Author: tommestevenson@gmail.com

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Forgiveness

Psalm 25:6-7, “Lord, remember your great mercy and love. You have shown them to your people for a long time. Don’t remember the sins I committed when I was young. Don’t remember how often I refused to obey you. Remember me because you love me.”

WE HAVE ALL BEEN WOUNDED

When you run into people who create negativity in your life, you can take direct action; you can unfriend them, cancel them, block them, and ignore them. However, you can not run away from yourself; that voice in your head goes everywhere you go. If you allow it, the negativity they created hangs around long after they are gone.

Matthew 18:21-22, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

As hard as it is for me to forgive others for their transgression, it is almost impossible for me to forgive my transgression. Somehow I think mine is worse. I can walk away from others, but I can’t walk away from myself.

Why do I stress this? I let other people’s transgression highjack my life. There comes this tipping point where their offense becomes my obsession. Long after the event, I play it over and over in my mind. I try to figure out why it happened, what was my role? I try to understand where it will lead, how do I handle the next interaction?  And the big one, how do I get it across to them how they made me feel? When I am anxious or angry I can not bear God’s fruit in my life.

HEALING STARTS AT HOME

Before I can truly forgive others, I have to understand and accept my forgiveness. I may not have started the transgression; I may not have contributed in any way, but I have my sin. Offenses happen, and they cause real pain that sometimes takes a long time to go away, sometimes a lifetime.  Although I am not a proponent of today’s victim culture, I do understand that we are all victims at one point or another. Forgiveness isn’t about pretending bad things never happened; it is not about forgetting. It is how do we get through the things that do occur.

Colossians 3:13, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

“What consumes your mind is what controls your life.” Anonymous

I wish I knew who said this. It is one of those pearls of wisdom that echo over and over throughout my life. It is one of the go-to thoughts that creep into my head when I let others take control of my thoughts. What consumes your mind controls your life. The more you play that record of transgression over and over, the more control it exercises over your life. We need to find a way of playing a different song. I believe the start of that transition is to understand who I am and what God did for me. A friend of mine refers to himself as a scoundrel; that is the perfect description of myself.

Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you.

When I first start absorbing the incredible gift God gave me through His forgiveness of my sin, and I take the time to acknowledge the scoundrel in me, it makes it easier to have compassion for the scoundrel in others. I can’t imagine what my life would look like if God held me accountable for all of my sins. I need God’s forgiveness.

EXTENDING GRACE

Matthew 6: 14-15, “Forgive other people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive the sins of other people, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Forgiveness is not just something that happens to us; forgiveness flows through us. We forgive so that we may be forgiven. I know this is extremely hard at times. Remember, forgiveness is not forgetting; it is not accepting, it is not acquiescing; it releases us to feel compassion and love again. Forgiveness is putting transgressions behind us and moving forward.

Mark 11:25, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Forgiveness is not about them; it is about us. It is about us showing God how much His forgiveness means to us; it means so much we will put other people’s transgressions behind us. What consumes our mind will be the love of Christ; what controls our life will be the love of Christ. 

Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

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2021 – Bringing Peace to Conflict

Ephesians 4: 29-32, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

THE PROBLEM

This last year has been a year in which people seem to have lost the ability to have a civil conversation with those with whom they disagree. We have become a culture in which saying what is on our mind is more important than understanding why others think differently. Our culture is starting to take this divisiveness to a new level; it has become visceral for some. It is no longer a philosophical difference; it has taken on a emotional repulsion that others would dare think the way they do. We have lost our guiding light.

Judges 21:28, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

In Ephesians, Paul points out that we sometimes forget that in everything we do, do it as if we were talking directly to God. When our emotions start to take over our common sense and our brain disconnects from our mouth, would we dare speak to God how we are talking to each other?

Ephesians 6:6-7, “And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men” 

There is a lot of craziness going around. Some of the ideas are unbelievable. Christians, which should be looking to Christ first, are now following their favorite Social Media Influencer. Years ago, we used to laugh at the comment “If it is on the internet it must be true.” It was a joke. There are now people who believe if their favorite internet personality said something, that person exhaustively researched it, and facts back it up. Most of the time, these influencers are doing nothing more than feeding their followers. Growing followers is how they make money. The more controversy they stimulate, the more advertising dollars they earn. Loyal followers are their cash cows. They engage their audience emotionally first, intellectually second. If I can hook you emotionally, you are less likely to question my intellectual logic; you want my argument to be valid.

APPROACHING OTHERS

Galatians 5:22-23, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

As a Christian, who should always speak the truth, how do I approach these discussions? First of all, what you say or do reflects who you are, not who they are. They can be as crazy as they like, but you must stay true to your beliefs. It is having that level of integrity that will ultimately win the day. We are responsible for our actions, not the actions of others. So, I would suggest you approach this delicately. Try to avoid flashpoints that will ramp up emotions. Try not to challenge their beliefs, but ground your comments on spiritual truth. Never make the conversation a personal attack.

Proverbs 11:3, ” The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”

We should have a grace like rain falling from an empty sky on a hot summer day; unexpected and refreshing.

Ephesians 4: 2-3 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

I have to be honest with you; I find most of these conversations to have no earthly or spiritual value. Someone is either proposing a future action that they have little, if any, control over or speculating on a past story that cannot be proven; It is an opinion, nothing more. God will lead the outcome regardless of our opinion. At the end of the day, what you or I think of the future has little actual meaning. God knows the future; we do not.

Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

We should approach these conversations with compassion. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, what is God’s play in all of this? Will this conversation bring both parties closer to or farther away from God? Other than the sinful by-products like anger, bitterness, or rage, how does this discussion impact their salvation? Most do not. The real risk is in the sinful by-products. Those are the sins that will make it harder to have a genuine relationship with God. Those are the sins we should help avoid.

APPROACHING OURSELVES

Although I firmly believe that we have an obligation to others to help ramp down the level of angry discourse, I also think that we need to look inward. How many times are we emotionally hijacked by what someone else believes? How many times do we walk away from a conversation angry or upset? How long does that conversation echo through your brain until it starts to affect other conversations you have that day?

Ephesians 4:14, “Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”

The foundation of all thought must be a faith that God uses all things for His good. That we can have peace in all situations because God is in control. God’s plan may not be our plan, His plan is better than our plan. I may believe that something is evil and should never be allowed to exist. Its very existence upsets me. God knows this and has a plan to deal with it; His timing may not be our timing. His actions may not be our actions. But God will prevail.

Don’t let other people write your narrative. Remember who you signed up to serve.

2 Timothy 2:4 “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”

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Impossible to Unbelievable

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

God wants to take you from the mundane to the impossible to the unbelievable.

I grew up in a small town in the Midwest. I kidded about a GED being our diploma and an actual High School diploma being an advanced degree. There wasn’t and still isn’t much opportunity in small-town America. It seems like the only path to real success is either being born into the family business or starting one. I was a kid like everyone else in my class; my future wasn’t bleak; it was confining.

Somewhere along the line, I started to understand that impossible was just a word. It wasn’t because I looked at the impossible as something to be done, as it was that I looked at my past and saw that I had done things that I would have thought impossible; the impossible became unbelievable.

Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I was the kind of kid that people would say; he might get out of High School, but he will never get accepted into college. If he does somehow get accepted, he doesn’t have the tenacity or ability to graduate. Graduate School, not a chance he could get in. I was average, and dreams were bigger than me. I looked at these achievements as impossible, but other people had done it, why not me?

FULTON’s FOLLY

The great thing about chasing the impossible is there is no shame in failure; it is almost expected. In the early 1800s, there was a painter named Robert Fulton. Robert studied art in Paris and London but wasn’t successful in getting commissions to paint. He married the daughter of the American Ambassador to France, Robert Livingston. Mr. Livingston had seen one of Mr. Fulton’s drawings of a submarine and suggested that he go into the business of designing steamboats.  Robert Fulton then had a vision of building a steamboat that would carry passengers up and down the Hudson River. The problem was that no one had ever done that; it was impossible. Steamboats were dangerous and unstable; they were in the realm of hobbies and toys. They had novelty value and nothing more. Fulton had not invented the steamboat; he would be the first person to make it commercially viable.

On August 17, 1807, the Fulton steamboat the Clermont made history. The small, snub-nosed boat made the 150-mile run from New York City to Albany in 32 hours. Regular passenger service was inaugurated, and a new era in water transportation began.

Robert Fulton’s great quest is now known historically as Fulton’s Folly. How would you like to fail on a scale so large that your name becomes a historic by-word? But his name is not a historic by-word because of his many failures; it was his one great success; the impossible became unbelievable. Robert Fulton went from a failed artist to the father of water transportation.

DREAMS AND VISIONS

Dreams are things you see in your sleep and dissipate like the morning fog once you arise. Visions are those haunting thoughts that won’t let sleep come quick enough.  Visions are ideas do delicious; you can’t stop thinking about them. Visions are not always impossible, but many seem that way. To change a vision to reality, you need resources, time, and chance. Visions of greatness start as impossibilities. They are long shots beyond our reach. There is so much that has to go right and so little that needs to go wrong that the prize is scarcely worth the effort.

2 Timothy 1:7, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

THE POSSIBLE

Well, I did graduate from college, then I did it again, then I graduated from graduate school. I didn’t get to go to Frat parties or throw a Frisbee across the quad; I worked nights as an Orthopedic Technician in Surgery at a trauma center.  I did it because I had this vision in my head that said this was the direction I was to go. God had a plan for me before I knew what life was about. As a result, I ran companies and built companies; I traveled all over the world. Impossible was a thing I hadn’t done yet. I have never done anything that has never been done before me; I have only done things that I thought I could never do. Now I look back at my life and shake my head; unbelievable. If my sixteen years old self could see me now, what would they think?

Matthew 19:26 “Jesus looked at them and replied, ‘This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible.”’

All things are possible to those that believe. God made each of us amazing creatures, capable of accomplishing almost anything to which we set our minds. The major constraint before us is not an opportunity, or resources, or chance; it is the will to live the life God created us to live. Something is impossible until you do it, then it becomes unbelievable. I am always amazed at things that I would never have expected I could do that seem mundane once I have done them; mountains do not look as tall from the top as they do from the bottom.

Stop fearing the impossible and start chasing the unbelievable. Become the person that people say, “If they say they are going to do it, it might be unbelievable, but not impossible.” Be the person God made you be.

Matthew 17:20, “And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible to you.”

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A Quick Thought for 2021

1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.”

Teddy Roosevelt, April 23, 1910, Sorbonne in Paris  

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

May 2021 be filled with visions of greatness followed by the efforts of zealots. Do not resolve to do better or be better, just get up every morning and do it. Dreams are for those who sleep, vision are for those who achieve. Organization don’t publish dream statements, they publish their vision statement. Visions are filled with plans, and tasks, and goals. Remember that true greatness is not about today, or tomorrow, or next week, or next year; it is about a life worth living. Do not measure yourself by others, but measure yourself by the potential God gave you.

May you look back on 2021 to see that you accomplished the impossible, or at least the unbelievable.

Proverbs 14:23-24 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.

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When…If…Then

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:13-14

2020 has been a very tough year. I hear competing ideas and philosophies about why this has happened. It covers everything from we live in a fallen world to God’s judgment for evil people.  I know I am not smart enough to answer that question. But I am smart enough to question what it means to me and what God wants me to do about it. 2 Chronicles guides me. It does not explain why, but it does explain what. Executing “the what” opens my eyes to the love God has put all around me.

WHEN

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people.”

We have had to deal with a worldwide pandemic, social unrest, economic upheaval, and an extremely vitriol election. If this isn’t modern-day locust, drought, and plague, it is as close as I have seen during my time on this earth. I don’t know the why of this, but scripture tells me what. We are in the situation we are in for reasons only God may fully understand, and God will use it. If….

IF

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.”

The first and most important clue is “my people, who are called by my name.” Our worldly problems are not about a political ideology, political parties, government legalism, social movement, or any other earthly pursuit; it is not a third-party issue. It falls in the lap of believers. God says the solution is not in the hands of others; it in the hands of people who call themselves Christians. The first step after the when is to recognize that the solution starts and ends with believers acting like believers. But there are conditions.

1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

HUMBLE THEMSELVES

Step back for worldly issues. Set aside temporal bias and wants. Get on your knees and let God know that you are pushing those issues behind you and only seeking His will. Acknowledge that you have let the world creep in between you and Him. Let Him know you were wrong, the only real guide is the Messiah. You allowed the worries of the world to distract you from your mission.

Titus 2:12, “Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”

PRAY

Now speak to Him. Acknowledge your weaknesses and your desire to be back in harmony with Him. Ask that He will do His will in your life and this country and this world. The Bible says we have not because we do not ask. It also states that He will answer all prayers that are in accordance with His will. Prayer is the beginning of all healing.

Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

SEEK MY FACE

We need to prioritize the information that enters our brain. God made an incredibly complex computer between our ears. But like all computers, it is garbage in garbage out. If you continue to fill your brain with worthless or even harmful information, you will find it increasingly difficult to communion with God.

In all things, seek first the Kingdom of Heaven. Perform every interaction as if it was being performed in front of God. Consume every conversation, every video, every book or article as if you were on God’s knee. Do not think you can hide your distractions in the closet to be brought out when God is not looking.

Deuteronomy 4:29, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS

Change is the indication of repentance. It is easy to say you are sorry; it is easy to be remorseful of your actions or fearful of the repercussions. It is challenging to modify your behavior to minimize the chance of falling back into old ways. You have to break the habits that created the problem. God knows we will never be perfect this side of Heaven, but He expects us to try. He will continue to forgive our earnest failures.

Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

THEN

“then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Here is the excellent part. Our God is a God of love and redemption. He is a God who wants us to bask in the radiant splendor and warmth of His compassion. God does not want us to fall or fail. If we accept that it is us, the body of His Church, that have failed this nation and this world, then He will heal the land.

1 Corinthians 2:9, “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

The non-believers are lost in a world they do not understand. They are part of the problem, but only because they do not understand. How can they learn, but that we would teach them? If we commit to doing our part, He will do these three things:

HEAR FROM HEAVEN

He will hear our prayers. Without repentance and change, we build a wall between God and us that hampers our prayers. The roar of our pain becomes a whisper. Once we repent and turn, all the white noise goes away, and our voice becomes loud and clear.

John 9:31, “We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will.”

FORGIVE THEIR SIN

Forgiveness of sin is so much better than relief from worldly troubles. Sin separates us from God for eternity. Earthly pain lasts just a short time. We live in this world, and we have to deal with what it throws at us. Many of those moments can be extremely painful. But that pain is nothing compared to an eternity separated from God.

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

HEAL THEIR LAND

Now God heals the world around us. We are right with Him, which is His priority. We will never see the end of world hunger, social injustice, or disease on this side of Heaven, but we can find peace. God will raise Godly leaders; He will dampen our sorrows and lighten our loads.

John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

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Love as the Weapon of Choice

It is the summer of 1832, and Aldous has inveterately questioned the linage of Montague. Montague, in a fit of rage, takes offense and challenges Aldous to a duel. Aldous, being the one challenged, has the right to choose the weapon; he chooses to love. This type of duel will never make a good movie script. It lacks panache and flair. Dueling pistols at ten paces outperforms coffee and a Danish. Choosing to love someone as a means of settling a disagreement isn’t the way we see things done.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM HERE?

God created us to enjoy the world in which he planted us. It is His plan that we live a life of peace and joy. He wants us to love every moment we spend here on earth.

I believe that one of the strongest desires of most people is to love and to be loved. Expressing love or receiving love connotates that there are two parties involved; the giver and the receiver. We know from practical experience that love is easy when the two parties are in synch; to love the person who loves you is a comfortable and warm place to be. Let’s move away from the romance novel into real life. Life is full of unlovable people. How do we live a life of peace?

The second greatest Commandment

Matthew 22:39, “The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'”

Aside from the everyday jerk who took your parking place or cut in front of you in line, there are the genuinely unlovable. California passed a new law that it is no longer a crime to possess child pornography. You live in California and just found out your neighbor does. You live in Oregon. Your neighbor has a drug store of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, LSD, psilocybin, methadone, and oxycodone for personal and recreational use; how do you love them? We have differences concerning abortion, gun control, taxes, economics, affirmative action, gay marriage, international relations, and the list goes on and on.

That’s a big mountain to climb. But how can we love our neighbor if we don’t know them? I suggest knowing about them is not good enough. Relying on others opinion of them is not good enough.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

In Larry Crabb’s SoulTalk, he brings up an excellent point. At first, it seemed minor, but the more I applied it, the more critical it became in my thinking. Larry asks us to first look at our sin before jumping into criticizing others. At first, I thought of this as; I don’t have to be right for you to be wrong. I turned a corner on this. I now think about it as not a me-against-you statement but as a grounding statement about all human nature. When I apply critical thinking to my state, I can then apply critical thinking to others. When I start to understand the underlying issues to my sin, I can begin to look for the underlying problems that drive others. How I rationalize what I do helps me understand the dynamics of why other people think the way they do.

We are all sinners separated from God. Just as God cared enough about me to reach down and lift me out of my sin, should I expect Him to do less for others? I’ve always looked at this as the Jonah issue. Jonah spent some time in a whale because he did not want God to forgive his enemies, and he knew God would. The requirement is that they had to repent and turn from their wicked way; much to Jonah’s dismay, they did.

I am not trying to rationalize the behavior of others, as much as their motivation. Destroy the foundation, and the house will fall. When I realize that my lack of self-esteem makes me envious, I can start to deal with my envy issues. A lack of real love often drives lust; substance abuse can indicate a sense of being out of control. God provides all of these things that are missing. God enables us to take an approach of getting something more valuable than we are giving up. Understanding God’s love may not solve the immediate problem or resolve the worldly differences, but it will provide a different platform from which to try at least to love them a little more.

CAUTIONARY TALES

Even if you cannot find common ground, you need to make sure their issues do not create new problems for you. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against your neighbor. It is easy to start to think that you are the standard-bearer for God’s kingdom. Don’t let your sense of righteous indignation trick you into believing you have the right to be judge, jury, and executioner. That is God’s domain. If you cannot find a path toward love, then pray for salvation, not destruction. It is not yours to command. Be careful that your attitude doesn’t cause people to start praying that about you.

Leviticus 19:18, “Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the Lord.”

Do not give false witness against your neighbor. Gossip is not just telling a lie; it is about spreading harmful information, even when it is true. We may have differences with people, but that does not give us the right to talk poorly about them to others. Even when it is true, unless it is germane to a critical situation, we need to watch our tongue. When someone is making a decision and needs your consultation, you must be truthful; I would suggest you distinguish between fact and opinion. Most of the time, we spread information through idle chatter or within confidential friends. Be careful not to let someone else’s sin create sin in you. Don’t escalate the situation by talking too much about it to others.

Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

James 1:26, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”

Do not let your difference simmer into a quarrel or outright war. Don’t let these differences keep you up at night with unclean thoughts. Often, what we want is not material; it is emotional; we want to be right. Their opinion or their actions makes us angry, and we cannot let it go. I like the saying that anger is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.

James 4:1-2, “Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.”

God commands us to build up our neighbors. Rather than despise or discourage others who think differently, why not spend our time reinforcing the excellent qualities. Don’t spend so much time thinking about what is wrong, but find common ground to have a friendly conversation. This common ground is what will give you the right to share the gospel. Contention has never been the best breeding ground for change. Change comes from a shared desire to live a peaceful life. That has always been God’s plan while we are still here on earth.

Romans 5:2, “He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory!”

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New Years – God Said “It was good”

Genesis 1:31, “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!…..”

God does not waste time making second rate things or moments without meaning. God did not create a person or moment on this earth that He did not say, “it is very good…”. Anytime you start to believe otherwise, you don’t understand the nature of the God of the universe.

CREATION

Colossians 1:16, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”

Before God created the universe, he sketched out every molecule. He detailed every man, woman, child, plant, animal, every cell, every microcell,  every nano cell, and the billions of planets and stars that will ever exist. God knew that we needed a Savior, and God knew exactly when we would need Him. Then He created; then He started everything in motion. And He said, “that is very good.”

Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

The complexity of the world we live in is enormous. I met the brother-in-law of a friend of mine over Thanksgiving. He is a cardiovascular research scientist working with the Lymphatic system, a subsystem of the circulatory system. He works in an invisible world that is essential to human health. God created proteins that provide for the health of tiny valves within that system required for our existence. When I tried to visualize how God can scale down the laws of physics to such a microscopic level and still have everything work as it should, it’s inconceivable. 

John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

CHRIST IS BORN

When I think about the importance and timing of Jesus’ birth, ordained before the world was born, the lymphatic system becomes mundane. When I think of the significance of the arrival of our Savior and the birth of you and I, as being very good in God’s eye, I get a chill. Christ saved all of us from permanent separation from God. God created each of us to save someone from that same fate.

Do you not look at your birth with the same importance and reverence as you do Christmas? No, we could never match the glory and majesty of Christ’s importance here on earth. We were not born to save all of humankind through the gift of forgiveness. But we do have a mission, and that mission is just as important to someone out there. God, through Christ, created the building block of our redemption. God gave us a path, through Christ, back to Him; we, all of us, must choose that path. It is this last part that makes your creation so important.

OUR ROLE

Romans 10:14, “But how can they call on someone if they haven’t trusted in him? And how can they trust in someone if they haven’t heard about him? And how can they hear about someone if no one is proclaiming him?”

We cannot save as Christ saved, but we can lead someone to Him so that He may save them. Just as there is not a moment wasted by God, there is not a moment in our lives that is insignificant. People are always watching us to see God’s glory. When He created us, it was good; the act itself was good, not the person. That person was tainted as a byproduct of the fall. But we were created with a purpose of great importance to God; He desires that we live out that purpose.

Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

As Christian, we need to recognize and accept that we were created for a purpose, and that purpose is to glorify God from generation to generation. We accomplish that purpose by spreading the gospel both in actions and words.

Have you ever thought of celebrating your birthday with the same significance as you celebrate Christmas? You cannot save the world, but you can save it for someone. Remember throughout 2021, when God created you, he said, “it was very good.”

Matthew 5:16, ”In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

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Christmas – The Story of a Promise and Patience

Psalms 9:10, “Those who know your name put their trust in you. For you, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who trust in you.”

Waiting for the Good News

Daniel prophesied the coming of the Messiah over 400 years before Jesus was born. Daniel thought it was 70 weeks after the temple’s destruction, but Gabriel used a turn on words to say it was 70 sevens. By the way, Biblical writers say that Jesus arrived a full 1,500 years after God gave Moses The Law.  Remember, I am a layman and in no way pretend to know the scriptures well; so, let’s say Christmas came later than expected and leave it at that.

For children waiting for Christmas day, excitement crescendos from Thanksgiving day until December 25th; as each day passes, the wait becomes almost unbearable. The anticipation of getting just the right gift, but not knowing if you will, is overwhelming. Christmas day comes, and the bubble burst into excitement.

Israel thought the Messiah’s coming was right around the corner, but then there was another corner. Corner after corner came and went with no Messiah.  Did their anticipation crescendo or faded away? From what we know from the scriptures, I would have to say anticipation faded away for most. When He came, not only did they not recognize Him, some actively denied it was Him.

Matthew 12:14, “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”

Receiving the Good News

Jesus was the answer to a great promise God made before creation, but many missed its blessing because it was not in their timeframe. One of the messages we should take from Christmas is patience. Remember Simeon, the man that God promised he would not die until he saw the Messiah. Simeon was late in years but had not lost faith that God would keep His promise. God rewarded his faith, for he recognized the Savior when he saw Him. Had he lost faith that God would keep His promise; he might have seen Jesus and not recognized Him.

As we celebrate Christmas, let us not lose sight that God’s timing is not our timing. When God makes a promise, He keeps it. God didn’t create the universe and say, “Let’s see how this plays out.” He wrote the complete story, end-to-end, before it even began. He loved us then, and He loves us now.

Lamentations 3:22-23, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new  every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Acknowledging the Good News

Patience is one of the great virtues. Patience not only serves us well when dealing with each other, but it is essential to seeing God in action. Many times we ask God for things that we think are right and good, and for the most part, they are. But we are finite, and God is infinite. God sees solutions we could never dream of seeing. He wrote our story and knows our path.

Be patient in looking for your blessings. God will keep His promises to you. You need to stay obedient to His will and be patient. We wait 364 days every year for Christmas to arrive; Israel waited over 400 years. Those that lost faith missed the blessing. Don’t miss your blessings.

Gabriel heralded the significance of Jesus to Mary; it was the start of God’s promise to redeem His people. Jesus came for all of us. His patience with us and His love for us endures forever.

Luke 1:31-33, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

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Christmas 2020 – A Year of God’s Favor

Luke 4: 18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

In one of the most dysfunctional years that I can remember I find that this year is the year that God challenges us to proclaim His favor in all things and proclaim His glory to those in which He has put us in contact.

I have a big request for this season of celebration; reach out to those who are hurting and offer them a lifeline. Don’t try to cheer them up; love them. Quiet desperation is the most suffocating emotion one will ever face. We are not the solution, only God is, but He can work through us. 

The fortunate among us, myself included, see what God has done in our lives and are thankful. We enjoy the relationships God puts in front of us, the opportunities we have been privileged to experience, and hope of a greater future. We may reminisce about good times, maybe even better times, but we are grounded in the moment. That moment, this moment is ours to make what we choose. God gave us that choice. And at this moment, we choose hope.

Psalm 100: 4-5, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good, and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

There are those around us that, for various reasons, see the holiday season differently. They have broken relationships, their opportunities are few, and the future is bleak. Their minds are clouded by what could have been, but never will be. What they have experienced in their life darkens the soul and grieves the heart. Their life is not a glass half empty; it is a glass too small. 

Psalms 34:18, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

I have compassion for these; I have been there. I have known the darkness of despair. Evil lurks for a desperate heart. No matter how bad life is, it finds a way to bring it further down. Christmas is not a time of reflection; it is a time to try to forget. The joy of others amplifies their pain. The light at the end of the tunnel is a train. Salvation is a myth. Comfort and joy a fairy tale. 

I have prayed not to wake and for tomorrow to never come. I wanted all the endless pain to go away and leave me in peace. But peace does not await the person without Christ. Their destination is not something to be desired no matter how cruel life has become.

Matthew 25:45, “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

This Christmas, invest in another. Don’t try to “fix” their life, instead give them hope. Let them know there is someone who will travel their journey with them. Be that person. Be the one that God weeps for joy over. 

One last thing; We all have broken connections. We have people that have hurt us, or we have hurt them. Extend a kind word. It will change the world for both of you.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

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A Christmas for Eternity

Mark 4:18-19, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Is your view of eternity a day at a time? Do the struggles you face today form your worldview? Are your prayers reflective of your needs and pain in the moment? I bring this up because of the year we have just gone through. Many of us have had to put our hopes and dreams on hold. Many of the issues in the news, and life, seem ever evolving. Social Media has made us “in-the-moment” people. Some of us get so caught up in the news of the moment that they lose sight of why they are here. We are here to glorify God from generation to generation.

Exodus 3:15, “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”

THE SHORT VIEW

How we fight COVID-19 today is different from what was reported just a few months ago. The news about injustice changes as new information becomes available. Sometimes our worldview is cemented before we get the whole story. We worry about the economy as closures and unemployment rise. Our worldly leaders seem more intent on persuading us toward their agenda than actually solving a problem.

All of this drives us to a short term view of our lives and the world around us. We start to think that whatever happens in the next moment, the next week, the next year, or the next decade will alter our existence forever. We have to react before it is too late.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Fear is the great enemy of faith. Living in fear is looking at circumstances as if God didn’t exist or doesn’t care. Fear is trying to control the uncontrollable. Fear is looking for solutions that are human-made, not faith-based. Fear shrinks our world and makes us ineffective.

Luke 12:20, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Who will benefit from all your worry?

THE ENEMY

Who is your real enemy? It is COVID, injustice, political leadership, or even poverty? Is it your boss or your neighbor or cultural bias? Or, might it be something that uses all of these to keep you from seeing the real enemy? Do not get me wrong, these are real issues that we should not ignore, but they are not the real danger. If non-believers bring about world peace and do away with poverty, hunger, and disease, are you better off? Short-term, yes, you are more comfortable; long-term, not so much.

We get so tied up in every day that we forget we are creations meant for eternity. Our entire life span is but a moment. A single day almost unnoticeable. It is real at the moment but not worthy of concern when thinking of eternity.

A Short term view of our existence is a tool of the enemy to convince us that God does not love us. It is one of the best ways that the enemy whispers in our ear that if God did love us, he would do what we want, God should address our fear with immediate solutions.

1 John 4:18, “We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; his perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully convinced that he really loves us.”

THE LONG VIEW

Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone” ― Pablo Picasso

Christ came for the long view. He didn’t come so that the Pharisees would be put in their place or the Romans would be run out of town. He even told His disciples that poverty would always exist in the world. He wasn’t looking to correct the by-products of sin, but to destroy the impact of sin itself.

Matthew 26:11, “The poor you will always have with you”

He died that we might spend eternity with Him. There will be no political parties or disease or hunger or injustice. These are of the world and therefore under His dominion to be eliminated upon His return.

Ephesians 1:22, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.”

I would challenge each of you to divorce yourself from all news and social media for 30 days. I challenge you to only engage in gospel-based learning and information. I think you will find that nothing happened that would not have happened with or without your knowledge. I think you will find your world view has pivoted away from the temporal to the eternal. I think you will find yourself filled with more confidence and hope; concern and fear will decrease. The Bible will guide you in the due diligence required to deal with this world.

 1 John 5:14-15, “And we are sure of this, that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we really know he is listening when we talk to him and make our requests, then we can be sure that he will answer us.”

COVID can’t stop Him. Whoever is in the White House cannot prevent His will. Nothing in your environment will stand in the way of God’s love for you. Stop fixating on things you cannot control and start fixating on the things you should control. Fixate on God’s providence over all things. God will protect your soul. God will prepare you for eternity with Him.

The greatest thing about you is what God has done for you. Live your life with the joy and peace of knowing that God has dominion over all things. You are safe within His hands.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

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