Dec 28 - Fourth Day of Christmas

Legend tells us that The Twelve Days of Christmas

was a secret catechism during times of persecution.

For these twelve days let’s focus on twelve teachings:

The Fourth Day of Christmas

Four Calling Birds

 

The four calling birds are the four Gospels. The Word of God calls to us in faith. The life of Jesus calls to us and stirs our hearts.

 

The four Gospel writers are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What do you know about them?

 

Two of them were disciples. Two were not.

 

Matthew

 

Matthew was a disciple. Also known as Levi, Matthew was once a tax collector. He knew a life of betrayal – he’d sided with the Romans, repeatedly stabbing his own people in the back. He might have been rich, but he was a hated outcast. Jesus’ love and forgiveness saved him. It saved him eternally, of course, but it also saved him from a life of loneliness and purposelessness.

 

Matthew’s Gospel is the most Jewish of the Gospels and it includes the greatest collections of Jesus’ teachings, like the Sermon of Mount.

 

John

 

John was the other of the four who were original discipleships. He was one of the first four to be called, all fishermen – Peter and Andrew, first; then James and his brother John. John was also in Jesus’ inner circle. Jesus had increasingly closer circles of influence. He ministered to crowds (5000 and more), groups (70ish), small groups (12), and an inner circle of three (Peter, James, and John).

 

He was known as the Beloved Disciple, enjoying perhaps the favor of a little brother; John was, indeed, the youngest of the twelve. Most of the Gospels are episodic – a collection of quick short episodes for Jesus’ life. John’s a story teller, telling fewer but deeper stories. They’re also more theological in character.

 

Luke

 

Luke was not one of the twelve. He was, rather, a companion of Paul on many the Apostle’s evangelistic journeys. As Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles, Luke’s Gospel is less Jewish and has more of a Gentile character, explaining the life of Jesus to peoples less familiar with the Lord’s Jewish roots.

 

Not having known Jesus personally, Luke, a physician, reveals in the first pages of his Gospel that he was the scientist and historian who researched the events of Jesus’ life thoroughly before recording them. The Gospel of Luke contains Scripture’s greatest abundance of parables.

 

Mark

 

Mark was also not one of the original twelve. Mark was known as a partner of Peter’s. Mark’s Gospel was the first written of the four; in fact, it was probably copied in large part by Matthew and Luke. No, plagiarism wasn’t a crime. Rather Matthew and Luke took Mark’s pattern, adapted it to their more Jewish or more Gentile audiences (respectively) and added more teaching and parables (respectively again).

 

Some view Mark – which is short – as simple, even simplistic. Personally, it is my favorite of the four. I see nuances that are subtle and sophisticated. Doing more than just telling a story, Mark draws the reader on a journey of faith.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who was saved, in part,

by four calling birds

 

Dec 27 - Third Day of Christmas

Legend tells us that The Twelve Days of Christmas

was a secret catechism during times of persecution.

For these twelve days let’s focus on twelve teachings:

The Third Day of Christmas

Three French Hens

 

One of the most beautiful passages of scriptures is 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient and kind; never jealous or boastful; never arrogant or rude.”

 

We read it all the time at weddings as one of life’s highest ideals.

 

This wonderful chapter ends with these gracious principles: “faith, hope, and love.” “And the greatest of these,” says Scripture, “is love.”

 

These are the three French hens, that the song sings about.

 

These are the Three Great Theological Virtues.

 

Indeed, our lives will be most sure and most blessed when our foundation is these three principles.

 

When we come to Christ, we are transferred into a new kingdom, a new reality. But this new kingdom is not simply a destination; it’s a journey. Faith is trust – growing trust. Hope is desire – an increasingly holy desire. And both help us step further and further into the blessings of eternal life.

 

Faith and hope are indeed beautiful blessings. And yet love far surpasses these two majestic companions. Why? Because love is the character of God! And as we grow in faith and journey forward in hope, we discover that we love because Christ first loved us.

 

Yes, some forms of love are natural. We tend to love those who love us. But a kingdom version of love is greater. It is patient with annoyance and it forgives even enemies. Kingdom love forsakes self as the highest goal of life and causes one to lay down their lives on behalf of others.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who once had three red hens,

but I think I prefer Faith, Hope, and Love

to Iris, Rose, and Daisy

 

Dec 26 - Second Day of Christmas

Legend tells us that The Twelve Days of Christmas

was a secret catechism during times of persecution.

For these twelve days let’s focus on twelve teachings:

The Second Day of Christmas

Two Turtledoves

 

The two turtledoves are said to represent the two Testaments – Old and New. Thus, the two turtledoves are God and His Word calling beautifully to us.

 

Now, we could spend all day talking about what these two Testaments are and mean to us today … but let me ask a simple question instead: Did you know that scripture actually talks about “two turtledoves”?

 

Let’s start the story behind a Leviticus 5 reference to “two turtledoves” with a quick explanation of the two Testaments of Holy Scripture:

 

·         The Old Testament tells us about the reason for our separation from God – our sin and our rebellion.

·         The New Testament tells about God’s solution to our sin – he gives his only begotten Son so that we might be forgiven.

·         Yes, there’s a more to these massive Testaments than just this! But problem and solution is a pretty good and simple explanation. The problem is sin. The solution is Son.

·         Let me say that more technically: Our problem is sin. And our only solution is finding a covering for sin, which is the Son and the covering of his blood.

 

Okay … now the “two turtledoves” …

 

Leviticus is a book of the Law. As Israel as a nation was preparing to going into the Promised Land and live as God’s Covenant People, God was instructing them on how to live successfully in relationship to Him and to one another. His primary advice was …

 

·         Sin separates us from God and one another.

·         Therefore, there must be a cost to sin – a cost steep enough to keep us from continually repeating it.

·         And there must also be a covering for sin – a way to make things right again and keep moving forward.

 

So in God’s Old Testament law, what was the cost to cover a sin?

 

·         The cost for a sin was a sheep. (Indeed, at a couple hundred dollars a sin, don’t you think that’d help you cut down on your transgressions?) Leviticus 5:6 reveals the cost in this way: “You shall bring to the Lord, as your penalty for the sin that you have committed, a female from the flock, a sheep or a goat, as a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement on your behalf or your sin.”

·         But what if you were poor? In the next verse – and here come our turtledoves — God made a provision for you too: “But if you cannot afford a sheep, you shall bring to the Lord, as your penalty for the sin that you have committed, two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.”

 

What do the two turtledoves of the two Testaments tell us? Our problem is sin (Old Testament). And our only solution is finding a covering for sin (New Testament).

 

What do the two turtledoves of the two Levitical turtledoves tell us? Our problem is sin. And our only solution is finding a covering for sin (some blood sheep or some bloody bird).

 

In the Levitical law, the covering for sin was two bloody birds. In the light of Christ’s bloody cross, the two Testaments call to us that the covering for sin is Jesus. Indeed, when John the Baptist first met Jesus, he called him “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” A fulfillment of the Leviticus 5:6 call to sacrifice a sheep, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the cost for covering our sin.

Therefore, do you trust in these two turtledoves – the Old and New Testaments? In olden days, trusting in two literal birds brought forgiveness, hope, and life. Today, when we entrust our lives to two figurative birds (two great Testaments), we discover through faith that through the cost of Jesus’ sacrifice, our sins are covered and we are made right with God.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who is not rich

enough in sheep or doves

to pay for all his sins

(but is rich because

the Lamb of God

paid them for me)

 

 

Dec 25 - First Day of Christmas

Legend tells us that The Twelve Days of Christmas

was a secret catechism during times of persecution.

For these twelve days let’s focus on twelve teachings:

The First Day of Christmas

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

 

The partridge is Jesus.

 

The pear tree is the cross.

 

And the first day of Christmas – indeed, Christmas Day – focuses us on the first and most important truth of the Christian Faith: The baby who came to us at Christmas was bound to die.

 

Think about it: His swaddling clothes as an infant prefigured the grave clothes of his death. Indeed, little baby Jesus came for one and only one reason: to die. Why? Because only his sacrificial death would ever cover our sin.

 

So, while partridges and pears are poetic … and sheep and mangers are picturesque … the cross is ugly and violent and bloody.

 

It is also beautiful.

 

As C. S. Lewis once said, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who is singing today:

I wonder as I wander

Out under the sky

How Jesus the savior

Did come to die

To save lowly people

Like you and like I

I wonder as I wander

Out under the sky

 

Dec 24 - Psalm 6b

and I will dwell in the house

of the LORD for ever

Psalm 23:6b

 

Where do you live?

Specifically.

Chances are that you named a city or a street.

Well ... it's a temporary address.

Some of us, someday, will transfer our mail to another street in another town. Some if us will transfer directly from this temporary address to our truly permanent address.

On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 15:2-3).

I like my current home. I'm thankful for my current address. But my permanent address will be much cooler. A mansion!

That's the house I want to dwell in forever! And any of us can transfer our mail there permanently whenever we believe.

Indeed, just three verses after promising us a mansion, Jesus gives us the keys.

He says, "Here's how to get in."

He says, "6 I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

In Christ's Love,
a guy whose favorite
C.S. Lewis quote is:
"Aim at heaven and
you will get earth thrown in.
Aim at earth and
you get neither"

 

Dec 24 - Christmas Eve Devotion

O holy Child of Bethlehem

Descend to us, we pray

Verse 4 of

O Little Town of Bethlehem

 

Merry Christmas! 

 

Today is a day of cookies and carols. And many of us know the first verse of many carols. Buried, however, in the third and fourth verses are some beautiful poems and wonderful theology. 

 

Enjoy today a few deeper verses ...

 

Are you tired, ill, worried? Verse 3 of “It Came upon a Midnight Clear.”

 

And you beneath life’s crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow;

Look now, for glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing;

Oh rest beside the weary road

And hear the angels sing.

 

Need a Christmas prayer? Try verse 3 from “Away in a Manger.”

 

Be near me, Lord Jesus, 

I ask Thee to stay

Close by me forever, 

and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children 

in thy tender care,

And take us to heaven, 

to live with Thee there.

 

Verse 4 of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” offers another prayer ... and reminds us of the purpose of Jesus’ journey. The whole reason the Christ child came to earth was to save us from our sin. 

 

O holy Child of Bethlehem

Descend to us, we pray

Cast out our sin and enter in

Be born to us today

We hear the Christmas angels

The great glad tidings tell

O come to us, abide with us

Our Lord Emmanuel

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who sings today

(and loves the excuse

to eat too many cookies)

 

Dec 22 - Psalm 23:6a

Surely goodness and mercy

shall follow me all the days of my life

Psalm 23:6a

 

What's chasing you?

Guilt? Worry? Fear?

Some people are haunted and chased by their past. The repercussions of bad decisions still reverberate through many lives.

Fortunately this Psalm suggests a more pleasant alternative to chase after us -- goodness and mercy. But what does it take for this blessing to follow us all the days of our lives?

A simple principle for success in this world is: Right Place + Right Time = Right Result. Whereas: Wrong Place + Wrong Time = Wrong Result.

If the Right Result is goodness and mercy, then logic says we must be in the Right Place to find it. And what's the Right Place? If we want to find goodness and mercy, it helps to chase after it.

God always offers this gift. He's always generous with it. But sin keeps putting us in the Wrong Places with the Wrong Motives. If we want to find goodness and mercy, it helps to chase after it.

And the more we follow the paths of righteousness, the more goodness and mercy will follow us.

In Christ's Love
a puppy
because chasing

goodness and mercy
is like chasing your tail:
(The more we follow the paths of righteousness,
the more goodness and mercy will follow us;
and the more goodness and mercy follow us,
the more we'll want to follow the paths of righteousness

And so on … and so on …)

 

New Years Prayers -- How can we pray for you?!!

Instead of a First-Saturday-of-the-Month Prayer Time,

We’re going to do a New Year’s Day Prayer Time.

9:30am January 1

Anyone Please Come!

And let us know how to pray for you and your family!

 

 

Dec 19 - Not Blank This Time - Ps 23:5b

The best comment I got to an accidentally blank email …

Ohhhhhh no! Pastor Ed and his devotion

must have gotten taken up in the rapture!

 

thou anointest my head with oil

Psalm 23:5b

 

David who wrote this Psalm was a king. And at a king’s coronation, they anointed his head with oil.

 

Jesus was (and is) The King. Just before his crucifixion, Mary anointed his head with oil. Indeed, the titles “Messiah” and “Christ” literally mean “the anointed one” – in Hebrew and Greek, respectively.

 

But kings weren’t the only ones historically who were anointed. So were priests. And with his Messianic anointing, Jesus is our great high priest. Indeed, as it says in Hebrews 4: “¹⁴ we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God … ¹⁵ [But] we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

So kings and priests were anointed in the ancient world. But they still weren’t the only ones. Who else was anointed? Dead people! And just before his crucifixion – just before Jesus was dead and buried, died for our sins – Mary anointed his head with oil. Indeed, she anointed him as Priest, King, and Savior (who would die for our sins).

 

So what does it mean, “thou anointest MY head with oil.” Is this talking just about kings like David (or even Jesus)? No!

 

When we claim allegiance to the true king, we are adopted into the family of God. And we too are anointed. As children of the king, we are princes – royalty.

 

We are also priests in the line of Jesus – proclaiming his truths to a wayward kingdom.

 

And we a lower-case saviors – throwing a lifeline to a drowning world whenever we proclaim the true king.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy with oily hair

(and not because I haven’t washed it,

but because I’m God’s grateful child)

 

Dec 20,21 - Psalm 23 and Christmas

The Lord is my shepherd

Psalm 23:1

 

Today is an interlude in our journey to through Psalm 23.

 

A Christmas interlude!

 

God’s real name is “I AM” – YEHWEH. That’s the official name the LORD gave to Moses when this prophet asked at the beginning of the Exodus.

 

I AM is one of Jesus’ official name too. Since people couldn’t fully understand who Jesus-the-Messiah was until the cross and resurrection, Jesus kept hinting at this identity while on earth. He kept referring to himself as the “I AM” – for example … I AM the bread of life … I AM the light of the world … I AM the way, the truth, and the life … I AM the good shepherd.  

 

The Good Shepherd?! Yes, Jesus reached back to Psalm 23 to explain his leading, comforting, and guiding. His eternal solution to the valley of the shadow of death. His providing for us a house to dwell in forever.

 

What has me curious this pre-Christmas morning is the role, then, of the shepherds at the manger.

 

Psalm 23 paints a beautiful picture of shepherds. Honestly, they were smelly outcasts. They smelled like a barn. Most were uneducated and uncouth. They were semi-homeless – nomadic wanderers.

 

Why would God come to them?

 

I know, in part, that it was as a sign: God cares for everyone – even the ones that society labels “unclean,” “uneducated,” and “uncouth.”

 

And while that’s enough of a reason, I wonder today if there’s something prophetic. The dusty shepherds of Bethlehem came from the fields to marvel at the babe that was born. Could that be how The Good Shepherd looks at us? Could it be that the Good Shepherd came from heaven above to marvel at you and me? Could his love for us be that great?

 

I’ve watched children marveling lately at baby Lyndy. Why? If you think about it, babies are unsophisticated creatures that whine and cry and poop. They struggle to open their eyes. Their thoughts are numbingly simplistic. They don’t even realize that their own hands belong to them yet. And yet we marvel at a baby! It is the miracle of life before our eyes.

 

Could that be how God looks at you and me?! We’re unsophisticated creatures that whine and cry and poop. Compared to God, our thoughts are numbingly simplistic. And yet we are the miracle of life in the Creator’s eyes. And for some magically bewildering reason, he loves us so much!

 

Wow!

 

Merry Christmas,

an uncouth, unsophisticated, unclean babe

– who marvels this Christmas at God’s love!

 

 

 

Dec 19 - Psalm 23:5b

 

Dec 18 - Psalm 23:5b

thou anointest my head with oil

Psalm 23:5b

 

David who wrote this Psalm was a king. And at a king’s coronation, they anointed his head with oil.

 

Jesus was (and is) The King. Just before his crucifixion, Mary anointed his head with oil. Indeed, the titles “Messiah” and “Christ” literally mean “the anointed one” – in Hebrew and Greek, respectively.

 

But kings weren’t the only ones historically who were anointed. So were priests. And with his Messianic anointing, Jesus is our great high priest. Indeed, as it says in Hebrews 4: “¹⁴ we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God … ¹⁵ [But] we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

So kings and priests were anointed in the ancient world. But they still weren’t the only ones. Who else was anointed? Dead people! And just before his crucifixion – just before Jesus was dead and buried, died for our sins – Mary anointed his head with oil. Indeed, she anointed him as Priest, King, and Savior (who would die for our sins).

 

So what does it mean, “thou anointest MY head with oil.” Is this talking just about kings like David (or even Jesus)? No!

 

When we claim allegiance to the true king, we are adopted into the family of God. And we too are anointed. As children of the king, we are princes – royalty.

 

We are also priests in the line of Jesus – proclaiming his truths to a wayward kingdom.

 

And we a lower-case saviors – throwing a lifeline to a drowning world whenever we proclaim the true king.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy with oily hair

(and not because I haven’t washed it,

but because I’m God’s grateful child)

 

Dec 17 - Psalm 23:5a

Thou preparest a table before me

in the presence of mine enemies

Psalm 23:5a

 

Most of us who are reading this live in a land of plenty. In fact, on the day I’m writing this – a few days after Thanksgiving – many of us are dieting desperately from too much plenty (knowing that we have a month of more and more plenty ahead of us).

 

“Plenty” is a modern luxury. Most people throughout most centuries have worked hard to just have “daily bread.” In America, we spiritualize the petition, “Give us this day our daily bread”; as in … tell God what you truly need. But for most people throughout most centuries, this has been an honest and desperate and daily and even hourly cry.

 

And it’s not just poverty that’s robbed centuries of plenty. It’s war and violence. The Saints are people like Corrie Ten Boom . She hid Jews from the Nazis. She was arrested and thrown into the concentration camps. And yet she discovered a feast in the midst of her enemies.

 

It wasn’t a physical feast – there was instead a literal starvation. The feast was God’s presence. The menu was God’s Word. She once said that God’s Word was so alive and His words were so fresh and true that it was like the ink hadn’t even had time to dry on the page.

 

In America today we’re blessed with plenty. (Even our poor are generally rich in comparison to the average condition in much of the world.) So … yes … in America today we’re blessed with plenty.

 

But we’re also cursed with plenty.

 

Most of us don’t know what it is to truly depend upon God for daily bread and daily life. Therefore, we limp along – depending partly on God … but mostly on our money, our talents, and the security of our nation.

 

Therefore, it’s generally and only the hard and humbling times – job loss, illness, grief – that get us closest to true dependence. And some – desperate -- draw closer to God in these moments. And some – shocked and offended -- draw further away.

 

Are you blessed or cursed by the plenty in your life? Are you fully depending on God.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who likes to practice

dependence, trust, and thankfulness

in all circumstances … so that …

when the hard times come

I’m already fully connected

to God, my lifeline

 

 

Dec 16 - Psalm 23:4c

thy rod and thy staff

they comfort me

Psalm 23:4c

 

We were refugees once. A wildfire was sweeping into our town. An entire city was evacuated. Mary Louise called the only person she knew in the next town over. An acquaintance from many years before. “Come,” she said graciously when she heard Mary Louise’s voice.

 

From childhood, Naomi had led a life very different than ours. And for our week of evacuation, she watched Mary Louise with our children. She saw the passionate, tender love. But she also saw something she didn’t experience in her own upbringing – steady, firm, consistent discipline.

 

At the end of the week, she said to Mary Louise, “I envy your children. My mother wanted to be my friend, so she let me do whatever I wanted. There were no rules. No boundaries. And I never felt loved. I never felt like my mother cared enough to say, ‘No.’”

 

Can you trustingly say to our loving Shepherd, “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who keeps witnessing

the benefits of both law and gospel,

love and discipline

 

 

Dec 15 - Psalm 23:4b

I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me

Psalm 23:4b

 

What do we fear? Ultimately it’s death.

 

We don’t like heights. Why? Because we might fall and die.

 

We don’t like spiders and snakes. Why? Because they might strike and we might die.

 

We fear evil for the same reason. John 10:10 reveals the goal of evil and of the evil one, saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

 

So what is the antidote to evil? Today’s verse reveals the secret to hope and life: “I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.”

 

A growing confidence in God’s abiding presence is the antidote to evil. John 10:10 in its entirety records Jesus as saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

 

Less fear equals growing abundance. Therefore, growing faith equals great life.”

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s learned to laugh at evil.

Why? Because what’s the worst it can do …

send me to heaven one day early!

 

 

 

Dec 13,14 - Psalm 23:4a

Yea, though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death

Psalm 23:4a

 

All people walk through the valley of death just once.

 

But most of us will walk through the valley of the shadow of death again and again and again. Our parents die. Our friends die. Our spouse dies. Sometimes even our children die.

 

Life hurts.

 

And grief swallows.

 

Some people get mad at God when deaths occur. But we’re pointing the finger in the wrong direction. We need to point our finger at Satan. And we need to point the finger at ourselves. It was our rebelliousness that led us out of the Garden of Eden. Death is the inevitable consequence of sin.

 

God on the other hand promises to restore. He guarantees to make all things new. There will be a day when we are forgiven and healed. Resurrection is his trump card. Eternal life is the reward.

 

And it was a costly victory. God himself submitted to the very conditions that our sin has wrought. He came to this broken earth. He allowed us to nail him to the cross. In pain and grief and sorrow the Son of God walked through that valley of death.

 

Why? Because of love. And to all who choose his path of life, our loving Lord promises that death does not have the final word!

 

But in the meantime – and it often is a “mean time” – we are stuck walking again and again and again through this valley of shadow of death. And life hurts. And grief swallows. “But,” as the Apostle Paul says, “we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

 

On this earth, we’ll keep walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But we don’t have to do it without hope!

 

We grieve for us who are left behind.

 

But we don’t grieve for the person who one moment was in the chains of earth and is their next moment opening their eyes to the glories of heaven.

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’s walked

through too many valleys

… but has discovered,

even in day, the trail to

eternal life and greater hope