Of all the glories for which God must be praised, His providential rule over all things shines brightly at Christmas. The incarnation of Jesus occurred at the perfect time and in the precise place of God’s sovereign design. In the eternal decree of God, Mary and Joseph humbly and submissively arrived in the prophesied city of Bethlehem, guided along by angelic announcements to the praise of a massive heavenly host singing: GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST! God was at work in every detail to carry out His rule and His will in sending Jesus to our broken world.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4, 5.

The world into which Jesus arrived was dark and ruined. Rightly does the carol describe: “Long lay the world in sin and error pining.” Our hearts are encouraged to know that 700 years before His birth, Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be a LIGHT for people in darkness. And that He would be a righteous King that springs forth as a BRANCH from a hopelessly hewn stump.  Further, Jesus would be a GOOD SHEPHERD who comes to save, nourish, and lead a people prone to wander. God was sovereignly speaking in Isaiah’s day. He was there in Bethlehem 2000 years ago orchestrating the incarnation and birth of His beloved Son. He is here today as Immanuel, inviting us to come and worship through the wonders of the Christmas story.

This is an important anchor for our souls because we sometimes strain to see God’s sovereign rule in the tragedies of our shattered world. Life can feel dark, confusing, and hopeless. And when it does, we should recall that God does His best work in the worst of times and then worship Him as Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace. 

However impatient or impetuous we may be God is never rushed and He is never late. He always acts with precise timing according to His perfect will. Christmas reminds us of this. There is not an incident of which He is unaware; there is not a moment in which He is absent. As 19^th century Dutch pastor, Abraham Kuyper, often said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”

He is our Lord, and He has made us His children. Come and behold Him with fresh eyes. Come and adore Him above all else.

Merry Christmas.

Tom

“How do you feel God feels about you?”

A pastor and friend of mine recently asked this question to a group of Christian leaders. He was not asking about our theology or cognition but about our emotional experience of God. If you close your eyes and imagine how God feels about you, how would you answer? This was a question for our hearts not our heads. How do you feel God feels about you?

Do you ever feel as though He’s disappointed with you? We are often disappointed with ourselves. We haven’t accomplished all we thought we should. We have failed to do what we ought. Life hasn’t worked out as we hoped. We’re not tall enough, smart enough, pretty enough. And on and on. Besides our self-assessment, our polarized world makes it obvious that people are frequently disappointed with us as well. You should wear a mask. Why are you still wearing a mask? You need the latest booster. Why are you getting any more shots that don’t work? You voted for who?! Obviously when God thinks about me, He is disappointed too.

Or perhaps we have the feeling God is distant from us. He doesn’t appear to be that interested in my circumstances or aware of my problems and worries. He doesn’t seem to hear my prayers or solve my problems. Does He even see me? Does He take notice of my life? How does God feel about me? He’s nowhere to be found.

It is not wise to trust our feelings if they are uninformed by the reliable truth of God. The Bible emphatically announces that the most transformative reality for our spiritual formation is the certainty that we are loved by God. God wants us to know this. He wants us to experience it. He wants us to feel loved by Him.

From the moment of birth, a child looks up in search of the face that goes with the voice she heard while in her mother’s womb. Picture a mother and father going nose to nose with their precious new baby, lavishing love and smiles and kisses. That infant looks up for the delight of her parents who would now sacrifice everything for her well-being. As she is being delighted in, joy is released in her tiny brain and a relational attachment is formed with these two happy faces. She is loved by her parents, and she knows it. She feels it and has joy.

God wants the same for us. He wants us to have joy and an attachment to Him experienced because of His perfect love. Sadly, we’re often not convinced of His love – so allow your feelings to be informed by His Word:

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV).

“You shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:23b-26.

Information about God’s love is not the same as experiencing God’s love. Perhaps this is why the Apostle Paul prayed for our heads and our hearts.

[I pray] that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19.

In these tumultuous days you may not be prized by the world, but you are lavishly loved by God. May this be the anchor for our identity and our meaning and our joy.

With you on the journey,

Tom

There has never been a teacher like Jesus. He spoke the words of God with such power and authority that everywhere He went people marveled at His wisdom. Whether he was teaching in the synagogue or telling parables on the road by a vineyard, Jesus could hold a crowd in rapt attention. One of His favorite settings to impart the truth of God was around the mealtime. Reclining at a low table, dusty feet extended away from the table, Jesus was always winsome and wise, sharing life altering lessons as He ate with new friends. Can you imagine having dinner with Jesus?

Luke 7 records such a scene. The dinner host, named Simon, welcomed Jesus to a meal, but thoughtlessly extended none of the common courtesies expected in a culture with a high view of hospitality. As a privileged man, a Pharisee, he provided an impressive meal. But by his neglect of Jesus, he shows his intention to impress his friends more than to be appropriately hospitable. He doesn’t mind being seen with Jesus but keeps Him at arm’s length. He offered no kiss of welcome. No provision was made for the common washing of dusty feet before a guest of honor reclined to eat. There was no blessing given. Simon was polite but guarded. He was open to having Jesus in the house but reluctant to be drawn into serious spiritual conversation.

Simon is not unusual; his is a common response. Many people are open to having Jesus around but never come to make up their minds about Him with any sense of true conviction. He’s there in the house but they remain on the periphery, never quite honoring Him with the appropriate response. They hear Him speak, but don’t listen. They remain polite around His spiritual claims but have never appropriated them personally. They are at church, but they never join in. They allege token respect but never give sacrificially of themselves.

In stark contrast a broken but grateful woman slipped into the house quietly and took her place at Jesus’ feet, washing them with her tears, wiping them with her hair. She worshipped with gratitude and served Him with joy. Hers was the response of a Kingdom follower. Poor in spirit; overflowing with repentance. Then she gave of herself because she knew she was both loved by Jesus and forgiven of her sins. She could not hide her love nor hold back extravagant gratitude – no matter what others would think or say.

Jesus promised her: “Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace.” He said it again and again. She is the dinner guest Jesus blesses with peace and full forgiveness. She could not express her gratitude too much or too often. He sends her out in peace and on mission. So he does with us as well. Let’s be good dinner guests with Jesus!

Tom

One of the challenges of our current study in the Gospel of Luke will be the sections we will not fully address as we cover one chapter each week. We’ve already passed over an exciting episode in chapter two in which we get a glimpse of Jesus as a twelve-year-old.­­­ He and his family traveled to Jerusalem in a large caravan to observe Passover. When the feast was over, and the caravan pulled out to return home, the boy Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem! Surely Joseph assumed the boy was with Mary and the other children; Mary was sure He was with Joseph and the other men. (I wish we had that husband-wife exchange recorded for us in the Bible. “I thought you had him.” “You were with him last.” “Well, you’re going to have to tell God you lost His Son.”) They quickly headed back to Jerusalem in search of Jesus.

On the third day Mary and Joseph found Him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions. The rabbis were astonished at his understanding and at the answers He was giving to them. His tutoring lesson ended abruptly with a question or two from his mother: “How could you do this to us? Your father and I have been worried sick about you, searching everywhere for you.” Every mom can place herself there with Mary. Paralyzing fear and anxiety give way to unfiltered exasperation! (I remember getting lost at the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal. Suddenly separated from my family, I stood alone by a streetlight for about 15 minutes waiting for my parents to find me. Suddenly my mom emerged from a throng of people, ran to me, threw her arms around me, hugged me with tears streaming down her face, kissing me, squeezing the breath out of me. And then, like a switch went off in her brain, she lit into me with the terror of a mama bear robbed of her cub! “Don’t you ever…” is about all I can remember. Mom’s get that.)

Jesus answered his parents, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” This was not a disrespectful reply, only the admission that the temple was the safest place for him to be. And further, that Jesus – at an early age – had a very clear understanding of His identity and ultimate life mission. He was the Son of God and the Son of Man. He had come to do the work of His Father in Heaven. The Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph did not understand what Jesus was talking about. And yet, after this reunion He returned with his parents to Nazareth and lived with them there as a submissive teenager.

I love that the Bible gives us this glimpse of Jesus as child. Beyond submitting Himself to His parents, He yielded Himself to everything required for the Creator to live as a human in our fallen world. He emptied Himself of all His eternally existing divine prerogatives, and took the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And in human form He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even a death on a cross. To accomplish this mission, He subjected Himself to the universal human experience of being a baby, a child, a teenager, and a man. Though he increased intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially, He always knew who He was; He always knew why He came. 

He came to bring good news for all people. Let’s pray many discover it as we journey through the Gospel of Luke.

Tom

As the old preacher was wrapping up his millionth sermon, he launched into autopilot and invited the congregation to close their heads and bow their eyes. Whoops. So close and yet so far. The last thing we need is a closed head!     

“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!”  So goes the old hymn. But life here can seem anything but a foretaste of heaven. It can be hard and discouraging; it can rattle our sense of assurance that Jesus has us in the palm of His hand or that we are securely under His watchful care. When that happens, we must open our eyes and our minds to the truth which God has spoken.

Assurance of our salvation is an anchor for our feelings and thoughts especially in troubling times. The Apostle John said, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). He didn’t want his readers to be wishy-washy about being saved to the uttermost through the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He wanted them to know they were safe and secure for all eternity.

The Apostle Paul wrote that “the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16, 17). The ministry of the Holy Spirit is one of confirmation that God is our Father through faith in His Son, and that eternal life with Christ awaits us as a guaranteed inheritance.

Jesus Himself gave three succinct proofs of a true disciple. Each of these serve both as evidence and assurance that we genuinely know (follow) Jesus – according to HIS criteria. The first proof is a love for the Word of God and the commitment to remain obediently in it. Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31, 32). The truth of God shapes us, sanctifies us, and frees us. We want to be in it – be obedient to it – be under its authority – because we are truly in Him.

The second assurance that we are saved and being transformed by Jesus is a growing love for others. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34, 35). Evidence of love is evidence of belonging to Him. And a loving community of Christ followers is a powerful witness to a world without Him.

The third mark of an assured disciple is one who bears observable fruit for God. Their life demonstrates His new life in a myriad of ways. Again, Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:8). Proof of discipleship is bearing fruit for God. That fruit may be new Christ-like character (Galatians 5:22, 23); a life of service to others (John 13:14); a fervent life of prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) and worship (Hebrews 13:15, 16). But the point is, by their fruit you shall know them. Assuredly.

I’m praying for God’s blessed assurance to you today. Make it your story. Make it your song. Praising your Savior all the day long!    

With you on the journey,

Tom