As One Year Becomes Another

"A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night."

Psalm 90:4 (TNIV)

A Child Is Born

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6 (TNIV)

Good News Of Great Joy

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.'"

Luke 2:8-11 (TNIV)

Your Own Poets

In Acts 17, Paul is in Athens, at Mars Hill, telling Jews, God-fearing Greeks, Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, and other foreigners and men of Athens all about Jesus Christ, his resurrection, and the God who made the world and everything in it. Paul tells his listeners how from one man God made every nation, so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him. In Acts 17:28 (NIV), Paul says, "For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"

What is fascinating about this verse is that Paul uses Greek secular culture to evangelize to the Athenians. He quotes their own non-Christ-following poets as a means to drive home his point about God. This is a good lesson for us today. We should not be afraid to leverage today's popular culture and media as a means to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ. It is possible to do this and still be in the world but not of the world. It goes more toward the point of reaching people where they are, and understanding where they are coming from, and how their mindset and worldview is shaped, so as to be able to be more effective in reaching them. Paul did it effectively in Athens, and we have the opportunity to do it effectively today.

All She Had

Luke 21:1-4 (TNIV) shows us what true giving - true, sacrificial giving - is all about. It is the story of the widow's offering: "As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 'Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'"

It's easy to be generous when you have a lot. It's easy to tithe when you still have a lot left over in your bank account. But it's hard to do so when you're facing a financial storm in your life, when you have more bills than money, when the landlord is banging on the door, when the electric company is threatening to cut service, when your kids are seated at an empty table, waiting to be fed, and you have no idea where the food is going to come from.

It is during these times that we need to follow the example of the widow with her two very small copper coins. She had nothing left but these two little coins - and she put them both in the temple treasury. She had a small amount of money, but a giant amount of faith. She believed that her heavenly father would provide for her, even as she left the temple with absolutely nothing in her pocket.

It is during these times that God will be measuring your faith. Do you walk the walk, or do you just talk the talk? When the going gets tough, do you keep tithing faithfully and out of obedience to Him, or do you push your money a little further down into your pocket, justifying that you need it more than God does? You need to remember that it's all His to begin with.

Remember the example of the widow when you are in financial distress and are tempted to not tithe or to not be generous. God always sees your obedience, your generosity, your faith, and your reliance on Him. Give Him your two very small copper coins - all that you have to live on - and watch what very big blessings arrive in your life. God does big things for people who give very small coins.

Lions

"My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight." That's what Daniel 6:22 (TNIV) says. It was Daniel's response to King Darius when the king went to see whether or not God had saved Daniel from the jaws of a den full of famished lions.

Who and/or what are the "lions" in your life? Who and/or what are the circumstances in your life that threaten to destroy you and devour you? Maybe you feel them as they prowl around you, and you are fearful that destruction and death are imminent. But remember this: you are not alone in the lions' den. God is there with you, ready to shut the mouths of whatever "lions" are circling around you, ready to attack.

Trust God to shut the mouths of the "lions" in your life, whoever or whatever they may be.

Furnaces and Flames

In Daniel 3:25 (TNIV), King Nebuchadnezzar was looking inside the blazing furnace into which he has just tossed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, because they wouldn't disobey God and worship a gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar had made. All of a sudden, the king noticed something strange: "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

King Nebuchadnezzar had only thrown three men into the seven-times-hotter furnace, but now he saw four. And the fourth didn't really look like a man at all.

King Nebuchadnezzar was a witness to the fact that when we are thrown into the blast furnaces of life, we are never alone. God is always there with us.

Whatever your "furnace" may be today, whatever trial, tribulation, injustice, disaster, persecution, suffering, separation, break up, bad news, tension, stress, anxiety, or preoccupation is causing you to feel the flames of life as they lick up against your face, always remember that you are never in the furnace alone. God is with you, just as He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He will fight the flames for you. He will help you from being singed. Always take refuge in Him, and let Him protect you, during the times when you find yourself in the furnace of life.

Get Up Off The Canvas

It is believed that Solomon wrote much of the book of Proverbs, but I think that Proverbs 24:16 (NIV) may have been written by Rocky Balboa.

Proverbs 24:16 (NIV) says, "For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again ...."

Did you ever feel like Rocky Balboa? Has life been knocking you down again and again? Do you keep hitting the canvas, bloody and bruised, confused and concussed, unsure of where to go or what to do? Maybe you feel ready to throw in the towel. Maybe you feel ready to say, "No mas!"

Life is like that at times. Sometimes the beating can seem to last for days or weeks or months or years, and you feel like you can't go on any longer. You want to quit. You want it all to end. But think of Rocky and think of Proverbs 24:16. Rocky Balboa kept getting pummeled, time and time again, and the righteous man in Proverbs 24:16 fell seven times, but they both got up, kept persevering, kept fighting, and won in the end.

You can do the same. When life knocks you down, get up. Get up off the canvas. Take the standing-8 count and keep fighting. Keep going forward. Keep persevering. Don't quit. Don't throw in the towel. Don't say, "No mas!" You may fall seven times, just like the righteous man in Proverbs 24:16, but the eighth time may be the time when you emerge as the champion.

My Words, Your Mouth

In Jeremiah 1:5-9, we find God's call of Jeremiah - and God's call of us, as well: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations ... You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you ... Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, 'I have put my words in your mouth.'"

God had a great plan for you before you were even born. A plan to use you to reach not just a handful of people, but entire nations! Sometimes we get fearful when we think about this. We think that we are too young, too inexperienced, too shy, too timid, too intimidated. We forget that it's not about our power or strength, but God's. He will tell us what to say, and who to say it to, but we must be willing to go, confident that He will be with us all along the way.

God can use you to do incredible, awe-inspiring things in this world - if you let Him. Let God touch your mouth with His words, and then let Him touch your feet and point you in the direction in which He wants you to go. Let God touch your mouth and your feet, and then you will be able to touch the world for Him.