Believe the Comfort of Christmas: “At Ease!”
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Believe the COMFORT of Christmas!”
Isaiah 40:2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed,
“At ease.”
I will admit I am not a military person, so forgive me if I make a wrong assessment. If I were, I would think these two words would bring relief to any military personnel. “At ease” tells a soldier they can relax. The tension of battle or keeping watch 24/7 is complete. Their time of warfare or potential warfare is complete.
“Welcome home.”
Another two words any soldier loves to hear after serving in a combat zone for a period of time. Their battle is over and they are safely home.
Isaiah is given the words from God to tell the people of Israel, “your hard service has been completed.” “At ease.”
There is coming a time when the reality of sin and its consequences would no longer affect God’s people. The battle against evil will be finished and the time of warfare will be over.
There is comfort knowing the struggle is over.
Muscles relax. Stress goes down. Heartrates subside. Tension evaporates.
I’m waiting for that day when I see Jesus face to face and he says, “At ease. Your time of hard service, of warfare is over.”
The battle is real. It isn’t fought with weapons of physical war, but it is a spiritual battle that is being fought to win souls away from Jesus. The Apostle Paul but it this way:
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The battle is around us. We live in a culture that is seeking to remove God and a biblical worldview from our society and even call it hate speech if biblical values are expressed. The miracle of creation has given place to the random chaos of evolution. The order of creation and the fact that God created male and female has succumbed to the woke idea that gender is chosen, not given. The institutions of marriage and family that God created for the benefit of people and society are being dismantled into alternative lifestyles and living together without the commitment of marriage. We applaud the killing of babies to the freedom of a woman’s “right to choose” rather than upholding the value and sanctity of each human life…from the moment of conception. We pit one race against another instead of seeing humanity for what it is, one human race in which each soul is valuable to God and to each other. We excuse sin as a mental illness and dismiss it as judgmental should anyone hold another to a standard – God’s or societies.
Do I have to go on? It is wearisome isn’t it? It seems like our small witness in the world is so dim that the forces of darkness are having their way.
We shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus told us that life would not be easy for a Christian:
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9-13)
It gets wearisome, doesn’t it? It feels like it doesn’t matter. It feels easier to surrender and give in than continue to “fight the good fight of faith.”
Don’t give up. Your faith and witness matter. You/we are here for such a time as this. Christmas still matters. Jesus still matters and people still need Jesus.
I know, there are days we want to crawl up on God’s lap and hear him say, “It’s going to be ok. At ease. Your struggle is over.”
Christmas reminds us that day is coming. Don’t lose heart!
Apply: What struggles are you engaged in because of your faith? What happens to those struggles when you take a few minutes to focus on the focus of Christmas, Jesus your Savior?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for taking on our biggest struggle and in that struggle defeating sin, death and the power of the devil. We look forward to the comfort we will have when you speak to our hearts, “Well, done. At ease.” Amen.
Believe Christmas: Find Comfort this Christmas!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “Believe the COMFORT of Christmas!”
Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”
Do you need some comfort this Christmas?
Somewhere in your life I am sure you are wanting someone to say, “It’s going to be OK.”
Maybe you are facing a diagnosis of cancer.
Maybe you are struggling to make ends meet with the inflation going on in our country.
Maybe you are concerned about the latest variant of CoVid 19.
Maybe you are facing unemployment, divorce, or separation from your children.
Maybe your heart is just full of worry, anxiety and stress for many different reasons.
Wouldn’t you like to crawl up in the lap of the Almighty God and have him whisper in your ear, “It’s going to be OK. I love you.”
This is the picture Isaiah’s words “Comfort, comfort” invites us to picture. God wants Isaiah to invite the people of Israel back into a personal connection with him. Isaiah had been harsh with God’s word of judgment and condemnation for their lives drifting from the Lord and the subsequent hardship that came as a result of their sin.
It was time to comfort their souls and let them know that the consequence and reality of sin was NOT going to be the end game.
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, we may be facing different hardships as a direct or indirect result of sin in our lives or just in the world in general. It’s the broken world around us and our sinful nature within us that robs us of our peace, fills our minds with worry, and seeks to find solutions for life in anything but the Lord.
To try to find comfort, some semblance of peace this Christmas, it can be tempting to seek escape and comfort in food, experiences, shopping, or addictions. The comfort all of these offer is temporary at best and non-existent at worst.
So take up your Savior and the invitation Isaiah gives:
Crawl into the lap of your Savior this Christmas and let his love, his peace, his forgiveness bring true comfort to your heart and life.
Apply: What is causing your worry, stress or anxiety this Christmas season? If you were sitting in the lap of God, what would he say to you?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for inviting us to sit in your lap and receive your word of comfort this Christmas! AMEN.
PS – Don’t forget Advent by Candlelight on Wednesday, December 1 at 7pm (6pm soup supper). Join us in-person or online!
Believe Week 10: Always Live In View of Eternity…ALIVE!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 10: Eternity”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
It’s Black Friday.
Perhaps the days of getting up early to stand in lines before a store open to get the doorbuster deals are over as you can sit in your living room and buy the same thing on line while watching the football game and have it delivered by the weekend.
Perhaps the days of a 2” stack of newspaper ads sitting on the coffee table for the family to flip through to determine their Black Friday shopping route have given way to scrolling deals on your phone as you sit around the coffee table.
Perhaps the way we shop on Black Friday has changed, but more people than not will buy something today.
I’ve always found it a bit ironic that we have a day of Thanksgiving and gratitude for what we have only to be quickly followed by outright encouragement to buy more.
In spite of this irony, I’ve been out in the crowds of Black Friday. Some deals are just too good to pass up!
However, I have to remind myself of a few things if I am “Always Living In View of Eternity”:
- Material things are temporary; Spiritual things are eternal.
Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19 ).
With more enthusiasm than finding a Black Friday deal, God wants us to find the treasures he’s given to us in the pages of his Word. Anything you buy today will not transmit to heaven, but the faith you strengthen and nurture today will go with you into eternity. Any deal you get today is not as valuable as the gift of grace and forgiveness God has given you for FREE! Enjoy the blessings God has given to you materially, but put your focus and emphasis to store many more spiritual treasures than earthly treasures!
- Remember heaven is your home!
Many of the deals on Black Friday serve to enhance our home with gadgets, gizmos, or time saving mechanisms. Again nothing inherently wrong with these and they can certainly enhance our life on this earth.
But heaven will never be on earth and earth will never be heaven. So don’t forget where your eternal home is…in heaven. Again, we can enjoy the homes God has blessed us with and enjoy decorating them with things we buy, but never forget that all this is temporary and not our eternal home. As much as we buy, as many conveniences as we have, we will never create heaven on earth.
Only God can create heaven in heaven…and he has for you and me to enjoy. That is our home and that is what we have to look forward to because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Here’s what we have to look forward to:
Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Live today, Black Friday, in view of Good Friday and remember that no matter what deal you find today, the greatest deal you could ever find was the gift of forgiveness given to you to secure an eternity for you.
Apply: How can you spend more time, energy, or effort storing up treasures in heaven?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for securing my eternity through the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ. Lead me to always live in view of eternity so that I keep all things temporal in proper perspective! AMEN
A Thanksgiving Lord’s Prayer
A Thanksgiving Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven
Lord thank you for being our Father and making us your children through faith in Jesus. Thank you for your invitation to call on you with our prayers, our worries, and our thanksgiving. Thank you for your ear that listens and hears us every time we pray to you.
Hallowed be your name.
Lord, thank you for the power and glory of your name. As you revealed yourself to me through your Spirit, you have led me to call on you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for your Word which proclaims your name and the opportunity to live my life to glorify your name. Thank you for your truth which exposes all lies and preserves your holy name among us.
Your kingdom come.
Lord, thank you for the power of your Spirit to work the Gospel message in my heart and make me part of your eternal kingdom of grace. Thank you for your grace which covers all my sin and empowers me to reflect you in my words, actions, and thoughts. Thank you for using me to expand your kingdom as I share you with my friends, neighbors and coworkers.
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Lord, thank you for a heart that desires my salvation and that of all people. Thank you for breaking and hindering every evil plan of the devil, the world, and my sinful nature and in the end allowing the power of your Gospel to prevail. Thank you, as I interact with evil, for the strength and promises of your word to be faithful to you each and every day.
Give us today our daily bread.
Lord, thank you for everything that you give to me that supports the need of my body and life: food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lord, perhaps this is the biggest thank you we can offer: Thank you for forgiving all my sins and covering me with your love and grace. The gratitude is deep because we know we are not worthy of all the blessings you give, nor have we deserved them. Yet in your mercy you choose to give them to us…even forgiveness. Help us, in gratitude for the forgiveness you have freely given, empower us to forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
Lord, the devil the world and our sinful nature work very hard to deceive us or lead us into false belief, despair and great sin. Thank you for your Spirit to guard and keep us from temptation and empowering us to say “No” to Satan and “Yes” to you. Thank you for the assurance that in Christ we will ultimately have the victory!
But deliver us from evil
Lord, we have no idea how much evil you protect us from each and every day. We thank you for your angels you command to watch over us and the behind the scenes work you do to push evil aside and allow harm to miss us. Thank you for your promise that even if evil should come to us, you will give us a “evil-free” eternity in heaven with you!
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever, AMEN!
Lord, thank you for being our God. Thank you for connecting us to you so that we know that all your power is at work in and for us, all your glory is draped over us and reflected by us, and all your ruling power is at work to orchestrate all for our blessing. Lord thank you for ruling over all, in all and through all for our temporal and eternal good.
Amen
Thank you that we can finish this prayer of thanks with certainty that you will hear and answer all our prayers for the sake of Jesus’ name and our eternal good. Amen!
Believe Week 10: Eternal Perspective on Suffering
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 10: Eternity”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
When will it all end?
If you are or have gone through a hardship or challenge, this question will go through your mind. Suffering, hardship, trials are not our favorite times in our lives. They are hard. They try us physically. They try us emotionally and also try us spiritually.
We want them to end so we can get back to work, exercising, school, or just feeling great again.
I don’t like suffering either.
It’s hard to endure. It’s hard to be patient. It’s hard to keep the right perspective.
The reality of eternity gives us a different perspective on our trials. Consider the inspired words of the Apostle Paul:
2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Could it be that the outward trials are God’s way to renew and refocus our inner faith? Yep.
Could it be that our outward troubles, as long as they may seem, are to remind us of heaven where glory and lack of pain and suffering are eternal? Yep.
Could it be that our troubles as big and as heavy as they seem are there to remind us that what we see and experience on this earth is to help us focus and long for what we do not see yet in eternity? Yep.
Always living in view of eternity gives us a different perspective on our trials. When we know that heaven is our home where trials and suffering and hardship will NOT exist, God can use those trials suffering and hardship to increase our longing for an eternity with him.
This may seem backwards but read that passage again.
Trials…Renew us day by day.
Trials…Achieve for us an eternal glory.
Trials…Fix our hearts on what is unseen.
When an eternal focus sets in, our troubles do seem “light and momentary.”
Apply: What challenges are you going through right now? How can this Scripture and a view of eternity help you endure the trial for your blessing?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for trials for through my suffering you focus me heavenward! AMEN.