Big God…little me

1 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. 2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. 3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— 4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?

Psalm 8:1-4

David must have been up late one night, starting at the moon and the stars. As he did, he was amazed by how big God’s creation was. David probably knew nothing of light years and how far those stars were really from the earth or that each of those stars have planets and moons revolving around them. He did not have the Hubble Space Telescope or even a regular telescope to help him get a closer look. He just got that the universe was really big place and that God sustains every square inch of it. He knew that God is a really big God. Which got him thinking, why did this really big, powerful, majestic God, care and bless little ole him?

Now, you might respond to David and remind him that he was kind of a big deal himself. After all, he was the second King of Israel. He was great King, who greatly expanded Israel. He wrote most of the Psalms. He literally killed a giant! David was a big deal, but the truth is God loves you and cares for you just as much as He did David. Jesus said that He knows how many hairs each of us has on our heads. The Bible tells us that Jesus has a special name for each of us, that only He knows. Think about that, Jesus Christ has a special name for you. He loves and cares individually for you. He promised to never leave you nor forsake you. He sits at the Right Hand of The Father and intercedes for you. He hears you when you pray, no matter where you are or what time you are praying. He loved you so much, that He not only was willing to die for you, He did die for you. He died in your place, taking the punishments for your sin and mine.

David really did ask a great question, “Who am I Lord, that you would do all of this for me?” As much as people today want to deny it, humans really are God’s special creation. We are not an animal. We are not like an animal. We were created in the image of God. What animal can say that!? We are very special to our big God. He desires for us to be with Him. He first loved us and so wants us to love Him back in return. Jesus went to great lengths to save us. He became one of us, so that He might be able to save us. He did not forsake us at creation and thanks be to God, he does not forsake us at salvation. He is still with us, sanctifying us, that we might be Holy like Him. Not that we are able to do that ourselves, instead we grow more like Him through His power and enabling. He is with you every step of the way.

Our great and big God, loves little ole you and little ole me. How wonderful! How amazing! How great is He! As David said, how majestic is His name in all of the Earth!

Hope in the Baby Laying in the Manger

and the baby as He lay in the manger.

Luke 2:16b

Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the day that Jesus was born. The day God’s long promised Messiah came into the world, born as fully man and fully God. He was born to bring peace between humans and God. Our sin has separated us from God. It created a chasm so wide, we had no hope to get across it, so that we might get back to God. When we had no hope, He gave us hope. For this reason, God sent His Son into the world, so that we might have hope of getting to God.

This world has no hope outside of this child. He alone, can give us hope. He alone would live a life worthy of dying for all. If we want to live with God in eternity one day, our hope can be in no one else. No other religious figure can do anything to help you. Only Jesus is able to. Hope in Him. As He lied in the manger that night, he got some special visitors.

What a moment it was. The parents were tired and exhausted. They had traveled over 90 miles to a strange place, which had no room for them. No there were in a barn and their new baby lying in a manger. Hoping to settle down for the night, all of sudden some shepherds appeared, asking about their baby. The shepherds mention hearing an Angelic message, proclaiming their child’s birth. They left their sheep to come find their child. They came seeking hope, in the form of a baby. This baby, the One who had been sent from God to save humanity.

Merry Christmas! Hope in the Baby. Hope in the Christ child!

Hope in the God Who Can Do the Impossible!

14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

In order for humans to reproduce, you need both parts from a man and also for woman. One partner cannot have a baby all by themselves, it is impossible. So how can a virgin be with child? How can woman, who has not been with a man, be pregnant? It is more than just not being with a man. We have technology today that woman can get pregnant without being intimate with a man. No, what was prophesied for Mary was much different. While a woman can go to a doctor’s office and get pregnant by using a donation of a man, she is still using a part of a man. Mary did not have that. The Spirit of God came upon her and she got pregnant by God. No part of a man played a role. It was all of God! Mary got pregnant by God Himself. He can do the impossible!

The good news is that our God is the God who can do the impossible. Nothing is too difficult for Him (Jeremiah 33:27). All things are possible for God (Mark 10:27). That is our God, in whom we can hope. Our hope is that nothing is too difficult for God. Our hope is that all things are possible for God. Our hope is in Him!

So what are you facing that seems impossible? What are you up against, that seems dire? Remember, nothing is too hard for God. Place your hope and trust in Him. He is a God, who can do anything. Does your situation seems hopeless? It is not too hard for Him. All things are possible for Him. Keep hoping in Him and never let go of that hope. May it be a shield that guards you. Embrace that hope and let it protect you from the attacks of the evil one.

Nothing is impossible for God. He is the God who can possible the impossible. For that reason hope in Him to see you through!

Finding Hope in the Signs of God

12 “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:12

2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.

Matthew 2:2

God is not one to which hides His handy work. Just this week, if you did not a cloudy night like me, you were treated to see the rare Christmas star. The planets Jupiter and Saturn aligned and shined brightly in the sky. The bright light shined unto the earth. How great the sign which God gave the wise men. The angels lit up the dark night and told the shepherds where they could find the new born King. He was wrapped in swaddling in cloths, laying in a feeding trough. They could not miss Him! When He is at work, He wants people to know it. Take a walk in nature and you can see His beautiful creation screaming out the wonder of its creator!

Throughout the Old Testament, God gave clues about the coming birth of His Son. He told Daniel when it would happen. He told Micah that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. He told Isaiah that a virgin would be His mom. He laid out the signs clearly for anyone to find. The wise men, who were Gentiles were able to follow the signs from hundreds of miles away.

The hope of the signs is that God wants Jesus to be found. He is not hiding what He is doing. He wants to be found. Our hope is that God is willing and wanting of us to be able to find Him. He has left signs for us to be able to easily follow. Be like the wise men and follow the signs to the Baby. Follow the signs to find the Messiah. Follow the signs to find hope in a great Savior. Follow the signs to Jesus and your life will never be the same!

Rejoice in Hope

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11

What is the natural response to having this great hope that we have? It is to be full of joy. To be joyful is not the same as being happy. Being happy is an emotion which depends on our circumstances. It is a short term thing. Joy is an attitude, which does not depend on our circumstances. It is a long term thing. Our response to this hope given to us by God is joy. Joy to the World the Lord, who is our hope has come!

We have joy because of His great love for us. One of the most famous verses is John 3:16. It starts “For God so loved the world, that He gave…”. Think about that warm feeling you have, when you know you are loved. How much greater the feeling when you know God loved you so much that He sent His Son. When you know you are saved from your sins, because God so loved you. You know that God is coming back, because He promised to come back and bring you to live with Him one day. Oh what a hope and how great a joy we have because of it!

Most Christmas seasons’s (even the ones without Covid) can be filled with most joyless times. Christmas is a time not for joy for a lot of people, only heartache. Maybe they have lost a loved one, in years past. Maybe a relationship ended or they feel all alone. They have the most anti joy attitude one can imagine, because they do not have hope. If you have the one true hope, then you will have true joy. Nothing in this world matters as much as that hope. It is greater than all of the bad memories and experiences we have had.

Rejoice for the great hope we have in God. Rejoice for the Baby of hope, which was born on that first Christmas! Rejoice for the love that God has for you! Rejoice and hope in God!

Hope Found From a Scandalous Couple

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:18

Everywhere they went in the small town, very judgmental eyes were on them. Fingers pointed them out to others. That was them. They were the couple who was pregnant and they were not even married. In current times, this is not really an issue, but in Mary and Joseph’s day, this was a scandal. When Mary was found to pregnant, Joseph who knew he was not the father, had a choice. He could publicly condemn Mary and that would to her being stoned to death. Another option was to quietly end there engagement. The last option was the hardest, it was to stay with Mary and be there for her. This option also meant that people would judge him to be the father and would heap nasty judgement down upon them. After a dream, where an Angel proclaimed the truth to Joseph, he chose the third option. Nobody in town believed either’s story about a message from an angel. This young couple was a scandalous one, one in which everyone looked down upon. But the Child inside of Mary, was going to bring hope into the world. This hope would be for all people, including those who judged this couple so hard.

Can you imagine walking all around a very small town, where everyone knew you and knew what was going (or thought they knew what was going on) on in your life. This is what this young couple was going through. They needed the help of others, but they were only rebuffed. Their parents probably disowned them, for bring shame on them. Their friends, now rejected them and did not want to be seen with them. A plan they had for their married lives, got off of the rails early on. Even though they were going through all these hard times and heart ache, the truth was they were right in the middle of God’s will in their lives.

Hard times does not necessary mean that God is judging you. God was using this couple to bring home to this dark world. Mary, was carrying the Son of God. The Holy Spirit had come upon her and made her pregnant. She had done nothing wrong and yet people did looked down upon her. Joseph was not the father, he had done nothing wrong and yet people judged him harshly. This young couple was chosen to raise God in human form. They were special in the eyes of God, yet faced only condemnation from those around them. How hard this time must have been for them, yet they did not waiver. Makes you think about all of the times you might have prejudged somebody, right? They endured life’s hardships and they brought Jesus into the world, so they along with others might have hope.

Life was hard for this young couple on that first Christmas. Life might be hard for you right now, but there is hope. When Jesus was born, hope was born. He brought this hope with Him from Heaven and wants to share it with you now. This child from, the scandalous couple, would live a perfect life. A life that had no sin. He would die a sacrificial death, in our place. A death that offers us forgiveness for all of our sins. He would live again three days later, defeating the sting of death. Now if we believe and place our faith in this child, our sins will be forgiven and we will be saved the punishment of our sins. If you have accepted Jesus, you have hope in something much better than this world can offer. Stand firm in that hope!

Hoping in a Hero

21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:21

The plot to most superhero stories is similar. The main characters, who are close friends with the hero, find themselves in grave danger from the bad guys. Just when it looks like they have no hope, the hero swoops in and saves the day by defeating the bad guy. Have you ever had a time where things were so bad, you were hoping a hero would swoop in and rescue you from it? I know have had those times.

Truth be told on a macro level, we have lived that. Sin and the consequences for our sins, are the bad guy. They had humanity trapped with no hope of getting away on our own. We were stuck in deep pit, with no hope of climbing out and water is starting to leak into it. We are running out of time to get out. Just then, our hero appeared. He did not swoop in with his cape, instead He was born as a little baby in a barn. No outsider would a seen a great superhero when they looked at that crying baby, but He was the greatest superhero of all times. He was sent on a rescue mission by His Father, to give us a way to get out of that pit and away from the bad guys. This baby would grow up and rescue many people during His life. He would rescue His friend, who did not fully trust Him and started to drowned. He was rescue people from life long health ailments and free them. Ultimately His greatest rescue costed Him, His life. A life which He willingly laid down for us, that we might be free, if we choose to accept His help, from the pit and have hope.

We have hope because Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth to rescue us. We have hope because He loved us enough to lay down His life as a sacrifice, to pay a debt we had no hope of paying on our own. He has defeated sin and death. And we have hope that one day our hero will return and defeat Satan our enemy. However, this hope is only for those who have chosen to accept His help. He is offering a life line to rescue us, but He will not force you to take it.

The sad part of the story is, people choose to not accept this hope. They want to find a way to get defeat sin on their own. If they only work harder, the will beat it. They do not want help, they want to do things their own way. Pride makes us blind to our own stupidity. You cannot beat sin on your own. Accept the help from Jesus and ask Him to save you while there is still time. Jesus is the only way to be rescued, let Him rescue you. The Bible tells us that if we believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and that if we confess with our mouths we will be saved. Believe in Jesus as being the only Son of God and trust in Him to be the only way to save you. If you do, you will find true hope and a true hero. A hero named Jesus!

Live in Hope

10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.

1 Corinthians 9:10

No matter what you do in life, you should do it full of hope. Life is too short for us to live our lives in despair and without hope. Even if when the times are tough, we should live in hope. Even when the times are hard, we should never lose focus of the hope given to us by God. For we have hope that one day the hard things will be forever be gone and only the best of times will remain.

As we live we should be filled with optimism and joy because of the hope that we have. Sadly, a lot of Christians go through life sulking and complaining. A hopeful life draws others to us, while a sulking attitude pushes others away. When we are full of hope, people want to know why we are like that, for that kind of attitude is not natural among people. People like to be around positive and happy people. They do not like to be around negative, sulking people. When people see us happy and hopeful, they realize that they want to be the same way and will ask us what our secret is.

Our lives should be lived out in full obedience to God, who gave us this hope. We do not live this way to please God, instead we live this way in thank to Him for what He has done for us and the hope that He has given us. Way too many people think they have to live a good life to please God and gain His favor. The truth is, He gives us His favor because of His great love for us. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God loves us as much then as He ever will. He accepted us, just as we are. It is impossible to work our way to make God love us more. We do not work to salvation, we work in response to Salvation. We do it as a thanks to God for the great hope He has given us.

Live your life in a hopeful way!

Hope Fulfilled

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, 69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant

Luke 1:67-69

As one of the Priests of Israel, Zacharias knew the Old Testament Scriptures. He knew that the Old Testament told of the hope of the coming Messiah. He knew that it was promised through David that God would raise up a horn of salvation (2 Samuel 22:3 and Psalm 18:2). Although, Zacharias had not always believed. Just over nine months before, he was struck mute by an Angel for not believing him, that his wife would have a son. For those silent months, he must have rethought and reread so much of these promises. Now his son had been born and he had named him John as the Angel had said, he could speak again. Praise and worship now freely flowed from his mouth. He could not stop talking about this fulfillment of the hope he had in God.

The long awaited and long promised Messiah was coming. Zacharias’ new born son, John, would go ahead of the Messiah and proclaim His coming. We do not know if Zacharias knew about the two comings of the Christ or if he thought Jesus would overthrow the Romans and restore Israel to its glory now. For many Jews, this was their hope, freedom from the Romans. However, that is not why Jesus was coming. He was coming to free us from our sins. His second coming is when He will restore Israel and sit on David’s throne. His first coming He came to free them and us from a greater enemy than the Romans. He came to free us from our sins.

One day He will come back and remove the evil from this world. There will be no more tears. No more viruses or other illnesses. There will be no more death. There will be no more sorrow. These things will all be gone and instead we will have love, peace, joy, goodness, and so on. No longer will evil win, but instead the goodness of God will always win. This is our hope and one day (hopefully one day soon) this hope will be fulfilled! And we like Zacharias will be filled with endless praise for our great and awesome God!

Hope Found In A Strange Gift

11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of … myrrh.

Matthew 2:11

10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

Isaiah 53:10

After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem for a while. The Bible does not say how long, but consider the fact that King Herod had every boy 2 and under killed, He was probably closer to 2 than a new born. Just before the family left, they were visited by magi from the east. We are not sure exactly how many there were, but we that they brought the Boy three gifts; Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. The gold represented Him being the King of Jews. The frankincense because He was going to have a priestly role, making intercession for those who believe in Him. Those two gifts sort of make sense. However, myrrh, not as much sense. Myrrh was used to anoint the bodies of those who die. Why would anyone give a young child a gift for the end of their life at the beginning? It was because these Gentiles knew the Jewish Scriptures. They knew that this child was born to die and by His death both them and us could have hope!

Hundreds of years before this, the Prophet Isaiah wrote about a Suffering Servant. This Suffering Servant would take the iniquities and the sins of us upon Him. He would take our punishment for us and give His life, one in which had no sin, so that we might live. We find this in Chapter 53 of Isaiah. This chapter so well describes the death that Christ would die. It tells us that He was pierced, scourged, chastened, afflicted, and crushed. But why? Why was Jesus born and why did Have to die?

The reason goes back to the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, when humanity sinned. Sin is any thought, word, or deed, which is contrary to God’s ways. He gave Adam and Eve one rule, do not eat of this tree. Yet, when tempted by the serpent, they ate of it and broke the God’s law. The punishment for that sin was death, only God did not kill them right away. He instead killed an animal in their place, that they might live. The Bible says that there is no forgiveness of sin, without the shedding of blood. Through out the Old Testament people are sacrificing animals to pay for their sins. Only the blood of an animal can only forgive a finite number of sins. They had to keep doing it, to pay for their future sins. But God, even before the original sin, had a plan. For He knew His beloved creation would sin. His plan was to one day send His Son, to live a perfect life and die for this creation. The blood of this perfect Son, could satisfy the penalty of all of somebodies sins, if they would believe and have faith in this Son. This sacrifice would not have to be continued, like the animal one. It only had to happen once. Because of all what Jesus did, we have hope!

What He did, He now offers as a free gift. This offer of forgiveness, which cost Jesus so much, is given to us freely. The forgiveness saves us from the just penalty of our sins. Without Jesus, we face an eternity separated from God and in eternal torment in Hell. With Jesus, we face an eternity of joy and happiness and perfection in Heaven. The only way to get Jesus, is to believe in Him and trust Him as your way to be forgiven and saved. There is no other way. You cannot be good enough. The only was is Jesus, because of the death He died. If you have not accepted this free gift of salvation do so today!

Myrrh is a weird gift for a baby, but I am so glad it was given to Jesus!