That night God opened a portal between heaven and earth, and a pathway paved with the grace of God was let down in the form of a tiny, unassuming, vulnerable baby.
While the world slept, a miracle happened.
While the world groaned with sin, an offering was given.
He was the gift, and still is, and forever will be.
May you be filled with the joy and wonder of the Christ Child this Christmas and always.
Side nugget – I like to look up the exact meanings of words when I write, and when the first sentence came to my mind, portal was the first word I thought of. I thought that didn’t sound right, and maybe I’d want to use another word for portal, so I looked it up and here is its meaning: “a door, gate, or entrance, especially one of imposing appearance, as to a palace.”
Oh my friends, portal is the exact right word. God knew. The doorway opens to a Palace, the Palace, the Kingdom of God, the royal dwelling place of the King of kings, the One Who came down to free us from sin’s hold, and then to one day greet those who receive Him at the Portal and welcome us into His home forever.
It’s so easy and so natural to focus on the negative. And there is a lot we could be negative about.
But….
We who are in Christ must never forget – we are of the supernatural. We are filled with the power of the Spirit of God, and no matter what we’re going through, whether good times or bad, we know our God is with us, providing us a way through by His very presence.
So we are not just thankful in a general sense, but, having our spiritual eyes and eternal souls awakened, we are able to see and acknowledge that all things come from the hand of a good and loving Father and we give thanks to Him for His provision in our lives.
Ultimately, it is He we are thankful for, for “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” (James 1:17) And all things, no matter how they look on this side, are being worked together for Good by a masterful Weaver for those who love Him.
It is He who gives sunshine; it is He who gives rain; it is He who gives air to breathe, keeps our hearts beating, and gives them the capacity to love. It is He who provides for us in a million different ways, and it is He who our hearts and voices are privileged to acknowledge with thanksgiving for all things.
And when we do, it is He who is glorified, and our lives fulfill their ultimate purpose.
There is more that I am thankful for than I could ever begin to list here.
I will start with my salvation. That story is a miracle all on its own, and when I look back at all that went into it, every person involved, every prayer lifted up, every perfect step taken that lead to that day, that place, that moment, when the Spirit of God overwhelmed me and called me His own, I am overwhelmed by His goodness.
That He would come after me, pour out His grace and mercy, open my spiritual eyes with belief, fill me with His Spirit and love, and call me His daughter, is enough to keep me praising His Name forever.
But that wasn’t enough for Him. He has continued to do miracles and pour out His blessing in countless ways since that day 27 years ago. He is my bounty, and I am forever thankful to my El Shaddai.
I know you have much to be thankful for, too, and I’d love to hear it!
“Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.”
1 Chronicles 29:10-13
Oh dear ones, loved so greatly by God, can I ask you to, for just a moment, lay down your tape and scissors? To take your eyes away from the Christmas movies and your ears from the holiday music?
Can I ask you to come take a journey with me? We are going to see a King.
There is a little, ancient town full of people who have come to be counted in the census. All the rooms are full, too.
There is a very young woman who is about ready to give birth. She and her husband have come a long way and she looks tired and uncomfortable. Her labor pains have begun.
“The barn is available,” they’re told.
Humbly, they make their way to the stable. He tries to make her comfortable with a bed of hay as the animals make room for a royal guest.
She gives birth and the pain is soon forgotten as joy overwhelms her. He is perfect in every way. They gaze upon their miracle child, the one given to them by God Himself. There is a feeding trough, and he makes a bed for this tiny baby. The stars are shining on this most special of nights.
Meanwhile, out in the nearby fields, men who only a moment ago were tending sheep now stand in shock and fear as a glorious and heavenly light shines around them and an angel of the Lord appears to them and says,
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
The shepherds are barely able to take it in when a whole host of angels appears, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
They grab their staffs and run to the place where this Savior, this long-awaited Messiah has been born. He is beautiful and they can hardly believe it. They have seen the great Shepherd.
Room has been made for this little family of three. They wonder what the future holds in and through this new and precious life.
Sometime later, other worshippers make their way from the east. A star has led some wise men on a journey. It’s been long and dusty, but they’ve been moved by something, Someone, beyond them to make it. They’ve brought gifts suitable to present to royalty: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Gold for a King, but not just any king. A King who has chosen to strip Himself of His heavenly robes and crown and become like us.
Frankincense, symbolizing His priesthood, one that would never end.
Myrrh for embalming, for one day in the not-too-distant future, this King will die for the sins of the world.
The star that led them from so far away has stopped directly over the house where the King lay. They step inside and bow before Him and worship Him. They present their gifts, and Mary and Joseph continue to marvel at God’s love, His miracles and His glory.
The world looks different to them now. Suddenly it is filled with hope and love and promise. Under the light of the stars was the Light of the world. Salvation was here.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8
“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” John 9:25
Up until the very moment I was saved, I had always believed two things: that God and satan were equal powers at opposite ends of the spectrum of good and evil, and that abortion was acceptable.
But the second I believed in Christ and was filled with the Holy Spirit, my spiritual eyes were opened and I knew those things I had believed were lies.
In Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we have been given a second set of eyes, if you will, that gives us the vision to see, to walk, to know, to trust, in the Spirit. That spiritual vision allows us to see the truth that is Christ, and to walk this journey in the light of God.
We have a choice every day to use only the eyes in our head by feeding our flesh, or to use the spiritual eyes of our hearts by feeding our spirit.
While on the island of Patmos, John wrote that he was in the Spirit as he was given a revelation of Jesus Christ, a vision of Him in all His glory in the heavenly realm. He saw Him dressed in holy robes with a golden sash, eyes blazing like fire, feet like bronze glowing in a furnace, voice like the sound of rushing waters, a face like the sun shining in all its brilliance. He was the One Who had the authority to hold the angels and the churches in his hand, and also the keys of death and Hades.
When John wept because no one was found worthy to break the seals and open the scroll that would unleash the timely events of the future of all things, an elder comforted him with this, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5
When we, too, are walking in the Spirit – praying, worshipping, taking in the Word of God, obeying, forgiving, fellowshipping, loving – our spiritual vision will become clearer, and our foundations stronger. We will see Christ for who He is, high and exalted, with authority over all things. We will believe and experience the depth of His power and love in our lives, along with His wisdom and discernment, and no puny trial will take us down.
It’s easy, though, with all that goes on in our busy lives to forget to feed the spiritual life, and then our dim, human eyesight prevails again, the flesh follows it, and we revert back to seeing and living and believing like the world.
We see (and judge) others by how they look outwardly instead of by the beauty of their souls. We see them through their worldly wealth or poverty instead of by the riches of their inherent value as one made in the image of God. We see them through their sins instead of as people whom Christ died for and who are in need of prayer and a Savior.
John told us that “…anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” 1 John 2:11
We can choose, instead, to see with our spiritual eyes – the vision we’ve been given through the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as we’ll see and know Christ more clearly, we’ll see others through His eyes, the spiritual lens of His grace and mercy and forgiveness.
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24
Holy Spirit, please interrupt our busyness and remind us to seek you in all we do. Remind us to stay in prayer about all things at all times; remind us to be thankful; remind us to feed on the bread of your Word; remind us to fellowship with other believers, that we might encourage and be encouraged. Help us to see with the unique vision You give us, to love You, Your people, and even those who consider us their enemies. Help us to walk in You, that we might grow in faith and grace, and not stumble when the enemy comes.Help us to be disciplined to allow Your light to shine through us in this ever-darkening world. Help us to discern Your still, small voice, that we might follow You on our constantly winding journeys, that we might one day hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.
If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:4-8
If you knew me very well you might think it funny that I have a strong desire to encourage people. I don’t feel encouraged a lot of the time. I feel a lot of other things like exhausted, frustrated, distressed and sometimes depressed.
But through all that haze of human struggle God has given me a gift of encouragement. That, to me, is amazing.
God delights to show Himself strong where we are weak.
And because it’s very obviously not my nature, but God’s, He gets all the glory.
Once the Holy Spirit placed that gift in my heart, it was up to me to yield myself to Him and allow Him to shine that light of encouragement through me. And yet sometimes all I have to do is walk through a check-out line.
I was doing just that once years ago when I was a fairly new believer. The store was crazy busy, all the lines were long, and I stood in one of them holding my new pair of shoes.
I finally…finally…finally reached the front of the line, and the poor cashier looked frazzled. Her head was down, finishing up from the last customer. As she looked up and into my eyes, she stopped, smiled, chuckled a bit and said, “I felt better when I saw your face.”
Now, it was not me and it certainly was not my face, per se. There were plenty of other perfectly nice faces that had gone through that line, and there was nothing about mine in particular that would comfort this overworked girl, except that it was the face of someone who was in love with Jesus and had been given the gift of encouragement.
It was the Holy Spirit, graciously and mercifully using that gift to shine His light of comfort from one of His children to, quite possibly, another.
That’s what spiritual gifts are for: the building up of the Body.
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
So, lest any of us think we have no spiritual gifts, God’s Word tells us that if we are part of the body of Christ – if He is our Lord – then the Spirit has given each of us at least one gift for the benefit of the body. It’s not to keep for ourselves and it’s not to hide, but to share.
The Church is weakened when all its members are not fully using their God-given gifts for the benefit of one another.
One issue is that many times talents and gifts are misunderstood, and human talents are being used rather than spiritual gifts. Gifts of the Spirit are being minimized in favor of works of the flesh; pride is trumping humility and submissiveness to the Spirit of God. And when that happens, the church becomes nothing more than a sing-a-long, but not true praise; nothing more than an inspirational teaching, though not Spirit-inspired; nothing more than a religious duty, but not actual worship. And we all suffer for it.
Human talents rely on our own personal knowledge, practice, understanding, strength and power.
Spiritual gifts are given and used strictly by the power of the Holy Spirit and our yieldedness to Him.
God can give gifts to complement the talents He’s given us, but His gifts still work solely in the power of the Spirit.
Gifts are given to us, not because of who we are, but in spite of it.
The Church needs our gifts. We are each a brick in the Church of God with Christ as its Cornerstone. Remove just one and though the foundation stands, the building falters.
If you don’t know what your gift or gifts are, I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to show you. There are some tools that, with prayer, can help you find your spiritual gifts. This is one: http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/
And once you find your gift(s), ask the Lord to show you how He would have you use it for the building up of the body. Beside our personal relationship with Christ, being used by the Lord and fulfilling His plan for us is perhaps the most rewarding blessing on this earth.
And may I add – let’s encourage each other in our gifts and allow ourselves to be built up by one another. We need each other right now, and we need the gifts God’s given to all of us. There may be darker days coming for believers than we’ve seen in recent headlines and we need every spiritual gift to prepare and empower us and spur us on to victory.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.
The seas have lifted up, Lord,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the Lord on high is mighty.
Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;
holiness adorns your house
for endless days.
Psalm 93
Amen and amen! The Lord bless you all this week with His power, His strength and His glory to love Him and do His will.
“On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.” Revelation 19:16
May our Lord and King bless you today as you seek Him with your whole heart and as you worship the Mighty One in Spirit and in Truth. If you’ve never heard these Holy Spirit-inspired words from Dr. S.M. Lockridge who was pastor of Calvary Bible Church during the 2nd half of the 20th century, you are in for a treat. He praises the Name of King Jesus like no other. And if you have, well, it just never gets old. I pray it moves your spirit to worship Him afresh.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” 1 Peter 2:16
Something isn’t a sin just because God says so. It’s a sin because it opposes the very nature and character of God. The more we allow the Spirit of God to live in and through us, the more we will exhibit His nature and give in less to ours.
“Above His head they placed the written charge against Him: “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS” Matthew 27:37
This was the charge. They had pointedly asked Him “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
He couldn’t deny it.
They immediately surrounded Him and spit on Him. They punched Him with their fists and slapped Him. They mocked Him saying “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
It had begun.
Meanwhile, Peter had fallen fast and hard. After he denied ever knowing Jesus for the third time, a rooster crowed, just like Christ predicted. Jesus was close enough to look into Peter’s eyes, “And he (Peter) went outside and wept bitterly.” Matthew 26:75
Judas, too, was seized with remorse, and went back to the chief priests and the elders who had paid him money to betray his Friend saying, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood.” Matthew 27:4
But they didn’t care, and they didn’t forgive his sin.
The crowd was asking for Barabbas, a notorious insurrectionist and murderer — charges worthy of crucifixion — to be released and for Jesus to take his place.
Why would they want a known murderer back out on the streets, and a man who just a week prior they had celebrated calling Him “Son of David!”?
The murderer hadn’t personally betrayed them, but Jesus had.
Jesus had come into Jerusalem — their beloved city, the city of God — riding on a donkey, a sign of peace. They thought He was their messiah, their savior, their king…and now He was arrested and at the mercy of the leaders.
He didn’t look at all like a savior or a king. He had lied to them, and they were angry.
They shouted “Crucify Him!”
But when Pilate pressed them, they answered “His blood is on us and on our children!” Matthew 27:25
Cat-O’-Nine-Tails
And so it would be. But in His mercy, that was God’s plan all along.
By now Jesus’s face and head would be swollen and dripping with blood, teeth knocked to the ground.
They ordered Him to be scourged.
Prior to crucifixion, Romans routinely used a cat-o’-nine-tails — a whip fixed with small pieces of metal or bone at the end. He would be whipped up to forty times.
His flesh was torn from the bone, exposing organs, tendons, nerves. Blood flowed profusely. His body began to shake with shock, and then it started to shut down.
Then soldiers dragged Him back inside the court room. They took off His clothes and put a scarlet robe on Him and gave Him a staff. Someone ripped a branch off a thorny bush and twisted it into a crown and shoved it on his head, spikes stabbing His flesh. They spit on Him again, grabbed the staff and hit Him in the head over and over. They took the robe and put His clothes back on.The pain was excruciating, but there was still the road to Golgotha.
A crossbeam weighing a hundred pounds was heaved onto his mangled, screaming back. He struggled and stumbled under the weight of it, and Simon from Cyrene was pulled from the crowd to carry His cross.
Some prisoners were only tied to their crosses. Nailing was left for those who were seen as especially heinous.
His clothes were taken and He was laid on the ground while large nails were driven through flesh and bone, sending burning pain up through His arms and legs. He was heaved up onto the main beam, and a sign naming His charge was nailed to the top:
THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Through all of it every word He spoke was full of grace and mercy and compassion and forgiveness.
Even through the magnitude of His torture, none of it matched the pain of the sin — from the garden where sin began to the end of time – that was heaped upon Him. Every vile murder, every sickening rape, every twisted abuse, every act of adultery… Peter’s and Judas’s betrayal. Yours and mine. Every sin was laid on Him.
And He bore it all with love.
Once our sin was paid for, it was up to us to choose whether or not to accept that payment.
Judas chose to confess his sin to the wrong men. No one has authority to forgive sin but God though the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Confession to anyone else is futile. In his overwhelming guilt, he hung himself.
Peter would face Christ and his sin would be forgiven, his guilt and shame forever taken away.
Jesus once asked His friends, “Who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:15
He asks every one of us that same question. People who lived near Jesus believed all kinds of things about Him, but only one thing was true: He really was the King of the Jews, and of anyone who would call on His Name. But His kingdom wasn’t an earthly one. They wanted to make Him king, but He wasn’t just king, savior, messiah, He was King, Savior, Messiah! His kingdom was a spiritual one. He was King of all kings, with all power and authority, for all time and eternity. He was and is more than they could have ever imagined.
My friend, if you don’t already know it, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, and that includes you. He died for your sins so you don’t have to. So you can be free of the weight and the guilt and shame. So you can live in peace and know you have a home waiting in heaven.
God loves you. It’s why He sent His Son to the cross. Confess your sin to Him today, and He promises to forgive you, for “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Perhaps you’re angry at God. Maybe you’ve accused Him of some wrongdoing, like the crowd had. Their expectations drove them into sin, but they would have a chance to confess and be forgiven, too. Soon they would see that everything Jesus claimed to be was true, because the story was just beginning…
Side nugget – I like to look up the exact meanings of words when I write, and when the first sentence came to my mind, portal was the first word I thought of. I thought that didn’t sound right, and maybe I’d want to use another word for portal, so I looked it up and here is its meaning: “a door, gate, or entrance, especially one of imposing appearance, as to a palace.”
