Jesus

Advent

December 7, 2024 by Bill Leave a Comment

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.” (Micah 5:2)

The word Advent originates from a Latin word “Adventus” which means “coming” or “arrival.” Advent Season is focused on preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ in all ways, from His birth in the past to His Second Coming in the future as the Messiah.

There are four weeks and themes of Advent. I missed the first week but I will cover the first two weeks here. The first theme is HOPE. “Hope is an ACTIVE anticipation in the ability to reach desired goals,” – Dr. Steven Sandage. Hope may not be necessary when we are faced with an easy task. It comes when we’re faced with something that feels impossible. Hope requires belief. Hope requires action. What are we actively hoping for? We don’t hope for something we already have, we hope for something in the future. Jesus came into our world to give us the hope of His return and our going to Heaven.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

The second theme of Advent is PEACE. The dictionary defines peace as, “A state of tranquility or quiet: such as freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions.” Peace is not the absence of pain; peace is the presence of God. Inner peace is the feeling that, even though things may look bad around you, you have a peace from within that comes from God and that He will take care of you. If you’ve ever had a major decision to make, you probably had two choices. You pray about it and one choice makes you uneasy but he other choice, “gives you peace”. That is God letting you know which way to go and that He’ll go with you.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

During this Christmas season, we have HOPE because Jesus came and, if we accept Him as Savior and Lord, we can look forward to our eternal life. And because of that HOPE, we can have PEACE as we travel this earthly path knowing that He is with us.

Shout!

June 29, 2024 by Bill Leave a Comment

”O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” (Psalms 47:1)

Think of how we express our emotions at a ball game or performance. We clap our hands and shout, “Yes, alright, good job!” Don’t you think it would be appropriate to do the same when praising our God? Shouting can have an impact as opposed to being quiet. Of course, there are times when being quiet is good but let’s look at some examples.

When God’s people were faced with the city of Jericho that God had given them, they were given some specific instructions: “When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (Joshua 6:5). God’s people did what God had commanded, even though it sounded strange, and Jericho’s walls fell down! “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” (Psalms 95:1).

Judging from this, it would be a good idea, when the devil comes at us with another temptation, for us to shout loudly, “JESUS!” The devil knows there’s bad news for him when we call out to Jesus. I remember going to a Promise Keepers gathering in Washington DC years ago and there were thousands of us men standing on the Mall. The speaker asked us, on the count of three, to shout the name of our church. We did and could not distinguish anything powerful. Then he asked us to shout the name of our Savoir, 1,2,3…JESUS! Wow, what a powerful demonstration!

This made me think, does Jesus shout at us? As parents, coaches or others in our lives sometimes need to shout to get our attention or change our direction; I don’t think Jesus does that, although, at times, we need it. But He speaks to us in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). We have to listen, quieten the noises around us and listen. But as for us, these lyrics stand: “Shout to the Lord All the earth let us sing. Power and majesty Praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the sea will roar at the sound of Your Name.” Let’s give God a shout!

Hand or Face?

June 22, 2024 by Bill 81 Comments

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

I was reminded of this idea from the Dutch Sheets devotion, GiveHim15 in which he spoke of our hunger for God. When we pray, when we go to God or turn toward Him or call out to Him, what is our motive? Are we just looking to see what’s in His hand or are we looking into His face and glad to be in His presence? There are two things our seeking implies; urgency or awe. We urgently need something from God or we just want to be in His presence. Many times we’re asking God for the things we need. He already knows that. And He may have a different idea about what we think we need. He wants to be with us. Now, there are times when we pray urgently for an immediate need and we cry out, “GOD, HELP!” He knows about those times too. I’m often guilty of going to God in prayer and asking first. Then I’m convicted and repent and say, “I’m sorry God, I love You and want to thank You for all you’ve done for me. I praise You and bow before You.” Then, I can see Him saying, “I love you too, come up here and let me hug you.” What a difference! Seek His face.

Think of this scene: A father comes home from a long trip and is met at the front door by his child. Does the child run and jump up into daddy’s arms because they’re so glad to see him. Or does the child immediately ask, “What did you bring me?” And what would you think of a friend who you only hear from when they need something?

I can see myself in the song, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” I’m sitting at Jesus’ feet with my needs. The lyrics say, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Wow, can you see it? When we look up into His face, our needs are “strangely dim”. And…His smile! We are in His presence! And, when we seek first His face, we get His hand also. Think about this the next time you pray.

The Knock

June 14, 2024 by Bill Leave a Comment

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

This is another take on this topic I’ve written about previously. God keeps bringing this up to me. It must be important for us all. What do we do when we hear a knock at our door? We have choices. Do we immediately open the door not knowing who it is? Do we see who it is through the screen door? Do we look at our door cam to see who it is? Is it the Amazon delivery man? If someone knocks on our door, we’re usually going to check it out. In our house, there are a few who do not need to knock, they’re family and they know they’re always welcome. And I and my wife don’t ever knock…unless the door’s locked. Then we have to “knock” for assistance from the one who is inside.

But do we hear the knock? Is the TV on too loud, do we have headphones on, are we asleep? What if Jesus is knocking on our door and we don’t hear Him? Will He just go away and not come back? No! Jesus will never leave us. (Hebrews 13:5). He may keep on knocking or come back a little later. He may also leave a note on the door, (a reminder from His Word or in a message in our minds). He will never give up on us. He wants to come in a hang out with us and maybe have a meal. What a wonderful picture!

And what about this? When we see its Jesus, would we need to change our TV channel, hide a questionable magazine, stop arguing…would we need to change anything in our house before letting Jesus in? Friends, He is always knocking on our door. He may have been with you many times before but He always wants more time with you.

Today, you may be hearing that knock. If you’re not saved, go open the door and let Him in. If you’re having some trouble, Jesus wants to come in and help you. Whatever your need, answer the knock! Jesus says, “Here I am.” Now it’s our turn to answer.

Follow

June 1, 2024 by Bill 4 Comments

The dictionary defines the word “follow” as: Go or come after (a person or thing proceeding ahead); move or travel behind. It’s a verb, something you do. It also means to obey, such as, follow the rules. There are many ways for us to follow in our lives. Let’s look at some.

If you’re driving, you must follow the signs. If you’re an athlete, you must follow training rules. If you’re a citizen, you must follow the law. If you’re a child or student, you must follow parents’ or school rules. We also might follow a team or an interest. We all have to follow something. If you’re a Christian, you have to follow a Book of Rules and the One who wrote it. Know what I mean?

When Jesus was choosing His disciples, He said to them, “Follow Me”. Ex. ”And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19). He used that word many times in the gospels to call His disciples and others to, “Follow Me”. For them, it meant giving up their jobs, family and positions to follow Jesus. It was a total commitment but we know how important it was to them and to us. Are we willing to really follow Jesus?

In Genesis 12:1, Abraham got a command to follow: “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. This was a hard command to follow; Abraham didn’t even know where he was really going! But he followed God’s command and the rest is history…our history. Are we willing to go with God even when we don’t know our destination? It could be frightening but God Said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Picture the “valley of the shadow of death” in Psalms 23:4; even though it looks dangerous, GOD IS WITH US, He’ll protect us, so follow Him.

If you think about it, we are all following. The eternal question is, are we following Jesus or Satan? That seems harsh but if you’re not following Jesus…well. Or maybe you’ve gotten off the Path to go your own way. You need to get back on the Path with Jesus. Do it today.