I will start by quoting, in part, what Beth had to say in our books in one of our daily studies.  She wrote “God has a plan and purpose for His world. …. the creator who is actively involved in moving His creation to a goal.  History is not a cynical process of endless repetition; history is being moved toward the predetermined end.”  Just one paragraph later she goes on to say “God’s providence is intentional and purposeful. ….thankfully, He is pleased to involve us in His process.”

Intentional, purposeful, towards a specific end, and He is using us in it!  What an amazing thought!  He is using us in a plan that He has already laid out and determined, and even more then that we know what that glorious end is, the return of our Lord.  So here is a part of this that we often miss, the Lord knows every small detail that needs doing to get to that end, and He is able to do all of them on His own, yet He involves us in the process by His choice!  He doesn’t have to, He chooses to.

What is significant about that?  If He has asked us to do any task as history moves towards that end, then that task must be significant!  He has determined it is because He knows it needs doing.  All to often we become discouraged in our ministry, in our service, because we feel it is insignificant, or we let others make us feel it is insignificant.  Yet if the Lord has decided it is necessary to move history to the ultimate end of Christ returning for His church, it is as significant as any other part of the plan.  The very fact that He has asked you to be included in that plan by doing any part of it ought to be enough to spurn you on toward completing it.  Never allow anyone, including the enemy, to make you feel like you are insignificant in the Lord’s plan.

On the flip side, since each part of God’s plan is significant, and every detail must be complete, then no part is more significant then another.  The Lord has not appointed any more significance to one over another, only more responsibility which comes with more accountability.  The outcome of this means that you ought never allow yourself to make another feel insignificant in the Lord’s plan, because you make yourself out to be more important.  For if they do not complete what the Lord has asked of them, then the Lord must find another to do that.  If you have been given more responsibility then you must be careful not to place yourself as more important then another, because you might find that the accountability that comes with your position finds your responsibility removed from you.

We must all be thankful to the Lord for even being willing to include us in His plan!  Whatever He asks us to do we ought to do it with a thankful and diligent heart, knowing that the Lord did not have to ask it of us.  Remembering that He did so because He desires for us to be a part of what He is doing not because He needs us.  We must remember that our part in God’s plan is moving history towards the most amazing and glorious moment in history, and also encourage others as they do their part, so that God will be glorified in the doing of all of it.  For there is nothing insignificant that the Lord can ask us to do, and there is nothing more significant we can do then what the Lord asks of us.

One of the things we were discussing is being consistent.  That consistency in our walk is what allows us to avoid wearing masks because we are who we say we are, and we can say who we really are, so we can be honest always.  At another point in the evening we were discussing identity.  The fact that the world, and others, often label us so that we lose of our true identity in Christ.  That despite all of labels that might be put on us, our identity in Christ never changes once we have trusted Christ and become a child of God.  Our true identity never changes!

After thinking on this some more I decided these two ideas combined together become an issue of honesty.  Are we honest about who we are to ourselves, to others, and to God.  Last night I shared that we forget two facts, that others are sinners, and so are we.  That because of those facts things come out of others mouths that label us and hurt us, things come out of our mouths that label others and hurt them, and the world does things that label us and are hurtful.  Then when we allow those things to interfere with our perception of who we are in Christ, we stop being honest and began wearing masks to cover up the hurt.

After this, someone else shared, and as part of this they said something that struck me.  They said “…that S word you said”.  That S word?  I thought to myself “sin, you can’t say the word sin?”  Then this morning I thought on that some more.  If we cannot even say the word “sin” how can admit that we commit it?  If we cannot utter the word “sinner” how can we admit we are one?  It is awfully difficult for me to imagine myself telling God “Lord forgive me I know that was a “S word” and I know that you didn’t like it”.  Talk about honesty.  That is the root of honesty in our identity in Christ!  We are only who we are in Christ because He came to die for us, because we are sinners, and because we believe that He did so.  If we cannot be honest about our sin then we are taking for granted the very act that gave us our identity in Christ, and we are wearing a mask even before God.

Even more so then that, if we cannot speak the word sin or sinner how are we going to be honest with a lost and dieing generation about their need for Christ?  If they see us wear masks to cover up who we are, to cover up our “S word”, then how can we expect them to admit they are a “S”ner so that they realize their most desperate need is Christ?  Being completely honest, I would desire that my honesty would allow others to see Christ’s grace shine through me because I am consistent and honest always, never wearing a mask.

In this song we are reminded that there was one moment when hope was born and that we are no longer bound by chains.  With Lyrics like “The reason we breath is to sing of His glory and all He has done” we are reminded that the Lord is to always be the object of our worship.  This song tells us to “lift up our voice and lay our burdens down” and that all of creation will sing together, and that His glory will resound!  Creation will worship the Lord together and praise Him for the hope He gives us and thank Him for taking our burdens, and the words of this song allow us the chance to begin that now.  Let us worship the Lord together.

MercyMe thank you once again for saying “Yes” when the Lord said “Do this for me”, for He is using you in His plan to do more then any of us yet know.  I cannot wait to see what the Lord does through this and through you in the future.  My continued prayers as always.

Yesterday my son and I were talking about school, as we always do after he comes home, and one of the things we talked about was a very rare yellow slip that came home.  This conversation, unfortunately, didn’t go so well because my son didn’t care for the fact that he was being told how he was in the wrong.  Sometimes when my son is hearing about how he was behaving in a way that was impatient, selfish, or otherwise unacceptable he covers his ears, buries his head, and just plain tries not to listen.  If you are a parent you probably are saying to yourself “I hate that” or “that is disrespectful”.  Well, as a result of continuing to do this as well interrupting and whining, he received a consequence and without going into details, the situation went downhill from there.  Well he was sent to his room and stayed there until dinner.   What happened at dinner inspired me to write this post.

At dinner my son said to me “Mommy I’m sorry. I knew what I was doing and I knew it was wrong so I think I should be grounded”.  I was amazed.  Here was my nine year old not only apologizing but accepting the fact that he chose his actions, he chose his behavior, he chose his response.  He knew it was wrong and chose to do it anyway and now he sat there willing to take the consequence.  In our house being grounded is not fun thing and he knows what the rules are.  He is in his room no TV no computer, only the things that are in his room to do. Plus his favorite toys are all in another room.  So for him, being willing to take the consequence comes with full knowledge of what that will be like.

So I got to thinking about this.  How many of us would be willing to take the consequence for our actions with the full knowledge of what that is like?  Of every action, of every choice, of every thing that we do that we know is wrong every day.  Would we be willing to take the consequence for our actions knowing that would mean full separation from God for eternity?  I know I certainly wouldn’t!  That is why I am thankful to God beyond what I can express for the free gift He gave to me through Christ’s redemptive work on the cross.  Had it not been for that I would have to take the consequence without the ability to choose differently.  By choosing to trust in Christ and believing that He died for me, and rose again to defeat death, I no longer have to take the consequence.  For that I praise God.

So here is my question?  Are you one of those people trying to defend yourself and what you believe against that one comment and in the process tearing down a man?  Here is my thought on the whole matter, a nation does not define the people in it, and one person does not define a nation.

Now that I have stated my thought I will not tear down another believer.  Tearing down another believer only allows the enemy to win the battle, not because he deceives a nation, but because he is deceiving believers into thinking it is ok to attack each other.  Why is it that Christians are the first to condemn each other?  We think that rather then simply stating our own thought, we must tear down the thoughts of another with negative comments, and in the process we become the playground for the enemy by making a spectacle of ourselves and our fighting.  We are not to say whether another is condemned because of what they say, that is the Lord’s job.  What we are free to do is share our own thought on the matter, without condemning another person because of their thought.

However, if what we want as believers is the right to condemn each other for one statement, then we must accept the consequences of that right.  That consequence, anyone can do the same to us, even when we share the gospel, even when we speak the truth, even when we are right.  Is that what we want, a church where believers right to speak freely about their faith is diminished because we want the right to tear each other down from the inside?  If anyone wants that kind of Christianity then I must ask them, how much grace did the Lord give to You?  And with that grace did He intend for you to become a judge of others?  If you think that, ask God to judge you as harshly as you judge others.

Then we must decide if we will do anything, what it will be, and how.  Well for each of us that doing is different.  There are as many ways to help as there are people reading this.  We know that for we are a people that have more then once gathered together to bolster and lift up the broken and the weak.  There is one thing we cannot deny that we can all do.  We can all pray.  I am not talking about just asking God to help Haiti.  I am talking about a praying where we lay ourselves before God and ask Him to pour out the fulfillment of His promises on a people who have fallen.   Job 5:8-9 tells us to appeal to God because He performs wonders and miracles that we cannot fathom.  Right now, that is what Haiti needs, things that are beyond what we can comprehend.

We need to each do what the Lord asks of us as individuals.  But all of us need to be praying, we need to be asking the Lord to do what we cannot, to do the things we cannot even fathom, for He will put into motion things that we cannot dream of.  The prayers Haiti needs are prayers from people who believe this very fact, that God is capable of more, more then we know, more then we see, more then we imagine, more then we can do on our own.  We need to ask the Lord to lay His plans upon not only a hurting nation, but a broken people desperate for something only He can provide.

Who might join me in prayer?  Lord we ask that You, the Lord who is capable of more then we know, would set into motion a process of healing upon the broken nation and people of Haiti right now.  That in this catastrophe You would provide a comfort and peace in great abundance that can only come from You and that Your presence would be so obvious that the people of Haiti would turn to you for their answers so that even now some might come to know you.  Lord we ask that in this time You would allow those who can provide the immediate needs a quick and safe travel to Haiti.  Lord that as each of us consider what we might do to support the people of Haiti that we would have the same compassion that You have, that Your love would show through each of us.  Lord we know that You can orchestrate each detail just right so that the most is done through the least resource, and Lord we thank You that You would even want to be so involved in our lives.  Lord we ask that through all of this You would be glorified so that others would come to know You.  Thank you for even allowing us to come to Your feet and ask that You would lift up those who have fallen. AMEN

For those of you who don’t know how medicare part D works, there is something called THE GAP!  This is when you reach your maximum allowed coverage pay out and you pay for all of your medications.  This is also known as “the donut hole”.  So I am now in phase 1, or approaching the gap, and not looking forward to it! No one on medicare part D does.  If however it really was about donut holes, it might not be so bad, maybe that’s why someone coined the phrase “donut hole”, so it wouldn’t sound so bad.  Wouldn’t it be nice if everything bad in life had a name that made it sound better.  Now once you reach the gap, you can eventually bridge this gap, by paying enough in the gap to reach the next phase, called catastrophic coverage.  At the point part D kicks back in, and you are nearly fully covered.

So after I signed up, I had this term “The Gap” stuck in my head, and I thought to myself  “in reality we are all approaching the gap”.  This gap has to do with the gap between us and God however, and for some of us the gap has been bridged, and for others it hasn’t.  Why is that?  The gap has been bridged with the required payment, however, like medicare part D, we must sign up to get the coverage, it isn’t automatic.  The coverage is provided by Christ who died on the cross for us, and that death pays the penalty needed to bridge the gap.  That gap is caused by our sin, and we must confess that sin and admit our need for the coverage to receive it.  Problem is, not every one is willing to admit their sin, they like to call sin different things, give it nicer names or ignore it all together.  Unless someone admits the gap exists, confesses their sin, trusts in Christ to bridge the gap through His death on the cross, the gap will remain.

I know the gap exists, but for me the gap has been covered, Christ has covered it for me.  Only in Him can it be covered.  Unlike with medicare part D, we cannot pay enough to bridge the gap on our own.  If Christ has not bridged the gap for you ask yourself if you desire for the gap to be bridged.  I encourage you to do so by going to the Lord and recognizing that the gap exists, admitting that your sin has created it, and trusting in Christ’s death to bridge it.

The challenge in doing that is to not remove the importance of that one day from our lives.  That one day is more then the sea of paper and food that it seems to fly by through.  It is the day which we celebrate that our Lord chose to become a man.  A life in which we hold a hope and a promise of eternity with Him, because He chose to come, then later die for us.  Remembering that fact with traditions rather then fringe at Christmas is important, yet we must also continue to remember that once the fringe is removed.  Once we take down the tree and the stockings, once the bows are gone, and the wrapping is thrown away, we must continue to put first that which the Lord has asked of us.

So my challenge, and the challenge for you as well, is to continue living each day focused on that which the Lord has asked of me.  Christmas or not there is going to be fringe in our lives that distracts us from doing that, it just comes in different colors, shapes, sizes, names, and places.  Let’s not allow the fact that we are removing the fringe from our homes, and the fact that Christmas is over, to give any of us a reason to remove Christ as the focus of our lives or our families.  Let us be determined to allow Him to mold us on His anvil as we desire to become more like Him.

We still had a few boxes left in the room they are staying in-done.  We needed to get the bed set up for them-done.  My husband wanted to get a few of the things that were still in the garage taken care of-he is working on that now.  Plus all of the normal things you do when company comes.  Plus shopping for Christmas dinner.  So it has been a bit frenzied the last couple of days because I added on top of that singing in the cantata yesterday.  Then of course while I would be working on doing something I would get distracted, forget what I was doing, then have to go back to it again.  Well they will arrive tomorrow, whether I am ready or not.

In all of this I started thinking, we all tend to get a little frenzied when company is coming to our house.  However, how frenzied are we over the fact that Christ is returning for His church?  He is coming whether we are ready or not.  I for one would very much like to be prepared if He arrives while I am still here.  I want Him to find me doing what He has asked me to be doing, rather then distracted.  He is going to arrive either way, and I pray we are all diligently working on being prepared.

When Bryan was really little we focused on him learning that they were different things that Christ is to us, and that we know that because the bible tells us that.  Now at almost 9, he really understands why Christ has several of these names, and how to even explain them before we read the devotional.  In each of the names of Christ is a promise, and if my son knows them and understands them, then he is going to be able to see God fulfilling those promises in his life.

So each night up until Christmas we will continue doing this, and we will do it again next year.  This is one way we make sure we don’t get caught up in All The Fringe in this house.  My challenge to you-  Ask yourself  “What is my Christ centered Christmas tradition?”