Grace For The Journey

Today is my last blog of 2018.  I want to use it to ask a question . . .

“How did this year go for you?

Did it turn out like you had planned?

Did you accomplish the goals you had set

For yourself in the areas that matter most?”

As we get ready to turn the page on yet another year, we must remember that history will someday come to an abrupt end.   The trumpet will sound, Jesus will return on the clouds of heaven, and He will restore all things.

Jesus will take all that is wrong and make it right,

And

He will take all that is crooked and make it straight.

When Jesus comes again, He will not appear to humanity as a baby laid in a manger, as we just celebrated this past Christmas . . .

When He comes again, He will appear as a conquering King.

And when He does, the Bible says in Philippians 2:10-11, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  The kingdom of heaven will come in all its fullness, majesty, and glory, as God ushers in a new heaven, a new earth, and a new you (Revelation 21:5).

For the Christian,

Regardless of how this year worked out for you,

The best is yet to come!

Perhaps you had a year filled with one storm after another, and struggle after struggle, barely keeping your head above water.  Or maybe it was your best year ever.

Whatever it was . . .

It was not what it will be one day!

The Bible declares in Revelation 21:4, “And God will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain; for the former things have passed away.  Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’  And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’”

And when that day comes . . .

As Christians will have arrived at our intended destination;

We will finally and fully be home at last.

We will be in a place we had longed for, looked for, and lived for.

We will finally be in the place where we know we belong

Because of the One we belong to!

And this will not be the end of our story,

But rather

It will be only just the beginning of it.

Everything we will have done up to that great Day will end up being what C. S. Lewis so rightly observed,

“The cover and the title page of the One Great Story,

Which no one on earth has read,

Which goes on forever and ever,

In which every chapter is better than the one before.”

The best is truly yet to come!

Heaven will descend into our fallen, broken, and hurting world.  The lion will lie down with the lamb.  The skies will sing and the trees will dance.  Our humanness will be restored as we are reunited with other believers from every tongue, tribe, and nation, and there will be peace on earth that will never again be broken.

What an amazing reality!

What an incredible future to look forward to!

The entire world will be restored.

The Bible says in Romans 8:21, “Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Until that day comes,

And for as long as we are here,

Let us champion His cause

By preaching the Gospel

To everyone we meet –

With both our lips and our lives.

Let us, as fallen and broken people, reach up, reach in, reach out in the name of Jesus to bring His restoration and reconciliation to a fallen and broken world.  Let that be our first priority as we begin the year, and our greatest goal throughout the year for the glory of our King!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  With only two blogs left until the beginning of a new year, I want to close out 2018 with some more thoughts on finishing well, rooted in these words from Paul to Timothy:in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Yesterday we looked at two truths that will help us finish each day and each years well – fighting the good fight and finishing the race.  Today we will look at Paul’s final phrase …

I have kept the faith …

Here Paul is talking about the faith found in the truth of the wisdom of God.  Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling him had the privilege of pondering that truth, preaching it, protecting it, praising it, and practicing as God gave him opportunity whatever he was involved in or wherever he went.  He fearlessly contended with those who sought to distort the truth of God’s Word and those who would water it down.

For Paul, keeping the faith meant keeping the all-consuming call that God had placed on his life in view at all times. He refused to let anything take him off course.  Paul lived a life of fidelity to His faithful Savior and poured himself out in unwavering service to his Lord.  Yes, he did it imperfectly, but he did it with all of his heart.  There was no half-hearted effort in the life of Paul.  His desire and dedication is clearly seen in the inspired words of Philippians 3:12-14, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Think about it this way . . .

Everything he did as Saul

Prior to meeting the resurrected Christ

On the road to Damascus,

He did with all of his heart.

Now, as Paul, everything

He did was done with

All of his heart for

The glory of the One

Who had called him.

AS we come to the close of this year, let me suggest three key words that marked the life of Paul:

• Sold-out
• Steadfast
• Single-minded

Paul was able to fight the good fight because he was sold-out in fighting it.

Paul was able to finish the race because he was steadfast in sharing it.

And Paul was able to keep the faith because he was single-minded in focusing on it.

It is my prayer that as you look back on this past year you will see all the good God has done, both in you and through you.  I pray that you have learned from the times you fell short of the intended mark and take that lesson into 2019 with the confident assurance that “He who began the good work in you will complete it” (Philippians 1:6). . . . just as He did in the apostle Paul’s life.

Thank you for spending time with me this past year in my blogs.  May God bless you and yours. Lord willing, we shall do it all again next year – lifting our eyes to heaven and receiving, by faith, the grace we all need to run our race well!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  As we near the close of 2018 I want to take a two-part look at “Finishing Well.”   The Holy Spirit led the apostle Paul to use this idea in a letter he wrote to his protégé Timothy.  In 2 Timothy 4:7-8, the Bible says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Over the next two blogs we will examine the three phrases Paul used to sum up all that God had done in His life after his life-changing encounter with the resurrected Christ on the Damascus Road.  We can use these God-breathed phrases to evaluate how well we have lived throughout the past year.

We will look at the first two phrases in today’s and we will examine the final one in tomorrow’s blog.  Paul’s first declaration is . . .

I have fought the good fight …

If Paul had said “I have fought A good fight,” he might have been speaking about any fight he had engaged in.  But he didn’t phrase it that way; he said he had fought “THE good fight,”

And the only truly good fight

Is the one God has called us to.

God turned Paul’s life upside down when He changed Saul into Paul, transforming him from the persecutor of the church into the preacher and pastor to the church, and Paul endured innumerable hardships in order to pursue his calling.

God’s kingdom was advanced

And glory can only be given to God

For the good fight God called Paul to fight.

Next, Paul declares . . .

I have finished the race …

Paul frequently compared his life to a race.  When he used this metaphor, he did not compare it to a sprint, but rather a marathon.  Paul lived a life that was reflective of that truth.  In Philippians 1:6, he states, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the Day of Jesus Christ.”  Paul knew that he had to continue, by God’s grace, putting one foot in front of the other every day, every step of the way.

As we draw near to the end of 2018, let me encourage you to take some time to consider both these phrases from the inspired pen of the apostle Paul.

Are you able to say the same as Paul?

Was 2018 marked by fighting the good fight of faith

And running with purpose and prayerful determination

In the race God has set before you?

Did you run in the strength of the Almighty?

Please understand that I am not suggesting that you should have fought the good fight and run this year’s race perfectly.  Everything we do we do imperfectly, just as Paul freely admitted about his own life (Romans 7:14-24).

But here is the question

I believe we should

All ponder and answer

During these final days of 2018:

Did we make God’s plan for our lives

Our primary passion and pursuit throughout the year?

I hope you’ll come back tomorrow as we consider some additional thoughts on “Finishing well.”

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

The Bible records an action by Rahab in Joshua 2:21, “She tied the scarlet cord in the window.”  Do you remember the story of the two spies Joshua sent to scout the land of Jericho?  The prostitute Rahab took them in and protected them when the king of Jericho commanded her, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.” Rahab told those who were hunting for the spies that the men had already left the city, but actually she had hidden them on the roof of her home.

Why would this pagan woman, an immoral woman who did not belong to the covenant community of Israel, do such a thing?  She had heard of the God of Israel and the amazing things He did in freeing His people from Egypt . . . and she believed!

Before the spies left, Rahab asked them to remember the kindness she had shown them and asked that she and her family be protected from the Israelite army that was coming to conquer the city.  They agreed, with one simple stipulation which is recorded in Joshua 2:17-18, “The men said to her, ‘This oath you made us swear will not be binding unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window.’”

The spies promise of protection was rooted in a simple, yet firm, act of faith.  The scarlet cord in the window would be the sign of her personal faith.  A trivial act to be sure, but an act that was absolutely necessary if Rahab and her family were to survive the invasion of the Israelite army into her city.  The angel of death was on his way to Jericho, but he passed over Rahab’s home when he saw the scarlet cord hanging in the window.

There are many lessons in this story,

But one we must not miss is this:

The spies represented God to this pagan woman

And Rahab trusted in their promise

And was obedient to their plan.

You may recall that Rahab – this lady of the night, whom some might consider a “lowlife,” is enshrined in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Fame of Faith.”  God honors her faith in Hebrews 11:31, “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

This truth raises an important question: Do you and I have that same kind of unwavering faith as Rahab?

• Do we trust in the promises of God and remain obedient to His plan . . . even in the seemingly insignificant details of the Christian life?
• Do we render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s?
• Do we forgive as we have been forgiven?
• Do we do unto others what we would have others do unto us?
• Do we walk by faith and not by sight?
• Do we trust in God even when we cannot trace Him?

Remember, Rahab’s house was on the wall in Jericho and the walls came tumbling down.  But, she and her family were preserved because she believed in the promise of God and demonstrated it by tying the scarlet cord in the window.

May that be the confession of our lives as well.

As we come to the close of 2018 may we commit anew to live in 2019 as “Scarlet Cord Christians,” with our faith showing forth as boldly and conspicuously as a bright red banner for the glory of the One who has promised to preserve us all the way into glory!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

 

Grace For The Journey

  The title of today’s blog echoes a question asked by many who celebrate Christmas, both believers and non-believers alike.  How would you respond to this question?  Or how did you respond?

Would Christmas still have come for you if it came looking like what those Whos down in Whoville woke to on one decidedly unusual Christmas morning?  As the Grinch who attempted to steal their Christmas described it:

“It came without ribbons!

It came without tags!

It came without packages, boxes and bags!!!!!”

Now, please don’t misunderstand me.  Giving and getting gifts at Christmas is not a bad thing; it is a good thing.

We give gifts to commemorate

The indescribable gift that

God gave the world in His Son.

But good things become bad things when they become ultimate things.

When Christmas becomes all about what we get,

Rather than the One who has given us everything,

We miss the real reason for the season:

The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen to the words of the Narrator in the story of the children’s story, “The Grinch Stole Christmas:”

He puzzled and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.

Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more.”

Well, we know Christmas means

Not just a little bit more;

It means a whole lot more.

In fact, it means EVERYTHING!

Christmas is God’s promise fulfilled.  God promised to send His Son to pay the price for our sin (Genesis 3:15), and He kept that promise when the Light of this world was born as a baby, “wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger . . . because there was no room for Him in the Inn.”

God had promised it over 700 years before in Isaiah 7:14, “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

The next time someone asks you “What did you get?” tell them you got IMMANUEL, God with us.

Immanuel is with you . . .

In your joy and in your sorrow

In your sunshine and in your rain

In your plenty and in your want

In your health and in your sickness

In your victory and in your defeat

In your life and in your death

He is with you now and forevermore, and one day you will be in glory with Him . . . and that beloved, means EVERYTHING!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

As we look forward to celebrating the birth of our blessed Savior tomorrow, I would like to encourage you with just one of the many promises that Christmas has kept.  I’m confident that this found in in Isaiah’s majestic prophecy – will encourage you and strengthen your walk with Christ.

That Promise Is . . .

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given . . .” (Isaiah 9:6)

In the third chapter of Genesis, God made a promise to send a Savior into this world Who would ultimately crush the head of the serpent and redeem His people from sin and death.  God declared in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed.”

This Savior would be

A very special Child born

. . . and a Son given!

You see, in that promise God made, the Redeemer would come from the “seed” of the woman and not the seed of the man.  It would be a supernatural conception, accomplished by the power of the Most High God, and that conception God would fulfill His promise to the world.  Even though He was conceived by the Spirit of God, Jesus was a child born just like any other person – as a helpless infant, who needed the loving care and protection of His parents.

But Jesus was so much more

Than just a babe born in a manger!

Jesus was fully man.

He was the fulfillment of every man

In the Old Testament

Who pointed to the perfect Man.

Jesus is the last Adam,

The better Moses,

The greater David;

He is the Prophet

Who makes God known,

The Great High Priest,

The King of kings!

But, as Isaiah wrote, this Child born was also a Son given.

Jesus was fully man, yes, but . . .

He is also fully God,

And as God’s only begotten Son,

He was not “born.”

He was given,

As the second person of the eternal Trinity,

To complete God’s perfect plan

For the redemption of the world.

This Son given God-head from eternity past.  He is the great “I Am,” who is dependent on no one or nothing for His existence.  He had no beginning and He will have no end. He is eternally co-equal in the God-head.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. He is Lord!

It is my heartfelt prayer that, as Christmas Day draws near, this promise will encourage you to praise God for such an indescribable gift . . . a child born and a Son given . . . Immanuel – “God with us!”

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

The world in which we live is broken and filled with sin.   We are surrounded by human depravity at every level (from childhood relationships to political leaders).  Yet, we long for the day when God will make all things new and our broken world will be renewed, changed, and filled with the glory and splendor of God.  In short, we await the second coming of Christ.

As we await the second coming of Christ,

We celebrate his first coming.

This was something the prophets wrote about and pointed to even as Isaiah did some 700 years before Jesus was born.  Isaiah records one of the most eloquent prophecies of Jesus that is filled with hope.  Read it and think of . . .

The already and not yet aspects

Of how Jesus fulfills (and will fulfill)

This glorious verse of Scripture.

The Bible says in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The prophecy of a child to be born

And a son given was not a reference to just any child.

It was a reference to the most glorious birth

That has ever occurred in human history.

It’s a reference to Emmanuel.

What a magnificent and significant announcement  . . .

God would take upon Himself

Human flesh and enter His very own creation

To bring His promised and our needed redemption!

What a glorious hope!

Isaiah longed for the day and yet that day has come and gone and we live on the other side of this prophecy.

We celebrate the birth that has already occurred!

There is no doubt about our corrupt political system in America.  However, while can see such depraved political strategies here in America, around the world in various other nations the corruption is far worse.  Like Isaiah, we long for the sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords to rule rightly, fairly, and justly.  Every part of Isaiah’s words in this single verse has already been fulfilled except the reference “to the government being upon His shoulder.”

In actuality, this has been partially fulfilled,

But we long for the visible reign of Christ.

Some believe that Jesus will rule in the future and the government will be upon His shoulder in the future, but in actuality, He is ruling now from heaven’s throne.  In supremacy He sits on the throne and He is unchallenged and unflinching at all of the assembled and marching armies of this world.  Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”

As Jesus rules now,

We await His second coming

Where He will rule

In our visible presence.

Because of sin, we have to navigate the broken road of human depravity on a daily basis.  For that reason, we need good counsel.  We seek the counsel of close friends, family members, parents, pastors, and fellow church members.  However . . .

There is none who can provide greater counsel than our Lord.

We come to him in his Word,

We seek him and look into the great wisdom of His teaching,

And we follow Him as we submit to His commands.

Not one time has Jesus given bad counsel

Or provided for us failed promises.

We can trust Him and we should find hope in His words

(Words of life, comfort, hope, and truth).

The central truth of the gospel is that Jesus is more than a gifted rabbi.  When you examine the cults around the world, often they want to attack the deity of Jesus.  They want to relegate Him to the level of a prophet or a good moral teacher, but the Bible teaches that Jesus is so much more that that!  He is God – see John 8:58 and John 17.  In John’s prologue, he is led by God to writes, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

The grand truth we celebrate at Christmas

Is that far greater than angels appearing to shepherds in a field

Is the reality that God had clothed Himself

In human flesh and was lying in a manger.

He came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21),

And that was only possible if Jesus is very God of very God.

As “Everlasting Father” Jesus is not the Father.  Isaiah is not suggesting that the Son is the Father in the sense of confusing the persons of the Trinity (which is a heretical position).  He is using the term “father” in two ways in this statement: (1) Jesus can show compassion as a father shows compassion to his children (Psalm 103:13); and (2) Jesus is the everlasting Creator of the universe and He upholds everything by the word of His power (Colossians 1:15-20).

Finally, Isaiah speaks of Jesus as the “Prince of Peace.”

Only in Jesus can rebel sinners find peace with God (Romans 5:10).

Only in Christ can a world that is filled with sin,

Brokenness, murder, and violence find peace.

It’s only in Christ that God’s children can navigate this

Broken world with peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

While we as believers live in a world of sin and experience the peace of God, we will one day live in a peaceful world.  We long for that day to come.  As we celebrate the first coming of Jesus we anticipate the second coming of Jesus.  As John said, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  Don’t be!  One of the qualifications for being a servant of the Most High God is found, not in your strength, but in your weakness.  God will not have His servants seeking success in advancing His kingdom in their own strength; when we head out into service in our own strength, defeat looms in our future.

The Bible records in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

The apostle Paul was not worried about his weakness, in spite of the “thorn” (some unidentified source of great discomfort) God had given him.  Far from it!  Paul boasted all the more gladly in his weakness, because he knew he would only advance in the life and ministry of his Savior to the extent that he advanced in the power of God.

Kingdom servants must serve in God’s kingdom work

In His strength, not their own,

Or God will not receive the fruit of their labor.

Make no mistake; our all-powerful God does not rely on our feeble efforts to accomplish His purposes in this world.  To be sure, God uses our efforts, but our efforts advance and accomplish only in His strength that He imparts to us.

You see, the apostle Paul knew very well who he was before Jesus showed up: his name was Saul, the vicious persecutor of the early Christian church.  Saul held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and personally dragged Christian believers off to prison (Acts 8:3).

But Jesus stepped into Paul’s life on the road to Damascus, and Saul was forever changed.  Saul was renamed Paul and commissioned by God to pen nearly two-thirds of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Paul went from persecutor to preacher, but

He knew that none of that happened in his own strength.

As a student of Old Testament Scriptures, Paul knew the truth of Zechariah 4:6, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Paul was not worried about his weakness

Because he knew that where he was weak,

God would be strong.

He knew that his weaknesses were simply opportunities

For God to demonstrate His power;

Accomplishing His purposes, through His apostle, in His strength.

So . . . what weakness has you worried?  Perhaps God has called you to do something for Him that doesn’t seem to play to your strengths?  Fear not!

If God is calling you to do it,

He will provide you all the strength

You need to get it done.

God’s strength will make

You sufficient for any task

He has set before you.

Remember, God is not surprised by your weaknesses.

He created you with those weaknesses

So that you will rely on Him and not on yourself.

Weakness has a tendency to keep us on our knees,

And it is only from that position

That we will ever advance in the Christian life.

One final point: weakness is never an excuse for not doing what God has called us to do, regardless of how we feel about it.  In the fourth chapter of Exodus, we read how Moses tried to make an excuse before God when he was called to be the deliverer of the Israelites. God would have none of it, and He sent Moses off to do His work – not in the strength of Moses, but in the strength of the Master.

We need to walk in the faith of Abraham.  Paul lifts him up as a model to us in Romans 4:20-21, saying, “[Abraham] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.”

Whatever God is calling you to do, do it with the confident assurance that the One who called is able to complete the task through you, working through your weakness as a witness to His strength and the power of His promise.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

The Bible says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

That is really what the Christmas season, and everyday life is all about!   I have a word of encouragement for you today that can be found in two simple yet profound words: “so loved.”  Think about this for a moment . . .

Writing his gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

The apostle John could find no better word

Than “so” to describe God’s love for you.

So regardless of where this finds you today,

Remember that you are “so loved” by your God.

These are really the best of all words, because who among us could define just how loved we are by God?

Words cannot describe the kind of love our God has for us in Christ Jesus.

• When we lived in sin and cared not for the things of God . . . we were so loved.
• When we were rebels on the run away from God instead of toward Him . . . we were so loved.
• When God sent His only beloved Son to take our place on a cross so that our sins could be forgiven . . . we were so loved.
• When God turned away from His beloved Son as He cried out from that cruel cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” . . . we were so loved.

Truly there is no human definition that adequately describes what it means to be “so loved” by God.  This should be both an encouragement and a comfort for you today.

Perhaps this finds you in a season of struggle.  Or maybe Satan has been sowing seeds of discouragement in the garden of your mind.  Could it be that you have been doubting the security of your place in God’s family of faith?  Regardless of what may be causing you distress, let me encourage you to think on and never forget the truth that the apostle John penned for you 2000 years ago: you are “so loved” by God – right now, right where this finds you.

I pray that you will live this day

And all the days God gives you

In light of this truth.

Whether the road ahead is filled with rough patches and potholes of painful experiences, or it is straight and smooth because of the tender mercies of God, remember that you are “so loved.”

Now, that’s a truth that will set you free to be all God is calling you to be!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

Sunday, I preached from from Isaiah 9:6-7 in correlation with our choir’s musical entitled, “Wonderful (Most Awesome) Counselor.  As we listened to the powerful message through song and sermon, we were reminded why we celebrate Christmas – it is all about the Good News incarnation of Jesus Christ and the hope we have in the gospel.  In Isaiah chapter 6 through 9 we see massive statements about Jesus Christ that provide reasons to rejoice and be glad in our God!

The prophet Isaiah was writing to Israel regarding the Assyrian conflict.  Assyria had overtaken the northern Kingdom and what Isaiah promised them was victory.

How?

Through a military conquest?

Through a powerful dictator?

No!

Through the birth of a baby.

It was a shocking statement in his day, but even more so when it actually came to pass hundreds of years later. Jesus was born of a virgin and the child given was the Savior of the world.

In Isaiah 9:7, Isaiah tells of the child who is the Son of God, the One who will rule the nations, the One who is the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

The resume of this promised child is beyond comprehension,

But not one of these descriptions transcends

Higher than the claim of deity.

This is the heart of the gospel and

The true reason for joy at Christmas.

In Isaiah 6, the prophet was encouraging his people in a time when the king had died. The people were scrambling around and looking for leadership when the throne was empty.

It was then that God provided the vision

Of the enthroned King of kings

Who was worshiped by angels.

Positioned high and

Lifted up on a sovereign throne.

Just one chapter later after reading of that majestic scene we hear the promise of a virgin conception and the announcement that the child’s name would  be called “Immanuel.”   When the prophet is led to pens the words in Isaiah 9:6, and claims that this child will be almighty God – there is no doubt that this is a reference to the deity of the Messiah – Christ the Lord. The child promised is none other than the Lord of hosts of Isaiah 6.

God with His people is the message of joy and the hope of the gospel!

When the Jehovah’s Witnesses try to suggest that Jesus is Michael the Archangel – it becomes clear that they are attacking the heart of the gospel.  Not only does Hebrews 1:6-14 quote Psalm 102:25-27 which reveals the truth that Jesus is Jehovah – but all through the Bible we see references to the deity of Jesus such as:

• Isaiah 9:6 – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

• John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

• John 8:58-59 “Jesus said to them, ‘Verily, verily, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’  So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”
• John 18:6 – “When Jesus said to them, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.”
• John 20:28 – “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”
• Romans 9:5 – “To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”
• Philippians 2:5-6 – Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”
• Colossians 1:16 – For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him.”
• 2 Peter 1:1 – “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
• Titus 2:13 – “Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

This is why the Nicene Creed uses the language of “Very God of Very God” and it’s why the hymn penned by Charles Wesley en titled, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing!” declares:

Hail, th’ incarnate Deity:
Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!

Without a sovereign Savior – Christmas has no real reason to celebrate or to have hope.  Remember as you celebrate this Christmas – Jesus is God … Christ is all about Him!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”