Posts Tagged ‘brunswick news’

Grace

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

Do you want to change? Do you think you can change? I think deep down, all of us know that we have a need to change and to grow. Well, how do we grow as Christians? Some people have an idea for growth that goes like this: Sin is bad. So just stop it. Don’t you wish it were just that easy? Some just want the “holy zap.” They pray and ask others to pray for them and just think God is going to give them one good zap to take away all of their problems. There are certainly times where God can do an instantaneous work, but I think that God most often changes us over time through a process of spiritual growth and maturity. As we think about true spiritual growth and change, we must also remember that God is the source of our growth and change. The apostle Paul said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)

It is only God who makes things grow. I remember when I first began to understand that God was truly the source of spiritual life. It wasn’t based on how good I was. It wasn’t based on my performance. True growth and change were only possible as God was at work in my life. The Holy Spirit was the true change agent, and the more I was open to Him, the more my life would be transformed from the inside out.

One of the greatest obstacles to growth and change in our lives is a wrong view of God. If you do not understand God’s character and nature, growth will be very hard for you. If God is the true source of change, but you do not really understand His nature or you are unsure about where you stand in your relationship with him, then you will not expect much change to happen. If I do not believe this God can change me and wants to, then how I can cooperate with his work in my life.

We must shift our view from a God of law to a God of grace. This means we need to move our understanding from a God who is out to get us, to a God who is out to help us. As a Christian, is God for you? Or is He against you? The way you answer reveals your understanding of God. As Christian, God is not against you – even if you are in sin. He will convict you, or maybe even break you, but it is always for your good. He loves you.

If you view God as nothing more than a God of law, then you mainly think of God as a God of rules. You probably think his favorite word is NO! And you most likely think God is ticked off at you if you fail and make mistakes.

Scripture tells us that Jesus “was pierced for our transgressions… the punishment that brought us peace was upon him.” (Isaiah 53:5) Does that sound like a God who it ticked off with you? No, Jesus took God’s wrath against our sin upon Himself so we could be forgiven. When we turn our lives over to Jesus, we meet a God of grace. God’s grace doesn’t just mean that we are forgiven. God’s grace includes God’s power that enables us to grow and change. It is God’s grace that allows God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Grace means we have been given God’s favor in our lives. Grace means we have God’s power available to us. Grace means that our God is for us. Grace means that we can grow and change with God’s help. Only God can make things grow. And our God wants to help us grow, as we love Him, seek Him, and trust Him. Thank God for grace. And that’s the Word.

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How Low Can You Go?

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

How low can you go?  Some people seem to have to go all the way to the bottom before they are willing to look up.  That sure seems to be the case with Jonah.  He ran from God and headed down, down, down.  Eventually he found himself at the lowest point possible.  At this point he began to cry to the Lord for help.  One thing we learn for sure from Jonah is that you are never too low or never in too deep for God to hear you call.

As Jonah was sinking to the bottom, he cried out to the Lord.  Scripture records, “From the depth of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry” (Jonah 2:2).  Jonah literally felt like he was a dead man.  His life was flashing before his eyes, and he felt no hope.  The word grave can also be translated as “hell.”  He felt like he was in a living hell – separated from God and left for dead.  Have you ever felt that way?  Have you ever been in such a place of hopelessness?

Jonah also said of God, “You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me… I have said, ‘ I have been banished from your sight.’” (Jonah 2:3,4).  Jonah not only feels like he is dying in hell, but he feels it is a hell he can never return from.  The picture of the waves and currents swirling about him are a picture of Jonah being overwhelmed by his circumstances.  He had sunk so low that he felt God could no longer see him or save him.

It was from the depths of the grave that Jonah called for help and God listened to his cry.  In other words, he is saying, “at the place where I felt completely cut off from God with nothing to give, and nothing to contribute, I cried out to the Lord and he heard me.  At the place where I thought I was beyond help, I cried out to God and he saved me.

This may be an encouraging word for some of you.  Some of you may feel like you are in your own personal hell.  Perhaps you think God cannot help you or save you.  Maybe you feel like your marriage is in the grave, or you are living in the hell of addiction, or the depths of depression, or the pit of financial bondage.

Jonah cried to God from the depths of the grave.  And God heard his cry.  When he had no place to turn, He called upon God and the Lord answered him from the deepest and darkest place.  When Jonah needed God the most, but deserved it the least, God answered him.  He was there for Jonah, and He will be there for you.

Finally Jonah brought himself to look to the Lord again: “Yet I will look again toward your holy temple… but you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.  When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you Lord and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.”

Jonah had gone as low as he could go.  Now as He calls on the Lord, he is headed back up.  It is God who brings him up out of the pit.  Jonah’s story tells us that no matter how low you go, that God can lift you up when you look up.  God can make a way there seems to be no way.  Are you tired of being down?  Look up.  Cry out, and let God lift you up.  And that’s the Word.

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Wake Up

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

You can’t outrun the long arm of the Lord. That’s what the prophet Jonah discovered. God had called Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach and call the Ninevites to repentance. Instead of obeying God and heading east to Nineveh, Jonah ran away from the Lord and boarded a ship west to Tarshish, the exact opposite direction.

Jonah truly thought he could run away from God and get away with it. Instead, “the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship” (Jonah 1:4,5).

We see that Jonah’s rebellion to God was actually putting others in harms way. Where was Jonah? What do you think Jonah was doing as these sailors were crying for their lives up on deck in the storm?

“But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish” (Jonah 1:5,6).

Jonah’s disobedience was the real problem. He was the cause for all of this trouble the sailors found themselves in, but he was completely oblivious – asleep. There are times that we can be so full of denial as well, that we just don’t see it. We can’t see how our actions are hurting those around us.

The captain said to him, “How can you sleep?” It was as if he was calling Jonah to wake up and realize what was going on. Jonah was numb to the consequences of his actions. He was blind to the truth of his circumstances. He was the very problem and yet he was asleep while everyone else was suffering.

There is another irony of this story. The sailors on this boat were terrified, which tells you that it must have been a pretty rough storm. They all began to call on their gods, false gods who could offer no help at all. They were on deck calling out in vain to some false gods that don’t exist. Jonah, a true prophet of the living God, is not only the cause of the problem, but he is also asleep during the danger instead of calling out to his God like the pagan sailors.

The captain tells him, “Wake up and call on your God. Maybe he will take notice and we will not perish.” The captain became a prophet to the prophet. God was calling to Jonah through the captain: “How can you sleep? As a servant of the living God, how can you sleep on the job while there are men on deck calling out in vain to gods that cannot help?”

Jonah should have been awake to the reality of what was going on. Jonah should have been up and calling on his God, the true God. And yet Jonah was asleep. I think some of us may need to hear God calling out to us through the voice of the captain as well. How can you sleep? How can we sleep?

Have we fallen asleep in our faith, oblivious to the needs of those around us. Everywhere, there are people who are perishing, looking to false gods, chasing false dreams, and bowing down to the idols of this world. Without Christ, they are drowning in a sea of hopelessness.

I think apathy is one of the greatest problems of many Christians today. We think that we are fine with God, so we lose any sense of urgency. Our passion for God runs lows, and our compassion for others is minimal. We drift away from God, and end up spiritually asleep while the storms of life are raging about us.

Perhaps we need to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit calling to us, “Wake up. Call on your God.” Do not let your ears grow deaf. Do not let your heart get hard. Do not sleep in the light, while others perish in the dark. Wake up. And that’s the Word.

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After All These Years

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

After all these years, I still find myself humbled and amazed at the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Why would God allow His Son to have such a humble and obscure birth in a stable? Don’t you think that the God of the universe could have made sure that there was a vacancy in the Bethlehem Holiday Inn on that night so many years ago? Instead, Jesus’ first welcome into the world was, “Sorry, there is no room in the inn.”

I just can’t believe that God the Father was caught off guard. If God went to all the trouble to have this young mother carry His Son in her womb, then surely he could have had enough foresight to make a hotel reservation in advance. Perhaps God had his reasons for the birth of His Son in a stable. I think there are some real lessons to be found in the birth of Christ.

In his birth, Jesus embraced poverty. While he could have been born in the finest of hotels or hospitals, he chose to be an outcast. He was not given a luxurious palace, instead his mother laid his head down in a manger. Jesus became poor for a reason – so that we could become rich. The Apostle Paul said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 7:8-9). Jesus Christ stepped out of the riches of heaven and humbled himself to become a man. And as a man, he didn’t become a king, but he embraced human poverty to the fullest extent. In his poverty, Jesus was embracing the poverty of our human condition. He became poor, however, so that we might receive the riches of God’s mercy and grace. The person who comes to know and receive Jesus Christ is truly rich indeed.

In his birth, Jesus not only embraced poverty, but also humility. God allowed his son to be born in the most humble of circumstances. God found a stable full of animals to welcome and receive his Son into the world. God did announce the birth of his Son to some humble shepherds in a field, and some visiting Magi dropped in later. By and large however, the birth of Jesus was a rather quiet event. There was no great fanfare for the Son of God that night. God took that humble beginning though and did something that would change the world. God says he uses the humble things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). Jesus is attracted to humble things, humble places, and humble hearts. God says he rejects the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Do you know that Jesus is still born in stables? He looks for humble hearts that will acknowledge their need of forgiveness and receive Him. Is your life like a manger – a humble place for Jesus to rest His head?

Jesus’ birth also revealed how some people will treat Him. There will always be those who simply declare that they have no room for Jesus. They will reject Him and have no room in their lives for this King. Some will simply shut the door on His presence in their lives.

What about you? You may have gone to church for years, but your heart has had a “no vacancy” sign over it? Have you shut the door on Jesus and declared that you have no room for Him? Or maybe now you hear him knocking, calling you to open the door. Remember these words from that great Christmas hymn: “Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room…” Make room. Make room, and open your heart to Jesus. And that’s the Word.

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Simeon

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

There sure is a lot to see at Christmas time. There are lights, trees, TV specials, and all sorts of decorations. When I was a kid, however, there was one main thing that I wanted to see – lots of presents underneath the tree.

On the very first Christmas, there was a man named Simeon who longed to see something as well. The book of Luke says, “He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon Him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:25-26).

Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. This was a phrase used to speak of God’s promise to bring relief and deliverance to his people Israel. God had promised to send one that would end their oppression and bring them hope and comfort. Simeon saw his people in need of God’s help. Many were rebellious and separated from God. Simeon was looking for God’s help, God’s hope, and God’s forgiveness. He was a man of spiritual passion with a hunger for God.

Simeon wanted to see God – and he did in the face of the baby Jesus. Simeon was a priest in the temple when Jesus’ parents brought him to be dedicated to the Lord forty days after his birth. We are used to referring to Jesus as God’s Son, but there was no precedent during Simeon’s time for God to come in flesh as a baby. And yet he had eyes to see what God was doing even in the form of an infant. The passage makes clear that he was a man who was in tune with what God was doing. Simeon was moved by the Spirit to enter the temple as Mary and Joseph came in with their child. As Simeon took Jesus into his arms, he held the baby in his arms and praised God saying “your salvation has finally come.” Simeon had waited for many years, and now he was staring the salvation of God in the eyes. And the Savior of the world was in his arms, wearing a diaper.

Can you imagine how he felt? He had waited a long time for this moment. The Lord had actually promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And now He has come. Can you picture him taking the child, pulling him close, kissing his tender face, looking upon him in delight and thinking, “God is faithful. God has kept his promise. He has come.”

According to Simeon, Jesus was an absolute “must see.” Holding the Christ child in his arms, he proclaimed to God: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, your servant may now depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Simeon could now depart in peace because he had met the Lord’s salvation face to face in the person of Jesus. This baby did not come to live. This baby came to die, and to give his life for the sins of the world. Jesus did not come so we could have warm fuzzy feelings at Christmas. He came on a rescue mission. He came because we couldn’t get to heaven without him.

Have your eyes seen the Lord’s salvation? Have you met Jesus Christ? Have you received his forgiveness? You cannot depart in peace without him. And that’s the Word.

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Are You Getting Ready?

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Are you getting ready? What is still left to do on your list to prepare for Christmas? Is it just me, or does December seem to be incredibly busy? As soon as Thanksgiving is over, we are launched full throttle into the Christmas season. There is shopping to do and presents to buy. There are parties and celebrations, Christmas cards to get out, baking to get done, and more.

I want to ask my question again though. Are you really ready for Christmas? I am not really thinking about the presents, cooking, etc. I am talking about your heart. One famous Christmas carol goes like this: “Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room…” This carol encourages us to make room in our hearts for Jesus the king. During the month of December, many churches celebrate what is known as Advent. Advent means “coming” or “arrival. This season right before Christmas is meant to be a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. It seems, however, that we spend a lot of time preparing for everything but Jesus. I am a pastor, and even I have a hard time keeping my focus with all of the other distractions of the season.

It seems like Jesus has always had a hard time finding room at Christmas. Remember that very first Christmas when Mary and Joseph came to Bethlehem for the census. Scripture records, “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn and wrapped him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn” (Luke 2:6,7). On the very first Christmas, nobody had room for Jesus. Everybody was busy, distracted and blind to what God was doing in Bethlehem. God was coming to earth in the form of a human, but so many were unprepared to receive him.

Over recent years, some politically correct groups have tried to totally drop Jesus out of Christmas. Some stores have instructed their employees to say, “Seasons Greeting” or “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas. There is a fight in some cities to put a nativity scene on any piece of public property. For most of us, however, it will not be the atheists and politically correct that strip Christ from our Christmas celebrations.

Our problem will often be the busyness of the season. I love Santa Claus, presents, parties, watching Christmas specials and all the other trappings that go with the holidays. You would think it would be easy to remember that all of this is nothing more than the sideshow, and that Jesus is the main attraction. And yet is seems that the birth of Jesus has become the sideshow, and all of the rest has become the main attraction. What if our kids walked away from Christmas with a message bigger than “be good for goodness sake” because Santa is checking his list twice? I want my kids to remember each Christmas to fall in love with a God who would send His own Son into the world to give his life. I want them to learn to be like the wise men and seek after Jesus with all of their heart. I want to remember these things for myself as well.

So here it is – Christmas season once again. It has been a hard year for many folks. The new year holds a lot of unknowns. Many of us need encouragement and hope. Go over to your Nativity scene and remember exactly what Christmas is all about. God drew near to us, to you. He is Emmanuel – God with us. Remember that no gift under the tree will ever compare to the gift of Christ. Take time to get ready. Make room in your heart for Him. If you miss Jesus, then you have really missed Christmas. And that’s the Word.

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Healed

Saturday, November 1st, 2008

“If I can just touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed.” This was said by a broken woman who was looking for healing. Bleeding for 12 years, she was considered an outcast. Due to her condition, she was not allowed into the temple nor was she allowed to touch another person. She felt cut off from God and from man. The doctors offered her no hope, but Jesus had come to town.

She believed that if she could just touch the hem of his garment that she would be healed. She did touch Jesus that day, and He touched her as well. He touched her more deeply than she had ever imagined. The scripture records, “Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering” (Mark 5:29).

She reached out to Jesus in faith, and she was rewarded with a divine release of power from the Son of God into her life. Her blood had been flowing out for 12 years. Blood is symbolic of life in the scripture. It was as if her life was flowing away, ebbing out of her. And then his life flowed in.

The same power of Christ is still available today. The power of Jesus still flows from Calvary’s cross. The apostle Paul referred to Jesus as a life giving spirit. He gives life to those who truly look to him in faith, for those who reach to him in faith. You can go ahead and ask him to give you his life even now.

Jesus didn’t just heal this woman physically though. She was freed from her suffering in her body, but Jesus wanted to touch her soul as well. The woman had snuck up behind Jesus in an anonymous fashion. As his power flowed into her body, Jesus knew something was going on. He stopped in the crowd having “realized that power had gone out from him” (Mark 5:30). Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Who touched me?”

The disciples thought it was a ridiculous question. The crowd was so big and everyone was crowding around Jesus. They were thinking, “Who hasn’t touched you?” Jesus asked the question again though, “Who touched me?”

It wasn’t just the tug of a hand Jesus had felt. It was the tug of a heart. It was the tug of faith that he sensed. He knew someone had reached out to him in faith. Jesus scanned the crowd looking for who it was. He wasn’t about to let this woman just get lost in the crowd.

This woman came up to Jesus from behind. Jesus wanted her to come face to face with him though. He wasn’t satisfied just to be this lady’s healer. He didn’t want her to remain nameless and faceless. He wanted this woman to know that he knew… her. He wanted to become her God, her King, Her savior, Her lover, Her Heavenly Father.

This story lets us know that God always wants to make Himself personal to us. Jesus wanted a real relationship with this woman. He didn’t want to be just a mystical force who can touch and heal. He wanted to be a personal God who was real, loving and personal. He is not satisfied until we come face to face with him.

She finally fell at his feet, grateful for his touch, fearful of his rejection. Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” This woman had not heard tender words from a man in more than 12 years. She had the words unclean written on her heart. Just like that though, Jesus wrote a new name on her heart. Not content to just touch her physical body, He spoke love and acceptance in to her heart. Now she was healed, really healed and she would never be the same again. And that’s the Word.

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