mondayschoolblog

Psalm 32 is another Psalm in which King David portrays the power of confessing ones sin to God.

1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude
6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude
8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

The story is told that Noel Coward, the well-known playwright, as a prank, once sent an identical anonymous letter to 10 notable men in London. The note said, “We know what you have done. If you don’t want to be exposed, leave town.” Within 6 months, all 10 men that received the letter, moved!

Guilt is a powerful emotion that if we left it unchecked and unconfessed, it can cause you and I to do irrational things.

Unconfessed good guilt (those things the scriptures point out that we need to be feeling guilty about) is a powerful tool in the hand of our Enemy. He can destroy your relationship with God with it. He can deceive into believing that you can’t be forgiven. His ultimate plan is to convince you that you no longer belong to God.

Unconfessed sin leads to being spiritually tired and/or burned out on religion. Unconfessed sin causes us to spend a lot of time and energy on running away from God, hiding from God, and blaming others for what we need to deal with.

This is why many people leave the faith and church. They can’t admit what they did was wrong. They can’t admit where they are at fault. They can’t admit that they too fall short of the glory of God.

A couple I was counseling a number of years ago proves this to be true.  This couple had been living together for a few years. Being a good counselor I asked, “why are you living together and why do you want to get married now?” The husbands response was, “I wanted to save up enough money to give her the wedding that she deserves.” I told him that was very noble, but then I said something that he didn’t like. I said, “So you are just getting what you want from her and have refused to step up to the plate and make a commitment until now?” By the way his future bride was smiling. 🙂

When I said that, he made a fist and cocked his arm …. I said, “hold on ….. hold on…..  let me finish before you deck me ….. I am glad you are willing to make that commitment now.”

That’s what usually happens when pastor tells someone the truth that they are living in sin ….. he didn’t want to admit that he was wrong but by the smile on the brides face ….. I knew I was right. I am hoping this couple found a church somewhere.

King David, initially, didn’t want to confess either. David started out as a shepherd boy who was favored by God and he became one of the most well – known and successful Kings of Israel. David was a good man. In fact I Samuel 13:14 describes him as a “man after God’s own heart”.

If you don’t know by now, BEING good isn’t good enough. He was far from perfect and he knew guilt. David committed adultery with Bathsheeba. He brought her husband back from the war and tried to get her husband to have an evening of romance with his wife. He refused. David sent him back to war and told his commanders to send him to the front line and back off and let him be killed.

David kept this a secret sin for a year! He covered it up for a whole year! Finally, his good friend, Nathan, risked his life and told him that God knows what he has done. If you read the story of when David was confronted, he cocked his fist and wanted to hit Nathan. Not literally …. but I think you get the point.

For a whole year he covered it up!

In vs. 3-4 you read about the power of unconfessed guilt:

3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

Unconfessed sin

• Zaps you of strength
• Effects you physically
• It is constantly in the back of your mind – not allowing to sleep or function well.
• The Holy Spirit reminds you of it all day long of what you have done wrong.
• There’s a heaviness in your heart.
• It just messes you up.

Guilt  is a tool that can be used to motivate you to walk closer to God. It’s designed to let you know something wrong is going on inside.

The problem for many people is they acknowledge their sin. They ask for forgiveness and yet there remains a lingering guilt that continues to oppress them.

The goal of confession we learn in the first couple of verses is JOY!

1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,b
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

The bottom line is this

• Unconfessed sin leads to misery
• Confessed sin leads to JOY.

Joy is not a feeling or an emotion. Happiness is a feeling and emotion. Joy causes you to think differently. Joy causes you to act differently. Joy causes you to react differently. Joy is something you can’t create – it is only something only God can create in you. 

Confessed sin allows joy to be created in you. It’s like a burden that has been lifted off your shoulders.  It’s like a weight that has been removed from around your heart.

Q: But what if you are not experiencing joy even though you have acknowledged your sin and have asked for forgiveness?

A: Something is still wrong.

God never intended us to live in continual guilt. He came to give us abundant life. He came to set us free. He came to give us hope and a future. He never wants us to live in continual guilt. He wants to create joy inside of us.  The joy that causes us to think differently about our life. The joy that causes us to act differently in life. The joy that causes us to react differently in whatever life throws at us. If we are living in continual guilt and not living in the freedom and joy we have for being Christ followers then we still have a spiritual problem.

The problem is we don’t believe the promises that David gives us in the rest of the Psalm 32.

Promise #1 – God promises He will wash off your guilt.

Look at vs 5

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

David is telling us that this is true …. this is what he experienced. David wrote, “I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’”

This is important to note ….. I haven’t found anywhere where he confesses his sin against Bathsheeba and/or Uriah. He completely destroyed both of their lives but he doesn’t mention either one in Psalm 32 or Psalm 51. His sin was much deeper. He rebelled against God. This is what sin is ….. a forceful slap in God’s face.

We want forgiveness for the act – but God is saying …. “Hold on here…… No … you must confess of your rebellion against Me!” This is one of those reasons why many live in continual guilt. They have admitted their sin. They have asked forgiveness but nothing seems to have happened. We are admitting the wrong the sin – our sin is that we have rebelled against God. Because of David’s rebellion against God – he committed the sinful act.

Once David admitted his rebellion against God – God forgave him and all the sin was gone.  Joy could once again rule his life.

Promise #2 – God promises He will give you protection

Look at verse 7

7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory.

God wants what best for you. If we will accept his promises, He promises to protect us.

I John 1:9 reminds us,

“9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

He did it for Jonah, Abraham, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Moses, Rahab, prostitutes, tax collectors, and He will do it for you. God wants to prosper you and give you a hope and a future. He doesn’t want you living in continual guilt. To stop living in continual guilt we need to accept His promise that he will protect us, surround us with songs of victory, and we can find rest in him.

Promise #3 – God promises He will give you guidance.

Look at vs 8

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.

We have learned that God will protect you …. but will you let Him guide and deliver you?

When it comes to God’s guidance and direction we tend to react like this (a ten second video) when it comes to following His direction. David warns us not to be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit or bridle to keep us under control.

Will you let Him guide and deliver you?

We can admit our sin and ask for the forgiveness all we want (those are good things) —- but God wants to deliver you. Confession is more than just an admission of guilt and asking for the forgiveness for our sins. He wants to change the way you think. He wants to change the way you act. He wants to change the way you react. He wants to create joy!

For any of this to happen we must surrender our stubbornness and our rebellion. Only then can God begin to change the way you think , change the way you act, and change the way you react.

Who wants to be guilt free?

Take a moment a moment and find a 3×5 card or something similar. On side of the card write:

“I want to be guilt free”

On the other side of the card write one of these verses out (or a verse that motivates you to do something)

Psalm 32:5 or I John 1:9

When you are tempted, pull this card out of your pocket or purse to remind you you want to be guilt free.

But, if you do fall short (and some days we do) remind yourself I can still be guilt free by reading the verse you wrote on the other side.

When I was growing up – I learned about guilt the hard way! By experiencing it!

Most of the time we only experience real guilt when we get caught. In my elementary days I used to steal money from my brothers and sisters. I would only steal what I needed to get some candy at the pink store. I never got caught …. I never felt guilt ……. until a few years ago all my brothers and sister had a confession time – we all confessed that we stole from each other.

In my preteens, when my mom and dad would leave us boys at home, we would play full contact WWF. We would totally ruin the living room. Somebody usually got hurt and somebody usually broke something. We would all point fingers at each other – but I never got in trouble for this either (yes, I am the baby of the family) … my older brothers took the hit.

In my older teen years, I got caught kissing my girlfriend in the choir room at church in the dark. This time I got caught. But I never got caught there again. Only when I got caught …. did I ever feel guilty. Only in the last instance was I not able to cast the blame on someone else.

We have two reactions when we get caught and know we are guilty. We either blame the other person or go run and hide. This little video will prove my point — video: kids getting caught.

All of these kids got caught red-handed! They were guilty! But none of them wanted to admit it. A couple of them ran away crying, one claimed he didn’t see his sister mark up his face with a marker. This was good guilt – these kids were guilty.

In the last blog entry we learned that scriptures point out the things we need to feel guilty about. We learned that if it isn’t in the Bible and people say it is wrong that is called legalism. It’s amazing to me what the what the church used to make people feel guilty over. Things like dancing, playing with cards, playing saxophone, reading certain books, going to movies …. And so much more. I don’t think it was intentional … I just think many thought doing those things led to sinful behavior. We have sensed learned and matured as a church to realize that none of those things led to sinful behavior. Nevertheless, this kind of thing produced a bad guilt which the Enemy can use to destroy people’s view of God. The Enemy wants to destroy that relationship. The Scriptures do help to distinguish between the things we need to feel guilty about and the things we don’t need to be feeling guilt about.

In the last entry I also introduced two questions that you could ask to do a self-diagnosis:

1. Why are you feeling guilty?
2. Is what you did wrong and sinful according to God’s word?

The answers to these questions might not always be clear-cut, but these two questions will help you begin the process of discerning between good guilt and bad guilt.

What do you do when you ask those questions and you really are guilty?

You are in elite company! Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul. He was an important messenger from God. He was like the “Billy Graham” of his day. He was handpicked by Jesus to be one of the leaders of the early church. He also wrote most the New Testament and was probably the greatest missionary whoever lived.

Look at what he said in Romans 7:14-15, 18-19

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

This raises the question that when we do ask those self-diagnosing questions and we do check the scriptures and we discover we are guilty as charged, “What do you?”  Paul is admitting that, “I am guilty as charged!”

If you don’t anything about this kind of guilt – it will have the same effects on you as bad guilt. Without dealing with it,  it could harden your heart toward that particular sin. In other words you say – “if it doesn’t harm anybody else then it ok”, “If I don’t get caught then it must be okay”,  and other kind of harden-heart rationale.  It also moves you away from God, you can even say, you are putting yourself in the place of God. Neither one of these results are good.

The Enemy can use unconfessed good guilt to destroy you as well.

Paul struggled– he wanted to do what was right but ended up many times doing what he didn’t want to do or as he put it, “doing things he hated.” It’s a real spiritual battle that we still battle today. Guilt was a constant emotion that Paul had to deal with it. I, personally, don’t know of any Christ follower who doesn’t have these kind of battles.

Our natural response, as we learn from these kids (the video) who got caught, is to hide or blame others. This is has been the natural response of humanity since the beginning of time. Look at this passage, Genesis 3:6-13:

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

What was the first then they did? They discovered their nakedness and covered themselves.  When God came looking for them, they went and hid. When God “found” them, he asked the man “have you eaten from the tree who fruit I commanded you not to eat?” Being the macho man he was,  his response is,  “it was the woman who gave me the fruit and I ate it.” Then God turns to the woman, “What have you done?” Her response was, “the serpent deceived me.” For those of you who grew up in the 70’s and remember Flip Wilson the comedian – he famously said, “The devil made me do it.”

Like Adam and Eve, who were the very first “messer-uppers” on planet earth, there are three natural responses that we tend to have when we mess up and get caught.

• Our first natural response is to run away from God.

We can’t physically run away from God. God is everywhere! But spiritually we can. We can block out his voice. Drown out the good guilt. Harden our hearts toward God. We can leave the church and start our own personal religion of worshiping ourselves. We run away in our mind. We run away from his promises. We don’t want him loving us unconditionally any more. We run away from everything we know is true about God.

The Enemy will do anything to convince you, “you don’t need God in your life.” The Enemy will do anything to try to twist God promises and deceive you that you are really in control. He tried to do that with Jesus when was in the desert being tempted by the Enemy.

We think if we “run away” God will never find us. The truth is you never can honestly “run away” from God. He knows where you are at – he just wants you to acknowledge you know where you are at by asking  you, “Where are you?”

I had a couple of married friends, who had beautiful wives,  who were in ministry get caught taking their relationship with teenage a teenage girl a  little too far. Both of them have walked away from God, the church, and their families.

Our second natural response is to hide.

We cannot physically hide from God. We think we can because we think we can.  But we spend a lot of time and energy trying.

When my kids were little we used to play hide and seek in the house. My kids (when they were toddlers) were terrible at this game. When they hid, they would lie in the middle of the floor, under a blanket, with their feet sticking out. Why did they make is so easy? They wanted to be found! They didn’t want to stay hidden for long.

We do something similar in our relationship with God. We play hide and seek thinking we will win the game, but our feet our sticking out. God knows exactly where you are.

If you ever wonder why you are so spiritually tired or you are burned out on religion it’s because we spend a lot of time and energy on hiding. Personal revivals begin only when we stop hiding.

God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were in the garden.  God could have struck them dead but He thought the relationship was worth saving and wanted to draw them out.

But they wanted to stay hidden:

• from God
• From the truth
• From themselves

They messed up and they knew it. They did the thing that they knew was wrong to do. What Adam and Eve were experiencing we now call shame. When he asked Adam “why?”,  Adam’s response was “I was afraid because I knew I was naked.” What Adam is saying in modern-day language, “I am ashamed of what I did.”
Shame is a tool the Enemy uses to keep us “hidden” from God.  Shame is the tool the Enemy uses to convince us to run away from God. Shame is the tool the Enemy uses to convince us that “God could not possibly love me after what I have done.”  Shame keeps us hidden and causes us to pray that prayer, “don’t look at me God! Don’t see me God!” Please don’t find me …. I don’t want to be exposed.” It’s a prayer that doesn’t help us at all. Shame keeps us from admitting the truth …. And forces us to live in a lie. 

If you were living in the 90’s you might remember this back from 1998.
(Bill Clinton addresses the country, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”). I believe that Monica Lewinsky would give a different report.

• Our third natural response is to blame others.

When we are caught and we feel guilty, not only can we run away from God, or try to hide, we can blame others for shortcomings.

Let’s go back to the story in Genesis 3. When God asked Adam, “Did you do what I told you not to do?” What was his response?  It wasn’t “yes” or “no”. It wasn’t “maybe” or possibly”. It wasn’t even “tree? What tree?”. He instantly said, “it’s her fault!” “She gave it to me”. And then if that wasn’t enough do you notice what he really said? He adds, “The woman YOU put here with me.”

Not only was it Eve’s fault but it was also God’s fault that he put his teeth into an apple that was handed to him by Eve. Technically Adam was right. After all, God did create the apple and actually God did create Eve.

This is part of that natural response. We find all kinds of reasons to blame others for our faults, in the end (technically speaking)  it’s not really our fault at all.

Early in my marriage I was a master at this.
• I would blame my ignorance for my faults
• I would blame my kids for my faults
• I would blame my wife for my faults
• I would blame the situation for my faults
• I would blame whoever was around me for my faults.

Eve isn’t any less guilty. She blamed it on the snake for deceiving her.
I counseled a couple of young marrieds a number of years ago – they both went through similar circumstances. In both cases, their biggest obstacle was the husband blamed everything on the wife and the wife blamed everything on the husband. In both situations, neither one of them wanted to take responsibility for their own faults. Each couple thought it was their spouses fault for them being in the situation they were in. Both of their marriages ended in divorce.

When we blame others – we think it takes us off the hook and makes us the victim. Eve did hand it to him but Adam TOOK it and TOOK a bite. They both were guilty – and they were trying to blame the other person for what they did wrong.

What does God want from us when we get caught and we experience the good and appropriate feelings of guilt? I am convinced that many people don’t do anything about those things in the list I shared in the last blog entry until we get called out on it from a friend or we get caught in the act.

First of all, God wants us to run TO Him.  Our natural response is to run from Him.

When David did have sexual relations with that woman called Bathsheba. He was also guilty of assassinating her husband, lying, stealing, coveting, ….. he had a long sinful rap sheet for his little fling with Bathsheba. When he was called out on it …. David didn’t run from God ….. He ran to Him. He doesn’t mention his sin at all in Psalm 51 – what he is afraid of in this Psalm is losing the presence of God in his life. To make this simple – he wanted the presence of God more than he wanted Bathsheba.

God wants us to run to Him when we mess up or when we sin. After Paul writes in Romans 7 about doing what he hates to do and not doing what he should do, in Romans 8 He reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Secondly, God wants us to confess and repent. Our natural response is hide and blame others. I John 1:9 tells us,

9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

A prayer of confession is saying, “God here is the truth about me. I’m a sinner. I’ve messed up. This is something I can’t hide from, and it’s nothing I can blame anyone else for. I have rebelled against you. “I lusted, I lied, I cheated, I stole, I gave into pride, I slandered, I gossiped, I ….. just fill in the blank.
This is what God wants!

It’s tempting to be a runner, hider and a blamer, what God wants us to know is that this good guilt can lead to something else. Something better.

WE CAN BE FORGIVEN!

We hate the whole idea of guilt trips. We hate being on them. But we let people put us on them. We hate being on them but we use it to manipulate others into getting what we want.  If you add a whiny and annoying voice you have a better chance of getting your way.  Kids are brilliant at this. Just go to any grocery and watch how kids operate. They are complete masters at making parents feel guilty for not getting that one thing that will save their life. Parents are brilliant at this with their kids. Parents use guilt as a manipulation tool to get their kids to do what they want.

Why do we do this? Because it works!

The V-line train company in Australia put together one of the more fun commercials about parents using guilt to get their kids to come home and visit. They actually called the ticket, “The Guilt Trip”. Watch this 1:55 minute clip.

In the last blog entry we learned that “Guilt is an emotional response to the perception that we have broken a rule or fallen short of a standard.” (Becca Johnson) Guilt is an emotional response and guilt is based on perception. These are two very important things to understand because it means that guilt can be based on emotion rather than logic, and on perception rather than reality. It means you can BE guilty, and not FEEL guilty or we can FEEL guilty, and not be guilty.

God has given each of us  a conscience. Our conscience is supposed to work like our body’s pain-sensing system. When we touch a hot burner on the stove we say, “ouch”. Our conscience is knit together in us in our mother’s womb. The Holy Spirit uses it to bring some stuff to our attention that needs to be addressed. This is the way good guilt works. It warns us that something is wrong in our life and we need to pay attention to that area in our life. But our conscience gets messed up by our dysfunctional family of origin, a legalistic or liberal  background, immersion in a culture that puts us on all the wrong guilt trips, life experiences that were of no fault of your own but we choose to blame ourselves for, and the ultimate “conscience –messer – upper” – The evil one!

The evil one wants to convince us that God’s love is not unconditional, his mercy is not real, his compassion is for those who deserve it, and hope is for those he has chosen to love. His ultimate goal is not to get us to sin. We do a pretty good without his influence because we are born with a sin nature. His goal is to destroy our relationship with God by convincing us we cannot be forgiven of our sin, our mistakes, and our mess ups. We cannot be forgiven PERIOD! Bad guilt is the Enemy’s prime time tool in destroying a person’s relationship with God. He wants you to believe the lie if you feel guilty but aren’t ……….. your still guilty. This kind of guilt, which we are calling BAD guilt, can destroy you.

Two important notes to understand is God never uses guilt as a weapon against us. He also never uses guilt as manipulation tool to get you to do something. He also never accuses. He only brings conviction. If you ever hear an accusatory voice in your head – it is the voice of the evil one. He tells us we are not good enough. He tells us we cannot be loved. He tells us we cannot change.

God has a whole different perspective of you. Watch this 3 minute video before going on.

A lot of people identify with the first message that was scrolling.  People have a tendency to mentally stay in the negative and concentrate on the negative. We can identify our negative traits a lot quicker than we can identify the good things that God has created in us.

But God’s truth changes that negative message. God’s truth (like in the video) turns that message around.

Read on to see how this works.

Paul writes in Romans 9:1 (NEB)

“I am speaking the truth as a Christian, and my own conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, assures me it is no lie.”

What Paul is saying is, my conscience, because it is truly led and informed by the Holy Spirit, has reached a point where it can be relied upon. To break it down a little further, his conscience is so saturated with God thoughts that it can be relied upon to tell him the truth. His family of origin no longer messed up his mind. His religious background that led him to believe all the wrong things about God was transformed. His culture in regards to what it means to do the right thing was totally changed. Paul was able to drown out the lies of the evil one. When his conscience spoke – it spoke truth!

This is exactly what God wants for each one of us.

How do you get to this point that Paul got to? How do you get to the point where you can drown out the accusing voice of the evil one? How do you get to the point of getting your conscience so saturated with God thoughts that you can rely upon it to tell you the truth every time?

A: The Scriptures (The Bible)

Look at what Paul writes about it in 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT):

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

The scriptures point out what we should be guilty about:

Sexual immorality, greed, gossiping, thinking evil thoughts, not loving our neighbor, not loving ourselves, pride,  adultery, fornication, selfishness, not loving God first, theft, lying, slander, murder, lustful pleasure spiritual pride, materialism, stealing, worshiping idols, not honoring your parents, parents abusing their kids, coveting, not keeping the Sabbath holy, drunkeness , misusing the name of God

There are more – but these cover a majority of them. These are the ones Paul’s mentions.

The scriptures are a healthy guide to help you understand what you should or shouldn’t feel guilty about. If the scriptures do not say you should feel guilty, you shouldn’t feel guilty. If the scriptures say you should feel guilty – let it be your wake up call. 

The Scriptures  give truth and guidance, standards and values, for virtually every area of life:
• Our jobs
• Our marriages
• Our sexuality
• Our family life
• Our relationships
• Our finances
• Our emotions

I won’t bore you by listing a bunch of scriptures and reading them. Get on your computer, or your smartphone, or your tablet and search for scriptures about job, scriptures about marriage, scripture about relationship, etc…. You name it – God’s got a perspective on everything.

This is the first step in helping us understand if what we are feeling is bad guilt or good guilt. If you are feeling guilty about something and the Bible is silent about it and it does not say it’s a sin but other people are trying to tell you it’s a sin –that’s called legalism. You don’t need to feel guilty about the things the scriptures don’t clearly say are sin.

On the flip side if you are sitting there not feeling guilty at all and you look it up in the Scriptures and it speaks to it as sin …. Then wake up and be mature enough to call it what it is and confess it.

• If you are having sex with someone that is not your husband or wife – scripture calls that sin – confess it.
• If you are sleeping with someone else’s spouse – scriptures call that sin – confess it.
• If you are gossiping about someone – scripture calls that sin – confess it.
• If you are not loving your neighbor – scriptures call that sin – confess it.
• If you are a glutton – scriptures call that sin – confess it.
• If you covet so much you go into irresponsible debt or steal something – it is called sin – confess it.
• If you don’t love God more than you love your spouse, your kids, your computer, your tablet, or your smartphone then that it is called sin – confess it.

I could go on …..

Hopefully we understand that the scriptures were not written just to point out where we disappoint God. None of us are God’s greatest disappointment. Romans 2:23 reminds us that we all fall short of the glory of God. God is pointing out what we need to feel guilty about. These are things we need to wake up to. These are areas of our life we should pay attention to. This is kind of guilt is a gift from God.

The Scriptures help us “realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects when we are wrong teaches us to do what is right.”

Along with the scriptures there are two questions we need to ask to do a self-diagnosis:

1. Why are you feeling guilty?
2. Is what you did wrong or sinful according to God’s word?

The scriptures are essential in helping us understand what we need to be feeling guilty about. The scriptures are the only reliable guide that can drown out the voice of the evil one, our culture, our family of origin, our personal tragedies, or our troubled background. When we saturate our mind with what God thoughts, our conscience, because it is truly led and informed by the Holy Spirit, has reached a point where it can be relied upon.

The answers to the two questions above might not always be clear cut, but these two questions will help you begin the process of discerning between good guilt and bad guilt. When you ask these questions and you realize that it is bad guilt, quit beating yourself up. Straighten out your conscience with the truth and let go of the worry and anxiety.

If it is good guilt, then its time to do some business with God. Not for the purpose of more guilt or condemnation, but for the purpose of receiving forgiveness and moving on past the guilt.
Let the truth set you free.

Commercials have a great way of making you feel guilty. I don’t know if  you have seen this commercial, but as  I was a watching a movie marathon over the holiday break, this particular commercial came on every time there was a break in the movie. It was the  SPCA  commercial called,  “Some Where in America.” (click here to watch 1 min video)
Every time this commercial came on I wanted to mute it. But then I felt guilty about muting it.  I wanted to change the channel but I felt guilty about changing the channel. I wanted to walk out of the room because it sickened me but I even felt guilty about walking out of the room.

Then there were other commercials that said I should feel guilty about having cable vs. direct tv and vice versa. There were also commercials that made me feel bad for the color of my hair and for not having much of it. There were still more commercials that made me  feel guilty for not buying my wife diamonds for Christmas.

On the flip side there were commercials that told me  I should NOT feel guilty for buying a new car and going into irresponsible debt because if it feels right. It is also okay for me to overeat by eating a deep dish pizza with the works with no one else around. Another commercial told me that overdrinking by drinking mass quantities of beer was okay. Still, another commercial tried to convince me that living together outside of marriage was good for you.

Marketers use guilt as a selling tool to get you to buy something. They make you feel bad about the way you are, the ring tone you don’t have, the kind of phone you own or ringtone you do have , and for not helping poor helpless animals. They make you feel guilty for not keeping up with Kardashians or for trying to keep up with the Kardashians. Some reality shows make you feel guilty about how you raised your family. The reality TV show called, “19 and Counting” made me feel guilty at times of the things I didn’t do with my kids or teach my kids.  I remember thinking that there is no way this family could be that perfect. Then, all the stuff about their oldest son Josh came and I felt guilty again for having those thoughts.

Feeling guilty can become a vicious cycle. You start by saying to yourself, “Not only have I done a bad thing, but I am making a mess of my life. I can’t do anything right. And I don’t deserve any better.” Which leads to withdrawing from people – people you feel you have disappointed, or let down, or embarrassed. Which leads to the final stage where you move from guilt to depression to self-punishment – you begin saying and thinking, “Not only have I done bad things, but I am bad.” This leads to feeling that you don’t deserve to live or having nothing to live for.

If we don’t address the guilt we feel …. well …. it could literally destroy you. Guilt becomes a non-stop accusation, a screaming voice that tears you down, attacking you for our past mistakes, failures and sins, leading to a downward spiral of self-destruction if it’s not handle appropriately.

What is guilt?

Becca Johnson, a Christian Psychologist gives us a great definition of guilt, she writes this:

“Guilt is an emotional response to the perception that we have broken a rule, or fallen short of a standard.”

We learn two things from this definition:

1. Guilt is an emotional response.
2. Guilt is based on perception.

What this means is you can FEEL guilty and not BE guilty. And you can BE guilty and not FEEL guilty. This translates into the fact that there is good guilt and bad guilt.

You might be thinking, “well if I’m feeling guilty – then I must be guilty.” Our conscience is supposed to be our trusted moral guide. Guilt can be good if produces a life change or a change in the way think. Guilt, which comes from your conscience (infiltrated by the Holy Spirit) , is supposed to work that way and if something is wrong in your life, the guilt you feel tells you to pay attention to that area.

But the problem is your conscience isn’t always reliable.

God knows and understands this and he tells us a group of people about their lives in Christ. They were feeling guilty and insecure about their relationship with God in ways they shouldn’t.  This is what God inspired John to say to them in I John 3:19-20:

19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

Think about this for a moment – there are times when our conscience can make us feel guilty when it shouldn’t. God never intended to use guilt as a weapon against us. God knit our conscience into us in our mother’s womb. God intended guilt to create life change and cause us to change the way we think about others, ourselves, and our life experiences. If you remember guilt is an emotional response to a perception. That perception may or may not be right.

Our conscience is affected by some many others things and has the ability to produce bad guilt. A guilt that leads to personal destruction, or a walking away from God, or causes us to feel guilty when we really shouldn’t (bad guilt).

Our conscience has been affected by the way we were raised. Some of us grew up in strict, religious homes and some of us grew up in homes where there were not a bunch of rules or boundaries. Everyone else falls in between.

Our conscience has been affected by our religious background. Some of us were raised to see God’s character as that which is loving, merciful, and forgiving. And some of us were raised in a religious tradition that was very legalistic, based on rules and regulations.

Our conscience has been affected by the culture around us and in us. Culture is the world into which we were born , and the world which was born into us. The culture I was raised in had 8-track tapes, cassette tapes with the automatic stop feature, mp3 players, three TV stations, and one (maybe two) NFL games on Sunday. This is entirely different from the culture that my kids have been raised in. They are tech savvy. They have 1000’s of different TV stations to watch and different screens to watch them on. They have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,  Pintrest, and over a billion websites to get information from.

I had instant food (microwave), they have instant news. When the shootings in Paris happened in the fall/winter of 2015, news reports came out within a 1/2 hour. It used to take us a couple of days to get that kind of news.

I had to call or write to communicate with others. Now, you can talk to anyone in the world for free (and even see them). You can Snapchat them, Facebook them, or Instagram them instantly,  or you can use the now archaic form of communication – email.

Each generation lives in a particular time and context with a certain set of values and messages about how life should be lived. You can catch the values of the current culture by watching TV commercials. Commercials reveal a lot about what the current culture wants and desires. Marketers spend billions of dollars a year trying to convince you that you need their product. Over half the cost of something you buy is paying them to sell it to you. The messages we receive from these commercials help shape us in ways we really don’t want to admit to.

A lot of us (a lot of women included) are watching football. They have become a several billion dollar business. Football games themselves don’t shape you but the messages you receive during a game will shape you. You don’t have to watch a football game to do this but the next time you are watching TV sit down with a pencil and paper with the intention of watching the commercials. Write down what the commercials are trying to convince you of what you really need to be happy, or what you need to be feeling guilty about, or try to convince you that you are not good enough the way you are. Those of you that don’t watch TV – get on your other screen and go to youtube.com  and type in commercials. If you take on this challenge, I believe you will discover that you have been duped into buying something you really didn’t need in the first place or they convinced you are not good enough the way you are.

Our conscience has been shaped by your life experiences.

You’ve made bad decision in the past. You’ve had things happen to you that were beyond your control. You’ve have experienced tragedies where you felt you could have probably done something. You’ve done things or said things  in your past you wished we would have never done (by the way, this is true of everyone – not just you).

Our conscience has been shaped by the evil one.

This is Satan’s specialty.

Revelation 12:10 describes him, as “the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them … day and  night.”  John referred him to as, “a liar and the father of lies.” He is the master at making us feel guilty over things and lying to us that we can’t be forgiven. Lying to us that God has stopped loving us. Deceiving us into believing we are no longer worthy to be with God. Deceiving us into believing God doesn’t love us unconditionally. Convincing us his mercy is not real and His compassion is only for those who deserve it.

When we believe those lies and buy into that deception that’s when Satan really wins. His main mission is not to get you into sexual immorality, or drunkenness, or addictions, or gossip, or to get you to sin in some way. His main mission to destroy your relationship with God and keep you feeling guilty, keep you feeling unworthy, keep you feeling self-defeated, and, to keep you from understanding that you are forgiven and you have tremendous value to God.

Here is one of the most important spiritual truths you can remember:

 God never accuses. God only brings conviction.

Whenever you sense a voice of accusation saying: “I can’t believe you did this!”, “You call yourself a Christian?”, “I don’t know anyone who would ever do anything like that!” This is never the voice of God. It’s the voice of the Accuser.

Martin Luther, who is the greatest leader of the protestant reformation, tells us how he felt when the devil approached him one day and accused him of the enormous sins in his life. Satan laid out a long list of sins of which Luther was guilty, and thrust them under his nose in accusation. Luther said to the devil, “think a little harder; you must have forgotten some.” So the devil thought a little harder and added a few hundred to the list. When the devil was finished Luther said, “Okay, now take a pen and some red ink and write across that list ‘The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sin.’”

God is not surprised by how we were raised, what culture we were raised in, our religious background, our life experiences, or even how the enemy tries to deceive and destroy our relationship with Him.

Knowing that our conscience is not a reliable guide God told John to write to the believers in verse 20:

Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

God also told Paul:

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

God told Isaiah:

“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”

God told John again:

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

If you are on a guilt trip whether it be good guilt or bad, remember God wants to produce life change in us. He wants to change the way we think. He wants to change the way you think about yourself. He wants to change your history for eternity.

Take a moment to do this excercise:

1. Get a 3×5 card, pencil, and a red ink pen.
2. On the 3×5 card write everything you are feeling guilty about (even the silly things) on one of the card.
3. On the other side or on top of the list you just made write the following with the red ink pen:

“The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses me from all sin.’”

Put this in your purse, your Bible, your wallet, and bring it out every once in a while to remind yourself that you have been cleansed from all sin.

John 1:1-14
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.  The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.  He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

There is a story of a young couple who were totally into the ecological scene. One day they were driving along with their preschool son up the East Coast, not far from the Atlantic. They came upon a sign that intrigued them: “Naturist Camp: 3 Miles,” with an arrow pointing toward the ocean. Thinking they might meet up with some new friends who love the natural world, they turned. A couple of miles along the two-lane road, they looked into the distance and were shocked to see three people on bicycles, riding toward them…totally nude.
Realizing  their mistake, they were suddenly embarrassed that their son would see the oncoming bikers before they could get turned around. The dad slammed on the brakes, tried his best to do a quick U-turn as he and his wife worked hard to divert their son’s attention. Neither worked. The boy was staring intently while his dad was steering intensely. Both parents were amazed when they heard their boy burst forth, “Look, Mom and Dad; none of them are wearing safety helmets!”

Perspective is everything.

John 1:1-14 gives a beautiful picture of the Christmas story from God’s perspective. There is not a manger or barn. There are no shepherds or wise men. No Mary and Joseph. John tells us what happened at Christmas from God’s perspective.

From God’s perspective everything changed because of the birth of His son.

The world was dark and hopeless and  full of fear. The religious leaders were making it hard for people to please God. They just kept creating rule after rule to keep the people oppressed and in bondage.

But the birth of Jesus, changed everything! In the midst of this darkness and hopelessness and bondage – we read in vs 9 that God sent the true light down to earth,

“The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

The True Light came into the world. This light shines upon all people; however, it only shines into those who receive him and believe on his name. This means when we receive him we become privileged lights, whose primary responsibility is to shine forth for the True Light. We then become reflectors of the True Light.

God came into this world to change our lives forever. There is not a better way to understand how God changes our lives than the testimonies of those who have experienced this change. Each testimony you are about to hear is different. One is a fifteen year old-young man whose parents don’t come to church with him but he has found a family with the church he attends. The second is a young lady who had it pretty rough growing up.  She had an eating disorder. She had an absent dad. Her mother never expressed love to her and she got up in a crowd of friends that influenced her to make some disappointing choices.  The third video is a video of a young lady who grew up in the church but has discovered that having Christian parents and being good does not mean you have a relationship with God. Each on of these individuals have become reflectors of the light.

  length- 8:36          length – 11:01         length – 4:30

All of the changes that happened in these people’s lives is because of Jesus coming to earth. In the midst of their darkness, their hopelessness, and their fearfulness, Jesus was born!

The birth of Jesus shines a light of hope in the midst of our brokenness, a light of courage in the midst of our fear, and a light of love in the midst of a hateful and cruel world.

From God’s perspective,

• He does not see us as broken people.  He sees us as people worthy of sending His one and only son into the world.
• He does not see us as courage – less people. He sees us as people worthy of sending His one and only son in to the world.
• He does not see as hateful and cruel. He sees us as people worthy of sending His one and only son in the world.

He chooses to use broken, courage-less, hateful and cruel people to be his reflectors of the true light. If you don’t believe that’s true get on the internet and research the disciples that Jesus chose.

The only reason darkness exist is because of the absence of light.

Vs. 5 reminds us that,

“darkness cannot extinguish the light.”

All of us on planet earth are called to be the reflectors of the True light. Each person has been knit together in their mother’s womb and created in the image of God. But not everyone chooses to believe him and accept him. Vs. 12-13 reminds us,

“ But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”

If you do believe in Him and have accepted Him then you are to reflect the True light.

From God’s perspective – He loves you the same as He loved (s) His one and only son.

John says in vs. 10-13

“that Jesus offers us the right to be called children of God.”

Because of His birth we are offered the right be called His Kids. For those of you who didn’t grow up with a father around or your father was never there,  God is telling you that He wants to be your Father and he freely offers adoption. And for all of us, we can claim God as our spiritual Father.

This is incredible good news!

You belong to God. No matter what kind of dad you had growing up,  God wants to be your Father. He wants us to experience His unconditional love. Even good earthly fathers are limited by their sinfulness in how well they can love their kids. My Christian dad did a pretty good job but even he couldn’t love me perfectly like my heavenly Father can.

• Because I belong to God, I am forgiven.
• Because I belong to God, I have hope.
• Because I belong to God, I have a peace that passes all understanding.
• Because I belong to God, I know I am loved even when I mess up.

Both you and I belong to God.

The question is,  “do you want to belong to Him?”

God wants to change your history. In each of the  testimonies you heard near the beginning of this blog entry,  they all had one thing in common and its the same for all of us who have chosen to believe and accept Him – their history changed forever. No matter how dark their past was, no matter how good their parents were, no matter how broken they might have been, God changed their history.  God changed their perspective on life, on others, and themselves.

Do you want to belong to a God who is enduringly strong, and entirely sincere?
Do you want to belong to a God who is immortally graceful and imperially powerful?
Do you want to belong to a God who is impartially merciful and has impeccable timing?
Do you want to belong to God whose goodness is limitless and his mercy is everlasting?
Do you want to belong to a God whose love never changes and his grace does all the changing?
Do you want to belong to a God who is forever faithful and incredibly committed to you?

Maybe a more accurate question is: Who wouldn’t want to belong to a God like this?

Only stiff-necked people wouldn’t want this God
Only foolish people wouldn’t want this God.
Only selfish people wouldn’t want this God.
Only hard-hearted people wouldn’t want this God.
Only professional religious people wouldn’t want this God.

From God’s perspective – humanity is worth saving.

This is why He lived among us. Vs. 14 says,

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

He didn’t stay in heaven and tell us all to just be good boys and girls. He didn’t snap his fingers and make it all work out the easy way. Because humanity is worth saving He came to earth to be with us. He came to walk among us. He came to experience temptation like we do. He came to experience heartache like we do. He cried like a baby. Laughed at dumb jokes. Got angry with those who disrespected his heavenly Father. He was not some distant god who does what he wants without being with his people. He is a loving God who thinks that humanity is worth saving and works salvation for us by being one us.

God didn’t send His only son on that first Christmas day – to stop us from going to hell.

God didn’t send His only son on that first Christmas day – to make our lives easier.

God didn’t send His only son on that first Christmas day  – to create a feel good moment for the world.

God sent His only son because He wants to change our history. He wants to change the direction our life is going. He offers hope in our hopeless situations. He offers a Father’s love and a place to belong. He walked with us to save us.

Do you want to belong to a God like that?

The moment you want to belong to him – He will change your life forever.
The moment you belong to him – you will become a reflector of the True light.
The moment you belong to him – you become His Kid.

What’s stopping you?

Luke 2:1-7
2 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

For years now whenever Christmas pageants are talked about in a certain little town in the Midwest, someone is sure to mention the name of Wallace Purling. Wally’s performance in one annual production of the Nativity play has slipped into the realm of legend. But the old timers who were in the audience that night never tire of recalling exactly what happened.
Wally was nine that year and in the second grade, though he should have been in the fourth. Most people in town knew that he had difficulty in keeping up. He was big and clumsy, slow in movement and mind. Still, Wally was well liked by the other children in his class, all of whom were smaller than he, though the boys had trouble hiding their irritation if the uncoordinated Wally asked to play ball with them.
Most often they’d find a way to keep him off the field, but Wally would hang around anyway—not sulking, just hoping. He was always a helpful boy, a willing and smiling one, and the natural protector, paradoxically, of the underdog. Sometimes if the older boys chased the younger ones away, it would always be Wally who’d say, “Can’t they stay? They’re no bother.”
Wally fancied the idea of being a shepherd with a flute in the Christmas pageant that year, but the play’s director, Miss Lumbard, assigned him to a more important role. After all, she reasoned, the Innkeeper did not have too many lines, and Wally’s size would make his refusal of lodging to Joseph more forceful.
And so it happened that the usual large, partisan audience gathered for the town’s Yuletide extravaganza of the staffs and creches, of beards, crowns, halos and a whole stageful of squeaky voices. No one on stage or off was more caught up in the magic of the night than Wallace Purling. They said later that he stood in the wings and watched the performance with such fascination that from time to time Miss Lumbard had to make sure he didn’t wander onstage before his cue.
Then the time came when Joseph appeared, slowly, tenderly guiding Mary to the door of the inn. Joseph knocked hard on the wooden door set into the painted backdrop. Wally the Innkeeper was there, waiting. “What do you want?” Wally said, swinging the door open with a brusque gesture.
“We seek lodging.”
“Seek it elsewhere.” Wally looked straight ahead but spoke vigorously. “The inn is filled.”
“Sir, we have asked everywhere in vain. We have traveled far and are very weary.”
“There is no room in this inn for you.” Wally looked properly stern.
“Please, good innkeeper, this is my wife, Mary. She is heavy with child and needs a place to rest. Surely you must have some small corner for her. She is so tired.”
Now, for the first time, the Innkeeper relaxed his stiff stance and looked down at Mary. With that, there was a long pause, long enough to make the audience a bit tense with embarrassment.
“No! Begone!” the prompter whispered from the wings.
“No!” Wally repeated automatically. “Begone!”
Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary, and Mary laid her head upon his shoulder, and the two of them started to move away. The Innkeeper did not return inside his inn, however. Wally stood there in the doorway, watching the forlorn couple. His mouth was open, his brow creased with concern, his eyes filling unmistakably with tears.
“Don’t go, Joseph,” Wally called out. “Bring Mary back.” And Wallace Purling’s face grew into a bright smile. “You can have my room.”
Some people in town thought that the pageant had been ruined. Yet there were others—many others—who considered it the most Christmas of all Christmas pageants they had ever seen.

Wally totally gets the story of Christmas.

The humble beginning of Jesus is very humbling. Jesus was born into poverty not privilege. He was born into humility, not power He was born in obscurity not prominence.

All of this was done on purpose.

Jesus’ humble beginnings aren’t for the sake of a beautiful Hallmark story, they serve notice to everyone on Earth that Jesus’ way of doing things is completely different than anything they had seen before.

God chose Joseph not Ceasar. He didn’t choose what we would consider to be an important man like Ceasar or anyone else of that magnitude. He chose a carpenter who only the village people knew.

Joseph and Mary were nobodies. But Joseph and Mary were focused. Their focus was on the will of God and not their own. They even obeyed Ceasar. He was just a part of the story not the focus of the story. He issues this decree that a census should be taken. Joseph and Mary had to walk for a week to get to their home town.

Jesus was not born into comfort, power, or authority. Jesus did not inherit any power from his family. His family was no one special. Jesus had a very difficult beginning to his life. Joseph and Mary did the best they could with the resources they had and gave Jesus the best start in life they could give him.

What we learn from this story is Jesus was not born into comfort but He becomes the Comforter. He was not born into power but God gave him the power to be the most powerful man on earth. He was not born into a position of authority but God gave him the authority to heal the blind, lame, deaf, and diseased. These truths remind us that Jesus’ kingship was to be completely different than any earthly rulers.

God purpose for Jesus was not to be an earthly ruler. As you read through the OT/NT you will discover that earthly rulers constantly failed and many of them rarely obeyed God. None of them could change the heart of man. God purpose for Jesus was to be the ruler of our heart. We want him to change what’s going on in the world. We want him to change our circumstances. We want him to change everything about this world but He really only wants to change only one thing – OUR HEART.

God chose Jesus to be born in the small town of Bethlehem not Rome. Bethlehem was not a wealthy or exciting town and it definitely wasn’t a town of influence.  All the powerful, influential socially significant people lived in Rome. Jesus was not born into social prominence or exceptional wealth  but was the most influential man in history.  Jesus’ influence and significance did not come from his family background. His influence and significance came from his Father. Jesus’ focus was not on himself and how important he was. His focus was on others:

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matt. 20:28

God chose Jesus to be born in a manger and not on a throne. Jesus was not of royal birth. He was not powerful as a baby. He was born in lowly way – in a stable outdoors. God didn’t want his son just to be another earthly king. God needed a king that was willing to die on a cross for his subjects.

God was in control this whole time. 

Mary and Joseph, who are the central human figures in this story chose to be obedient. I’m sure they wouldn’t have chosen a manger to put their first born in. They wouldn’t have chosen a week long donkey ride while being nearly nine months pregnant. Those are choices they didn’t get to make. These choices were made for them.

They did choose obedience. Things didn’t exactly go the way they planned but they chose to be obedience and trust what God was telling them was true.

Choices don’t necessarily define us but they do direct us. Choices are made either based on pride / which are about us or humility/ which is about others. Joseph and Mary’s choice was about others.

In this story God was/is very intentional about everything He does and says. The ongoing theme throughout this whole story is humility.  He was born in a manger and not a throne. He was born to a commoner not to royalty. He was born into poverty and not into riches. The story continues on through the teachings of Jesus. He spoke about selling everything you have have and giving it to the poor. He said the first will be last and the last will be first.

He was born in a manger on purpose. Joseph and Mary were his parents on purpose. He was born in the little town of Bethlehem was on purpose.

Everything that God did/does is intentional.

The way He designed you was on purpose. The parents have/had was on purpose. The spouse you have/had is on purpose. The circumstances you are walking through or have walked through good or bad are on purpose. Even your bad choices you make or have made were/are on purpose. Romans 8:28 reminds us,

“28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

God is intentional with everything he does. His intention is to work everything in your life for His good purpose. The good, bad, and the ugly. Nothing that has happened in your life surprises God.  Your bad choices don’t even surprise him. He will use those choices for his purpose – if we would humble ourselves.

He is the one who gives us purpose. Only when we humble ourselves do we find that  purpose. Like I shared in the last blog entry , I really wanted to be a college athlete. But I had some limitations. I could have pouted about my limitations but I chose instead to be the best basketball manager for Anderson University. I got the same perks as the basketball players. I was
good at it. God knew I loved basketball. God knew I loved to serve others. I just had to be willing to humble myself and recognize the opportunity.

God has a purpose for everything you do, every decision you make, for every choice you are faced with. God purposes are higher than your purposes. God’s thoughts are higher than your thoughts. God’s way of doing things is higher than your way of doing things.

Jesus was born in a manger which is in the most humbling surroundings. Only God could turn the most humble circumstances to be born in into an event that is still celebrated 2000+ years later. Because of Jesus’ birth a once pagan holiday that was celebrated at the beginning of the winter solstice was turned into a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of a baby born in a manger. Only God could do that.

Then God takes His son’s humble beginnings in a manger and concludes His son’s life by letting Him die the most humiliating death – death on a cross.

As your read and understand this story you learn that what God did was in direct opposition to the culture and the way we think things should go. He sent shepherds out to tell others about his birth. Wisemen  humbled themselves and bowed down in front of a baby and gave him the most extravagant gifts – gifts fit for a king.

I don’t believe any of us would write a script like that. We wouldn’t have put in a manger. Like Wally said – I believe all of us would say – he could have my room.

All of us reading this would not have written the script of our lives the way it has been written. We would leave out the hard times, the tragedies, the bad choices, and get rid of all our negative things that have happened to us. In other words, our life has not gone the way we planned it in our head. My wife wanted Brad Pitt and got me. I think she made the right choice. I know I made the right choice. God knew I needed her and God knew she needed me. We have helped each other grow and mature in our relationship with Him. That’s why we needed each other. Going through all the hurt and pain before I met her was worth it. Did I understand it at the time? No. God was in control the whole time. God’s way is higher than my way. As I look back everything about what God has done in my life was very intentional.

Everything about what God does is intentional. You will not understand it at the time. No one does. God picked two humble servants. God provided a manger not a throne. God sent shepherds to be the first witnesses of the most important event in the history of mankind not professionals.

God is trying to convince us that his kingdom is in direct opposition of this earthly kingdom. None of what God does makes sense on this earth. Which reminds us that the kingdom Jesus wants to be king over has nothing to do with this world. God didn’t want him to be the king of an earthly kingdom. He wants him to be the ruler/king of our hearts.

Will we humble ourselves and give him our room by:

1. Trusting Him with the things going on in our life even though, to you, it doesn’t make sense.
2. Trusting Him that everything that is going on in your life right now is intentional.
3. Trusting Him that He will every choice you make – the good, bad, and the ugly – He will work out for his purposes.

Will you give Him your room?

Luke 2:8-20

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

For my last credit of my college career I was fortunate to get to go to Europe. Paris was one of the places we got to explore for a couple of days. We were at the Eiffel tower taking pictures and I saw an ice cream truck. I decided I would put my seven years of french classes to the test. I wanted to order a double of scoop of chocolate. I ended up getting a double scoop with peach and strawberry. Obviously, I didn’t do to well. My understanding of this language was …. how do you say it …… “mauvais” (bad).  Je parle mal francais.

To communicate, it’s important to know and understand the countries language. To be able to communicate the message of Christmas we must understand the language of Christmas. We know the Christmas story but do we really understand it’s meaning? Do we really understand that are ability to translate this story to others can change that’s person’s history? Do we really understand that Jesus is the only true king, the only savior of the world, the only Christ?

The Shepherds understood the meaning of the story. By the end of the day, the angel’s announcement to the shepherds flies directly in the face of Ceasar’s claim to power by saying that this baby was the true king. The Shepherds UNDERSTOOD – which means their heart and head connected – that this baby was the true king. They understood how significant this birth was and as we will learn later – they couldn’t keep quiet about it.

In vs 8-10, angels came to some of the most uneducated and incompetent men (shepherds) of the time. Shepherds of Jesus time were considered, by the general populace, generally untrustworthy. Even worse, their work made them ceremonially unclean because they had daily contact with carcasses of animals and came into contact with all sorts of unclean animals. The shepherds were humbled by their low social standing; they had no place (no status) and very little value to their society. Shepherds were also considered “incompetent”. According to Jewish law, no one should ever feel obligated to rescue a shepherd who has fallen into a pit. They were basically treated like slaves who had very little human value. They were basically broken, unclean, people who could not be fixed or restored to humanity.

When the angel appears to them, he makes an announcement, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” In other words, what I am about to tell you is extremely important.

What exactly did these shepherds understand? They understood vs. 11,

“The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”

All three of these words- savior, Christ, and Lord had been used by Romans to describe Caesar Augustus when he took the throne in Rome. The people put their trust in their king.

By the time this scene was over, the shepherds understood and were convinced that he was THE Savior. Not Ceasar. Not anyone else. Not the other gods that were being worship. They understood this was not just another baby. This was not just another child who will grow into a man and wait for the God’s salvation. He IS God’s salvation – the Savior who had been promised.

It’s important to understand – there is only one Savior. He came as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and was laid in a manger.

What about all these other religions that proclaim they have the way to God?  Well, let me politically incorrect –  they are wrong.

Ed Stetzer, who is a representative of Christianity  during the world religion conference, has a Buddhist friend he sits next to during these conferences. They spend most of the conference trying to convince each other that the other is wrong. Both of them chuckle when the topic comes up on how our religions can work together.  At one particular conference Ed S. spoke up. In essence he said, “there is no way we can work together. I am here to convince the world that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and trying to convince my Buddhist friend he is the Savior of the world. My Buddhist friend is trying to convince me Jesus is just a savior and that his way to God is the right one.”

In my student ministry days, one of my students left my group to join the Mormon church.  I was furious and said some things that I can never take back.  In my last meeting with her, she explained to me why she did what she did. She was looking for more truth and they offered her more truth.My response to her was, “I sure hope your right and I’m wrong.”

The shepherds understood and were convinced that He was the Christ, “The anointed one”. It is the Greek version of the Hebrew word “Messiah”. This baby is not just someone who will grow up to try to save God’s people – lots of leaders had been trying to do this. This is not just someone who will save on his own power, this baby is God’s solution to the sin problem in our world. No law can change people’s hearts. No religion can change people’s heart. Only Jesus. The Crusades during the 11th and 13th century were an attempt the convince Muslim’s that Christianity is the only way. The Crusades were an attempt to convince the world by force the Christianity should be the world religion. It didn’t work.

The shepherds understood that this baby is not just someone sent by God, He is God. He is the Lord Himself, the King. He is leader and ruler. He is not a ruler who forces himself on anyone.  Jesus was, “God in – the – flesh”. He didn’t become God. He didn’t become Lord. He is …..

Let’s move on …..

17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

The shepherds reaction to this good news is to go find the baby. Once they find the baby, they can’t stop talking about Him. When you understand who he is and the significance of his birth is – well, you just can’t keep quiet. Their reaction to the good news reveals to me that they understood they were broken and unclean people who could not be fixed. The world around them told them they were nothing. The Jewish law reminded them daily that they were unclean. The society in which they lived put them below the low end of the social ladder.  They had no grand illusions of their importance to God. They had no grand illusions of how important they were. They had no grand illusions of having it all together. They had no money they could depend on.  They had no power to influence anyone. Society didn’t want them. Nobody really cared about them. All they had was God.

Like the shepherds, we are basically broken and unclean people who cannot be fixed and cannot restore our relationship with God on our own. The only difference is that many of us have these grand illusions we can fix ourselves or have it all together, and worse, we allow pride to be our guide.

The only way we come to the reality that all we have is God  is when we have have been broken, rejected by others, or have done something wrong that can’t be fixed by human hands or thoughts.  If you don’t believe this is true, answer this question, “Who do people cry out to when they have no thing or no one else to turn to?” The answer: God. In those moments, we begin to understand the Christmas story. When God shows up, you experience a joy unspeakable. You experience joy that cannot be explained. In other words, you are beginning to understand the Christmas story. When you understand the significance of this birth,  there is a joy that wells up inside you … you understand, “he is my savior!”, “He is my Messiah!”, “he is the leader and ruler of my life.” “He is God.”

The shepherds show show us how we to can begin to understand the Christmas story.

• You must first realize that you are broken and you need a savior.

I met with a person this week who I hadn’t seen at church  in a while. She explained to me why she hadn’t been at the church. She was working through some tough issues and needed to spend some time at Cornerstone (local counseling center). She recognized that she was broken and she needed help. She admitted she was broken and has started to do something about it. She has begun the process of healing. When faced with similar circumstances we try to do a lot of things to fix ourselves or fill that longing in our heart. The reality is only Jesus can turn her (and our) brokeness into something beautiful.  No one or nothing else can.

• Accept who you are. Accept your faults. Accept your limitations. Accept the fact that you are created in the image of God.

You may not be the prettiest, the most talented, or fit the societal norm, but you are who you are, and God will use you the way he has designed you.

Not making any sports teams growing up was difficult for me. I loved sports. I loved playing sports. I never got  picked first or near the top and it always bothered me. Because of my height and my nerdy appearance, I was always picked last. As my life unfolded, I have realized that God had something much better planned for me but I needed to accept the fact that I would never become a college athlete before His plan could work.

• Admit you never will have it all together – you need help.

We spend more time and money on our image and what we want people to think about us than we do on anything else. If we are honest …. all the stuff we have and all the things we do to ourselves … we really don’t need. We have been convinced we need it by a company who knows how to play on our insecurities or play on our desire to keep up with the Jones’.

When you realize you are broken, when you accept the way God designed you, when you admit you will never have it all together, you begin to understand why Jesus came to earth as a helpless babe. You begin to understand how much grace God has shown you. You begin to understand the phrase, “I once was blind but now I see.” You begin to understand the language Christmas is actually speaking:

Jesus is the savior of the world.
Jesus is the Messiah.
Jesus is Lord.

When the shepherds got this, they couldn’t keep quiet.

Despite the many  who do not understand the story of Christmas,

• God wants our brokeness
• God wants our limitations
• God wants our insecurities

Why? Like the shepherds, people will be astonished at what He has done in your life.

Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Look at these two pictures:

Before reading any further answer this question, “Which picture best represents peace?”.  Make the decision then read on.

Two artists set out to make a picture representing perfect peace. The first painted a canvas depicting a carefree lad sitting in a boat on a little lake without a ripple to disturb the surface. The other painted a raging waterfall with winds whipping the spray about. On a limb, overhanging the swirling water, a bird had built its nest, and sat peacefully brooding her eggs. Here she was safe from her predatory enemies, shielded and protected by the roaring falls. The first pictured only comfort and ease; the last was peace.

You probably got it right, it is the bird in the nest by a raging waterfall.

All of us long for peace. Other than the love of another human being,  this the thing everyone longs for. Peace in their life.

We thought cell phones and computers would make our lives less chaotic and create more free time. We think buying things will help us be more comfortable and feel at peace. If we only had more money we could be in financial peace.  If we only had this – we could be at peace. If we only had that – we would only be at peace.

When I was 12 years old and my mom and dad took me to Disney World for a Christmas present. At that time I was the only kid who got to go to Disney world in my family. I had a great time until I thought that a gun that shot a cork with a string attached to it would satisfy my every longing. When they didn’t get it for me, my parents had to literally escort me from the happiest place on earth.

We think the things we just gotta have are going to bring us peace. We look for things to bring us peace. We look for our spouse or that significant other to bring us peace. None of those things can give the kind of peace that we are longing for.  We think they can. We also spend a lot of money trying to find peace.

At the present time there is the big debate over gun laws. I am in an argument with one of my liberal friends about whether there should be more gun laws to regulate guns. He’s thinking we need more laws. He’s thinking that a law will stop someone from doing something stupid or evil. More laws on any issue are not going to be bring peace to  issues. No matter which side of the coin you are on no law has ever brought peace on earth.

The reality is: Over the past 4000 plus years, the people who live on earth have only experienced 286 years of peace on earth. So, 92% of our time here on earth people have been at war.

The kind of peace we want is a stress free life, no money worries, the perfect spouse who does everything right, no wars, no more mass shootings, no more evil. I don’t think this is the kind of peace God wants to give. I do believe it is a by-product of kind of peace God wants to give. All of these thing do not bring peace. They only bring comfort and ease. When it comes to peace what we are really wanting is comfort and ease. Comfort and ease does not equal peace.

When you look at the biblical story that you just read at the beginning of this blog entry, Joseph was experiencing anything but peace. There was nothing comforting or easy about anything that was happening in his life.  His fiancé was pregnant, and he wasn’t the father. His village probably thought he was idiot for staying with Mary and not stoning her. He had to take a 8-9 month pregnant woman on a donkey ride to Bethlehem to register for the census. Nothing had gone the way he planned. You could say his life was in chaos and out of control. As you read the Christmas story, we don’t even see a hint of stress in Joseph. It was certainly there but that is not what stuck out about this man. None of the biblical authors record anything negative about Joseph. Instead the scriptures describe him as a righteous man, a fitting husband, a guy who was going to do the right thing no matter what.The scriptures describe him as the right man to be the earthly father for the Messiah. Even though Joseph’s life is spinning out of control, this story gives us a glimpse into the peace of God. Even in the midst of chaos, Joseph listened and was obedient. In the midst of all the chaos going on his life, Joseph is faced with the difficult decision of what to do with Mary. She became pregnant out of wedlock and could face any number of consequences. I am sure Joseph was angry. But rather than respond in anger- how does he respond? Look at vs 18-19:

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

He doesn’t run away from the chaos, he enters into the chaotic situation. He doesn’t enter into the situation by seeking after what HE wants. He thinks about who? Mary and what is best for her.

This little 50 second video illustrates the point of seeking of what you want and not what the other needs.

This is how we find peace in the midst of our chaotic situations (not the video). Seeking the good of others. In other words showing compassion in the midst of the chaos.

I put this to the test. It works. A few weeks ago.  We were in the midst of rush hour and holiday traffic around Chicago. It took us an hour to go 10 miles. There was a 100 cars behind and 100 cars in front of us.
In the midst of all the chaos of cars, a guy in his car pulls up along side me looking for a way to get on the off ramp. I could have been a total jerk but I let him in. He waved with all four fingers and thumb showing. I knew I had changed that man’s history (every little act of compassion you do for somebody changes their history).
As Christ followers, this is what we are called to do, show compassion. A chaotic situation is the perfect time to show compassion. In the midst of chaos, there are no if,buts, or and about it this what we are called to do.

I John 3:17 says,

If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?

There is a little song we sing that has a profound meaning, “and they’ll we are Christians by our love.”

How else do we find peace in the middle of chaotic situation(s)?

Look at Matthew 1:20-21:

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Giving God a chance to weigh in on difficult decisions is the way to peace.

Joseph has a dream in which God tells him what to do. I don’t know if God will speak to you like that all the time – though he certainly can. Prayer is a way to allow God to weigh in on the difficult decision you need to make. Even when Jesus was facing the cross still had to make the decision to go through with it all. He went and prayed and he ended his prayer like this …. “Not my will but your will be done.” He let His Father weigh on the big decision He needed to make. This is one of the reasons we pray – to allow God to weigh in on difficult decisions that you need to make. When we turn our decisions over to God and we let him have a say about what we should do, His peace can overtake even the most chaotic circumstances. 

When we turn our decisions over to God and we let him have a say about what we should do, His peace can overtake even the most chaotic circumstances. It doesn’t necessarily mean God will make your life easier or more comfortable,  it simply means that God will remind you what the right thing to do is – just like he did Joseph. Things didn’t get easier for him just because he prayed. In fact his life got even more chaotic  but he still prayed and he listened.

Prayer changes your whole perspective on what is going on around you. Prayer reminds us that God is with us. When we are aware God is constantly with us, when we are aware of presence  everything changes. There might be chaos going on around you but one of the key things prayer does is remind us we are not alone.

In verse 24-25 we read,

“24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Joseph listened to God and did what was asked of him to do. Joseph could had taken the easy way out and divorced her quietly or had her stoned by the religious leaders. His life would probably had been much easier. But he chose to do it the way God told him.

The only way to experience the peace of God is to do things His way. How do you know what His way is? The same way Joseph did. You wrestle with it and cry for help! You can bet on the fact it is going to be something that you don’t naturally like to do.

Like Paul in Romans 7:15,

“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.”

The things God asks us to do aren’t natural. Meaning we won’t like to do them but they will have a kingdom affect if we do. Like Paul, we know what the right thing to do is but we end up doing the natural thing we hate. If it’s something you hate doing and hard for you to do ….. well …. It’s probably the Lord’s will …. Not always but it is highly likely. They are the things that help us mature as believers and sharpen us as Christ followers. His way is usually harder and his way usually requires personal sacrifice. The personal sacrifice is what makes it hard.

You can only find true peace, the peace you are longing for, through a relationship with Jesus Christ because His peace. He is the Prince of Peace.

That’s what this whole Christmas season is about,  reminding us that He is with us. If you haven’t noticed there is chaos going on all around us. Even in the midst of all this chaos. We need to be reminded that he is with us. Because when you know He is with you – you will experience peace.

Do you want peace in your life? Or comfort and ease?

Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town. He’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty and nice, Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.”
I have never really liked that song. You can’t fool Santa …. He knows it all.  He knows that I used to steal money from brothers and sister. He knows I lied to mom about what time I got in at night as a teen. He knows I used to cuss up a storm with my friends who lived in the neighborhood. What chance do I have for a decent Christmas present now? I might as well just keep on being bad. He knows I have done all these bad things. There is no way I was going to get any kind of descent Christmas presents with all the bad stuff I have done.

As we get older and wiser we tend to equate the same thoughts when it comes to our relationship with God. He knows when I stole money. He knows about every time I lied. He knows I used to cuss up a storm. He knows I have done a lot more bad things. There is no way he could love me. There is no way I could have any kind of descent relationship with him after all the bad stuff I have done. He sees me when I am sleeping – he knows when I am awake. He knows when I’ve been good and bad so I’d better be good for His sake. Or, for the sake of today’s entry, so I’d better be good to find God’s favor.

Mary found favor with God. Out of all the women in the world God could have chosen … why did he choose Mary? Why was Mary the favored one? We really don’t know much about Mary so we can’t be completely sure why. We can guess a little bit about what kind of woman she was to find favor with God and bear the Savior of the world.We have learned that Mary was a humble servant. We have learned that she was a patient woman.We have learned that she was kind. But the Bible doesn’t really tell us these things. There was something different about her compared to  the other millions of women that God could have chosen.

What does it mean to be in God’s favor?

Trying to explain what it means to be in God’s favor is like trying to explain why my wife and I chose each other. There are a lot of variables and there really is not systematic way of trying to explain it. I could try to explain it but I really can’t explain all the variables involved. You have to discover and experience it for yourself.

When a young man asked me how I knew how my wife was the one – I gave him the most profound answer a pastor could give to a student – I just knew! I wanted to know her. He came to me several times with the same question and my an answer was the same. He called me from Denver, Co one day and told me,  “now I get it. I know!” That’s all he said …. I knew he was getting married.

To understand what it means to be in God’s favor we first must understand that we are all in God’s favor..

John 3:16 reminds us, “For God so loved the world that he have his one and only son and whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

Not everyone wants to be in God’s favor – so they reject Him.  Not everyone wants to know God – so they reject Him. Not everyone wants to love God back – so they reject him. Those who don’t want to be in God’s favor – won’t be.Those who don’t want to know God – won’t be. Those who don’t want to love God back won’t be in God’s favor.

Finding favor with God is not a magical formula you can put together and then expect God to be pleased with you and bless you. Mary was not just sitting around expecting God to reward her at any moment. She loved God. She was kind to others. She was patient and was the Lord’s servant. This tells me she was willing to do anything for God. She didn’t choose to be the mother of God’s son but she accepted the opportunity to be the mother of God’s son.

God wants to use all His favored ones. Like Mary, when God wants to use you …. you will be surprised. You just don’t sit around and wait for it. You can’t figure out when, where, why, and how – you are just surprised.

This surprise was going to cost Mary. She could be stoned. She would be rejected by her community. She disappointed Joseph. Her family probably rejected her. She probably experienced anger from her earthly father and got a disappointing look from her earthly mother.

Even though she didn’t choose this direction for her life, she accepted the opportunity to serve God by being the mother of God’s son because she belonged to God and God promised to never leave or forsake her. She had confidence that God was not going to abandon her and let her face this cruel world alone.

You might be in God’s favor but does not mean you deserve certain things from him. It doesn’t give you any entitlement rights. It doesn’t mean you will be chosen to do the grand thing that Mary did. But you will be chosen to do something.

You and I, like Mary, have been chose to serve God. We have accepted his love for us. We have accepted that He is in control. We have accepted that he has plans to prosper us and give us a hope and a future. For Mary, God showed up to her in a big way! And by her reaction – she wasn’t expecting it at all.

Vs 29 says, “Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.”

Like Mary, God comes to each one us. I can’t tell you when, where, why, and how. Like I tried to explain to my youth student many years ago – but you will know.

This is how you will know……

For Mary, what the angel told her, was going to require a miracle inside of her. Mary reminds the angel that she is a virgin and cannot become pregnant. But God tells her, “nothing is impossible with me.”

When God wants to use you …. It will seem impossible to you. Growing up I was nerd. I was smart in school. I was also this short little kid who loved to play sports but wasn’t very good at any of them. I was always picked last because I was the shortest. I was picked on, made fun of because of my glasses and high water pants and turtle neck shirts. I was bullied at school and loved at church. For some reason when I was 18 years old, my pastor picked me to be a part of discipleship group with other adults. Not only was I part of the group. I was required to lead one Bible study with adults. I was terrified and is seemed impossible. I had never lead anything in my life.  To me, at the time,  it seemed impossible. Now it’s the thing I love to do the most.  God took this backward little boy and worked a miracle inside of Him.

God makes the impossible – possible. God’s power will be with us to make the impossible possible. God’s power will make the uncomfortable, comfortable. God’s power will make the awkward moments– divine moments.  When you are doing something that will honor God – your fears turn into faith, your doubt turns into divine duty, and your awkwardness turns into something awesome. This is what God’s power does. I have never seen a mountain move or a sea parted, but I have seen lives transformed because they accepted the assignment and did what once seemed impossible – possible. I have seen marriages restored.
I have seen men start to love their wives and families and be the godly leaders in their home. I have seen hundreds of teens come to know Christ through sports.I have seen God do the impossible in mine and other people’s lives – and I got to be a part of it.

When God wants to use you – it will cost you everything. He will use those who are willing to give up their time, their money, and their entire lifestyle. Look at what Mary and Joseph gave up. Their community rejected them. They gave up their desired lifestyle. They literally risked their life bringing God’s son into the world. For what? To be used by God to change the course of history for everyone.

Mary’s response to this amazing unfolding of God’s plan is simply, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

Are you the Lord’s servant? Are you willing to give up your time, money, and your entire life style to change someone’s history? Being God’s servant is not a burden we carry but it is an honor we have in serving others. This is what God is asking his favored ones to do. We are not here for ourselves … we are here to change someone’s history and make their history, his-story.

God needs some “YES” people – are you one of them?

The youth took this Sunday and made it their own! There were 9 students up front. 4 of them ushered. 2 of them greeted. Youth Sunday is always an exciting Sunday for me. It is always gives me hope that the church will continue to exist after my generation is not in charge.

I remember going to youth conventions as a teen, leader, planner, and conference leader. I have seen it from all angles. I would say my favorite time was as a teen. I gave some youth leaders some gray hairs just like by students gave me gray hairs as a leader. I was thankful for those times of community, fun, and discipleship. All of these experiences have helped shape and form me spiritually.  These experiences gave me a small glimpse of how God is working not only in my life but in the lives of 1000’s of others.

At ISYC (Indiana State Youth Convention) they got the same experience.  These leaders and young people were challenged to let God write their story. That’s a difficult thing to do knowing how much we like to have control. They shared the fun time they had but they also challenged us who were listening that God wants all of us ….. the good, bad, and the ugly.

There are many things we go through in life that we just don’t understand. But when we look back we notice where God had been at work. God is at work in the good, bad, and ugly. We tend to think that God is only in the good and only gives us good experiences, good feelings, and good times Don’t get me wrong…. God is in the good but he is also in the bad, ugly, and dark times in our lives. In fact, that is when we seek Him the most. We might not understand what is going on but if we let Him write the story instead of trying to control the story the ending is so much better. In fact one could say the ending will be divine (something difficult for us and others to explain).

I hope you take a moment to watch this 4 minute video. As you see each face come across your screen – pray for them! Pray that God will we use that person to impact a friend who needs Jesus. Pray for the leaders you see and ask God to encourage them as they impact the next generation.

I do believe the generation behind me is going to change the world. Their love for Jesus and their passion to want to make a difference will bring a lot of hope and change when they take over.

Pray now.