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Most of us can remember what it was like to be a child during the Christmas season. The weeks and days before Christmas morning were full of excitement and wonder.  As adults, most of us still enjoy this most wonderful time of the year. We look forward to the food, the music, and the excitement in our children’s faces. But sadly, many of us have lost that sense of wonder we once had.  I think we need to rediscover it this Christmas season. In fact, as we grow and mature in our faith, the celebration of Christmas should be characterized by an ever deepening sense of awe about the mystery of the incarnation.  

Galatians 4:4

⁴ But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

This verse provides three powerful principles about Christmas that will inspire our hearts and bring back the wonder of the Christmas season!

First, we find that Christmas came at the Perfect Moment. The fullness of time could be translated “at just the right time.” There was no moment in history either before or after that was more perfectly suited to the coming of Christ than that very first Christmas morning.  But then, God’s timing is always “just right.”

Second, we find that Christmas is a Profound Mystery. God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. Jesus was both God and man. He was the logos that called creation into being. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. In John 6:38 he states, “I have come down out of heaven.” Yet, he was also human. He became one of us. He identified with us.

Why? That he might redeem us from our sins. He came with Powerful Mission to set men free and to give them eternal life.

How can we not be filled with wonder and awe that God came to earth to save sinners like us? 

Biblical Time Management

With another Monday rolling around it seems like a good time to talk about how we can best manage the time the God has given us. Most of us want to use our time more effectively. In fact, Americans almost have an obsession with the idea of time management. Take a walk through any bookstore and you will find shelves of books on how to maximize your time.  What does the Bible say this subject?

First, time is important because our lives are brief. Psalm 39:4-5 “You have made my days a mere handbreath, the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.” The Apostle James echoes this in his epistle, “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”  Since only a certain amount of time has been allotted to us, it is important to make the most of every day. “Be very careful then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15

Making the most of every day requires that we prioritize and set goals. Taking a few minutes each week, and even each day, to list what is most important, then writing out action plans to accomplish those items pays off in the end. If we allow our calendar to be ruled by the urgent, we will find ourselves running in a dozen directions and seldom getting the most important jobs accomplished. Take time and draw up a simple to-do list, prioritize it, and then go to work on that list, beginning with the most important, and you will have a gone a long way toward using your time wisely.

Remember, when setting priorities; place your focus on the eternal and not just the earthly. Put a premium on prayer and daily Bible study. Make Church attendance a top priority.  Set aside time for your family and your marriage.  We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ one day. Let us be found faithful in our use of time.

Dr. Charles Stanley.

“How to fight like a Christian.”

Is there any challenge you are facing? Are there people or circumstances aligned against you in your health, finances, career, relationships, or walk with the Lord? If you want to overcome difficulty, the absolute best way is by spending time alone with God. Only He can give you victory.

How do you fight this battle on your knees? First you do so by setting aside time alone with the Father. It is easy to be distracted. You become so busy fretting about your troubles and running after solutions that you fail to turn to the One who can best help you. (Ps. 103:19)

Second, listen to the Father and expect Him to speak to you. Prayer is not just telling the Lord how you feel – although that is part of it. Rather, He wants to reveal Himself to you and direct you in the way you should go.

Third, if the Lord reveals any sinfulness in your life, repent of it immediately. Remember, the Father’s primary goal is to have an intimate relationship with you. When sin is present, it is evidence that you are hindering Him from having full access to your life. Therefore, agree with God about your iniquity and allow Him to teach you. He will show you how to change the way you operate for maximum intimacy with Him, effectiveness in your life, and influence with others.

Fourth, remember there can only be one general in this battle – and that is the Lord. God willingly employs His supernatural power in defending you, training you, and bringing out your full potential. However, you must be willing to acknowledge that He is in control and knows the path ahead better than you do.

Fifth, see everything that happens to you as coming from God. Why would you do this? Because if the Father allows a trial or challenge in your life, it is ultimately for your good and His glory (Rom. 8:28). Knowing that He has permitted the troubles in your life for your benefit makes it easier to forgive those who hurt you and accept the seemingly inexplicable circumstances you bear.

The truth, is, you and I are always going to encounter struggles until we go home to heaven. However, God has promised, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. (Isa. 54:17) When you fight the battle on your knees and faithfully obey Him, you invite God to be your Redeemer, Defender, General, and Protector. That’s not only the best way to win—it’s the most wonderful, eternal path to triumph every single time.”

Hope this blesses you like it has me.

Collin Wimberly

A Theology of Work

In 1981 the band Loverboy released the song “Working for the Weekend.” The idea of the song was that we work 5 days a week, so that we can really live each weekend. According to this point of view, work is a means to an end and that end is a good time. Is that really the purpose of work? Is it a necessary evil that we all must endure to have the things we need and want?


Scripture says No! Work is divine gift to humanity through which God is glorified. Exodus 20, verse 11 states that for 6 days you shall labor. God Himself modeled this for us in creation. The universe was created by Him, from nothing, in 6 days. Therefore, God is a worker and we ought to work as God does. Jesus often remarked to His disciples that He came to do his Father’s work. In John 5:17 He told the religious leaders of His day that “My Father is always at work to this very day, and I too am working.” Christ came to defeat sin, death and Hell through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. His work was the redemption of humanity.

What does this mean for us? That work can and should be God-centered and Gospel motivated. We work for far more than a paycheck or the pleasures it can provide. We work for the glory of God. We avoid the sin of laziness and idleness that Christ might be most honored by our lives. Work gives us a way to provide for our family and others, just as Christ’s work provided a way that our greatest need might be met. There are no small tasks. No meaningless occupations from the Scripture’s viewpoint.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said it well . . .

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Let’s continue to do our jobs well to the glory of almighty God!

 

A good word for men who preach the Word.

"Get your texts from God - your thoughts, your words, from God.
It is not great talents God blesses, so much as likeness to Jesus.
A holy minister is an an awful weapon in the hand of God.
A word spoken by you, when your conscience is clear,
and your heart full of God's Spirit, is worth ten thousand words
spoken in unbelief and sin."

Robert Murray M'Cheyne