Who Is Listening?

We are constantly bombarded by people talking at us with an “urgent” message for us, because we live in a noisy world, full of people wanting to tell us something, sell us something, or decide something for us. People want our attention, and if we let them, they will talk at us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Hardly anyone ever listens to us. We can feel like our cares, our concerns, or our feelings don’t seem to matter much to anyone. We may feel like yelling to no one in particular, “Will someone please listen to me?!!?”

The wonderful thing is someone wants to listen, and is patiently waiting for you to share what is going on in your life. You can talk with God, knowing you can share your heart completely. Whatever is troubling you, whatever is giving you joy, whatever is going on in your life, God wants to hear about it. God will never turn you off or tune you out. God is at His listening post whenever you are ready to share things with Him. As Psalm 121 tells us, God is watching over you all the time and He “will neither slumber nor sleep” (vs. 4).

Prayer is our opportunity to talk with God and know that He is listening. Certainly we are to listen to what God tells us, too, but we should not be hesitant to pour out our lives to Him in prayer because He wants to hear from us all the time—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In your prayer time, thank God for listening to you and for watching over you, 24/7. And, then spend some quality time just listening to God, too.

Psalm 66:19-20 “God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!”             

Some Things Never Change

Maybe you are reading through the Bible this year, like many people begin to do in January, starting with the Book of Genesis. If you are doing this, you have already noticed that, after a great opening (the majesty of Creation), the story goes downhill, and gets more and more depressing. People sin—a lot—so much so that God eventually floods the whole earth when He can find only one righteous man, Noah,  on the planet—and even Noah doesn’t look so righteous later in the story. The families in Genesis can be considered bad examples at times. The first child ever born kills his brother, a younger brother cheats his older brother out of his inheritance, a father threatens to kill his son, and a group of brothers sell their younger brother as a slave and also murder a whole community after their sister is raped. There’s more, but it begins to make watching TV look uplifting.

What are we to make of all this? Where is God in this mess? God creates people, but they turn out badly, for the most part. We begin to wonder why God didn’t do a better job.

Two things can help us understand what Genesis is telling us. One is that, even though we now drive cars instead of riding camels, and we live in nice houses instead of tents, humans have not changed since the beginning. We are just as sinful as we’ve always been, and model families are still hard to find – and usually the exception. We can take some comfort in knowing that what we see in the headlines is nothing new, and things will not change unless we each change ourselves. With God’s help we could be so much better—we could be what He created us to be—if we would lay aside our pride and self-centeredness and focus on Him.

The second thing to understand is that, in spite of all the death and despair, the people who turn to God find Him, and He helps them. That doesn’t mean their lives and their families suddenly became wonderful. Ultimately, however, being on God’s side is better than the alternative (Sodom and Gomorrah are a great example of that).

What we discover about God is He never changes. God takes our sins and uses them for something good—in the end. Joseph even said to his brothers who sold him into slavery: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives”—Genesis 50:20.

Yes, it’s an awful world out there at times, but know for sure that God is in control. God is constantly using all things for good. He is ready to work in our lives in ways only He can to change us for the better, and to bless and encourage us.

In your prayer time, ask God to help you see how He is constantly at work in this world, even when current situations may not seem like it. Ask God to help you love and trust Him, so you can let go of your pride and self-centeredness, and live a life that glorifies Him.

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.”

 

Asking for Forgiveness?

We were listening to a preacher on the radio talk about how we didn’t need to ask God to forgive us for our sins all the time. The preacher said that when we do this, we are telling God that Jesus’s death on the cross really didn’t take away our sins, unless we also continually ask for forgiveness every time we sin. The preacher said we then fall into the trap of thinking that it is what we do in our own power (repeatedly asking for forgiveness) that gets us into heaven, not Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.

This preacher is making the same mistake many others make in their assumptions about God. While the preacher is correct in stating that all our sins were forgiven once and for all by the sacrifice Jesus made for us, he is missing the reason we need to ask for forgiveness. The preacher is forgetting what it means to be in a personal relationship with God.

In our human relationships we should ask for forgiveness when we disappoint, do something wrong, or don’t do something we should have done for or with another person. We do this because we want to show them love, respect, and honor. We want people to know we care about their feelings, as we hope they care about ours. We want to establish honesty and integrity in our relationships.

Naturally, this principle carries over into our relationship with Jesus. We don’t ask Jesus to forgive us over and over again so we can get to heaven; we ask Jesus to forgive us because we love, respect, and honor Him. We value the relationship we have with Jesus. Yes, we know we are forgiven, but if we are truly in a relationship with Jesus, we should want to talk with Him about what we did or didn’t do every day. We should want to share our hearts with Jesus, just as we want Jesus to share His heart with us. We need to remember that sin breaks the relationship, and we ask for forgiveness to repair that relationship with Jesus, not to guarantee our salvation.

During your prayer time, thank Jesus for the personal relationship you have with Him. Ask Jesus to forgive you for doing those things that break your relationship with Him. Pray about the things that Jesus lays on your heart with honesty and love.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

“Redeemed” is a “Christmas” Word!

“Redeemed” does not sound like a “Christmas” word. It seems like it belongs instead with Easter, but the more we look at the Christmas story, the more we see that the celebrating on that first Christmas revolved around redemption. Remember what Mary said when she found out she was going to be the mother of Jesus? “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). Remember what the angels said to the shepherds? “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). They celebrated the birth of a Savior, a Redeemer, the One whom God promised would bring about the salvation of Israel. Now they may not have understood right then exactly how Jesus would be their Savior, but they did understand that God was going to work in the world in a special way. The baby in the manger was a symbol of redemption for them—and today for us, as Jesus came to redeem us from the prison of sin. In a way, the hymn “Redeemed How I Love to Proclaim It” is as much a Christmas carol as “Silent Night.”

In your prayer time, thank God for providing salvation not only for us, but also for this whole world through Jesus. Thank Him for redeeming you, and ask Him to help you proclaim that redemption to a world that desperately needs to hear it.

I think of my blessed Redeemer, I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song.
Redeemed, redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed, His child, and forever, I am.
- Fanny Crosby

Am I Living for Jesus . . . Every Day?

The marvel of Christmas is that the Creator of the mountains took His first breath as a baby. The One who framed the universe assumed human flesh so He could save us – every one of us.

When Jesus took His first breath on earth, a loving promise of God was fulfilled. The Christ child whom the angels announced and the shepherds proclaimed had come to die – for us.

The baby in the manger was the image of the invisible God. And in Him we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. This tiny baby in the manger is the mighty Creator of the universe . . . and our eternity.

Jesus sacrificed His entire life for us. Jesus was born for us, Jesus lived for us, Jesus died for us, Jesus rose again for us, and Jesus went to prepare a place for us so we can live with Him forever. We know we are to live our lives for others as Jesus did, so the question we each need to ask ourselves is, “Am I living for Jesus every day?”

“All things were created by Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16

Make the Connection

Luke 2:1-7 “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

The most important event in human history took place in a little town called Bethlehem—in the only place that had room–a stable. And it didn’t happen with lots of onlookers, nor was it considered particularly newsworthy. There were only a few shepherds and a handful of livestock that were even there. Sometimes we wonder why it all happened so quietly, and without fanfare.

Maybe that is because it is just God’s way. God tends to be quiet about His work on earth. God doesn’t do a lot of “front-page” things; God usually sits back and waits for us to see what He has been up to—through us, the believers. God wants us to make the connection. God wants us to share the good news. God wants us to be His hands and feet so we can help this world see Him.

At this time of year we can decide to see more than just the glitter of the season. We can take the lights, gifts, parties, decorations, Christmas movies, and all the secular things, and see them as celebrations of the birth of Christ.

When you go by a lighted Christmas tree, have every light represent a saved soul, or one that needs to be saved. When you watch It’s a Wonderful Life, for the umpteenth time, be reminded of the wonderful blessings God has given you and your family. For every Christmas party you attend, think about the fantastic party in heaven awaiting everyone of us who believe in Him. When you see all the secular things trappings of the season, be reminded that our work here is not done—there is always another soul God is asking for us to reach.

Relate life to God. Look for Him around every corner, because God is there—if we only make the connection.

Be Thankful, Regardless of the Circumstances

The Bible has over 130 verses calling on us to give thanks to God. One hymn of thanks we often sing at Thanksgiving, but could sing more often, is called “Now Thank We All Our God” (Nun Danket alle Gott). The words were written about 1636 by a German Lutheran pastor named Martin Rinkart (1586–1649).

During the time when Rinkart wrote that hymn, the Thirty Years’ War was raging throughout Europe, and Rinkart’s walled town of Eilenberg was a haven for hundreds of refugees, many of whom stayed in his home. However, so many people crowded into the small town that food ran out, and disease became rampant. More than 6,000 people, including Rinkart’s wife and children, died in the city of pestilence.

Eventually Rinkart was the only pastor left, and he performed as many as 50 funerals daily. Yet in the midst of that catastrophic social and personal loss, Rinkart penned a hymn of praise that starts this way:

Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers’ arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

Had the good pastor taken leave of his senses to write that hymn in the midst of such incredible suffering? No. He had simply come to believe that God’s providence is always good, no matter what circumstances may come our way, and we can be thankful even in the worst times of our lives.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

The Person Across The Table

We all know people who always seem to say or do the wrong things to us, or think the worst of us without taking the time to really know us. No matter how hard we try, we never seem to please these people or do anything they would consider worthwhile. These people are flawed in such a way that they do not see their own flaws, only ours.

Maybe you have an in-law that just doesn’t think you are good enough for their son or daughter. Or maybe you have a parent that just doesn’t “see” you or recognize your accomplishments. Or maybe it is sibling who can’t see that you are no longer that 15-year-old who made bad decisions. Or maybe it is your boss who doesn’t see your talents, only your failures. These are not the people you want to spend quality time with, because it is depressing and hurtful, but with the holidays just around the corner, you may find yourself sitting across the table from them very soon.

How can we constructively deal with these people? This isn’t an easy question to answer, because everyone’s situation is different and filled with personal pain from past encounters. One thing we can do is to not expect the person to act differently. We shouldn’t set ourselves up to be discouraged again. We should expect them to say the wrong thing and try to see it with some humor (at least they didn’t disappoint us and not say something), and immediately turn it over to God, forgiving them for their words or actions. We can ask God to shelter our hearts, and then focus on God’s truth that we are a person of great worth to Him, and that we are deeply loved and cared for by Him, too. Remember that we don’t need this person’s approval or blessing to be loved by God.

We need to pray for this person who causes us pain. Because of their flaw that hurts us, we have great insights in how to pray for them. Ask for God to bless them, and for His Holy Spirit to work in their hearts—and ours—for good.

The most important thing to remember is that we all can easily be, and probably are, that flawed person to someone else, but with God’s help we can be kind, gracious, and forgiving. We need to pray that our words and actions will be pleasing to the Lord during this holiday season, and throughout the year.

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Be Filled with Gratitude

We all lead busy lives, and sometimes we forget to express our thanksgiving to God for the good things we benefit from every day. While it is great when we thank God at mealtime, we also need to thank Him at other times throughout our day, every day.

In Ephesians 5:20, the apostle Paul encourages us to give thanks to God the Father for everything. Colossians 3:17 supports this with, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Giving thanks in our lives should be a priority–not something we do as an afterthought. When we show gratitude to God for the little and big things He gives us, we are building our relationship with Him. Showing gratitude also helps us to remain humble before God and others when we realize how much we need His blessings and grace in our lives.

During your prayer time thank God the blessings you have received and are grateful for, and then ask God to help you be a humble blessing to Him and the others He has placed in your life. Let us all focus on developing a heart of gratitude with thanksgiving this November.

Psalm 100:4-5 Enter 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.

A Blessings Tree

Make a brown paper tree (cut out the shape of a bare tree from a large paper sack). Then cut out a pile of leaves from construction paper in red, yellow, brown, and orange. During the month of November, write on one leaf each day something your family is grateful for, and then tape the leaf onto the tree – the Thanksgiving Blessings Tree, a celebration of your blessings.

The leaves on your Thanksgiving tree can become gifts under your Christmas tree as you teach your children that they are blessed, so that they might bless others.

In December, celebrate the gift of Jesus by blessing others in the same ways that your family has been blessed. Take a leaf down each day, while again thanking the Lord for one of your blessings. Then find a way to pass the blessing on to someone else. For example, if the leaf says “We are grateful for our warm beds,” give help to someone in need of a blanket, a coat, or mittens. Some of these may require a little creativity, but trust the Lord to be faithful to provide you with ways to share with others the abundant life He has shared with you and your family.

This activity can teach your children to let God’s love flow through them . . . to instill in them a spirit of generosity that comes from a heart of genuine, humble gratitude, and to form in their minds a different definition of what a blessing truly is. Hopefully, the things that are on all of your Thanksgiving trees will show up on the trees of others next year.

Each one of us has so much to be thankful for, and we shouldn’t keep these blessings to ourselves—just like we are to share the Gospel story with others, we need to share our blessings, too! It’s never too late to start a blessings tradition in our families!

Take time to pray with your children as your start your Thanksgiving Blessings Tree. Help them to understand God’s blessings in their lives this coming month, as Thanksgiving approaches. Your family can sing this chorus from “Count Your Blessings,” too . . .

“Count your blessings, name them one by one: Count your blessings, See what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.”