The Author Steps Into His Story

There are many many things that we don't understand about God, about our existence here, or about the creation that we live in. These are things that our limited human minds simply can't fathom.

But here is the greatest of these:  God ... the author, painter, playwright, architect, sculptor ... stepped into his creation over 2000 years ago. He became a character in His own play.

And He didn't come in a way that this world would think he would. See, we think that power and money and pomp and circumstance are what make a king. But God has very different ideas on this.

Our King came in absolute humility, abject poverty ... to the least of these.  He was announced to the world through shepherds, who were considered the dregs of society, whose word was not even admissible in court, who were filthy, who weren't the best of people by a wide margin according to our earthly standards.

He came to us as he wants us to be ... humble, meek, a servant to all.

Yes, a King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who came to serve us, not condemn us. He came to die for us, providing the ultimate sacrifice to show what is most important:  Love.

As you open your gifts from your loved ones this evening and tomorrow morning, remember where this all began and why we have this tradition of giving. He gave ALL so that we may live.  And He did it in absolute humility, as a servant-leader.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that we should not only not perish but have everlasting life.

Glory to the newborn King. Merry Christmas all. I love you very much.

God HAS not and DOES not change

God is God.  At the beginning of time, at the end of time, and right now, He is who He is. He can be, has been, and will be jealous, angry, and wrathful. But none of that is unjustified or out of spite.  I imagine His preference is to simply love His obedient children. What changes is us, not Him.

I've heard from some fellow Christians that they believe that, with the New Covenant - with Jesus - God is now nothing more than a soft and squishy God. They seem to believe that the God of the Old Testament is no more, and some new happy, never-angry God has taken His place.  But this is simply not so.

If we as a people, as individuals, turn against God, put other gods before him, reject him... He is jealous. He is angry, with white hot fury and wrath.

Here's the difference:  with faith in Jesus, our Savior becomes our "mediator" between the holy God pictured in the Old Testament and the sinful people God loves.

The God of the Old and New Testament is one and the same: unchanging, fully loving AND fully just.  He must be.  We are simply shielded from the wrath and jealousy that stems from OUR SIN against Him. 

THAT is amazing grace. That is unfailing love.

God, I thank you ...

God I thank you for a list of things too long to mention in one sitting. The list would fill reams of paper, if I really sat and thought about it. 

I thank you for allowing me to wake up this morning and spend another day in your incredible creation.

I thank you for the breath in my lungs. I thank you for a beating heart, eyes that see, ears that hear, fingers that touch, a tongue that tastes.  I thank you for legs that carry me, and arms that can show love through a hug, or a hand up, or an act of service.

I thank you for the beauty of the sky, of clouds, trees, flowers, of fields of wheat, of the reflective nature of a still lake.

I thank you for the inner and outer beauty of my wife, of my kids, of my parents, of my sister, of my cousins, aunts and uncles, of my close friends, of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I thank you for the opportunity to live a life that praises you, that worships you, that shows your love and your light to this world.

I thank you for waking me up, God, and showing me the light. I thank you that, despite my sin and the fact that I continue to sin, that you loved me so much that you sent your only begotten Son to die for me ... and if I were the only person on earth, in your glorious creation, he still would have died for me. Just me.

God, I pray that I live a life of thanks, of appreciation for the avalanche of blessings that you have showered upon me and my family.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

Love EVERYONE

Yes, everyone.

That means we are to love the guy that cut us off in traffic, the girl or girl that broke our heart, the guy that picked on us throughout high school, the girl that spread rumors about us, the highly political person on Facebook that makes your blood boil with how they think, the person who said those things that were so deeply hurtful ... even the guy that killed our daughter in that drunk driving accident, and got away with it.

Everyone. That's who we're called to love.

That means serving them. That means saying something kind when that's the last thing you'd like to do. That means helping them when they're down. That means never speaking ill about them.

Hard to do?  Absolutely.  But imagine how hard it was for Jesus to go to that cross and suffer and die for us for something he never did. For something we did to his Father.

If He can love that way, so can I.

God is Loving AND Just

Some who say they believe in God tend to believe in a god they want rather than the actual God.  Many want a God who is LOVE,  which is true and is good. But they don't want a God who is JUST, as well. 

But God is equally infinite in all of His characteristics. He is not more loving than just. He is infinitely loving and he is equally just.