During this season of celebration named Hanukkah, there are many lessons we can learn. The Festival of Lights, while a holiday pretty much exclusively celebrated by Jews, should be held in high esteem by Christians as well. (Also by Muslims if they were honest but that is a different thought for another time). The miracle of God extending the oil so that the menorah remained lit until more oil could be made ready for use, was a great miracle indeed. It showed that God was with His children and pleased with them and their zeal for His Holy Name. That was only one of the miracles God performed, though. The entire Maccabean rebellion should have been crushed by the overwhelming forces arrayed against them. God’s granting victory to them is reminiscent of the victories during the time of the Judges. Jesus observed the festival (John 10:22-23) as did His disciples. What could possibly be wrong with a festival honoring God’s provision and care?
We are reminded during this time that God cares for His people. He provides for His people. He protects His people. He remembers His people. He helps His people. It would be a good idea for everyone to read 1 and 2 Maccabees and learn of God’s care for His people during the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments.
It is also a good time to speak with our Jewish friends. To celebrate with them the miracles of God. To use this time as a bridge to communicating with them how Jesus is the Light of the World. That the God of Lights, who delights in giving His children good gifts, gave one in the form of His Son.
Wish them a Happy Hanukkah. Teach the meaning of the holiday to your children. Remind yourself that candles are not lit to shine in the home. They are meant to shine out, to tell others of the miracles of God. Let that be a lesson to take home – that the best way to honor God is to tell others about His greatness.
God
Preconceived Notions
Recently, as I was leading a small group study through the book of James, I was convicted by a passage we were studying. We were studying the verses on not showing favoritism based on wealth, which led us to talk about the preconceived notions about people we all hold. As we continued to talk, I was recalling the three new people that were supposed to be hired at a place where I work part-time. All we received in our department was a brief summary – names, approximate ages, background, of the new workers. How I was mortified to realize that my co-workers and I had already decided which ones would work out and which ones would not make it through the probationary period. The only one who made it – the one who we had decided wouldn’t last.
It was a humbling experience to realize that I had prejudged people I didn’t even know, which colored the way I acted towards them. Seeing this tendency in my own life, I was reminded again how deceptive the heart is. Thanks be to God who sees the inside, the heart, of all people and loves us anyway. In order to be a Christ-like witness in the world, I must learn to see people as He does, and to see myself as I truly am – a sinful creature completely dependent on the grace, strength and mercy of God. May God continue to transform me into someone who represents Him in the way I act towards people.
Preface to The Quest: Changing a Church’s Culture From Missions-minded to Missions-active
A prominent Christian author makes the statement, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” (Piper, 1993) Another Christian author rebuts with the assertation that, “Actually missions exists because true worship does.” (Blue, 2001) Both of these statements are true. The need for missions exists because there are people in the world who do not worship Jesus Christ as Lord and the response to reach these people with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ comes from those who already worship Him.
As believers mature spiritually, the realization of Christ’s desire for all His children to be ambassadors for Him brings them into a crisis point. Will they remain inwardly focused on their growth as a follower of Jesus Christ or will they focus outward toward those who have yet to become children of God? The answer to this question has enormous consequences for both individual Christians and churches because churches, made up of individual Christians, reflect their constituents. Just as there is a level of spiritual maturity one cannot rise above until they have experienced leading a person to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, there is a level of spiritual growth in a church that will not be broached until the church is focused on reaching the world for their Master. A church made up of inward looking members will primarily exist for itself. A church made up of outwardly focused individuals will focus beyond their four walls.
Moving a church from being inwardly focused to being missions-minded and eventually missions-active should be the goal of her leaders. This book will explore how to move a church from being missions-minded (or missions-aware) to missions-active.
The Quest is available in print or Kindle from Amazon.com or http://www.discernmentministries.webs.com
Thoughts on Thanksgiving Week Continued
It is traditional to make a list of things you are thankful for at Thanksgiving. Most of the time we focus on material things we have been blessed with. Some go deeper, thanking God for spiritual blessings bestowed during the year. Thanks for friends, family, health and employment top many lists. One category that gets left off many lists is arguably the most important. We should thank God for the things He has taken away from us.
In order to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind as commanded means we have to give up any and everything that obscures Him in our lives. Praise be to Him that He works in our lives to conform us to the image of His Son. To do this, He many times has to prune away those things that hinder us from reaching that goal. It may be that He has helped you to kick a destructive habit, end an unhealthy relationship, stop a hurtful lifestyle. It may be that He has forced you to accept the death of a loved one in order to lean only on Him. He may have taken away your job in order to prove to you that He is sufficient to meet all your needs.
As you make your list this year, how about including thanks for the things taken away that has made your faith stronger? I guarantee that it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Hymn Devotions Day 39 – We’ll Understand It Better By And By
DAY 39 – WE WILL UNDERSTAND IT BETTER BY AND BY
“Why, God, why?” So many times we ask that question. We cannot always see the plan God has for us. We stumble and crash through life, avoiding some things, falling into others. We watch as lives around us are destroyed. We see plans fall through. One day we are on top of the world, the next we are far below sea level. Each time we ask “why?”
Funny, isn’t it, that when things go well for us we rarely ask why. When things go wrong, we are quick to ask the question. The real understanding of man, though, would lead us to ask God why He blesses us at all.
We could have been born anywhere in the world, to any parents. God put us where He wanted us to be for a reason. Some of us have riches, some poverty. Some live in free societies, others in tightly controlled countries. He places us where He does for reasons that may not be obvious to us. Later, perhaps, we will come to understand the reasoning behind His actions. Sometimes we never will.
In reading through Job, I never find where God ever explained to Job the reasons behind his misfortune. He may know now, from heaven but he didn’t here on earth and that, I think is the point of this hymn. It may not be until we arrive home in heaven that we even begin to see how God weaved the tapestry of our life into that of all the other people on earth. It may not be until much later that we begin to comprehend His plan to bring glory to His name through our circumstances. Let us endure with patience, then, our lot in life and trust in Him to accomplish His purpose with us.
Lord, help me to realize that I do not have to understand, just trust. Help me to see that to develop faith in You, I must come to believe that You are in control and that You do not need to consult me or gain my permission. My life is Yours, do with it what You want.
WE WILL UNDERSTAND IT BETTER BY AND BY
by Charles Tindley
We are tossed and driven on the restless sea of time
Somber skies and howling tempest
Oft succeed a bright sunshine
In that land of perfect day when the mists are rolled away
We will understand it better by and by
We are often destitute of the things that life demands
Want of food and want of shelter
Thirsty hills and barren lands
We are trusting in the Lord and according to God’s word
We will understand it better by and by
Trials dark on every hand and we cannot understand
All the ways that God would lead us
To that blessed promised land
But He guides us with His eye and we’ll follow till we die
For we’ll understand it better by and by
Temptations, hidden snares often take us unawares
And our hearts are made to bleed
For a thoughtless word or deed
And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best
But we’ll understand it better by and by
REFRAIN:
By and by when the morning comes
When the saints of God are gathered home
We’ll tell the story how we’ve overcome
For we’ll understand it better by and by
From Isaac We Learn …
Isaac is one of those patriarchs of the Old Testament who is revered, along with Abraham and Jacob, over and over. For many people, the question is, why? Isaac is not recorded as having won any great victories, spiritual or physical. He seems content to lean on the accomplishments of his father. A cursory reading might lead one to believe that his greatest claim to fame is simply becoming the father of Jacob.
Isaac is non-confrontational. He allows others to walk all over him. He is a pretty poor parent (witness the tension and favoritism between Jacob and Esau) and didn’t even pick pick out his own wife. Why is Isaac held in such high esteem? I think the answer comes from the story of Genesis 22, where God tells Abram to sacrifice Isaac. Isaac is close to 9, 10 maybe even 12 years old. Abram is well over a hundred. Isaac is conscious enough to realize there is no lamb for a sacrifice. He is willing to be bound by Abram and laid on the altar. He could have easily outran Abram, probably even been a physical match for him at his advanced age.
As Abram pictures for us God’s love, being willing to sacrifice His Son, Isaac pictures for us Christ, loving his father so much he is willing to lay his life down. As Abram shows us complete obedience to God our Father, so does Isaac – in his complete obedience to his father. We know from Hebrews that Abram believed God could raise Isaac from the dead. No such statement is made about Isaac. Even not knowing if he would come back to life or not, Isaac was still willing to undergo this trial for the sake of his father.
That is the lesson we learn from Isaac. Are we in love with God so much that we are willing to obey Him completely, even at the cost of our life? Jesus was. A good question to ponder as we begin another week of service to our Heavenly Father.
Hymn Devotions Day 35 – Praise To The Lord, The Almighty
DAY 35 – PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY
This hymn is packed with doctrinal truth. One could use it to teach a class on the doctrine of God to new believers, taking a stanza at a time. God is King. He is the Creator. It is in Him that we find salvation and abundant life. He is worthy to be praised and adored.
I love the second verse. Can you not see, the writer asks, how God works in our life, gently changing our hearts and minds to desire, to want what is His desire for us? He doesn’t force us to His will, He changes our will to His own. We look and see and wonder, when did I change? When did I stop wanting that? When did I start desiring this? O how smoothly the Spirit of God works His transforming power!
God’s grace and mercy are given to us daily. He doesn’t leave us on our own to stumble about, He doesn’t leave us at the mercy of the storms of life, He shields and defends us, calming the storms and providing victory over them.
When it seems as if evil is winning. When it looks like the ungodly are prospering, God reminds us that He is in charge. Good will triumph, evil will be judged. We are assured of everlasting rewards, evil of everlasting punishment. The light always overcomes the darkness. It chases away shadows and reveals what is hidden. Nothing can withstand the light of His presence. What fantastic reasons to sing praise to the Lord, the Almighty, our Rock and Captain of our Salvation.
Praise be to You, O Lord. You are almighty. You are all-powerful. You and You alone are worthy to be praised. Thank You, for surrounding me with Your presence each day.
PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY by Joachim Neander
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation
O my soul praise Him for He is thy health and salvation
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near
Join me in glad adoration
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings, yea so gently sustaineth
Hast thou not seen, how thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord who hath fearfully wondrously made thee
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.
Praise to the Lord who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.
Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
Hymn Devotions Day 30 – Take My Hand Precious Lord
DAY 30 – TAKE MY HAND, PRECIOUS LORD
Many hymns were written out of tragedies, and this one was no exception. Thomas Dorsey was a fantastic musician and song writer who was devastated when his wife died giving birth to their child, who also later died. Filled with despair, he lost faith in God being a good and caring God. Deep in his grief, God reached out to him one as he sat at a friend’s house, overshadowing him with peace and filling his heart with love. Immediately he started playing a melody and these words welled up from inside him.
We can all empathize with him at times in our life. Few us there are who have not been touched with death or tragedy. Few of us there are who have not known despair at the circumstances we find ourselves in. Like the disciples on the boat in the storm, we have a feeling that any moment life is going to drown us. Thankfully, God is in control. He does have a plan, and it is a good one because He is good.
We can, like Peter found out, grab hold of His hand when we are in danger of drowning and He can lift us up to walk above the storms of life. He is all we need. When He is all there is we find Him to be more than sufficient, more than enough. He is God. All-knowing. All-caring. All-powerful. All-wise. All-good. He is God.
When we are overwhelmed we need to simply cry out to Him, “Lord, take my hand.” He will. He will lead us to Himself, where we will find rest for our burdened souls. “Come to Me” is His invitation. He will never turn us away.
Lord, take my hand today. Lead me to You. I do not know what today entails for my life, but You do. I can easily lose sight of You, lose perspective, lose hope. Keep me in Your hand, so that I am not overwhelmed by life, but so I can rest in You. Amen.
TAKE MY HAND, PRECIOUS LORD – Thomas Dorsey
Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I am tired
I am weak
I am worn
Through the storm
Through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home
When my way grows drear
Precious Lord, linger near
When my life is almost gone
Hear my cry
Hear my call
Hold my hand
Lest I fall
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home
When the darkness appears
And the night draws near
And the day is past and gone
At the river I stand
Guide my feet
Hold my hand
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home
Hymn Devotions Day 25 – O For A Thousands Tongues
DAY 25 – O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES
For this day, I have chosen to include all the verses that Charles Wesley wrote. This song was his celebration of the one year anniversary of his salvation, and what a great tribute to the Lord it is.
I know that not all of us remember the date of our salvation, but why not make it a practice to designate one day a year (if you do remember the date, use it) to write a poem of thanks to the Lord for His great salvation?
If you cannot write a poem, maybe a prayer or a song or draw a picture of thanks would be possible. Take some time studying Wesley’s poem for inspiration.
Since we don’t have a thousand tongues to sing with, why not use the one we have in a thousand ways? Join with brothers and sisters and together we can raise hundreds of thousands of tongues in harmony to praise the King of Kings.
I particularly love the verse that talks about how Jesus’ blood makes even the foulest sinner clean, even me. When I reflect on my numerous sins, I am amazed that God would want to save me. I am so grateful that His mercy and grace was given to me, the most undeserving person I know. Wesley puts it so well toward the end of his poem – harlots, publicans, thieves – saved is the sinner that believes from crimes as great as mine. Their sins are no worse than mine, their punishment is the same, eternal damnation unless they, just like I, repent and throw ourselves on the mercy of Jesus. How wonderful to know He forgives sins and pardons the sinner.
Lord, help me to use the tongue I have to always praise Your name. Help me use it to witness for You, witness of You, and testify of Your great mercy and forgiveness. Help me to proclaim Your salvation to all.
O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES – Charles Wesley
O for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace!
My gracious Master and my God, Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad The honors of Thy name.
Jesus! the name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease;
’Tis music in the sinner’s ears, ’Tis life, and health, and peace.
He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.
He speaks, and, listening to His voice, New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice, The humble poor believe.
Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come, And leap, ye lame, for joy.
In Christ your Head, you then shall know, Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below, And own that love is heaven.
Glory to God, and praise and love Be ever, ever given,
By saints below and saints above, The church in earth and heaven.
On this glad day the glorious Sun Of Righteousness arose;
On my benighted soul He shone And filled it with repose.
Sudden expired the legal strife, ’Twas then I ceased to grieve;
My second, real, living life I then began to live.
Then with my heart I first believed, Believed with faith divine,
Power with the Holy Ghost received To call the Savior mine.
I felt my Lord’s atoning blood Close to my soul applied;
Me, me He loved, the Son of God, For me, for me He died!
I found and owned His promise true, Ascertained of my part,
My pardon passed in heaven I knew When written on my heart.
Look unto Him, ye nations, own Your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone, Be justified by grace.
See all your sins on Jesus laid: The Lamb of God was slain,
His soul was once an offering made For every soul of man.
Awake from guilty nature’s sleep, And Christ shall give you light,
Cast all your sins into the deep, And wash the Æthiop white.
Harlots and publicans and thieves In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes From crimes as great as mine.
Murderers and all ye hellish crew In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you; For me the Savior died.
With me, your chief, ye then shall know, Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below, And own that love is heaven.
Hymn Devotions Day 17 – Take My Life and Let It Be Consecrated
DAY 17 – TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE
This hymn is a great daily prayer. What a way to start off each morning – asking God to help us consecrate our life to Him. Let us praise Him each day for He is worthy.
It is a great privilege, a noble request for us, to ask Him to use all of our being in His service. From my hands and feet, my speech, my financial resources, my mind, love and will; all that I am and have. Nothing less will do for my King of Glory than my all.
I need the Holy Spirit’s power to constantly, consistently yield myself to God. I need His power to submit my unruly will to His. I need His might to break my stubborn, selfish heart. With all that is within me, I desire to praise His holy name. I long for Him to fully transform me into His image.
One of the phrases I appreciate from this song is found in verse one. The prayer is for God to take both our moments and our days and have them become a seamless flow of praise. Another phrase really jumps out too, probably because I am a minister – Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages from Thee. Oh, yes, let us all bring to a lost and dying world a message from God. To use our mouth in this method is a great way of praising and honoring our God. Right now seems a good moment to start.
Lord, take all that I am and let me praise You. Take every part of my life because You alone are worthy to be praised. You gave me life and breath – let me use that breath and life to glorify Your name. Accept my offer of praise for Your greatness, majesty and power.
TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE – Francis Ridley Havergal
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee
Swift and beautiful for Thee
Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only for my King
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee
Filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose
Every power as Thou shalt choose
Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee
Ever, only, all for Thee
Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is Thy own
It shall be Thy royal throne
It shall be Thy royal throne
ta ethne 