God’s blessed brat…

Putting up Christmas decorations is putting my focus on the birth of Jesus Christ and on all that He has done. This babe in a manger overwhelms me. He knew His life would be taken from Him on a cross. He knew He would suffer for the sins of the world, an enormous assignment that overwhelms my mind and as I gaze at the manger scene, all this brings both angst and joy to my heart. The joy part is expressed here:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17–21)

The deep trepidation that comes personally is because new life means more than joy. Paul expressed how serving Jesus, this babe who grew and died for his sin, would lead him and all who follow Him with our whole hearts. There would be joy and goodness, but also trials:

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. (2 Corinthians 6:2–13)

This year is about my 56th year of being a child of God, five decades of new life. I cannot help but reflect. My hardships were not like Paul’s; he suffered for serving Jesus. I suffered to learn lessons about my sinfulness and God's faithfulness. Paul experienced the joyful and comfortable blessings to keep him from giving up. I have experienced blessings perhaps for the same reason and not because of persecution or the resistance of others to what I do. Satan buffets me to keep me from praying and loving God, but I’ve not experienced those other hardships. Not that I want to, yet His grace does make me often feel like God’s spoiled brat.

Either way, trials from others or trials of ordinary life, God has blessed me by using them as He promises:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

And then I read the prayer of another who said, “Not relief from pain, not relief from the weariness that follows, not anything of that sort at all, is my chief need. Thou, O Lord my God, art my need—Thy courage, Thy patience, Thy fortitude. And very much I need a quickened gratitude for the countless helps given every day.” (Source)

PRAY: Lord, every decoration and gift under the tree is my reminder of what Paul says, “Since I have these promises, may I be cleansed from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1) This is the wonder of the babe in the manger. Such a task — for all who sin, for all time, in every place — all who hear Him speak,  and who say YES — including this spoiled brat. 

Yelling seldom works

Yesterday I watched a video of a young man who says he loves Jesus yet was upset because another Christian “agreed with his message” but was against him because of his tattoos. He called his video a ‘rant’ and sounded off at the organized church for not being biblical but critical of whatever didn’t fit their traditions.

I felt sorry that he had been judged for a cultural issue but sad because he was also judging other Christians who were letting him down. He did say that we all fail in many ways, yet didn’t seem to realize that God rarely asks us to point fingers and yell at each other. The NT is filled with admonitions to love, care for and encourage our brothers and sisters in the Lord. If anyone falls into sin, we are supposed to be filled with the Spirit and restore them.

Today’s devotional reading comes from a passage describing what Jesus did with our sin and how we are to live in this land as His representatives because of his mercy:

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 5:20–6:2)

An ambassador represents his/her homeland with tact and decorum. As a child of God, I’m responsible to take care of the reputation of my King AND of His subjects. Some of them are wonderful examples of what it means to be included in the kingdom of God. Sadly, some fail in that assignment. However, Jesus has saved both, not based on their behavior but by His grace. He also says our testimony to the world is our unconditional love for each other. Jesus demonstrated this when He washed the feet of His disciples and told us to do likewise:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34–35)

I must remind myself that Judas was there too and that God’s love includes the worst of the worst.

The Apostle Paul also loved the family of God. For them, he says:

“We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.” (2 Corinthians 6:2–13)

This man suffered greatly for the church. He had a big heart, even for the Christians at Corinth to whom he gave many rebukes. Also, he was like Jesus in that he loved righteousness and hated iniquity. He knew that he could not claim any good thing and could say with Martin Luther: “Oh, Lord Jesus, Thou art my righteousness— I am Thy sin!”

^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, You are sinless yet You bore my sin that I might have Your righteousness. When my focus is on Your great salvation without any claim that I earned or deserved it, then judging others is a non-issue. We are all in the same privileged place of mercy and grace. May You keep my heart ‘wide’ so I can endure all things for Your glory and for the sake of Your people.