Category: From Pastor

Devotions this week are based on Week 4 of “He Shall Be Called: Prince of Peace” (CLICK HERE)

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Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…

This famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore relates the quietness of the house and all in bed as they wait for Christmas to arrive.  The opening lines describe a peaceful scene of all in bed ready for a “long winter’s nap.”

But then the peace was disrupted by the visit of St. Nick.

Have you ever felt this way on other nights than Christmas Eve?

Life is going smoothly.  You sleep soundly and the days roll by without incident.

Until they don’t.

External circumstances can quickly disrupt not only the external peace around us, but also the internal peace in our hearts.

Finances are good until one gets laid off.

Health is good, until an annual checkup reveals a suspicious tumor.

Relationships are good until a simple conversation turns into an angry argument.

Peace is easily disrupted.

To be honest, peace can be very hard to recapture once it is lost.

Unless we allow the Prince of Peace to rule with peace in our hearts.

The Prince of Peace loves to settle our hearts with three gifts this Christmas, that allow us to experience peace in our hearts even when life is challenged by external circumstances.

1. The gift of salvation.  Simeon was at peace because he saw Jesus and knew the child was his Savior. 

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

    you may now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

2. The Gift of God’s Word– Sometimes we just need the truth of Jesus’ words to remind us of his promises.

John 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

3. The Gift of God’s presence.  Fear comes when we feel alone to face adversity.  Jesus comes to his disciples and promises to be with us too…to replace fear with peace.

John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

I pray that your situation in life this Christmas Eve is one that is at peace, but I also pray that the Prince of Peace whose birth we celebrate tonight and tomorrow gives your heart a lasting and enduring peace that is never disrupted by the external circumstances of life.

 

Apply: Which of God’s gifts to you do you need today to bring a deeper and lasting peace to your heart?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for being the Prince of Peace and ruling in our hearts with peace only you can give.  May the external circumstances of my life never disrupt the peace that God has worked in my heart.  AMEN.

Devotions this week are based on Week 4 of “He Shall Be Called: Prince of Peace” (CLICK HERE)

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Since the November election, we have heard about Tom Homan, President-elect Trump’s pick to be the “Border Czar.”  By news reports and his statements, he is tasked to serve at the behest of the President to secure the borders of the United States and seek to deport those that are in the country illegally.

Until recently, the only time I had heard the term “Czar” used was in a Russian history class in college.  The term “Czar” was referred to the head of state as “president” is in the United States.

So what is a “czar”?

Merriam Webster’s online dictionary gives two definitions: 1) Emperor – the ruler of Russia until the 1917 revolution and 2) one having great power or authority.  

Curious as to how America adopted the term “czar,” Google provided vague blogs about the use of the term for White House officials that served at the request of the president but did not have official appointments or authority as did Senate approved Cabinet positions.

Bottom line, these are people the President wants to focus on one area of the country’s business and provide leadership, direction and change to make that area better.  Whatever they are “czar” of, they are to focus on and ensure the policy and legislation move toward the better end.

Aren’t we talking about the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6?  Yes.  Yes we are.

Here’s the irony.

Isaiah uses the phrase, “Czar of Shalom” for this last descriptive name of the child given to us: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

So why is Jesus called the “Czar of Shalom?”  (The Hebrew language often translates “czar” as “prince” – one who serves at the favor of the king.)

He is the one appointed by God the Father to take care of and ensure that peace is established and maintained between God and man.  Peace is what he is going to be taking care of in the “government” that is on his shoulders.

A “czar’s” success is measured by the results.  If we look at the end reality of Jesus’ work as “Czar of Shalom” we’d say, he did an outstanding job:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)

If the ultimate goal of the Prince of Peace is to bring peace between you and God, there is no question that he carried out his duties to perfection!

 

Apply: What other things or persons do you sometimes try to make the “Czar of Shalom” in your life?  How is that working?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to this earth to be the Czar of Shalom, the Prince of Peace.  This Christmas week, may the peace you have secured be a reality in my heart.  AMEN.

Devotions this week are based on Week 3 of “He Shall Be Called: Everlasting Father” (CLICK HERE)

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Have you ever wondered why the human spirit desires to live?  Sure there are some due to very hard and tragic mental conditions that have no desire to live (if you are one, seek professional medical and spiritual help).  However, inside each person is a desire to live and have purpose and significance.  

Have you ever stopped and asked, “Why is that?”

Why does humanity have the desire to find the “fountain of youth”?  Why do people fight so hard to survive?  Why is death the topic and event to be avoided?

The truth is not found in the humanistic, “survival of the fittest,” but rather in Genesis where God almighty created humanity to live forever, sustained by the “Tree of Life.”  In Genesis 3, after the fall into sin, God in his mercy removed the ability of Adam and Eve and future humanity to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Death is a consequence of sin.  Inside each of us is the desire to avoid the consequence of sin, even though we are sinners.

The fact is we will all die, and we will all live forever.  The question is will our experience be the eternal fires of hell or the eternal joys of heaven. Jesus speaks of the divide in Matthew 25:41,46 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels….And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The reason that Jesus came into the world as the Everlasting Father is to ensure all who believe in him will have eternal life in heaven.  John 3:16 speaks it well, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

How do we know this? Jesus himself was not overcome by death, but rather came alive, assuring us we too will live forever. John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

The benefit? I don’t have to be afraid of death, but rather look forward to it, because my Everlasting Father has given me everlasting life!

 

Apply: How does knowing you will live forever because of Jesus, give perspective to the challenges of today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for securing for me eternal life.  Help me every day to live in view of eternity with you! AMEN.

Devotions this week are based on Week 3 of “He Shall Be Called: Everlasting Father” (CLICK HERE)

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At times I have heard people lament about the decrease in the confessing Christians in the United States.  People who go to church, believe in God, or live by absolute truth all are on the decline.  It’s easy to look to secular institutions to bring this back, almost demanding that people become believing, moral Christians.  Someone asked me recently my take on “Christian Nationalism,” which, in my understanding, is the movement to make America Christian by the series of right laws and right politicians.  Looking to the government to do what only the Gospel can do is aiding in the demise of Christianity in America because the government can’t replace the Gospel.

On very big reason why is politics and legislation are human inventions that have a lifespan.  Governments are allowed by God, but are not eternal institutions.  So to expect to the temporal to accomplish the eternal is never going to work.

But the eternal can accomplish the eternal.  The message of grace found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is an eternal truth that has worked in the hearts of people for millennia.  This message has changed lives and connected them to the eternal life that Jesus came to give.

The Church (capital C) is an eternal reality because it is founded on the eternal truth of the Gospel which rests on the eternal existence of the Everlasting Father, Jesus Christ.

Samuel John Stone, in 1860 captured this truth in the hymn, The Church’s One Foundation, 

The church shall never perish! Her dear Lord, to defend,

to guide, sustain, and cherish, is with her to the end;

tho’ there be those that hate her and false sons in her pale,

against the foe or traitor she ever shall prevail.

When Peter made his confession of Jesus, Jesus promised that the opposition will never prevail against it.

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[b] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[c] shall not prevail against it.

What this means is that when we come to faith, we are connected to Christ.  We become part of the eternal reality of God’s kingdom, his church.  It will never fall.  You are part of it and you get to share the eternal Gospel with the days God has given to you.  This alone changes hearts, not politicians and legislation!

 

Apply: How does it feel to be part of an eternal reality of God’s Church?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Eternal Father, thank you for connecting me to the eternal reality of your kingdom and Church.  Use me in time to bring this eternal truth to many more souls! AMEN.

Devotions this week are based on Week 3 of “He Shall Be Called: Everlasting Father” (CLICK HERE)

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Do you ever catch yourself asking, “Will this matter in 3 years/10 years, etc.?”  Sometimes this question is good when faced with an impulse spending opportunity and you ask yourself, “Will this matter next week?”  Or if you are faced with a conflict that seems like a really big deal and you ask, “Will this matter in 2 years?” Often time this question puts into perspective a decision or activity in which we are engaging and helps us evaluate the relative importance of it.  

Why do we ask these questions?

Because we know that anything we buy, engage in, or worry about is only temporal.  It may have impact for a few days or for a life time, but most of the things we engage in have a beginnand have and end.  Because of this we evaluate if we should invest time today based on how long the impact will be.

The fact that Isaiah calls Jesus, “Everlasting Father,” means that Jesus and anything that is connected to him, his life, ministry, death, resurrection, etc. has eternal impact.

Think about it.

We are about to turn the calendar from 2024 to 2025.  For 2025 years Jesus has had an impact on the way we mark time.  But more than that, he has had impact in every generation that has filled those 2000 plus years.  What else could say that?  Who else could say that?

Then one moves beyond his point in time at his birth and his years of ministry and realize that even 700 years before his birth, he was influencing the people of Isaiah’s time and farther back to the beginning of time he is the Word that spoke the world into existence.

And then we throw in yesterday’s truth that a key essential quality of Jesus is that he is eternal – without beginning and without end – we know that time itself exists as a subset of Jesus eternal existence.

Which puts us right in the middle of that (or somewhere in the spectrum of time and eternity!)

Which means that our faith in Jesus pulls us out of simply a temporal existence to be part of an eternal reality. 

So what does that mean?

Any time we invest in our faith and the ministry of the Gospel always has importance and impact beyond the moment in which we live,

1 Corinthians 15;58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Just prior to this, Paul connects the “Why?” to not laboring in vain

Because we are part of something eternal, led by the Everlasting Father who overcame death so we would never die.

1 Corinthians 15:54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[h]

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Make no mistake.  You are part of something eternal…Because Jesus lives, you will live also!

Apply:  Do you change anything today because you are part of an eternal movement?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Everlasting Father, thank you for bringing me into your eternal plan.  Lead me to serve you all the days of my life.  AMEN