"Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." ~ Luke 2:10-11

At the time when Jesus was born, life for shepherds was hard. Their days and nights were spent in the dreary routine of taking care of sheep. Society looked down on the them as lowlifes and scoundrels. They had little reason to be joyful.

But shepherds were the ones to whom the angel brought the good news that would cause great joy: A Savior had been born! It was God's way of saying that he identifies with the down and out, the outcasts of society, the undesirables. And on that night, whatever darkness they were facing was transformed into the most beautiful light they'd ever seen, as the angels of heaven joined in singing, "Glory to God in the highest...." For those shepherds out in the fields of Bethlehem, life would never be the same.

Perhaps on this Christmas Day you are finding difficult to feel joy. Perhaps there is an empty chair at your table. Perhaps you're thinking about a family member who has turned away from the Lord or is no longer a part of your life. Perhaps you have been diagnosed with a terrible illness. Whatever the reason, you don't feel like celebrating.

If so, the Christmas message is for you. There is good news with great joy also for you. Why? Because the Savior came to make things right. He came to heal the brokenhearted, to bring light into your darkness.

Father in heaven, help us to catch a glimpse of the light the Savior came to bring. We ask this in his name. Amen.

Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
the earth melts when he lifts his voice.
7 The Lord of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 

8 Come, see the works of the Lord,
who brings devastation on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease throughout the earth.
He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;
he sets wagons ablaze.

Psalm 46:6-9 (CSB)

Are you satisfied?  I mean with the elections.  Now this is not to be a political statement but rather meant to be a challenge to our Christian faith.  But again, are we satisfied with the elections?  You may or may not be depending upon your political persuasion.  There were many believers who didn’t like the way the democrats have been governing.  On the other side many of us were unhappy with the republicans’ side from a moral and decency concern.  I don’t know if you were happy with the results.  If you sighed a relief, or if you are scratching your head, or in despair.  Politics can be an ugly affair.  Perhaps that is why it is reported 40 million believers have been sitting out on most of the elections recently.

But we need to be reminded that politics, parties and politicians will come and go and that we are aliens and strangers in this place.  Our citizenship is first, in His Kingdom.  So, our concerns should be on His Kingdom agenda.  Now before we might think, “ok so we can forget about our earthly citizenship.”  We need to perhaps think again about how our Kingdom might invade our citizenship.  I was challenged personally by a guy who lived long ago named Samuel Adams.  You may have heard of him.  In 1797 then Governor of Massachusetts, Samuel Adams said this: “And it is our duty, promoting and speedily bringing in that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the scepter of Him who is Prince of Peace.”

As a follower of Christ, we need to be reminded that we must be salt and light with the goal of bringing people to a savior who loves them and really does have the solutions to all the World’s problems.  Our prayer should be that we will be more passionate about reaching others with the gospel than getting people on board with our political candidates.

Gratitude can be hard sometimes. Life can be unfair, hard and cruel. People we love die. Friends get sick. We get news we aren’t ready for, an unexpected diagnosis, or any number of other things that can threaten to overwhelm us at any moment. 

If we look in scripture, we can see that we are not alone in this predicament. Adam found himself banished from the garden. Noah lost everyone but his closest family. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his promised son. Moses fled from everything he knew after he thought he was sticking up for his people and then was blamed by those same people years later for everything that went wrong in the desert. Esther feared the death of all her people and Job lost all he had. 

In the middle of the darkness, they didn’t always know the blessing or promise that was going to come at the end of their trial. Joseph had a dream to hold onto, Abraham had a covenant and Noah had a promise but so many others had to trust the Lord in their circumstances. The trials were always needed to obtain the blessing. The testing brought strength of character and perseverance that grew their faith. Gratitude was the result of a steadfast spirit and witnessing the Lord’s faithfulness. They say hindsight is 20/20. So, I hope this encourages you in the times you are in a dark place. The Lord is faithful.  So many of the things we feel are being used for evil are actually being used for our good and God’s glory but we have to be on the other side of them in order to have the eyes to see.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I’ve been a bit shaky on my feet lately - too much pain medication I think. As tricky as it’s become for me to navigate myself through a room, as worrying as it is for Pixie to see me so unstable, and whatever the outcome of this health circumstance will finally be, I’d rather have this shakiness twice as bad and for the rest of my life than to not have been given the infatigable assuredness of the eternally abiding truth of the gospel message. Listen to the stability, the permanence, of God’s message of His determined salvation of His people ~    

Gal 1:8 & 11

      But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed . . . For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

   We’re not standing on our own deservedness, we’re not standing on our association with any church, we’re not even standing on our faith - We are standing on the authority of Scripture, the validity of the message, the truth of God’s own revelation of His determined salvation. 

   The Reformation, after generations of a clouded ‘gospel’ and false teaching, owned a vivid and accurate understanding of the gospel, because the reformation was Scripture inspired and informed. The Bible is the revelation of eternal truth, God’s truth. In a certain manner the history of the church is a history of man trying to improve the gospel ~

   “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

   “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” . . . “it”, the Bible’s revelation of the gospel that saves us, is the power of God for salvation - not our cleverness, not our constructs, not even our sincerity. Just now, my own two legs can’t always carry me through a room safely, when I stand and start to walk these days I am not always confident I’ll make it to through the room - what a treasure, what joy, what peace to know that, forget the room ahead me, I am making my way to heaven, to paradise, to eternity with an unshakable confidence that I will, most assuredly, reach my destination safely and just exactly on time . . . because “I am making my way” in His arms. Jesus is going to be in heaven, at His Father’s side - and He’s taking me with Him.  

“I AM”    “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’” Exodus 3:14

"Jack, a professor of philosophy and literature, had a brilliant mind.  He declared himself an atheist at the age of fifteen and in adulthood adamantly defended his ‘atheistic faith.’ Christian friends tried to persuade him. As Jack put it, “Everyone and everything had joined the other side” But the Bible, he had to admit, was different from other literature and myths. About the Gospels he wrote: “If ever a myth had become fact, had been incarnated, it would be just like this.”

 

One Bible passage became most influential to Jack – Exodus 3.  God was calling Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” (v.11) God responded, “I AM WHO I AM” (v.14) This passage is a complex play on words and names but reflects God’s eternal presence from the beginning. Interestingly, later Jesus echoed the same when he said, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58)

 

Jack, better known as C.S. Lewis, was deeply persuaded by this passage. This was all that the one true God should need to say—simply that He is the “I AM”. In a life-changing moment, Lewis “gave in” and admitted God was God.” This was the beginning of a journey for Lewis toward accepting Jesus.

 

Perhaps we struggle with belief, as Lewis did, or maybe with a lukewarm faith. We might ask ourselves if God is truly the "I AM” in our lives. (Kenneth Petersen)

 

What does it mean to you to hear God say, “I AM”? How might it influence your days ahead?

 

Dear God, I come to You in awe of who You are. You are the "I AM" in my life, and there is no other. "

 

 

 

This article is from “Our Daily Bread” March 18, 2024 is recopied here with permission.