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.
Believe Week 10: Heaven IS for Real!
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.)
Heaven is for real!
In 2014 a movie by this name was released based on the book by the same title that documented the story of a young boy who shares an experience of heaven in a near death experience. Here’s Wikipedia’s summary:
Four-year-old Colton Burpo (Connor Corum) is the son of Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear), pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska. Colton says he experienced Heaven during an emergency surgery after having Acute appendicitis. He describes to his incredulous family about having seen the surgeon operating on his ruptured appendix, his mother calling people in the waiting room to pray, and his father in another room yelling at God to not let him die. He also speaks of incidents with people he never met or knew about: meeting a great-grandfather who had died long before he was born, an unborn sister he never knew about who had died in a miscarriage, and having met Jesus.
Colton speaks about his experiences in Heaven, and Todd is faced with the dilemma of determining the legitimacy of his son’s experience. Todd’s wariness about discussing the situation erodes the confidence of the board members of his church, and he is contacted by several members of the media. When Todd is called by a radio station for an impromptu on-air interview, he invites them to attend his sermon the following Sunday. At church, he preaches about his son’s experiences and reveals his support for him.
I didn’t read the book, but did watch the movie. These three things stood out to me:
- People would ask me, “Did you read the book? Do you think heaven is for real?” No, I didn’t read the book and while the story of the 4-year old on the operating table is intriguing, the Bible gives me all the proof I need that heaven is for real.
- People also would ask, “What do you think of this boy’s experience? Do you think it really happened?” I would answer, “I would guess it did. I can’t deny someone’s experience. However, always ask, ‘Did this experience draw a person closer to Jesus and relying on his grace or did it pull someone away from grace and relying on oneself?’” I am not saying this experience of heaven is not real, but I know Satan is a deceiver to lead us trust in something or someone other than Jesus.
- What was most troubling was after watching the movie there was no clear mention of “How does a person get to heaven?” I may have missed it, but the movie lacked any clear proclamation of sin and grace. So people very easily could have left with a “just believe” mindset without any objective truth of Jesus in which to believe.
Jesus doesn’t want us to leave us empty or hanging. He knows that heaven and hell are for real. He wants us not to rely on the experience of a 4 year old, but to rely on the experience of our Savior.
The way to experience heaven for eternity is clear. Jesus said to his disciples in John 14:1-6:
John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Trusting Jesus is the only way to heaven. He is THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through Jesus. The movie missed this truth…but I don’t want you to miss it.
By contrast, the way to miss out on an eternity with Jesus is by rejecting him as your Savior.
Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Heaven IS for real and the way to an eternity with Jesus is clear. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you WILL be saved!
Apply: Why is it sometimes easier to believe someone’s recent “experience” with heaven instead of the account the Bible gives of heaven? Listen when people talk about “going to heaven.” Are they expressing trust and faith in Jesus or in some other way to heaven? As you have opportunity, let them know Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you not only for telling me about heaven, but providing my way to be there with you forever. AMEN.