The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from now and for evermore. — Psalm 121:8 As we come to the close of another year, we see that the Lord has been with us. He has watched over and protected us. Yes, there has been trouble and pain, but He has been with us every step of the way. The Lord is the One who helps us through it all. As the psalmist said, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2). In all the hurry and hustle and bustle of modern life, we need to give God time to heal us and cure us, to build us up and strengthen us in Him. We need to trust in Christ and find that place of quiet rest. As one poet put it: Slow me down Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory... Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well. Question to ponder: How have you grown in the Lord this year?
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than having two eyes to be thrown into the fire of hell. — Matthew 18:9 Jesus took hell very seriously. He spoke about it as a real place to avoid at all costs. The most awful thing imaginable would be to die and go into eternity without Christ; to stand before the judgment bar of Almighty God, who knows your every thought and word and deed, and to have all of your sins brought out before the universe and be justly condemned unto eternal perdition and cast out into a lake of fire. There are some people who have tried every conceivable way to deny the reality of impending judgment for unrepentant sinners. This ranges from denying that there is a God who could possibly punish them; to denying that there is a Hell where they could be punished; to denying that a loving God would ever send anyone there (even such a reprobate as themselves); to claiming that God must, at least, give everyone the opportunity to hear the Gospel. Not that this would help them, because they have been doing what people constantly try to do, which is to justify themselves by condemning God and end up proving that God is unjust and unfair and unloving, and they themselves must be, by comparison, pretty decent sort of folks. Since Jesus took hell so seriously, so should we. Question to ponder: Is there anything in your life that you should get rid off, anything that hinders your Christian walk?
Truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, will not lose his reward. — Mark 9:41 Christianity is not a spectator sport. Christ does not call us to be "spectator Christians." There are some people in our churches, however, who, to my knowledge, have never done any work at all. They have merely seen themselves as spectators. They come to watch on Sunday morning, and that is the extent of what they do. They never put their shoulder to the wheel. They never dirty their hands. They never exert themselves in any work. But Christ says in His letter to the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2:19, "I know you works, love, service, faith, and your patience, and that you last works are more than the first." Christ had not forgotten their good works. I am so glad that many Christians are always working and serving the Lord with love and patience. Christ calls us to get into the arena and glorify Him by our good works. Any deed done in Jesus' name is precious to Him and has its reward, whether in this life or the next. Question to ponder: Saved, not by works, but saved unto good works—how do these truths connect?
… if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and are not removed from the hope of the gospel … — Colossians 1:23 In his book To Light a Fire, Jack London describes a man walking through the freezing, frigid cold of Alaska, where the temperature had dropped down to 40 degrees below zero. The biting cold was searing his lungs and throat, freezing his breath and his hands and feet. He was utterly exhausted. He felt, at length, that if only he could sit down for a few minutes and regain his strength, perhaps he could go on and make it to his home. Having sat down and leaned back against the snow, he began to feel the burning pain assuage, until he felt a warmth that surged through his body. He began to relax. He thought, "If I could just lean my head against the bank of snow and perhaps catch a few minutes sleep, then I would be refreshed and able to go on." And so he closed his eyelids and soon slept the sleep of death. So Satan would have us to be comfortable in our apostasy. The one thing he doesn't want us to do is come back to God and rejoice in His presence and His love. Sometimes we need to be startled awake and realize that we have slidden back. We need to realize we are far from that comfortable relationship of joy and intimacy that once we knew—that comfort that only Christ can give—and be drawn back to Him. Question to ponder: How can you watch your walk so that you draw closer to the Lord and not away from Him?
Let the peace of God, to which also you are called in one body, rule in your hearts. And be thankful. — Colossians 3:15 A young lady told me that all her life at Christmas time she always felt very sad, because no matter whether she was in the church or out, she always felt she was standing outside the candy store looking through the window. Now that she knows Christ, however, she said, she is on the inside, and her heart is filled with joy. Joy is to be shared, and we need to keep busy helping others, praying for others, witnessing to others, and sharing our joy. Joy is increased by sharing. The more we give to other people as we encourage and uplift them, the more our joy is increased. The result: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). It is true joy which leads to peace, and the two are closely linked to each other. The term used here for "protect" is an interesting one. It is a military term. Paul brings the idea of peacefulness, serenity, into close accompaniment to a military term. The word means "to garrison, to set up as a fortress, to guard with armed soldiers." The peace of God will "garrison" our hearts from all of the buffetings of this life, if we will do these things. Question to ponder: How does the peace of God rule in the human heart?
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. He endured by looking to Him who is invisible. — Hebrews 11:27 The Bible gives us examples of both shortsightedness and farsighted vision. Certainly it was shortsighted for Eve and Adam to contemplate only the immediate delight and satisfaction that would come from eating the forbidden fruit. They didn't take the long look at the consequences that would come. Abraham, on the other hand, was a man of great vision. We are told that he sought a city whose builder and maker was God, though he passed through many of the cities of this world. He was looking for something that had foundations, something permanent, something that would last—a city whose builder and maker was God. Moses is a prime example of a man with farsighted vision. We are told that he endured, seeing Him who is invisible. That is what we are called upon to do. We are not to look merely upon the things that are seen, things that are temporal, but upon the things that are unseen and eternal. Yet most people spend more time planning for a two-week vacation than for where they are going to spend eternity. How many people have told me that they are ready to die, because they have made out their will and they have bought a burial plot. That is not adequate preparation. Let us look beyond this world and see things from an eternal perspective. Question to ponder: How is your present affected by the eternal?
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. — John 3:16 Christmas is all about giving. God gives. Therefore, we give. For years spiritual analysts have lamented the secularization and commercialization of Christmas, but I think there is something perhaps even worse: the trivialization of Christmas. Stop to think about it. Santa Claus, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, a chattering Christmas chipmunk—that trio is like "Three Blind Mice" compared to the Hallelujah Chorus. Or, when asked the meaning of Christmas, a six-year-old child replied: "Santa Claus' birthday." I think this is symbolic of the spiritual blindness of the world as it gropes in its darkness for some meaning to Christmas. The good news is that at Christmas, we are reminded annually of God's indescribable gift in Christ. The wondrous gift is given, God's Son for our salvation¾that is what Christmas is about. The most important gift will not be found under any tree on Christmas morning; rather, it was purchased on a tree outside a city wall long ago. At Christmas, "God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven." This Christmas, let God rain down His blessings on you and yours. Let us receive Him who has come to make all things new. Question to ponder: As you enjoy all the trimmings of Christmas, what do you consider the greatest blessing?
Then Mary said, "I am the servant of the Lord. May it be unto me according to your word." — Luke 1:38 There are many things about Mary that I think we could well emulate. The first is her humility. She was a lowly "maidservant of the Lord," as she described herself. The Scripture says, "In the sixth month [of the pregnancy of Elisabeth, her relative] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph … the virgin's name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women" (Luke 1:26-28). When Mary heard this, what did she say? Did she say, "Well at last I'm getting the recognition I deserve"? No; not at all. Rather, the Scripture says "She was troubled by his words, and considered in her mind what manner of salutation this might be" (v. 29) [you who are highly favored … Bless are you among women" (v. 28)]. She described herself as simply the maidservant of the Lord; she was of lowly estate, and could not possibly imagine what the angel intended by that saying. God chose Mary as a humble servant through whom the world would be blessed, by her Son. We should imitate Mary, in the same way we should imitate Peter, Paul, or John. Question to ponder: If you were in Mary's shoes, how do you think you would have reacted to the angel's news of the virgin birth?
I dwell in the high and holy place and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit … — Isaiah 57:15 "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us " (John 1:14). The Greek word used here means He "tabernacled" among us, even as the tabernacle was among the Jews. God dwelt in the visible presence of the Shekinah Glory between the cherubim over the Mercy Seat. In Jesus Christ, God has come and we beheld His glory—the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). And that Word, which was God, became flesh. "All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created" (John 1:3). He was the Great Creator. Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word of God, stepped out one morning onto the balcony of eternity and dipped His fingers in a chalice of light and sprinkled the vast blackness of space with scintillating, coruscating stars. He swirled with His finger and set into motion the spinning, swirling nebulae that now glow so gloriously in the night sky. J. B. Phillips once described earth in a special way—not as "the green planet" or "the blue planet," but as "the visited planet"—that planet which had received special visitation from the Almighty. He, the Almighty, is pleased to dwell with the lowly. Question to ponder: Can you wrap your mind around this concept: God wants to be with you?
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. — Luke 2:11 Though his sermons were masterpieces, today they gather dust, moldering on the shelves of antiquarians like myself. Yet he still lives and has a revival every year about Christmastime. He is not known for the erudition of his sermons, for the eloquence of his speaking, but rather for the simplicity of one little poem he wrote. I am talking about the Reverend Phillips Brooks, author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem." On Christmas Eve, in the year 1865, he arrived at the little town of Bethlehem and was struck by the sublimity, the beauty, the simplicity, the quietness, the darkness of that little town in whose streets there shone the Light of the World. Of that town and of that time, he wrote, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight"—that night, when the Light of the World came into the darkness of Bethlehem. As long as the Church shall last, Phillips Brooks and his little poem will be remembered. And as "God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven," so this Christmas hymn captures the stillness, the wonder, and the awe of Christmas. It happens every year it is sung: "where meek hearts will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in." Question to ponder: Will you take the time to quietly read through the lyrics of this and other great Christmas carols?
Now seeing the crowds, He went up on a mountain. And when He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He began speaking and taught them … — Matthew 5:1-2 The Sermon on the Mount is incontestably the greatest sermon ever preached. We can, of course, find the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7. Listen to what psychiatrist J. T. Fisher and co-author L. S. Hawley, say about the Sermon on the Mount in their book, A Few Buttons Missing: If you were to take the sum total of all authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene—if you were to combine them and refine them and cleave out the excess verbiage—if you were to take the whole of the meat and none of the parsley, and if you were to have these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely expressed by the most capable of living poets, you would have an awkward and incomplete summation of the Sermon on the Mount. And it would suffer immeasurably through comparison. For nearly two thousand years, the Christian world has been holding in its hands the complete answer to its restless and fruitless yearnings. Here … rests the blueprints for successful human life with optimum mental health and contentment. The Sermon on the Mount gives us great wisdom concerning how to live a life that is pleasing to our heavenly father. It gives us the Lord 's Prayer. Above all, like the law of God, it shows us our need for the Savior's redemption. Question to ponder: Can you think of some of your favorite teachings in the Sermon on the Mount?
For I did not keep from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. — Acts 20:27 I remember talking to ministers, older and supposedly much wiser than I. I particularly recall one who was the editor of one of the country's leading Christian magazines. I said to him, "How can we possibly do anything else? There are men and women dying and going off into everlasting condemnation and perdition without Christ. We must get the message to them." He looked at me as if I had come from Mars and said, "You will come to understand." What I came to understand was that he had lost his first love. Ah, dear friend, how is it with your heart? Is that first love still there? Do you remember that time when you were at church every time the doors opened? Was there a time when you spent more time in His Word? I can remember when it was nothing to me to memorize a chapter of Scripture every day. "A verse a week? Isn't he asking too much of us?" May God open our eyes to see the precarious state of the lost. May He grant us a greater love and concern for them. Question to ponder: If not, could you ask God to give you one?
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. — Isaiah 41:10 In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare puts these famous words into the mouth of Caesar as he is talking to his wife, Calpurnia: "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." It would seem that our land is filled with many who are not valiant, many who are tasting the fear of death, which for most in our secular society is the fear of the ultimate loss of all things. When faith in God and in Christ disappears, that faith is replaced not with a vacuum, but with fear. People's hearts, generally, are filled either with faith or with fear. The deepest fears of men are these: is my life to end in a pile of ashes and a skull? Am I to occupy naught but six feet of space beneath the ground? Is there no meaning to my existence? Is there no one who really loves me or cares for me? What about my loved ones whom I have lost? Will I meet them again? These are the deepest fears and cares of human beings throughout the years and they are met in Christ for those who believe. Question to ponder: How does Christ Jesus conquer our fears?
Glory to God in the highest … — Luke 2:14 In praise and honor of His Son, God has reserved some of the most beautiful music on earth for the celebration of Christmas. Music, this heavenly language, has been lent to us express what words can not. It has enriched our hearts when no words would do. I recall many years ago, I went to a Christmas musical program that was being held at the high school I attended. Songs of Christmas were being sung and I recall that I was the only one seated in the balcony. Although I did not know Christ personally, there was something about the music that seemed to reach out and wrap its fingers around my heart and pull. There was a strange sort of mysterious wonder about it. I remember sitting there with tears streaming down my face. I didn't know why. There is something about Christmas. Why not take time this Christmas season to go to a concert—Handel's Messiah if possible—and let the music minister to your soul? Question to ponder: What piece of Christmas music is especially meaningful to you?
Sing, O heavens! And be joyful, O earth! And break forth into singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. — Isaiah 49:13 Tragically, so many today miss the real meaning of Christmas. A little boy attended Sunday School infrequently and on Christmas, when the teacher showed him a picture of the manger scene, the little boy said, "What's a camel doing there? Don't they know that camels don't have anything to do with Christmas? Santa Claus uses reindeers." Sadly, many Americans, like that boy, don't even know whose birthday Christmas celebrates. Behind all of the frenetic rushing about and the man-made glitter of this season, I believe there is something strangely poignant, tender and touching about Christmastime. Perhaps it is felt in the music, in carols such as "Silent Night Holy Night," "Joy to the World," "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," and "O Holy Night." There is something about the season that seems to just reach out and tug at the human heart. What is it that we sense? Some deep and ancient joy calls to us from heaven above, our ultimate true home. In Christmas, God is reaching out with His mercy for us afflicted humans. He is showing us a little glimpse of heaven. Earth and heaven are a little closer at Christmas than any other time of the year. Question to ponder: Why do we long to be home for Christmas? What is this intense longing that we feel?
