Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

 I've noticed again this year that I have been pretty mindlessly singing a number of Christmas carols, when there is much rich truth there.  Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is one of them.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Written by Charles Wesley in the 18th century, it uses words and expressions that we don't commonly use in our 21st century English.  How often do you tell someone to hark?  We would say, "Listen!"  To what? The herald angels.  Again, aside from titles for newspapers, we rarely use the word "herald".  It simply tells us the angels are announcing something.  

Their announcement is, "Glory to the newborn King!  Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!"  Wonderful news!  Luke 2:14 puts it this way, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (NKJ).  Let us all joyfully "join the triumph of the skies" and "with the angelic hosts proclaim, 'Christ is born in Bethlehem!'"

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Though He has forever been "adored by the highest heaven", and though He is "the everlasting Lord", He willingly chose to "fix in us (His) humble home."  Though He is God Himself, the Godhead became "veiled in flesh." Yes, Deity became incarnate (another term you don't hear in modern-day English.)  He was even pleased to dwell with men (mankind) as a Man, becoming Emmanuel, God with us.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give us second birth.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,

Hail:  what does that mean?  One definition is "to publicly praise and acclaim as significant".  So, "Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!  Hail the Son of Righteousness."  Publicly praise and acclaim Him as significant.  And so much more than "significant".  "Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings."  Malachi 4:2 says, "to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings" (NKJ) or "in its rays" (NIV).  Jesus did declare that He was the light of the world (John 8:12).  As Creator, He was the originator of life, and with His death and resurrection, He brought new life, the "second birth".  

"Mild He lays His glory by."  What does that mean?  So much!  Philippians 2:4 & 5 tells us that "(Christ Jesus)...existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross."  Though He was God, He laid aside that glory to humble Himself, first to take on a human body without His omnipotence and omniscience, and so obviously, His omnipresence, and then to die, and the horrendous death of crucifixion.  Why?  So that "man no more may die.  Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth."

Hark! to this wonderful news.  Hail Him, worship and adore Him!  He is so completely worthy.

Sinner Saved by Grace?

 How often have you heard someone say, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace"?  It's a very common expression, but is that how we should be identifying ourselves?

I think I can hear somebody out there saying, "Paul spent most of Romans 7 talking about how he did what he didn't want to, and didn't do what he actually wanted to."  Let's look at that.

In Romans 7:15-24, I counted his use of "I, me. and my" and came up with a total of 34 times.  He seems to be looking to his own will-power and self discipline to obey what he knows he should do, and what he even wants to do.  When he finally gets to the end of the chapter, he has the answer for this.  He says, "O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!..."  And he carries on with "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (8:1).  When his focus changed from his own self effort to what Jesus had done and was still doing for him and in him, he found victory.  

Does God call us sinners?  Ephesians 2:1-3 tells what we used to be.  It refers to our sinful selves as being in the past.  "And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, just as the others."  Colossians 1:13, 14 says "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."

Actually, God says He "was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them" (2 Corinthians 5:19).  He is perfect love, and God's perfect kind of love "keeps no record of wrong" (1 Corinthians 13:5b NIV).  Psalm 103:12 says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."  

If God isn't keeping records of our sins, do you think He wants us to?  Romans 6 says no.  "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin...For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, that the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" verses 5-7, 10-11).

I know we can't say we never sin, but that does not define our identity.  If I work as a nurse 8 or 12 hours a day, then I have no trouble identifying myself as a nurse.  If I was dishes for 10 minutes a couple of times in a day, I am not likely to identify myself as a dishwasher.  Similarly, if I sin sometimes, that doesn't mean I should identify myself as a sinner.  

How does God identify me?  Just a few examples are:  holy, blameless, without reproach, righteous, justified, cleansed.  Jude 24 tells us that He is "able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."   

If we keep that view in mind, we are much more likely to live according to the standards of the Bible than if we constantly see ourselves as falling short, failing, "wretched" sinners.  So, call yourself what God calls you, and watch Him live through you.  Don't call yourself a sinner, but do call yourself saved by grace. 

(Most references are from the NKJV, and I obviously added italics at will.)

With me to the end

 I love it when I wake up with a song in my head.  Maybe not just any song, but often it's an uplifting, encouraging one.  This morning it was the chorus of "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus"....

1. • Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
     How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
     Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
     Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

(But I change the last line to, "and there's grace to trust Him more" because the original sounds to me like the writer feels God is holding out on that last little bit more grace I need.)

The 4th verse of the song has these lines:

1. I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
   Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
   And I know that Thou art with me,
   Wilt be with me to the end.

"Will be with me to the end."  That's our Emmanuel, God with us.  

 Joseph is said to have prospered both while in slavery, and in prison after being falsely accused, because "God was with him".  Moses wanted to disqualify himself when God called him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, but God assured him that He would be with him, and what else could he possibly need?  Moses encouraged the people at the end of his life to go in and take the land, because God had promised to be with them.  Joshua, having to take over the leadership after Moses, was admonished to "fear not; be of good courage" because God would be with him.  Gideon never saw himself as the "man of valor" that God called him to be, until he was convinced that indeed God was with him.

Even more wonderful than the assurance that God is with us is the knowledge that He is actually in us.  He hears our thoughts, He knows all our deepest secrets, He sees our hurts, and He whispers His words of encouragement and approval in our spirit.

The challenge is to bear this in mind.  The very Spirit of God Himself, with all His power and glory and wisdom and grace and goodness and love and light lives in our spirits. 

Help us, Lord, to go through our days recognizing Your presence, and to depend on that never-ending supply of "grace to trust (You) more"!

Heritage

 Lately, I've been reviewing a book that was given to me by our church prayer team leader just a week or so after Eric passed away.  It's called "Your Ears Will Hear:  A Journal for Listening to God" by Steve and Evy Klassen.  It tells their experiences in hearing from God and gives suggestions for listening for God's voice as we sit quietly with Him, and journaling about what we hear. 

The most recent one talked about Steve's heritage, and the journaling exercise asked about the lives of our parents and grandparents, and what we would want to carry forward, or leave behind.

How many times I have been thankful that I had godly parents who learned from my grandparents!  I have always known I was loved.  I was always provided for, even though we were quite poor when I was young.  I always felt secure, was never abused, molested, or even neglected.  I was taught Bible truths from as far back as I can remember. 

I was the youngest of 7 children in our home, with my oldest sister 16 years older than I was, and my closest brother three and a half years older than I.  When I was apparently the only one not in school, I have a memory of being down for a nap in my little bed in my parents' bedroom, and just asking my mother about a calendar picture on the wall, which showed the crucifixion.  My mother, with tears pouring down her face, told me about Jesus dying for me.  So I even knew about God's love for me from a very young age.

Not only that, but there was order and discipline.  We all knew how to clean up and take care of our belongings. I can always wholeheartedly sing the words of the song "Goodness of God".  Lyrics like, "I love You, Lord.  Oh, Your mercy never fails me.  All my days I've been held in Your hands" and "All my life, You have been faithful.  All my life, You have been so, so good" and "Your goodness is running after, it's running after me".

Clearly, not all everyone has been blessed with as loving and secure an upbringing as I had, but it is good to stop and give thanks for the amazing blessings that can still be found in looking back.  God has been at work in all of our lives, revealing His love and care.  Everyone can find evidences of His protection and provision, His mercy and grace.

God's Word doesn't lie and it tells us:

     The LORD is my shepherd.  I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness, for His name's sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psalm 23) .

That is our heritage, both yours and mine.  I invite you to review and rehearse and express gratitude for whatever good earthly heritage you have had, and keep in mind the supernatural heritage you also have.  And sing with me, "I've known You as a Father, I've known You as a friend, and I have lived in the goodness of God."

Casting Cares

 I'm reading through 1 Peter, and this morning came to the familiar "'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'  Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (verses 5b to 7).

Recently, my family was struggling with some distressing news.  My daughter shared her grief and pain and sorrow with us, and I encouraged her to cast all her cares on the Lord.  She answered that she was trying, but didn't actually "practically know how to do that".  That made me think.

It's easy for me to tell someone to cast their cares on the Lord, but exactly how is that to be done?

My mind went back to an occasion in which my husband at the time was struggling with forgiving a brother who had cheated him out of thousands of dollars.  Eric found that he would choose forgiveness, but within minutes, his mind was churning again with bitterness and anger.  He continued to say, "Lord, I give you the situation.  I choose to forgive.  I pray blessing on my brother."  He said that at first, the effect would last only a few seconds, but as he continued to give it to the Lord, the spaces increased to many minutes, then hours, eventually days, and he was, in the end, free.  The brother never made restitution, but the relationship was restored nonetheless.

It seems to me that we have to follow the same pattern in "casting our cares on Him".  If the burden returns within seconds, we give it to Him again, expressing trust that He does indeed care for us.  Not only that, He is also the mighty Creator God who can make a way where there is no way.  We have promises to stand on that we have to continue to claim as our own.  So we keep on giving the situation back to our loving heavenly Father, even if it's every few seconds or minutes.  He doesn't get weary or fed up with our repetitions. 

Verse 6 of 1 Peter 5 connects "casting our cares" to humbling ourselves "under the mighty hand of God".  It is pride for us to think we can carry these burdens on our own, or that doing so is necessary.  God considers it humility when we unload on Him, and that may require doing it over and over and over.  I have heard it said that we are sheep, not donkeys.  Donkeys bear heavy burdens.  Sheep were not designed for that.  Our good Shepherd has promised to take care of His own.  Let's continue to let Him carry us.  And our burdens.  

Blessed Assurance

 Yesterday morning, I woke up with a couple of lines from "Goodness of God" running through my head.  Not surprising since we'll be singing it in our Sunday morning service, so I've been practising it.  The song says, "Your goodness is running after, it's running after me/With my life laid down, I'm surrendered now/I give You everything".  "But," I thought, "that's not really true.  My life is not really completely laid down.  I'm not surrendered in everything."  Almost immediately, a second song came into my mind..."Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!/O what a foretaste of glory divine!/Heir of salvation, purchase of God,/Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood./This is my story, this is my song,/Praising my Savior all the day long..."

I felt as though God was trying to say that I should not focus so much on my shortcomings but rather on what He has done for me.  He purchased me, washed me in His perfect redeeming blood, made me His heir, gave me a new birth so I'm regenerated by His Spirit.  That is my story!

Then it was time to turn to the devotional book I received from our church prayer team leader.  It's called "On Our Knees: 40 Days to Living Boldly in Prayer" by Phil Wickham.  The focus that day was about the thief who was on the cross next to Jesus.  He had no reason to expect anything from Jesus, and yet, he was bold enough to say, "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom."  

Phil Wickham writes, "I've had times in my life when I knew I was making selfish decisions and not putting Jesus first.  It's easy for me to fall into the lie that sometimes I  need to live a few 'good' days before I can get back on track with God.  As if I need to do some work to get into His good graces again.  Even after all this time I still feel as though I have to prove to Him - and myself - that I'm worthy to spend time with Him.  I often believe my prayers have a higher rate of success if I come with a few star stickers stuck to my shirt from good behavior.  Yet at the end of this (thief's) life...facing the grim consequence of his own bad choices, he simply cries out to Jesus ... and Jesus hears him.  Not only does He hear him, but Jesus welcomes him into His eternal family..." 

It seemed the Holy Spirit was reinforcing the truth that I should keep my eyes on Jesus, not myself.

Then my mind leaped to the story of Hosea, who was instructed by God to marry a harlot.  He married Gomer.  When she bore him children, God gave them names revealing His messages to the people.  His first daughter was named Lo-Ruhamah (no mercy) because God said, "I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel".  Then Gomer had a son, and God said, "Call his name Lo-Ammi (not-my-people) for you are not My people, and I will not be your God."  

She later chose to leave Hosea and became a harlot.  Though Hosea's heart was broken, God commanded him to take his unfaithful wife back into his home and to show her love again.  Out of this experience, Hosea could grasp with keen insight the pain in the heart of God when His people forsook Him and "played the harlot" with idols and foreign gods.

There is new prophecy in chapter 2 of Hosea, where God says, "I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people! and they shall say, 'You are my God!"  This has been fulfilled through Jesus, and His offer of salvation to all people, including us Gentiles. 

This story is referred to in I Peter 2:  "...you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (verses 9-10). 

So, all of that was my loving Father reminding me to focus on Him, and all that has been given to me.  I have the blessed assurance that Jesus is mine.  I am an heir of salvation, the purchase of God.  I am born of His Spirit and washed in His blood.  I am a member of the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, a holy nation, one of God's own special people who has received His mercy.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!  Therefore I can "proclaim the praises of Him who called me out of darkness into His marvelous light."

And as I focus on His goodness and grace to me, I will more and more be able to lay down my life and my selfishness and surrender everything to my faithful, loving, dependable Father!  "Praising my Savior all the day long."

Transplanted

 On one of the lovely warm days we had last week, I transplanted a couple of plants from my outdoor planters into pots and brought them inside.  There is a Rex begonia with large colourful leaves that at least doubled in size over the summer.  And also a mandevilla with deep red flowers that has continued to stretch out its tendrils and produce gorgeous blooms all summer.  Even while we were away for two weeks in September, with no care and no water, both plants survived and did well.

Yesterday morning, as I was sitting on my couch and deriving some pleasure from looking at these plants looking so vibrant and healthy in my living room, the thought came to me that we are God's "transplants". Colossians 1:13 & 14 tells us "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins".  In Ephesians 2:1-7, we learn that the place where we once were was "in trespasses and sins".  Then there is that lovely little phrase in verse 4:  "But God".  It says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ" and look where His transplanting took us:  raised up "in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus".

I felt a small degree of pleasure looking at my plants, but have a look at heaven's celebration over each new transplant.  Jesus told His followers that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.  It doesn't say the angels have the joy, but that there is joy in their presence.  So it's our God, and our Jesus who are celebrating each time someone is transplanted into Their kingdom.

In the three parables of Luke 15, there is always joy when the lost is found.  The shepherd leaves his 99 sheep to go look for the one lonely, lost, frightened sheep, and "when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing."  The woman loses her valuable silver coin and searches through her whole house, but when she finds it, "she calls her friends and neighbours together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'"  And when the lost prodigal son comes home, his father, in his great joy, throws a big party to celebrate.

In fact, Jesus endured all that He went through because He was aware of the joy He saw coming as a result (Hebrews 12:2).   

There is joy at the time of our transplanting, but God continues to enjoy us as He looks at us decorating His kingdom.  Psalm 149:4 tells us "the LORD takes pleasure in His people" and Psalm 35:27 says, "Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant".  (That's the "shalom" kind of prosperity, also translated as "well-being", "welfare" and "peace".)

Be aware, as you go about your day and as you settle down to sleep, that God has joy and delight because of you!  Know that you are His transplant, securely set into His kingdom!