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For forty days He was tempted by the devil. Luke 4:2

This week we begin the forty day journey known to Christians as Lent. The condensed version of the history of this event began around 230 AD when a group of Christians started fasting for the 40 hours leading up to Easter in order to prepare their hearts for this special day. Years later seven days of fasting were added, and it was called Holy Week. Around 325 AD the church officially made Lent forty days representing Jesus’ forty days of testing in the wilderness.

The Lenten journey begins with Ash Wednesday and ends in triumph on Easter Sunday. We take these forty days for self reflection, cathartic thinking, repentance, and confession. Although Ash Wednesday is never directly mentioned in the Bible, it is a celebrated event in church history.

During these forty days many people deny themselves or “give up” something that is important or meaningful to them. For example, every year I try to give up sweets for the forty days excluding Sundays, but inevitably I yield to temptation because the more I deny myself sweets, the more tempting they become!

Temptation is defined as the desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise. It is also defined as the act of enticement to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain. Oscar Wilde said two things about temptation: First, “I can resist anything but temptation,” and secondly, “The best way to deal with temptation is to yield to it.” It’s much easier for me to just yield and be done with it, but that’s the easy way.

The Bible tells us in Luke chapter four, that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert where Satan tempted him “in every way” for forty days. Jesus countered every device Satan threw at him and replied to each of Satan’s temptations saying, “It is written man shall not live by bread alone”, “worship your God and serve Him only”, and “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” He never yielded to the temptations put before Him.

The devil works in such devious ways. He persuades us to do something wrong by promising us something good. He puts dessert on the restaurant menu, he makes the grass look greener on the other side of the fence, and he encourages us that we hurt no one when we lie, cheat, or steal. There’s not a day that goes by in any of our lives when we aren’t tempted in some way. Temptation comes in all kinds of packages which seem innocent enough, but sometimes have lasting consequences. We all struggle with our temptation to gossip, lie, cheat, overeat, hold grudges, be unforgiving, even steal.

So how do we deal with temptation in our lives? Obviously, I have lost many battles with this, but first, it seems to me that temptation is inevitable. No matter who we are, there isn’t a place on earth that’s free from them. Everyday presents a constant battle to avoid temptation.

Secondly, we should remember that temptation is not sent from God. The responsibility for yielding to temptation rests with each of us. Sadly, there is an epidemic in our world of not taking responsibility for our own actions or blaming others for our mistakes. Just like kindergarten kids who fight and when the teacher asks, “Who started it?” the answer from both is always, “not me!”

Next, temptation is a personal matter. Adam and Eve gave into temptation in the garden of Eden and when God confronted Eve, she was the first person to ever say, “The Devil made me do it.” The devil tempted her, but did not force her. When we yield to temptation, it’s our fault!

Lastly, temptation always seems to follow a pattern. Just like a fish, who, when a worm is dropped into the water near him can either take the bait and be caught or swim past and live to be tempted another day. That’s how temptation works with us, we have to make a choice. Satan is the best fisherman in the world because he knows our weaknesses and tempts us with things that will most likely cause us to bite!

It’s easy to make excuses for yielding to temptations and assume that no one else knows how we feel, but we need to remember that Jesus has been there. He has felt the urge to yield, and understands our weakness. Most of the things that tempt us seem harmless at the time, but the ramifications can be never ending!

Remember, the temptations that come into our life are no different from what others experience. God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that we can’t stand up against it. When we are tempted, He will show us a way out so that we won’t give into it.

Maybe for Lent this year, we should “give up” temptation!

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:8

The holiday that emphasizes love is upon us, and everywhere we see the evidence of it with hearts, chocolates, and flowers enticing us to show our love by giving these gifts to special people in our lives!! One of the values of this time of year is that it reminds us how important it is to focus on and invest in the people we love! Relationships fade and falter when those involved don’t do that!!

The responsibility of showing love during this season seems to fall more on males than females. They are charged with remembering their loved ones with extravagant gifts, dozens of flowers, or expensive romantic dinners! It reminds me of the story that is told of a brother and sister who found a box of love notes their parents had written early in their married life. The boy said to his sister, “These are surely not the names they call each other now!”

Love changes over the years. It can take on many different forms and expand to include many different aspects of our lives. In 1973, Randy and I lived in Snellville, Georgia where he was the youth minister and I was a teacher in the county school system. We lived in a house that the church owned and allowed us to occupy. Randy attended school at Emory during the week and worked at the church all weekend. I taught all week, tutored after school, and helped him during the weekend. That year a gift for Valentine’s Day was the last thing on my mind, but when I came home after school, Randy had left me a gift, but not anything traditional. It was a bouquet of roses he had drawn on a piece of white paper with the words, “Love never fails.” It was the most special gift to me, and it remains to this day my all time favorite gift!!

There are so many different ways of showing our love in this world of today, and the word love is used for everything from a movie that we enjoy to a food that we eat, even to a team that we support and to whom we pledge allegiance. So, how do we define love and what it really means in our own lives? How do we show to the world the distinctiveness of Christian love? Burt Bacharach said it best when he wrote, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love, It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”

Jesus is the ultimate example of love, so how can we reflect this? First, I think love has to be a priority in our lives. Love isn’t a so called “grey area” in the Bible because Jesus gave it priority of all the other words when he said, “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Every thought, response, and action needs to pass through the fine line of love or it means nothing at all.

Secondly, we must understand the importance of love! God established love as the impetus for obedience. Love fulfills the law because if we truly love every person because he or she is a person, we will not desire to hurt or violate them, thus we will never break the law. Love never fails.

Finally, we need to embody the nature of love. When we demonstrate Christian love as Jesus teaches, the world distinguishes us from the rest of the world. Jesus said “the world will know us by our love for each other” not by our agenda. It’s as though Jesus has given the world the right to judge whether or not we are His follower simply based on our love for others. The virtue of love distinguishes us as Christians.

Love values the other person, it entails the opening of one’s heart to another, and love comes at a cost. The story is told of a minister who officiated at many weddings. The nervous grooms would always ask, “How much do I owe you for doing this?” The reply was always said with a smile, “Aw, just pay me what she is worth!” The minister made a lot of money because to each man his bride was of extravagant value.

From the very beginning, God’s plan was to develop a people that reflected His character. God never loved us not because we had something to offer him, but rather because He had something to offer us. This character, this gift is love, and love never fails!

Keep you zeal, don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and inflamed. Be alert servants of the Master. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Romans 12:11-12 from The Message

It’s hard to admit, but sometimes I tend to want others to make decisions that affect me, either because I don’t care or I’m uninformed. For example, when we are going out to dinner with others and they ask where we would like to go, I most often reply, “It really doesn’t matter to me” or in other words, “I don’t care.” I have never thought of that reply as being apathetic because most of the time I really don’t care, but in reality, I guess it is a pretty lame response.

Apathy is defined as “a lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern,” or in my case, a feeling of “I don’t care.” An anonymous source is quoted as saying, “Apathy is the glove in which evil slips its hard.” Elie Wiesel says of it, “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference, and the opposite of life is not death, It’s indifference.”

The sad thing about apathy is that it doesn’t just affect the apathetic person, but it can affect all those around as well. The story is told of a little mouse who peeked out of his hole one day only to see a farmer and his wife taking a mouse trap out of a bag. He ran to the chicken, the lamb, and the cow to warn them of his impending danger, but each one responded apathetically since it did not directly affect them. That night a great noise revealed that a poisonous snake had been caught in the mousetrap! The wife tried to catch it, but the snake bit the wife, and she came down with a high fever. In order to comfort her, the farmer made a delicious soup, but he needed chicken to add to the recipe, so he took his knife and killed the chicken. Neighbors came to visit and lend support, but since there was no food to serve them, the farmer slaughtered the lamb to feed them. The wife died, and the husband had to sell the cow to cover expenses. The moral here is “the next time someone tells you about a problem and you don’t think it concerns you, think twice. He who doesn’t live to serve doesn’t serve to live.”

That story brought to mind the many times we as Christians pass by an opportunity to change the world because we are apathetic. We see people in this country pulling us further and further away from its roots and heritage, but it doesn’t affect us at the moment, so we don’t speak out. The country isn’t going bad because of the wickedness of the bad, but rather because of the apathy of the good.

Most of us are guilty of depending on others to provide a blessing to those around us who could really use it! Just like forty year old Isaac who let his father send out someone else to arrange for Rebekah to be his wife, we sometimes leave it to others to arrange and provide what we should be doing ourselves! We just don’t seem to want to be bothered! We don’t care!

Spiritual apathy can be seen in churches everywhere these days! People have begun to resort to acting like “grown children” who never have reached maturity in their relationship with God. They wait for someone else to do the things they should be doing for themselves. It seems to be a problem that doesn’t concern the masses.

The worst kind of apathy is that of discernment. These are those who accept whatever gossip they might hear in the grocery store, on the news, or in a community, and rather than seeking the truth, take the words as the truth or “drink the Kool-Aid”. First Thessalonians 5:21 commands us to “prove all things” which means we are to carefully examine the words we hear and its interaction in our lives. We all need a high level of discernment as to what we read, to whom we listen, what we watch, and with whom we associate. If we think something just couldn’t be true, we should be faithful to find out the truth!

There are apathetic people all around us who have caused casualties because of their “I don’t care attitude!” It might help us all to ask ourselves, “When was the last time I was involved in letting something wrong happen because I was apathetic?” “When did I accept something as truth without proving it?” “When did I let someone else do the work I should be doing?”

The will of God isn’t for us to develop an apathetic attitude but rather to make a daily commitment for that unto which God has called us!

He has made everything beautiful in His time. Ecclesiastes 3:11

The other day while attempting to water what’s left of my outdoor potted plants, I realized that not only was I getting wet carrying the watering can back and forth, but also I was arriving at the plants with a small amount of water. Upon further examination, it became clear that there was a big hole in the bucket!

This situation took me back to the “around the circle” song that I remember singing as a child and also using in my kindergarten classes entitled There’s A Hole in the Bucket. This song is a two person scenario where Georgie and Liza attempt to solve the problem of a “hole in the bucket”.

The song begins with Georgie saying, “There’s a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, Dear Liza, There’s a hole in the bucket, Dear Liza, a hole.” Liza then responds, “Then mend it dear Georgie, dear Georgie; Then mend it dear Georgie, dear Georgie, mend it.”

The song continues in the cycle of questions and answers with Georgie’s question, “With what shall I mend it?” Liza replies, “Some Straw.” Georgie replies, “The straws are too long.” Then, “Cut them,” says Liza. “With what shall I cut them?” asks Georgie. “A knife” is the reply. “The knife is too dull,” continues Georgie. Then, “Sharpen it,” says Liza. “With what shall I sharpen it?” Liza answers “With water” (wet stone). Georgie then inquires, “How shall I fetch it?” Liza’s answer is “With a bucket”. George replies, “There’s a hole in the bucket.” We have made a circle back to the beginning!!

Sometimes life is a bit like this song. We go round in circles trying to fix parts of our life, but one thing seems to lead to another and before we know it, we are back where we started. Each of us carry a bucket through this life that we should use to help us collect all the things we need to get through the day or even through life. We are constantly adding things to our buckets. Most of the time we add good things such as promises, assurances, scripture readings, smiles, memories, and many other things. Other people add to our buckets with sweet thoughts, kind words, or maybe even a card or message that is affirming.

Buckets get filled a lot of times just when we need it most and that is what makes us know that life is worth living and that God can be trusted. People show up and fill up the bucket.

I have noticed, however, that there are those whose buckets never stay filled. No matter how hard they try to fill them, the good things come in and seem to drain right out. It seems there is never enough in their bucket. Others add affirmation, accolades, prayers, and concern, but the bucket just keeps leaking. It’s like there’s a hole in their bucket that is never fixed. Others can help, but they can’t do it without the bucket holder’s help! Just like Georgie, some folks just can’t seem to mend the leak!

How can we mend the leak and keep our buckets full? First, I believe our attitude is important in mending our bucket. Our attitude can be an asset or a detriment in the way we look at ourselves, others, and situations. Keep it positive.

Secondly, confess there’s a hole in the bucket, and something in our life is wrong. It’s easy to look over our own failings, inadequacies, or selfish attitudes. When we confess our shortcomings and ask God to intervene, we start mending the hole.

Finally, repent and say that we don’t want to be repeat the behavior that got us here in the first place. It’s easy to continue our hectic lives and leave our buckets empty of God and His blessings while all the goodness we need continues to leak out. Without adding God we just continue to go around and around and repeat the actions that got us here in the first place.

If we are content to live the same way without an attitude adjustment, a confession, and repentance, then we will find our buckets sprouting new leaks that can never be permanently fixed. Let God help mend the leak!

Everything is as God made it, not as it appears to us. In Matthew Henry’s commentary he says, “We have the world and so much in our hearts, but we are so taken up with our thoughts and cares of worldly things, that we have neither the time nor spirit to see God’s hand in them.”

You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. James 2:10

During the young years of my life, our small town never afforded an opportunity to visit a cafeteria for lunch on Sundays (or any other time). However, by the grace of God, there was one in a nearby that we frequented, and it was here that I learned the art of picking and choosing from a wide variety of foods! My Daddy was an expert at the cafeteria method, and besides his meal, he always managed to take home a whole buttermilk pie as a bonus for making the trip!

There are few dining experiences I enjoy more than a visit to a good cafeteria such as Morrison’s, S & S, or Piccadilly. The walk down the line of salads, meats, vegetables, breads, and desserts is so inviting that it is hard to pick from the scrumptious selections. On these occasions, I can easily pass by the salad and head straight to the liver and onions, cabbage, sweet potato soufflé, corn bread, and (always) a slice of one of their delicious pies! The great news is that in a cafeteria, we can take just what we want and leave what we don’t.

I do wonder, however, if being able to choose everything we would like whether it be food, decisions, or our life path is really good for us! Especially when it comes to our faith. The world around us is becoming ever more “me” oriented, and many of us have important decisions to make about how we view the world and our faith.

I have a friend who refers to this world of different denominations as being filled with Cafeteria Christians. He was speaking of people who pick and choose what to believe. These are the folks who pick and choose what is right or wrong in their own minds without any thought of what Jesus has to say on the matter. These folks walk through the cafeteria line of faith and choose a double portion of grace, but skip the whole judgment section. They take heaping amounts of blessings, but they skip the Bible study and learning section.

These Christians think they get to pick and choose what God is like and what He expects of them, but they ignore all the hard lessons in the Bible. They like to treat God like He is created in their own image rather than the other way around. These people say they believe in God, but they live like He doesn’t even exist.

Cafeteria Christians want heaping helpings of forgiveness for themselves, but they are reluctant to try the new item of forgiving those who trespass against them. The result of a cafeteria Christian is that they end up with all the things they like about Christianity and leave behind all the things they don’t. The end result is a faith with much to be desired.

James argues that whoever doesn’t keep the whole law is a transgressor of it. So, what does it take for a cafeteria Christian to try a bite of something new in this life and reap the benefits of a full life? What would it take to fill our plates with everything that is included in the teachings of Jesus?

First, it seems that to try a new item in this cafeteria, one would have to be willing to obey and submit our will to His. Following Him doesn’t mean we get to live independently of his instruction and example. In other words, faith without works is dead.

Next, one would have to step outside our comfort zone and try something new. Christians are called to seek justice, defend the helpless, and serve the poor. Jesus calls us to a willing and obedient spirit that follows wherever He leads. We have to abandon ourselves, show compassion, and listen to God.

Finally, one should be prepared to love. Following His example means to love unconditionally, and let the world see something different in us! “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The story is told of a young boy struggling with packages on a busy sidewalk with his Mom. A gentleman in a huge hurry bumped him, and he dropped all the packages. The man shouted out over his shoulder, “Watch where you are going!” At that moment as he and his Mom were trying to pick up the packages another man stopped and began helping. The little boy looked up at him and said, “Thank you mister.” The man said, “This is the Christian thing to do.” The little boy’s mouth fell open, and he said, “Wow, are you Jesus?”

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone mistook us for Jesus in this world of so many choices? The choice is ours.

The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior, He will stir up his zeal; with a shout, he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies. Isaiah 42:13 God is my strength and defense. Exodus 15:2

This past Monday, the Georgia Bulldogs became the reigning National Champions of college football for the second consecutive year in front of a packed house, millions of viewers, and huge gatherings of supporters. The team played with amazing skill, precision, teamwork, and heart. There are so many individual stories on this team which exemplify the word, Champion, that it would be impossible to share them all. The real champions are the collective team, coaches, support staff and supporters who worked together to find a way to travel this road again.

The word, champion comes from the Latin word, campionem which means gladiator or fighter. A champion is defined as one who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition or one who fights or argues for a cause on behalf of someone else. When the word is used as a verb, it means one who defends or supports the cause of someone or something.

Champions do not have to be part of a sports team, in fact, there are champions all around us in our everyday life. Sadly, most of the time we are too caught up with our own lives to notice. There are the champions of the countless men and women who serve in our armed forces keeping watch day and night so we can sleep safely at night. There are champion teachers who deal with our children and grandchildren daily helping them to become knowledgeable and respectful citizens. We have medical champions, personnel who work tirelessly to care for the sick and handle emergencies. There are parent champions who work daily to support their families and raise their children. We have unsung champions such as those who care for our elderly and feed and house the homeless amongst us. There are so many everyday champions.

Our country is fortunate to have had champions such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and others who worked to establish this country on Christian standards. We have modern day champions such as Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, and so many others who set standards to show us how to live in harmony. However, when it comes down to it, for the Christian, Jesus is the undisputed champion of our life.

What does it take to be a champion? More specifically, what does it take to for us all to be champions for Christ. First, I believe being a champion takes passion. Two teams which get to this point in their season must have a burning desire or passion to win. The Apostle Paul was a spiritual champion who said, “I run to win.” He had a burning desire or passion to serve his God .

A champion must possess discipline. Tom Landry, legendary coach of the Dallas Cowboys, once said, “The job of any coach is to make his players do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.” For a Christian to grow, we need discipline to grow, excel, and gain strength in our beliefs. Paul talked about the training we need to press on to the goal that is before us.

Champions have commitment. Just as a great team commits to the game, a Christian has to be 100% committed to their mission and completely focused on Jesus. Vince Lombardi was right on target when he said, “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence.”

Finally, champions practice self sacrifice in order to develop character. There is a price to be paid to be a winner. Paul urged us to throw off everything that hinders us and run the race with endurance, Character for teams develop within the context and value system of their structure. For the Christian our character is simple, Christ likeness.

It’s a great time to celebrate the champions all around us and to develop the spiritual traits of a champion so that we can one day cross the goal line of glory.

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character. Alan Armstrong

The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

This past New Year’s Eve the intriguing term, status quo, seemed destined to describe the seemingly unchangeable outcome of the game between UGA and OSU. Ohio State dominated the game from the middle of the second quarter until the end of the third. In his column Jeff Schultz said, “The defense was being shredded, and the offense was sputtering.” the status quo was becoming reality. Suddenly, with 2:36 left, the team huddled, and a spark was ignited as they realized they still had a chance to change the status quo of this very important game!

The term status quo is defined as the existing state of affairs. On December 31 as we approached midnight, the Georgia Bulldogs opted to change the status quo of the Peach Bowl game and said, “Yes, we can change the outcome of this game” rather than “no, we can’t.” Georgia rallied for a 14 point fourth quarter comeback to stun the Ohio State team. It was precisely as the ball dropped in New York that we watched the winning field goal try for OSU go wide left.

Life can be just like this game. We can fumble around miserably and accept our non productive path, or we can ignite a spark and change the direction of our lives. The status quo of life can be best described by author Jon Gordon who said, “There was a time (as children) when we jumped from a jungle gym and went on roller coaster rides. No goal was unattainable. Then when we grew up, the doubters dissuaded us from going after our dreams. They instilled their insecurities in us, and with so many people saying we can’t and so few saying we can, we let fear enter our lives. We are so afraid of losing what we have that we don’t go after what we want!”

How is the status quo in our lives as we begin this New Year? Just as in this game, some people are very happy with the status quo in their lives, and they would like things to stay just the way they are. Others are wanting more and are working hard to change things in their lives and shake up the status quo. Everyone goes through a time in their lives when it just seems easier to accept things as they are rather than put forth the effort to change them, but where does that get us?

David said, “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” Fear is the main thing which prevents us from moving forward and changing the status quo of our lives. David urged us to use our strength in God to conquer this fear.

Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills football player who collapsed on the field last Monday night is making a remarkable recovery. When asked at an earlier time about his career and its status quo, he said, “My faith is in God. So whatever He has planned for me, that’ll be it.” These are statements of faith which negate fear and demonstrate a mindset of never giving up. The status quo can be changed.

Sometimes faith is about obeying God in our lives and setting out on the journey He calls us to take even though the answers we seek might be a little murky at the beginning. We have to hold on to the assurance of things hoped for and cling to the conviction of things unseen.

Living a life of faith means overcoming fear and adopting a play to win mindset. One that says even if we fail, we won’t give up and let our dreams die. Success isn’t automatically given to any of us, it is pursued with all the energy and sweat we can muster. Obstacles and struggles are part of life, and they make us appreciate success. Obstacles were meant to be overcome. Fear was mean to be conquered. Success was meant to be achieved. These are part of life, and those who succeed are those who change the status quo and refuse to give up till the game is over! Go Dawgs!

You let the distress drive you to God not away from Him. The result was all gain, not loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 selected

Some time ago, I read or heard about a statement that was made to a group of people. It is one of those statements where you fill in the blank. The statement is “I Once Was..”. There are as many individual answers here as there are people, but the idea stuck with me as I pondered the best answer to put in the blank. The answer could be something we have overcome, something we have changed in our life, or maybe even a transformation.

The words I Once Was come from my favorite hymn, Amazing Grace. The hymn was written by John Newton who had such a transformation in his life that he was moved to write the well known and loved hymn. Newton was a ship’s captain and a former slave trader. He was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1725, and when he was just a boy, his mother died while his father was away at sea. Times were difficult. Later in life, he turned to the family business of slave trading and sold many fellow countrymen and even family members into slavery.

Newton had lived a life at sea from the time he was eleven, but on one occasion, he found himself tied to the helm of the ship during a horrific storm at sea trying to hold the ship on course. He cried out to God saying, “Lord have mercy on us.” The ship and crew survived. Of that day, Newton said, “On that day, the Lord came down from on high and delivered me out of deep waters.” Only the amazing grace of God could and would take this wretch of a man and transform him into a child of God.

Newton went on to become a minister and spent 43 years preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, writing hymns, and helping to abolish the slave trade. In later years as his memory began to fail, Newton said he could remember two things; “I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior”. What a story of grace; Amazing Grace in fact!

If we each completed the sentence I Once Was…,what would be our story? Paul says, “Even though I was once a blasphemer, and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” (1 Timothy 1:13) Each of us can go from being lost to being found. There’s such hope in knowing that being lost doesn’t have to be permanent. Thoreau said, “It is not until we are lost that we begin to understand each other.”

When I think of being lost, I always remember a story from our Bowdon days. Randy and I were downtown picking up a few things when a friend who was supposed to be watching our children came riding by in his truck by himself. He rolled down the window and said, “Hey, do ya’ll have the kids?” I said, “No, I thought you had them.” Without any sense of alarm, “Jimmy replied, “Well, I’ve lost them right now, but I’ll find them.” Thankfully, he did. We might be lost spiritually, emotionally, or physically, but we are never too lost that God can’t find us. “I once was lost, but now I’m found.”

Newton’s hymn tells of being blind, but now I see. There are all kinds of blindness which are not physical in nature. We can be blind in that we don’t see the whole picture of what God is doing in our lives, but rather we only see part of it. We can see the world from only our viewpoint, and be blind to the views of others. We can even be blind to God’s grace and the great love He has for each of us. The good news is that God doesn’t have a finite amount of grace or love, He won’t run out! We have all sinned, and we are all in the same condition. We are sometimes blind.

Newton did horrible things, but he found grace. If grace can be poured out on him and Paul, it can be poured out on us. It’s God’s grace, not ours. We all get to celebrate God’s grace. It’s truly amazing!

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found; Was blind, but now I see. John Newton

The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10

It’s hard to believe that we are approaching the end of another year! Time is moving with lightning speed these days, and here we are on the threshold of the brand new year of 2023! We are going forward (whether we like it or not) into the unknown. Who knows what changes and new experiences will come our way? Who knows what we will find around the next corner? In spite of the uncertainty, as Christians, we know the Lord is with us continually from year to year.

The beginning of a new year gives us an opportunity to stop and reflect on the year that is ending and look forward to the year that is beginning. It gives us each a chance to examine ourselves and see where we have been, where we are now, and where we want to be! Whether or not we walk through the threshold of joy this year is up to us!

Threshold is defined as the place or point of entering or beginning, or the level or point at which we start to experience something or something new begins to happen. The year of our Lord two thousand and twenty three offers us all a new beginning, but our job is to step across the threshold of it with confidence.

This past year has brought many changes and new experiences for many of us. We have experienced the highest mountain top experiences and the lowest valley ones while continually aspiring to live a fuller life. Many of us have lost a loved one or a dear friend, and their absence, whether expected or not, leaves a sadness in our hearts. It has also brought new life to many of us through new friendships, new purposes, and new attitudes.

The coming year offers us several opportunities to reclaim our joy and peace if we are ready to do a few things. First, cross over the threshold of purpose. Purpose is what gives our life meaning so we can say, “I know why I’m doing what I’m doing.” There is a tremendous difference between just existing and living. Living is defined as “being vigorous, alive and full of life” while existing is defined as “just being there.” God will reveal His purpose for each of us if we just allow Him to use us.

Secondly, step over the threshold to forgiveness. Forgiveness is a decision, an act of the will by the grace of God. There is not a person who has not been hurt by someone in this world, but forgiveness can occur when we find the power to forgive what we still remember. Forgiveness means giving up revenge because God is the judge, not us. When we can see those who have hurt us as a child of God who is loved just like we are, then we can begin to wish them well.

Next, move over the threshold to commitment. God will begin to work in our lives as we commit or roll everything over to Him. Once we roll everything over to Him, and don’t try to take it back and do it ourselves, He works. We forget that He works based on our willingness to commit.

Finally, cross over the threshold and find joy! There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness depends on outward circumstances, but joy depends on inward character. Happiness depends on what happens to us, but joy depends on who lives within us. When we have internal joy, we have chosen to know that we are unconditionally loved and accepted by God. Choose joy this year!

God’s love guarantees His acceptance when others reject us, His forgiveness when other judge us, and His mercy when others have condemned us. When we bask in His love, the wellspring of joy bubbles up in our heart. The world doesn’t give us this joy, and the world can’t take it away. We can’t change what happened yesterday, but we can change how we move into tomorrow.

This year I pray we can all cross the threshold of joy to a season of new energy, new purpose, new forgiveness, new commitment, and new joy!

Happy New Year!

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14

A few weeks ago, a good friend and I were having lunch. The conversation covered many areas, but somewhere in the middle, she asked, “Do you find that you are happy these days?” It was a conversation stopper, but I replied simply, “Yes, I think so.” Then, I asked her the same question, and she replied, “I’m happy, but I can’t seem to find peace in this life lately.” The question of peace in our lives is different for all of us, but everyone individually innately seems to know when we have reached that perfect peace.

Peace is defined as being free from disturbances or tranquility. The Christian would probably say that perfect peace comes from being whole or complete. Peace comes when we turn our lives over to Christ, but perfect peace is only achieved when we focus on God in all circumstances.

Biblical peace, however, is more than just the absence of conflict, it is taking action to restore a broken situation. It’s more than that state of inner tranquility, but more a wholeness and completeness within ourselves. It’s not something we can create on our own, but rather comes as a gift from God.

The Bible tell us that the angels told of peace, good will to men that night long ago in Bethlehem. It’s amazing that the angels foretold of peace when the times were not peaceful. The people were under the oppressive rule of Rome and its emperor, and they were either part of the nobility (about 10%) or very poor. The angels’ proclamation was an important part of God’s plan to introduce His son to the world and show that His invitation to receive salvation extends to the humblest shepherd, the most esteemed leader, and all the people in between.

The Book of Psalms says, “Search for peace and work to maintain it.” In this world of today sometimes it’s hard to find peace, and once we’ve found it, it’s even harder to maintain the peace in our lives. If we want to enjoy peace this Christmas, it is good to identify what things steal your peace and work to eliminate those things from our thoughts.

Peace stealers are different for all of us. On any given day, a multitude of things creep into our lives and try to steal our peace. It can be anything from the news, traffic, a to do list, fatigue, worry, the weather, or a situation we can’t control.

It’s good to know ourselves so we can identify the problem and eliminate it from our thoughts. I’ve found that it’s helpful to make a mental list of the things that disrupt the peace in my life. If we are honest about the “thieves” which upset us, then we can break free. In the middle of the storms of everyday life, we can be anchored in God’s peace.

The angels were saying to us that Christmas peace begins with peace with God, and then, as a result, we are flooded with the peace of God. We have peace with God because of our relationship with Christ, and we can have peace with each other if we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and lives. It’s because of Christ that we can live in peace with one another.

Christmas should bring a certain peace to us because on that night, God did something extraordinary. Max Lucado puts it this way, “Stepping from the throne, He removed His robe of light and wrapped Himself in skin; pigmented human skin. The light of the universe entered a dark, wet womb. He whom angels worshiped nestled Himself in the placenta of a peasant, was birthed into the cold night, and then slept on cow’s hay. Mary didn’t know whether to give Him milk or give Him praise, so she gave Him both since He was as near as she could figure, hungry and holy. Joseph didn’t know whether to call him Junior or Father, but in the end, He called him Jesus, since that’s what the angel said, and since he didn’t have the faintest idea what to name a God he could cradle in his arms.”

It is important to focus on the real meaning of the Christmas season. Remember that while situations on this earth may cause his stress, we can find true peace when we turn our focus to Christ and His great love for us. This Christmas we can make ourselves instruments of God’s peace by deciding that we are not going to let this world steal our peace and resolve to pass on the Christmas peace to others.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Merry Christmas!