Tag Archives: faith

Merry Christmas!

It wasn’t on this day, but it was on a day – a real day, a day in history, an actual event, something that really happened. Whatever day, whatever date, it actually was on the calendar, it was a day that can only be described as – glorious. Glorious because glory, the real glory, the glory of God, came down to earth.

Because, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born of a virgin; sent his Son who was perfect, holy, glorious. The Word became flesh who encamped alongside and among us.

Yes, he was God in the flesh from the moment the Spirit came upon Mary, implanting that divine embryo in her womb. He was God in the flesh as he developed and was fashioned within Mary for all those nine months. But on that day, that glorious day, God was born into the world of mankind, in the form of a little baby.

How could such a such a small package contain the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form? Why would God choose to put himself in such a fragile body? But we know why, don’t we?

Because God loved the people of the world that he had created so much that he sent the part of himself, known to us as the Son into the world, so that people like you and me, that he had created, could be saved.

Saved from what? Saved from ourselves and the horrible things we come up with to hurt others. Saved from pride that seeks its own way and will do whatever is necessary to satisfy the craving for things, the desire for gratification, seeking fulfillment of the insatiable appetite for more, and more, and more. He came to save us from our sin – our rebellion against his Truth, our desire to be in control, and all the brokenness that it leaves littered on the path of life lived for self.

Yes, God loved even me so much that he sent his only Son into the world, not to condemn me, but to save me, deliver me, even crush me, so he could form in me a new creation – the old gone away, the new coming more and more every day, filling me with his love, mercy, grace, peace, joy, goodness, kindness, self-control, patience, faithfulness, and gentleness.

No, it may not have been this day, but it was on a day – a real day, a day in history, an actual event, something that really happened. And on that day, Jesus was born to be Savior of all who would come to him, bow before him in humble submission, and allow him to come into their lives as Lord.

And that is what this day is to me. It’s Christ-mas Day, a day to worship Christ a little more than every other day.

Merry Christmas to all who worship Jesus with their lives, and to all upon whom the favor of his salvation rests!

The Power to Change

John C. Maxwell, in his book Your Road Map for Success, writes that “The quality of your life and the duration of your success depend on your attitude, and you are the only person in this world with the power to make it better.”

So, is that true?  As I think about those words I want to immediately say, “Wait a minute!  I know from my experience and from God’s Word that only the power of God can change me.”  And, that is true.  After opening his letter to the Romans saying, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”, Paul later talks about his struggle to change in life and says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”  And his answer to his own question was, “Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Undeniably it is only in Christ that I can truly change and be changed!  But then I reread the quote from Maxwell and I notice some qualifying words there that make me rethink where my mind has taken me.  He says, “you are the only person in this world with the power.”  Now, that changes things a bit.

While I am convinced by experience and the Scriptures that God’s is the true transforming power in life, I am also reminded that God’s power to change is activated by my personal decision to let him.  And, no one can decide that for me.  My parents couldn’t when I was growing up.  My employers couldn’t as I entered the workforce.  No friends have been able to make me change.  My good and godly wife can’t.  They simply weren’t, and aren’t, powerful enough.

And I have discovered I can’t do it for my children, when they were young, nor as I have learned now that they are grown.  I have also discovered that I can’t make anyone else around me change – not my neighbors, not those I have worked with, not people I work around or hang around with.  I just don’t have that power.

Which brings me to this conclusion… again.  There are things in my life that need to change and be changed, and God alone has the power to bring genuine transformation into my experience.  But, God has chosen to give me the free will to decide if I will let him apply his divine power to the area of my life that needs to change.  And so, I really am the only one in this world with the power of choice to make it happen.  And, so are you in your life.

So, what do you think?