Devotions

“O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ‘Til He appear’d and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born; O night divine, O night, O night Divine.”

I am sure you recognized immediately the wonderful carol, “O Holy Night,” written in 1847 by French composer, Adolphe Adam. The original lyrics were written by a French Poet, the English by John Sullivan Dwight, a minister.

I get chills every I hear this song, every time. Doesn’t seem to matter who is singing it. I just love this song. Perhaps it is that one line that makes my soul soar—the one that reminds me, “’Til He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.”

I’ve often told the story, and even included it in many a devotion, about buying a Walter Payton rookie football card for my son’s 18^th birthday. But I will tell it again. I wanted to get him something special and Payton was his favorite Chicago Bear. When I asked the store’s owner if he had one, he told me he did. I asked him what it was worth, and he said words that have remained with me.  He said, “It’s worth what you are willing to pay for it.”

“’Til He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.” What are you worth?

You are worth what God was willing to pay for you. You are worth the precious life of His Only Son. That should give all of us “a thrill of hope!”

https://www.bing.com/search?q=oh+holy+night+by+david+phelps&form=EDNTHT&mkt=en-us&httpsmsn=1&refig=a4fc45dc55394bba8e48c14b6dc78d3e&sp=1&qs=AS&pq=oh+holy+night+by+david&sc=2-22&cvid=a4fc45dc55394bba8e48c14b6dc78d3e&cc=US&setlang=en-US

I love Christmas carols and songs. I turn to radio stations that play them as soon as Thanksgiving is past. I think I could listen to them all year long and never grow tired. I love the old carols and I love the new songs. I heard a new one (at least new to me) the other day and fell in love with it. Faith Hill was singing, “A Baby Changes Everything.”* (There’s a YouTube link at the end if you’d like to listen.)

The lyrics begin, “Teenage girl, much too young. Unprepared for what’s to come. A baby changes everything.”

As I listened I, of course, began to think about Mary – not the Mary that has been adored and worshipped, but the young girl that God chose to be the mother of His Only Son. She wasn’t much more than a child herself, but in her obedience, she would do as God asked. And the world was never the same for it.

For Mary, that baby changed everything. She rushed off to her older cousin Elizabeth, now miraculously pregnant in her old age with John the Baptist. Elizabeth confirmed Mary’s obedience. Still, I am sure it would not be long before the town was alive with gossip. Soon would come the trip to Bethlehem and the birth. There would be shepherds there before the night was done to once again confirm Mary’s obedience.

Later the Magi from the east would come and that would necessitate a trip to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. Eventually, there would be a return home to Nazareth and peaceful, quiet years—until the Son of God, her son, was revealed, rejected, and crucified. Yes, for Mary, that baby changed everything.

And with His resurrection, He once again changed everything, bringing life this time to Mary, and to all who would come to believe in Him. As the song reminds us, for us, too, that baby changes everything. Thank you, Mary, for your obedience

*Composers: Craig Wiseman, Tim Nichols

Today, at The Way, we will finish 2 Peter’s list of virtues to add to our faith. The final virtue is love. Agape is the Greek word and over and over (if you have spent any time at all in the church) you will hear it defined as unconditional love. That means that this type of love is not predicated by desire or attraction to the one being loved.

And who are we to love? Well, Peter covered that in the preceding virtue with brotherly kindness (love). The word he used there is philadelphia in the Greek. It is usually translated as brotherly love in the NT, except here in 2 Peter 1. In this section, for some reason, the translators almost always use brotherly kindness. Perhaps they didn’t want to confuse the two loves.

Yet, there should really be no confusion; we need both philadelphia and agape in ever-increasing measure. Philadelphia tells us we are to love whom the Father loves, His children. We are brothers and sisters, all washed in the blood of Christ, and all children of the same Father.  Agape completes the picture by telling us that we are to love as God loves, in the same manner, unconditionally.

As humans we use phrases such as being in love or falling in love. We know love is an emotion sparked by an attraction to someone or something. When we feel that emotion, we love.  Agape love, unconditional love, becomes an emotion, but it doesn’t begin there. It begins with a choice.  We will to love, and then by the power of God, we feel.

I learned this lesson early. There was a woman I worked with that just drove me nuts. I avoided her whenever possible. I was a new Christian. I heard about agape love. I asked God to give me His kind of love for people. And, of course, you know what happened. God put this woman in my path all day, every work day. She agitated me, and then I decided I would love her anyway. It wasn’t too long after the choice was made to love that I experienced love for her.

2 Peter 1:5-8:  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith … brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

I am thankful today. It snowed Sunday and early Monday morning the roads were still a bit wet, temps around the freezing mark, and I’m driving to work in Black Bart. A guy in a battered old pickup is speeding down the dedicated left turn lane next to me … when the lane ends, he doesn’t turn left as he should but keeps going. The lane is narrowing with barriers on his left and me on his right. He’s trying to get around me and the three cars behind me. When he runs out of room, he hits the gas and attempts to sneak past, and goes into a tail spin.

He came with an “angel’s width” of the front of my car, then his car starts doing 360’s in my lane. I’m slamming on my brakes, praying the three behind me are doing the same. The battered pickup keeps spinning until he flies down the ditch on our right and ends up sideways, but upright. This all happened in a matter of seconds. It left me shaky but praising God for that “angel” that got between me and the pickup. There is no way that guy would have missed me otherwise.

In a moment’s notice everything can change.  In Luke 12:16-21, Jesus spoke a parable about a rich fool. He tells the story of a man who had everything. He harvested so much he had to build bigger storage areas to hold it all. He thought that now he could live in ease, “eat, drink, and be merry” for years to come. But God had other plans for him. “God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’”

If there is a Bible story for our day and age, and its pursuit of more and more so that we can “eat, drink, and be merry…” and build bigger barns, it’s this Bible parable told by Jesus. In an instant, life can change – or even be gone, on a highway, in our homes, or where we work or play.  We need to make sure that we heed God’s warning to the rich man – and His warning to us, “So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”  Beloved, we need to make sure our priorities are right!  [vs21 NKJV]

Speaking of Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, as we did yesterday with the discovery of the little boy and his lunch that Jesus used to feed the 5000 – speaking of Andrew, the Scripture doesn’t really speak much about him.  He’s mentioned about 14 times in the New Testament, and most of those times he’s merely listed within the Twelve disciples whom Jesus chose.

We know one thing about him, however, he was pretty good at bringing people to Jesus. Andrew was apparently a disciple of John the Baptist. When John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the One who was to come, Andrew immediately left and followed Jesus. “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.” [John 1:41-42]

We know he found the little boy with his lunch of five small barley cakes and two little fish and brought him to Jesus. And we also know that when certain “Greeks” were eager to meet the Lord, he and Phillip brought them to Jesus.

The last reference to Andrew occurs when it is noted that he was present in the upper room in Acts 1 when the Spirit fell. After that, nothing. There are traditions and stories about what happened to Andrew, where he went, how he died, but the inspired Word of God does not continue with him. After Acts 1, it’s pretty much about his big brother, Peter, and a yet unknown Paul.

Andrew will, however, always be our example for one very special work of faith, that of bringing people to Jesus. Three times Scripture notes that he did so. Three times he invited someone to “come see Jesus.”  Lots of people want to talk to Peter and Paul when they get to heaven, I’m heading to Andrew. “Tell me, Andrew, about all those you brought to Jesus that Scripture did not record! I know there must be many.”

All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 men (plus women and children) from 5 small barley cakes and two tiny fish.  (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6)

While all four Gospel writers recount the same story—it was late in the day, the crowds were hungry, the location was remote, and the disciples had no means to buy food for everyone—only one adds two very important details. The source of those small barley cakes and which disciple spoke up about them. John tells us that “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.’” [John 6:8-9]

Six small barley cakes. Two tiny fish. One little boy. He set out that morning perhaps, like all little boys, to run and discover and explore. Possibly his mother had packed that little lunch for him. We know he wasn’t well off since barley cakes were the rough little round cakes that were the staple of the poor. Somehow, he’d been swept up in the crowd following Jesus. Now here it was late in the day. Maybe this was the first time he’d even thought about being hungry. Little boys, captivated by the world around them, can often forget to eat.

Suddenly Andrew, one of the fishermen following Jesus, shows up looking for food. He finds one little boy with the lunch of the poor and takes him to Jesus.  That little boy offers his lunch to the teacher. But what was so little going to do in the face of so much need? Then he must have watched how Jesus took what he had, gave thanks, broke apart those little round barley cakes and two tiny fish and began to distribute it to the multitudes. He watched what he brought and was willing to offer to the Teacher, become a mighty miracle.

Every wonder about that little boy? I do. I wonder if he was swept into the new church after Jesus’ resurrection. I know he could never forget the miracle or the miracle-worker. The people there would remember being fed; this little boy would remember how it was that his small offering was multiplied by the Master to feed so many.

Growing up I remember going to a bunch of movies that were based on biblical themes. Some were directed by Cecile B. DeMille, such as The Ten Commandments, The Sign of the Cross, and Samson and Delilah. My favorite was Samson and Delilah staring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamar. I liked it because Victor Mature was so handsome and for his day–buffed.

When I looked up the movie this morning, this was the description: “When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regret.”

When I read the original story, it is just a bit different. Samson was the one in love, Delilah was a prostitute who seems more interested in the money offered to her by the Philistines for the secret of Samson’s strength than she is in Samson. (Judges 16:4-31.)

Which raises the question, if Samson was as buffed with muscles as he is always portrayed in the books and movies, why would anyone question the source of his strength? It would be evident! Personally, I think Samson might have been a bit puny. After all, the source of his strength was not his muscles, it was his God.

As the angel told his mother when he announced to her that she would have a son, “the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” [Judges 13:5]

There were special conditions to be a Nazirite (Judges 6). One of which was that he was not to cut his hair. All the conditions were outward signs of an inward separation to God. The strength was not in the outward signs of that separation, nor in the muscles of the body, the strength came from God through dedication and obedience to God.

Like Samson, our strength is not in the outward signs. It too, comes from God through our dedication and obedience.

When I think of Bible heroes of faith, I immediately think of Daniel. Daniel and the Lion’s Den. What fun it is to read the story of how Daniel was thrown in with a bunch of hungry lions and how God send an angel to keep the lions from harming him. It’s a great story, one that all the little kiddies love. [Daniel 6]

I love it too, because when I think of Daniel and the Lion’s Den, I focus on what got him tossed in there in the first place. We could probably define it with two words, integrity and jealousy. The integrity was Daniel’s, the jealousy belonged to all those around him.

Daniel had defined himself as man of integrity. He always did what was right in the sight of God. While God was pleased with Daniel’s integrity, those who worked with him were not. Daniel’s integrity had captured the attention of the king, and because of it, the king wanted to put him in charge of everything except the throne.

That made those who worked with Daniel jealous. He was getting what they wanted. So, they conspired against him and even deceived the king who loved Daniel into setting him up. The plot was to turn Daniel’s own integrity again him. How ironic that his enemies actually relied on Daniel’s integrity to indict him under their sentence of death.

Of course, we know the story. Daniel worshipped his God just as he always did, in his window where all could see. He didn’t stop, nor did he hide, he was true to his God. That got him thrown in with the lions. The best part however, is that Daniel’s God was also true to him.

I wonder as I think about Daniel, what I would have done … I wonder even more about my own integrity. Would it be enough to get me tossed in with the lions? Do others even notice?

Oh Lord, help me to live with the integrity of Daniel!

His name is James. He’s not James, the brother of John, who were sons of Zebedee and Apostles of Jesus. He’s the James of Mark 6:3, “James, Joseph, Judas and Simon,” the oldest of Jesus’ brothers. He is also known as “James the Just” and in Acts we see him leading the Jerusalem church. Many scholars attribute the Epistle of James to him.

Growing up with Jesus as a brother couldn’t have been easy. We know that the brothers were not exactly thrilled when he left the carpentry shop and took off preaching.  John reports that “his own brothers did not believe in him.” [7:5]

A couple times they even dragged their mother along and came looking for him to bring him home. They thought he was crazy. But then something changed for James. Jesus appeared to him following the resurrection. Paul gives that account in his great chapter on the physical resurrection of Jesus, 1 Corinthians 15. He reminds his readers of the evidence of Jesus’ bodily resurrection by citing those who saw Him afterwards. Jesus appeared to Peter, the Twelve, to more than 500 brothers (most of whom were still alive), then to James, and finally to Paul himself. The James that Paul mentions is believed to be Jesus’ brother James.

What was James thinking when Jesus came to him? Here was his brother, the one he thought was crazy, the one he wanted taken out of ministry, the one who was crucified as a common criminal, now standing before him in glorious splendor, resurrected from the dead. I wonder what they said in that personal private moment.

For all who come to call on Jesus Christ as Lord, to each there is a “James-moment,” a personal private revelation of Christ Jesus who comes to us resurrected from the dead. Whatever we may have thought of Him before, it all changes in one glorious moment as it did for James.

Thank you, Lord, for coming to each of us in a personal “James-moment.” Amen.

Everyone has a story. You do. I do. And so do all those people in the Bible. We tell “Bible Stories” to our children so that they might learn about God as they see Him work in the lives of Bible “Heroes.” Maybe we should take a few days and look at some of those Bible Stories ourselves. I am certain we have not outgrown them. I know I haven’t.

How about starting with two women who played a pivotal role in beginnings. First, Eve; then, Mary. Both have a story. Both had a choice to make.

Eve, alongside her husband Adam, had walked with God amid perfection and beauty. They were given one rule, don’t eat the fruit of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” When Satan in the form of a serpent visited Eve while she was alone one day, he convinced her that God was wrong, and that God’s one rule was keeping her from knowing everything she should know. She bit. Then she gave the fruit to Adam, who also bit. And that was the beginning of the sin, death, struggle and pain that has since plagued humanity. Gone was the perfection and beauty, replaced now by frustration and hopelessness. (Genesis 3)

Mary was a young maiden, engaged to Joseph, a carpenter. Alone one day, she had a heavenly visitor who gave her the news that God wanted her to bear His child. She was to give this child the name Jesus for He would save His people. Mary was afraid, after all she was probably just a teenager, and while every young Jewish woman desired to be the mother of the Messiah, this was still a very strange message. Mary didn’t completely understand, but she responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”  (Luke 1:26-38)

And with Mary’s response came a new beginning, one that would bring the offer of forgiveness, healing, life, peace and redemption to humanity.  Gone was the frustration and hopelessness that entered with Eve’s choice. Now purpose and hope would be available to all who respond as Mary did, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”

Two women, each with a story. One disobeyed what God said and brought death, the other obeyed in faith and gave birth to life.