Jesus Moved Into The Neighborhood

The Christmas season marks the time when we remember the birth of Jesus. The interesting part is when I look at the world around me, what's on every one's lips is not this glorious occasion, but rather a song of consumerism and want.

Today I thought back to my childhood and how my mind would automatically associate Christmas morning with all the stuff I could hope to receive. Every year I would drive my mom crazy with my giant wish list and high expectations for what I would unwrap on Dec 25th.

There is nothing wrong with being a kid and wanting to wake up to some presents Christmas morning, but when our sole focus is the getting and receiving of gifts, we are missing the point.

I'm not the first to acknowledge or even write about the consumerism that plagues our culture around this time of year, but have we ever asked why?

Why do we choose to focus on stuff instead of our Savior? Why has Christmas become what it is in America?

I believe we have giant gaps in our hearts. Ways we have all been hurt, memories that haunt us, tragedies that have occurred. If we are honest, our time on Earth has not left any of us with a sense of wholeness in and of itself. We were all born into this world of sin and shame, guilt and death, trial and tragedy. We feel the full weight of that.

We may not always be able to name it specifically, but we recognize our lives are a mess sometimes. We know those gaps are there. Maybe we feel pain big time, or have taught ourselves to not feel at all, but it's there.

The good news of Christmas is Jesus came to set us free from those bonds of sin and death. As John 1:14 puts it in "The Message" translation of the Bible:

"The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish."

(emphasis mine)

Jesus, God himself, moved into the neighborhood. 

What I find interesting is how a season that marks a time when our Savior came to Earth to fill all of the gaps in our heart has become a season where we gather up anything and everything else to fill those gaps.

There is a huge significance behind the word Emmanuel or "God with us." God didn't have to come be with us. God is holy and could have kept himself out of our mess. What no other belief system can lay claim to is a God who became fully human and fully divine in order to draw his creation back to himself and make them whole.

This season is not a time for us to fill in the gaps in our lives with perishable things. This is a time for us to take ahold of the nonperishable love and redemption found in Christ Jesus.

Check out 1 Peter 1: 3-9:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,  who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (emphasis mine)

We have all faced darkness. We all need something more than what this Earth can give us. So consider with me regaining focus in this season and remembering who Jesus is and why He came. More than that, take practical steps with me to press into the Father's heart and let him fill in our wounds and our gaps.

It's why He came. There is a light, and it's shining in the darkness, and the darkness against it won't prevail. There is a greater inheritance waiting for us that what we would or could give ourselves, and it's in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 1:18-19:

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."

Strength in Weakness

"He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,  but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." - 2 Timothy 1: 9-10

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." - 2 Timothy 2:1

I often think that everything in my life is a result of my own actions and my own ability to pull myself up by my bootstraps, persevere, and make the right choices.

I put the weight of my own salvation on myself. I put the weight of other's salvation on myself.

But very simply, whatever I may ever gain or possess or have given to me or see or do or accomplish, can never compare to the riches of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

My strength cannot solely come from me if I am to continue running this race of life. I can no longer pretend like my weaknesses don't exist. I cannot detach from my own heart or from the heart of God.

I have to press into the heart of God and be strong in His grace. Because he has always been my Father and it's never been because of what I have or haven't done. He loves me because of his own purpose and grace, and it is in that grace I will find my true strength.

7 Things I Have Learned About Loving the Poor.

A few things I'm processing today about caring for the poor:

1. A person's bank account does not define them. We are all created in the "Imago Dei" or "image of God." Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are God's workmanship.

2. Circumstances may help provide context for understanding what a person faces daily, but again, circumstances/bank account do not define.

3. Those we view as having "less" often have more to give than we could ever realize. It's just been buried under years of being in survival mode and being wounded by others. Or we simply just don't ask or care to hear their opinion.

4. We have a biblical mandate to "love mercy & act justly" (Micah 6:8), we know that true religion cares for the orphan and widow (James 1:27), and that Jesus himself came to proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted & set the captives free (Luke 4:18-19)

5. Our role in all this is:
- to be a catalyst for relational healing
- provide tangible expressions of love that affirm worth, value, and a persons role in community
- empower others to walk with Jesus & take steps to grow beyond their current circumstances.

6. God is doing it. He is our savior. He is the savior of the poor. He calls us to be on mission with Him. We are to "do with" and not "do for" the poor, the outcast, the broken. When we work together in community, it is far more effective and shows us a glimpse of heaven on Earth.

7. Unless our identity is found in God the Father and his streams of mercy for us, we will never be able to effectively walk with others through their healing process.

In Him.

To understand God as one who is able to fill in the gaps and heal the wounds created by our earthly relationships, is to understand the core of who our heavenly Father truly is. He is full of grace and truth, our God is love in its fullness.

Out of a pure understanding of who God is we can derive our identity, for we were created in His image and in Him we live and move and have our being.

May who we are not be informed by the things we produce, but may the things we produce be informed by who we are in Christ. For only He can make us whole.

A Good Gift

I believe the point of our lives is to be a good gift to others, to use what we have been given in selfless ways that foster community and show us what it's like to lay down our lives so that others may live. 

If we aren't careful, this selfless way of living is all too easy to disregard because we are by nature selfish beings. The irony is that the more of ourselves we give, the more we actually discover who we really are.

Jesus modeled this so perfectly not just in his death but in the way he lived. Scripture tells us that even Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. How often do I want to be served instead of serving?

Why does our culture celebrate the accumulation of stuff and not the one who gives it all away? Why do we celebrate fame and not the one who is quietly changing lives in their own neighborhood? Why do I fall prey to this selfish way of thinking so often?

Jesus, would you show us how to truly lay down our lives for others. How to not just be for people, but to physically be with them. Would you show us the significance of you becoming human and living among us so that we may become "one of" those we feel called to love.

Ultimately, give us neither poverty nor riches, simply give us our daily bread. In everything we have, may we use it to be the good gift to others that we were made to be.

At His Feet.

I want to give people Jesus in a genuine way.

To share with them everything he has given me and to practice dying to myself so that others may live and God be glorified.

This becomes a near impossible task when the focus narrows, and my vision goes no further than simply accomplishing all I must accomplish in a given day or week.

Rhythms matter in life, and when we are finding ourselves in unhealthy ones on a daily basis, they directly effect what we have to give to people and whether we even do it at all. We get selfish, overly task-oriented, and if we aren't careful can even lose the core vision of why we do what we do to begin with.

You see this occur all the time when father's are choosing career over family, single moms are having to work 40 hours a week just to provide and never see their kids, or in the lives of college students who bury themselves in books or over commit to too many things, just to name a few scenarios.

We even see this situation played out in scripture in Luke 10:38-42:

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

In the last few days I have had multiple people ask me, "What's your dream?" or "What's your goal?".

Truthfully, I didn't know how to answer them because I hadn't thought about it in a while. I got so caught up in the day to day stuff that long-term vision and dreams took a backseat.

Accomplishing things is not bad. Being faithful in what God has given us on a daily basis is key. However if we refuse to sit at the feet of Jesus and find contentment in being with the Lord, we are absolutely missing out.

Obedience to God is not burdensome, God is not a slave driver. He is an Abba, Father. A daddy. A father to the fatherless who loves us and who has hopes and dreams for our lives that would blow our mind. He wants to give us good gifts, he desires for us to take our burdens and give them to him.

Scripture speaks directly against this fearful and anxious living we so often practice.

To be healthy, we must put ourselves at the feet of Jesus. Always listening, allowing him to love us, to challenge us, to speak to us the next steps he has for us. This is not combative to faithfulness in the little things each day, but rather drives it.

In our wounded souls we tell ourselves we are not even worthy of a God who deeply and intimately cares about us and who has hopes and dreams for our future. We treat ourselves as his employees rather than his sons and daughters.

May God deeply and holistically love you today.

Though The Earth Give Way

"God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea"

- Psalm 46: 1-2

Have you ever felt like you had the rug pulled out from under you?

Or experienced unforseen pain, heartache, and other chaotic situations that sent your head spinning and your heart down a dark road?

I feel like most of the hurt we undergo in this lifetime comes from stuff we never expected. It's like we start out as children a giant boulder, but we get put under the waterfall of a fallen world that erodes us until we are nothing more than a pebble.

"The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress."

- Psalm 46:7

All of the sudden it hits us all at once, giving us a feeling like we are drowning and can barely keep our head above water.

The Earth gives way and we crumble, left as a shell of the person we were before. We call out for rescue, trying desperately to figure out how we ended up in this horrible place.

"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

- Psalm 46:10

In our heart rages a battle between confusion, hurt, love, joy, etc. It's a endless cycle of emotions.

We struggle to find the foundation under us.

"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
"The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress."

- Psalm 46: 10-11

That's the foundation. That's how we stop from crumbling when our world seems to fall apart. That's how we get through each day and all that it brings. That is the air we breathe, our rock, our fortress.

That's how you thrive in this life filled with chaos. Go ahead, try other stuff. However, take the word of a guy that has been through hell and back in multiple ways and who has experienced the faithfulness of God first hand.

God is our rock, and he never fails.

Stay the course. Don't give up. Don't lose heart.