O Holy Night

We are once again at the season of “Peace on earth and goodwill toward men.” Each year at this time we are bombarded with words like love, peace and joy. We are told to spread peace to all the nations and show love to everyone. I agree with these statements wholeheartedly, but sometimes I feel like we are taking an easy way out. We can be so vague that all we end up with are the warm, fuzzy feelings of good moral behavior. Christmas can come and go with Christ in the background. He’s there… but hardly noticed. He’s not real, just a kind of soft, fluffy symbol of love and kindness.

In old testament times, God often presented Himself in ways that were ethereal and hard to grasp. When He led the Israelites to the promised land, He took the form of a fire by night and a cloud by day. He came as a burning bush, light, fire, smoke and thunder. These are all powerful symbols of His majesty, but they are hard for us humans to relate to. The first Christmas changed all that. God was no longer a vague concept, he was a real, live baby that we could touch with our own fingers.

For us to truly experience Christmas, we must journey past the pretty ceramic and wooden nativity scenes to the rough stone walls of a stable cave. Can you smell the musty aroma of the cows and donkeys? Does your nose burn with the sharp scent of hay and manure? Can you hear the snorts as huge, moist, black nostrils sniff the air? Can you hear the crackle of the hay as the tiny bundle wiggles in the feeding trough? Can you feel the frustration as a father realizes the best he can offer is so much less than his heart desires? Can you see the exhausted mother whose shining eyes focus on the tiny baby in front of her, unaware of anything around except this amazing miracle? Can you see the tiny fingers reaching up – so small, yet so perfectly formed? One day they will hold a carpenter’s hammer. One day they will lovingly touch a leper, a bleeding woman, a hurting soul. One day they will be mercilessly nailed to a rough wooden cross. But that is yet to come. Those chubby little fingers that look so small wrapped around His mother’s thumb, will one day reach all the way from heaven to touch your heart. That’s God in the manger. No longer a vague, shapeless entity just out of our reach. Now there is truth we can touch, holiness we can hold. Jesus came to make God’s love real to us.

This year I challenge you to go beyond the cloudy concept of peace and goodwill to the hard wooden manger in Bethlehem. Let Christ make Christmas real for you. When you truly understand and appreciate His precious gift, you won’t be able to do anything less than spread His love and peace everywhere you go.

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For unto us a Savior is born… and lives!
Phil and Pam

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I have to admit, Jeremiah 29:11 has always bothered me. It’s a comforting verse, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” Yet, it has always felt like a promise made to someone else that we claim for encouragement, usually in times of doubt and uncertainty. The Lord was speaking to the Israelites who had been torn from their homes and taken away as captives to Babylon, not twenty-first century believers in need of a little positive-thinking attitude adjustment.

On my last pass through the book of Jeremiah I was reminded of a truth: many times scriptures that are bothersome become beautiful when taken in context! Let’s take a look at some verses in Jeremiah 29. (I’ll add some thoughts in parentheses as we go.)

4 – This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem (home) to Babylon (a foreign land):

10 – This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years (see note below) are completed for Babylon (not home), I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place (home).”

Then comes our favorite verse, followed by a bit more detail in vs 14 – “I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

So God’s message is basically that the Israelites (His children) were going to live for many years in a place that was not their home, but when the time was completed, God himself will bring them to their true home. Isn’t it interesting that he mentions the time as a ‘stranger in a strange land’ will be seventy years? Psalm 90:10 declares “The days of our lives are seventy years…”

Sounds like the old gospel tune, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through,” doesn’t it? This is an aspect of God’s character we can draw strength and hope from each day – God doesn’t promise a trouble-free life here (we’re in exile!), but when our stay is completed, God himself will bring His children home! Amen and Amen!!

So what do we do in the meantime? Verses 5-7 give our answer – “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

In other words, live your life, make the most of each day, and be a positive influence on the world – but don’t get too comfortable. One of these days God will bring His children to our true home where we’ll live forever with Him. Jesus said it himself – “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” – John 14:3

There’s just one word for that promise… heavenly!​

Looking up,
Phil and Pam​

PS. If you’d like a reminder of God’s heavenly promise, Phil has made a beautiful Jeremiah 29:11 plaque pictured above. Head over to www.HarmonyHeartwood.com to get one for yourself or someone special!

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In our Bible study this morning, Pam and I found ourselves in the book of Habakkuk. Just to jog your memory (my preferred form of exercise), the book starts with Mr. H and God having a little chat. Habakkuk says, “The world is going to hell in a hand basket!” – Hab 1:1-4 RSV (Redneck Standard Version). God replies, “You think this is bad? You ain’t seen nothing yet!”

This is not the response we like to hear. We prefer the “God, I’ve got a problem” prayers to be answered by God saying, “No problem kiddo, I’ll get right on that!” Unfortunately, in my life that has rarely been my experience. God has always been faithful to provide my needs, but He seems relatively unconcerned about following my schedule or proposed solution. I’m not complaining, His ways are always better in the long run. Besides, what do you call a kid whose parents always say “Yes” to every demand? Spoiled! God doesn’t want to raise spoiled kids, He wants to guide us to maturity, one lesson at a time.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be MATURE and complete, not lacking anything.”
– James 1:2-4 NIV

The book of Habakkuk ends with one of the best “how-to’s” for faith and fulfillment in the whole Bible. A series of examples basically say, “Even though my present stinks and my future doesn’t look much better, I choose to find joy (and comfort and meaning and purpose) in the Lord. My troubles may be too big for me, but not for Him!” (Paraphrase mine).

This message is nothing new. I’ve shared it in many forms over the years, but maybe today this is just for you. I don’t know your situation, and I can’t hear the prayers that are hanging heavy in your heart, but I do know this – God is enough. As we often sing, “When all I have is Jesus, I have more than enough.”

I’ll leave you today with a quote from Robert Morgan’s book, The Strength You Need, – “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve calmed myself down by quoting Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” That verse doesn’t provide all the answers, but it rests in Him who has all the answers. And I’d rather be in the hands of Him who has all the answers than to have all the answers in hand.”

Take a deep breath… relax… and trust Him. God’s got this.

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Grateful to be His,
Phil and Pam

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