal challenge that sets this whole message in the right order. If the Bible is to be of any use to us we must first belong to God. In John 8:47 Jesus states “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” Please take a moment to consider if you and every aspect of your life truly belong to God. If you need to make that choice today, please do so and go tell one that has already made that choice.

The Journey Part 2 – “Walking with God”

            Chic Shaver writes, “Once a child is born, he or she begins to grow. An important step in this process is learning to walk. The same is true for spiritually. The child of God must learn to walk with God. To describe the Christian life as ‘walking with God’ indicates that Christianity is a relationship that is going somewhere every day, if only one step at a time. Micah, the Old Testament prophet, said you should, ‘walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8)”

            This brings us to the second part of our study entitled “The Journey”. To break this down a bit further, we begin with the thought that our walk with God is a walk of single steps. Here we can understand three of the very first steps taken as Christians. The first is a Step to see. John 1:35-39 “35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say          this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So, they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.” May you see in Jesus prompt you to follow.

            A second step is to step forward. In John 5:14, following His healing of the man at the pool of Bethsaida, Jesus states, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” As we walk with Jesus we are intended to move in a direction that does not cause us to return the pain and dysfunction of sin. It was enough that the man struggled physically but sin causes the worse situation of spiritual death.

            Walking with God also includes a step into understanding. In John 8:12 Jesus states, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” There is much in our lives that makes little to no sense. Through the gospel and the illumination of the Holy Spirit the clouds begin to lift. When life makes little sense, we can live in the hope that God is a revealer of truth in due time.

            As we walk with God step by step, we make several turns that in all honesty we would not make on our own. Many of these turns are in the direction of danger. Walking with God is a walk through temptation. Notice the words of Matthew in the fourth chapter of His gospel. Here he writes, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil”. This may seem unimaginable that the Holy Spirit would led into temptation but that is exactly what happened. This is not our venturing off into temptation on our own, but as we follow God we will encounter temptation. It is here that we must follow Jesus’ example of relying on the word of God to fight and reject the temptation that comes from the devil.  As we do, may we understand that sin and temptation are not the same thing. Find comfort in Hebrews 4:15-16 where we discover, “15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

            Our faith amid temptation is also strengthened by the fact that the devil can be resisted. James 4:7 help us understand this by saying “7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Notice who is doing the fleeing! This being the case, temptation is not only the devils fault. We must not blame it all the devil, because in James 1:13-15 we become aware that sin if often our own fault. He writes, “13 When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God, cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

            Dealing with temptation is important for many reasons. One of those is the idea that our walk with God is a walk of obedience. Sin rightly defined is James 4:17 which reads. “17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them”. Also worth noting in this discussion is the idea that choosing to sin is a choice rejecting God’s way out of temptation. Notice the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:13 as he teaches, 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

            Please remember that if you make such a choice, obedience can be restored. John who writes much on the love of God in Christ reminds us that, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)”. Furthering our hope is the idea that our walk with God is a hand held walk. We learn this as Jesus speaks in John 10:27-29 saying, “27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. Not only is it a hand in hand walk, but it is also a face to face dialogue. Exodus 33:11 provides this teaching as we read, “11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses     would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent”. May you walk hand in hand and speak face to face.

The Journey: Part 1 "Your New Life"

            Currently at Yucaipa Church of the Nazarene we are doing a series entitled “The Journey” The material covered in this series is not my original work but is based on the study of the same name by Chic Shaver. For decades, new Christians have used this material to introduce themselves to the basics of Christianity. In fact, I went through this material as a new Christian in 1985. Shaver’s series is an eight-week personal or small group bible study for people new to Christianity. Each sermon will summarize a lesson allowing each listener to then can lead another through series.

            To introduce this series, Shaver writes, “If you have invited Christ into your life, then you have begun a relationship with Him. The Scriptures in this study will help you to better understand what it means to begin your new life with Christ living inside you. And like in any new relationship, there will be highs and lows in your walk Christ as you learn to navigate your journey together”

            Week one of the study is entitled, “Your New Life in Christ”.  Here there are five basic descriptions of how our live becomes new as we begin our relationship with Jesus. First, your life becomes new as a child. In his gospel John writes, “12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12). This is great news for those who come to Christ with a sense of being alone, or having been raised in a poor environment.

            This new life was not by our doing, but by invitation. Your new life is begun as Jesus sought you out for the purposes of a personal relationship. Notice the words of Revelation 3:20

“20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me”.  Jesus knocks at our door and any one may answer His voice. His goal is to share life together. This happens when we open our hearts through earnestness and repentance.

            Continuing with how our life becomes new, we discover that our new life rightly deals with the problem of sin. Though many fail to realize the true nature of our problems, Jesus deals with it as primary. Notice the very reason Jesus reveals about the very reason for His coming. Luke 19:10 states, “10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Along the same lines, Romans 3:23 states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Bringing this thought full circle are Paul’s words on the subject in Romans 6:22-23. “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”. We realize the solution provided by Christ when we confess our sin. When we confess our sin, God is faithful and just in His forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

            Being that Christ calls us to repentance, we come to see that our new life is received. It is received as a gift per Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” This opens the possibility for all the good God has planned for us as described in Ephesians 2:10. Here Paul writes, “10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

            Finally, our new life is a journey of believing and knowing. We know God through Jesus. John 14:6,9, “6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the            

Father except through me.” This believing produces confidence that we have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 reveals “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” With this confidence, I challenge each and every one of us to take one step at a time every day. This small challenge will propel us into wonderful journey with our Creator.

A Call to Consider

I am prone to over think various aspects of my life and get a bit tangled up in my own misunderstanding of various life situations. This often causes me to draw inaccurate conclusions. I am thankful for this dose of self-awareness and the work God has done in me that helps me grow away from this issue. One thing that God has done, is to help me use transitions as a cause to consider.  

For various reasons, we all need moments of consideration. As we close out 2017 and move into a new year, we have opportunity to stop and consider where we are in life as individuals, families, and a church community. This is such an important issue, that the word translated “consider” is found in every book of the Old Testament and is used over 1300 times. This word means to inspect, give attention to, and find out. Because the Bible places such a high priority on this issue may we focus on the idea that transitions are calls to consider.

Before we address what, we are called to consider, let’s look at what some in the Old Testament asked God to consider. Moses, asked God to consider that we are His people in Exodus 33:13 “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people." David asked God to consider several things in the Psalms. Here are three that may relate to us. First, David asked God to consider that we have pain in Psalm 5:1 “Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning”. Secondly David asked God to consider that some seek to do us harm in Psalm 25:19 “Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me”. Lastly he asked God to consider how we love His law in Psalm 119:159 “Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life according to your steadfast love”. Perhaps you may wish to take some time and asked God to consider the things on your heart as we turn the calendar over to 2018.

Asking God to consider our lives opens the door for a dialogue with our Heavenly Father. The Scripture is full of moments when God asked His people to stop and consider various aspects of how they are living in relation to Him and others. Here is a very small sample of these moments. For the sake of time, I will not elaborate on these. My hope is that this list will allow you to focus on one or two of them at the beginning of this new year.  

1. His discipline. Deuteronomy 11:2

2 And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,

2. Older people Deuteronomy 32:7

7 Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.

3. Great things God has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24

24 Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.

4. Our words prior to speaking. Job 18:2

2 "How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak.

5. The love of God. Psalm 107:43

43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

6. God’s law. Psalm 119:28

128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.

7. Wisdom, madness, and folly. Ecclesiastes 2:12

12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

8. Adversity. Ecclesiastes 7:14

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

             

With this list in mind, notice the advice given following one of the most disturbing accounts in the Old Testament. In Judges chapter 19 a story of rape and murder is graphically explained. This advice given is to consider, take counsel, and speak. May this advice be a pattern on consideration for you in 2018.  Judges 19:30 “And all who saw it said, ‘Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.’”

Advent Week Four: “He is Here”

Many of my life expectations have been superseded. The superseding of expectations often follows seasons of disappointment. I cannot ignore the fact that at times I have felt like Jesus has not lived up to my expectations of Him. Though challenging, He is patient and in the end, I have reason to worship. With all the ups and downs of expectations, I have come to the place where the most important thing is His presence. Often, the situation is difficult and challenging and what makes the difference in presence.

I would think that you as well have expectations of Jesus. Perhaps your expectations have been in line with His promises and you live in peace. Or your expectations of Jesus have been reshaped by challenges. My hope for us is that we will come to expect what He has promised. The most important being His presence. At Christmas, we celebrate the reality that in the person of Jesus, God came among us in a unique way. Today, His presence remains and Jesus is here through His Spirit in us. With this in mind, I want to discuss the following observations.

His arrival was announced to the often doubted (Luke 2:8-20). Shepherds were often hired hands and not very trustworthy. They spent many of their days unsupervised and often stole from the chief shepherd and those nearby. People were commonly advised not to buy anything from shepherds because it was probably stolen.

His arrival was also announced to foreigners who were trusted in their own land (Matthew 2:1-2). First Century Jews trusted only themselves, perhaps reasonably so considering the hostility often present in their time. The eastern (Babylonian) wise men expected Jesus because they had believed the Jewish scriptures based upon exposure several hundred years earlier. An example of what may have shaped their expectations is Numbers 24:1. Based upon this text a saying was formed, “Messiah shall be revealed, a bright and shining star shall arise in the east;'' (John Gills Exposition of the Bible).

A third observation is, His arrival was announced by an often outspoken, out of date preacher that we know as John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-9). He dressed like a prophet from long ago. He spoke of repentance as often did the prophets of previous generations. Finally, he spoke of repentance due to the arrival of the Kingdom of God in the person of Jesus. These to whom His arrival was announced would then become the announcers. They were not going to be very convincing. Their testimony would be rejected and Jesus would be crucified. If those that received the original announcement of the arrival of Jesus as Lord failed to be convincing, how did anyone ever become convinced that He was here?

What becomes most powerful here is how Jesus announced His own identity and presence. We know He is here because He has made Himself known as the resurrected Lord (John 21:1-14). He arrives as we doubt Him as seen by the fact that the disciples had gone back to fishing. He arrives in natural ways as He made them breakfast. He arrives in miracles of provision as He helped them find the fish. We know that He is here because the Holy Spirit has led us into all truth (John 16:13). The promise was to explain that He was about to be crucified, resurrected and ascended. The disciples were filled with grief and would not know how to go on. The Holy Spirit from the Day of Pentecost forward would be God with us. 

With all this in mind, the challenge becomes to live in His presence by being filled with the Holy Spirit. Wendy Farley writes in Theology Today, “When piety is limited to belief, to verbal formulations, to ideas about God, most of the human person is left out.” Her point is grounded in John’s portrayal of Jesus’ words in John 7:37-38 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified”. Therefore, the prayer becomes for God to fill you with His Spirit. Pray that prayer now, and begin the journey of live overflowing.   

The Long Expected Jesus: "He is the Expected Light"

I love to the facial expressions of people when they experience a moment of understanding. One minute they have this puzzled and inquisitive look, which is then replaced by a relaxed and peaceful look. I think we all enjoy and strive for those moments when something confusing comes into clear view and makes full sense. It is like an inner struggle has ceased and peace has arrived. To a greater degree, the arrival of Jesus was like that for those who believed and followed Him. For them Jesus became the answer to all the questions and expectation they had based upon the promises of God. The life of Jesus, when fully accepted, brings light to an otherwise darkened world. We can summarize this with the phrase, His life is our light.

At the time of Jesus’ birth the expectations for a messiah were based upon passages such as Isaiah 9:1-6. This passage and others like it built an expectation of a light giving Messiah. With these expectations, the people of Jesus day made three common mistakes. They settled for the initial fulfillment at the defeat of Midian. They also neglected the primary promise based on the initial covenant between God      and Abraham (Gen. 12-17). And finally, they ignored the spiritual aspects of God’s kingdom. May our expectations of God be based on the big picture of His promises.

With this expectation, the people should have accepted the teachings of John the Baptist which when observed closely teaches that humans have a natural intuition to reject lies (John 1:4-9) This in fact was one of the reasons Jesus revealed Himself as truth and John describes Jesus as light. We can understand this passage that way because, in this passage the word “life” is the Greek word “Zoe” meaning essential and ethical life. The word “light” here is the Greek word "Phos", meaning physical light emitted by any source and often used metaphorically as Gods truth which is exposed to the view of all. It is also used to speak of public reason and the ability to understand moral and spiritual truth.

This light of Jesus that is our life cast out darkness. Darkness represents ignorance of divine things and human duties. This darkness is accompanied by ungodliness and immorality. The life within every human being provides the capacity to fully comprehend spiritual and moral truth. Again, we see the reality of man’s rejection of those things that are absent of truth. This begs the questions, if by nature lies are rejected, why do so many choose to live in them?

The answer may be in John 3:16-21. In this passage, we learn, that people live in lies because they don’t want their true selves to be known. When Jesus arrives, He seeks to save those this state of condemnation (V.16-18). This state is described with the word evil. Before we this of this word describing the worst of mankind, we should not its true meaning. In this text the word evil means full of labors, annoyances, hardships, in a physical and moral sense. People stay away from Christ because they are entangled by the laborious, hard life brought on by their poor moral and ethical behavior.

With this text in mind, we can receive the challenge to live according to the light of Christ through His word (Psalm 119:103). May we not cover up the aspect of life that can make it laborious and hard. The invitation stands to allow the life of Jesus to be a light of truth within each one of us. If we choose to rise to this challenge our families and church will be a light giving church (1 Peter 2:9).

The Long Expected Jesus: Part 1 - He is Expected

            When something happens that I do not expect, I tend to react in extremes. One extreme is happiness to the point of hilarity, and the other is anger that prompts isolation. This is true in what I expect from others, myself, and God. We all have expectations and I would suppose that you have reactions that are like mine.

            Being that the Christmas is a season of expectation, it is applicable to ask, what can I expect from the arrival of Jesus? For some, we expect Jesus to meet our expectations. Others expect Jesus to exceed their expectations. In Jesus’ day, many expected a warrior king. Others expected a serving shepherding.  Their expectations were only as good as their understanding of Scripture not their understanding of their fellow human beings. Same goes for us today.

            There seems to be a common expectation among those who have accepted Jesus and those who have rejected Him. Both groups expect or expected Jesus to make things better. He is expected to make our past somehow turn out better than it would without Him. If Jesus is real than the future of the world should be better than it is right now. No matter how people feel about Jesus, there seems to be a common thought that today simply cannot be the best of times.  

            Expecting Jesus to make things better is an idea that we received from the prophecies spoken about Him. Paying attention to the prophet Micah we can see why people of Jesus’ day had expectations of a better world at His. Jesus is expected to make all things better. Micah 4-5

Considering these two chapters, Pastor Shawn Smucker state, “can we even begin to imagine this kind of universe, where worldly power is upended, where war is extinct, where nations no longer prepare for battle, but instead seek the mountain of the Lord? Can we even begin to imagine a world where no one is afraid?”

            As you read these two chapters along with this post, please consider the following points. The expectation of a future hope and unified peace (4:1-5). To have this expectation become a reality, we must learn how to walk in the ways He modeled for us. A better future is not just handed to us, but Jesus invites us into His work of a better future.

            This better future included the expectation of deliverance from distress (4:6-10) For this to become true, may we understand how and why God has brought us to a place where we wish for something better. If we can understand this, God will walk us through the process of His restoration making us watchtowers and stronghold for God’s people. In the book of Micah God has brought His people to a place where they would see their need of revival bringing repentance. Perhaps that where our better future begins as well.

            A third expectation was the expectation of victory from siege (4:11-13). Their enemies apparent thoughts of victory over God’s people was out of ignorance of God’s plan. I think this is similar to why we at times feel like our expectations have led to let downs. Ignorance of God’s plan usually leads to the attempt to complete our own. The speed of our victory often depends on our willingness to learn and accept the plans God has for us.

            The final expectation in our text was one that formed the expectations of the people during the days leading up to the arrival of Jesus. They expected to be moved from a helpless ruler to an ideal King (5:1-6). The initial fulfillment for those in Micah’s day was the revival brought about by the leadership of Hezekiah nearing the year 701B.C. and the ultimate fulfillment at the arrival of Jesus and the founding of His kingdom.

            As the people of Micah’s day, we to find ourselves waiting for Jesus, expecting things to be better in the future. I think this is a good thing because God has promised for this to be true. I also think this is good because as we have been created in the image of God, we innately understand that the world is broken and there must be something better. But until then we live with promises. As you wait, I pray that you begin to rest in the reality that you have all you need as you expectantly wait. 1 Corinthians 1:7-9 “Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

            Finally, as we wait for Jesus, may we be awake with expectation (Mark 13:32-37). Christmas is indeed a time of expectation. But may we not be spiritually asleep, imprisoned by our own expectations. If we find ourselves in such an imprisonment, I pray that God presents Himself to you in such a way that prompts a revival birthed in repentance.