GOD'S INDESCRIBABLE GIFT!

II Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable (indescribable) gift.”

Christmas Day, a day we give and receive gifts, and a good day to talk about God’s unspeakable, amazing, beyond our comprehension, gift.  This gift was Jesus, all wrapped up in love.

God’s ultimate gift to us was His Son, Jesus.  Of Himself, Jesus said “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)

Because of God’s wonderful gift, we can have other gifts such as the ‘gift of a relationship’.  John 1:12 states that all who receive Him, those who believe in His name, He gives the right to be called the sons and daughters of God.

He also gives the ‘gift of His Grace’.  Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by Grace you have been saved…” We have received the ‘gift of Eternal Life’, as according to Romans 6:23 “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

One reason I think of God’s gift as ‘indescribable’ and perhaps part of Paul’s thinking in II Corinthians 9:15, is that it is greater than we can grasp with our finite minds.  Jesus was God, 2nd person in the Trinity, totally God.  Yet in order to become the propitiation for man’s sin, He had to take on a human body.  In doing so He had to become a human being.  Now we have something beyond our imagination, something incredible, indescribable.  He was still God, just as though He had never been man; yet He was man as though He had never been God.

And He did this as a gift to each of us.  “For God so loved the world that He gave (this indescribable gift) His only begotten son, that whosoever believes on Him will have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

So at this Christmas Season, as we open all our wonderful, no doubt expensive gifts, remember the most unspeakable, indescribable,  gift of all, ours for the taking.  This Gift is Jesus!!

IMMANUEL

In Matthew 1:23 it states “they shall call His name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.”  Why, you may ask, was Jesus not called Immanuel as His given name?  The notes in my Scofield Bible say that ‘according to Hebrew usage, the name does not represent a title, but a characterization.’  It shows that He really was “God with us”.  It also shows that the diety of Christ, our anointed one, was emphasized at the very beginning of the New Testament.

The word “Immanuel” consists of two Hebrew words:  ‘El’, meaning God, (the reason the word is sometimes spelled ‘Emmanuel’) and ‘Immanu’, meaning “With us”.  It is pronounced ‘ih-MAN-yoo-el’, and is used only three times in Scripture; the first appears in Isaiah 7:14, with prophetic words spoken by Isaiah about 700 years before Christ.  It is used again in Isaiah 8:8, and then in our verse of Matthew 1:23, which is quoting from Isaiah.    Matthew is applying it to the child to be born of Mary, the virgin betrothed to Joseph.  In Jesus, God would become a man that He could save the world and bring man back to God.  Through Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, would redeem and restore this relationship between man and God.

David tells us how God is with us as our ‘Immanuel’ in Psalm 139:7-10:

“If I go up to the heavens, you are there,

If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

If I settle on the far side of the sea,

Even there Your hand will guide me,

Your right hand will hold me fast.”

How can we lose?  What do we fear?  Immanuel, God is with me.

A 4th century prayer known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate, says:
“Christ be beside me, Christ be before me,
Christ be behind me, King of my heart;
Christ be within me, Christ be below me
Christ be above me, never to part.”

‘Immanuel’, God with us.
                      He is our God 
                                         He is truly with us!

GRACE

“The Maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you.”  This comment made by Max Lucado, jumped out at me as I was reading his devotional Grace for the Moment.  Read this again, think about it, absorb it, make it personal:  “The Maker of the stars would rather die for me than live without me!”

 Wow!  This boggles my mind, brings tears to my eyes, a lump to my throat.  How can anyone refuse this love?  How could I have ignored this for so long?  So I have trials, so I feel alone at times, so I can’t do all the things I used to do.  I do live in this world of sin, and hurt, and death.  But Jesus loves me!  He has made a way for me to spend eternity with Him as a princess, a joint heir with Christ my Savior.  Man is born unto trials as the sparks fly upward, but Jesus is walking with me, through the fire, through the flood, and all the way to Glory.  He who made the stars loves me and provided the way for me to live with Him!  This is Grace!

Our Awesome God

"Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You.  How much less this temple which I have built."  I Kings 8:29

When we think of God, we have a tendency to place Him in a box of our making.  We think limited thoughts about Him when in fact He is unlimited.  Our minds simply cannot contain Him, as He is infinite, He is endless, He is limitless.

We say God is a mystery because we cannot understand His infinity.  We must accept the things we do not understand by Faith.  God has given us His Word to help us learn about God, and by searching God's Word we can find true facts about God called 'Attributes'.  An attribute is a characteristic that is true about God and how He reveals Himself to us.  Love, for instance, is not a quality that may grow or diminish, but it is the way He IS, as with all of His attributes.  He IS all faithful; He IS all merciful;  He IS completely immutable;  He IS all and always Holy.

A.W. Tozer tells us that "The God we must learn to know is the Majesty of the heavens, God the Almighty Father, Maker of heaven and earth, the only wise God our Saviour.  He it is that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, who stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out like a tent to dwell in..."  The Psalmist of Psalm 145:5 says:  "I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty and Your wondrous works."

Prayer:  O Lord!  Enlighten our minds that we may know You as You are, so that we may perfectly love You and worthily Praise You.  In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Our vows, our prayers, we now present

Before Thy throne of grace;

God of our fathers!  O be the God

Of their succeeding race.

--by Philip Doddridge

God, Do You Hear Me?

 Have you ever asked God if He can hear you?  If He can see you?  I think David felt this way on occasion.  In Psalm 55:1 he pleads with God, “listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my supplications.”  And in Psalm 61, verse one, it sounds as though he is pleading “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.”

There was a time when I thought of God’s knowing me about the way a speaker knows the person in the back row of a large auditorium full of people.  Yes, I was in the crowd, I was in the door, but I was only one of the masses.  Of course this also gave me reason to feel that if I did something not becoming a child of God, no one knew.  Wow!  These thoughts were really putting God into a box!  I was bringing Him down to our very human level.

When Jesus Christ came to earth some 2000 years ago, and ultimately gave His life on Calvary’s Cross to pay the wages of sin, He tore away the veil separating God and man. We are now one with God if we have accepted Christ as our Savior.  He states in John 17:21 “That they all may be one, (just) as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, and they also may be one in Us…” and in verse 23 “I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one…”

Ephesians 3:17 makes it very clear that Christ dwells within me.  From the Amplified version we read “May Christ through your faith (actually) dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts!”

Read what it says in Colossians 2:9 &10 (again from the amplified): “For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form (giving complete expression of the divine nature).  And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life (in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,--and reach full spiritual stature.)”

So I ask again, “God, do You hear me?  Do You see me?”  And the answer is “of course my child, behold, I am with you always, as we are one.”

“He knows my name,

He knows my every thought,

He sees each tear that falls

And hears me when I call!”

(Words by Tommy Walker)

Prayer:  Thank You Father, for hearing me, seeing me, and knowing all about me.  You are so Good!              Amen

Sweet Holy Spirit

Romans 5:5  “…the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.”

How can I describe the Sweet Holy Spirit within me?  He is like another Jesus without a physical body.    He is the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of the Father, so in essence I have the fullness of God within me. He gives me power and light, peace and comfort; He gives me joy in the midst of sorrow; when I am weak, He makes me strong.  Just as a breeze carries the sweet fragrance of perfume of flowers, so the Spirit flows through me as love, joy, peace, goodness, and righteousness wafting its way to others.  Frederick Faber was one who had a blazing love for the Holy Spirit, and he wrote:

O Spirit, beautiful and dread!

My heart is fit to break

With love of all Thy tenderness

For us poor sinners’ sake.

O Sweet Spirit, fall on me today.  Mold me, melt me, use me that Your fragrance will flow through me.  Blaze within me and set my soul on fire.  Thank you in the name of Jesus, my precious Saviour.  Amen

SHEPHERDS

"The Lord is My Shepherd..."  Psalm 23:1

Some of God's best known figures from Scripture were shepherds.  In Exodus 3:1 Moses 'was shepherding the flock of Jethro.'  I Samuel 16:11 says about David:  "he is out tending the sheep."  When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Luke 2:8 states "there were shepherds camping in the neighborhood".  Mere 'shepherds', yet they were the first to be told of the good news of Jesus birth by none other than the angels from Heaven.

Our Lord compares Himself to a Shepherd.  It is one of the most tender images given to us in my estimation, showing us that we are dependent on Him, and He watches us and protects us.  A sheep needs good pastures and fresh grass to eat, and the shepherd leads them to the best he can find.  The Lord also leads us to green pastures, to feed on Him, and on His Word.  A sheep needs still waters to drink from, and the shepherd's concern is to find streams that are quiet.  So our shepherd leads us beside 'still waters' to drink from His fountain of Living Water.   The shepherd also protects his sheep from harm.  In John 10:11 Jesus says: "I AM the Good Shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Think about it!  He who holds the universe in His hands, who is the Almighty Creator, is also my shepherd, and yours.  He it is that goes before us so we will not want for any thing.

"The Lord is My Sheperd, I shall not want."

THE VINE

"I am the True Vine and my Father is the Vinedresser."  John 15:1

The Vine of the grape is the trunk that brings sap up from the roots into the branches.  The sap must be allowed to flow freely into the branch in order to produce fruit.  The vine gives its life to thebranch by the branch staying attached to the vine.

A good crop of grapes does not just happen.  A good vineyard has a dedicated 'vinedresser' whom in the case of the child of God, is God the Father.  Each branch is important to the vinedresser, to bring forth the finest crop possible.  If a branch is left to itself, it straggles over rocks and handy tree trunks.  Or it may fall to the ground and creep along in the dirt and mud.  The vinedresser will come along, clean off the branch, prune it where needed, and tie it close to the vine.  Soon the branch is thriving again.  The branch must remain totally dependent on the vine, close to it, pruned here, pruned there, in order to bring forth much fruit.

Do you see the analogy here?  Jesus said He is the true Vine.  His followers, you and me included, are the branches.  We are created for a living relationship with the Vine, Jesus, and the Vine gives His life to the branch,.  Unless we stay close and feed on the vine, we will get straggly, sickly and produce no fruit for the Father.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every

 branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every

branch that bears fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit.  I am

the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him,

bears much fruit...By this my Father is glorified, that you bear 

much fruit."

John 15:1-2, 5,8

A NEW CREATION!

“Strip yourselves of your former nature (put off and discard your old unrenewed self) which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion.  And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude).  And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, (Godlike) in true righteousness and holiness.”  Ephesians 4:22-24 (Amplified)

The day we accept Christ as Savior, we become a new being.  Isaiah 61:3 tells us that He took ashes and gave me beauty.  In Isaiah 61:10 it states: “(You) clothed me with garments of salvation, (You) have wrapped me in a robe of righteousness…as a bride adorned with her jewels.”  II Cor. 5:17 says:  “if any person is in Christ he is a new creation.”  In Colossians 3:10 (Amplified): “And have clothed yourself with the new spiritual self, which is renewed and remolded … after the image of Him who created it.”

These verses are saying that we are a new and beautiful creation in God’s sight!  We have a new spiritual self!  Someday we shall even have a new body, a glorified body, and one like Christ’s glorified body.  David is one who realized this when he stated in Psalm 17:15, “I shall be satisfied when I wake in thy likeness.”  Paul tells us in Philippians 3:21:  “(Lord Jesus Christ) shall change our lowly body that it may be fashioned like His glorious body…”

We will be changed as a worm is to a butterfly.  My soul is a new creation, and soon my body will be also.

“Like developing butterflies,

We are to shed the cocoon

Of our sinful nature that we might

Emerge into the beauty of Christ.”

(Unknown)

Can We Know God?

Can we as mere mortals, really have knowledge of God?  Back in ancient times the Children of Israel would not even say His name, Yahweh; they felt it an irreverence to be on such friendly terms as to call Him by name.

But Jesus changed all of that when He died on the Cross in our place, and rose from the grave so that we might have life everlasting.  He wants us to know God.  Here is what He told His disciples: “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15)

With the thought I am writing of today, I am not thinking of finding out what God is like.  My concern  is that we have some knowledge of thinking rightly about God in our personal association.  Jesus says that the Father is in Him and He is in the Father, and we are in Him.  If we are so close to God as being one with Him, we should not be afraid of Him.  In John 17 verses 20 through 26 Jesus is praying for each of us to know we are loved by God.

In I Corinthians 2 it is made clear that we have been given the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself (God) to us.  I like the way verse 10 is written in “The Message” translation: “But you’ve seen and heard it because God by His Spirit has brought it all out into the open for you.”

To get to know God, however, we must spend time with Him.  You don’t get to know someone if you never speak to him or her.  This only comes by being often and long with Him, reading the Word, praying.  By doing this we learn to trust His dealings with us.  Prayer is not coming to God to ask for favors, it is fellowship with Him until He actually has possession of us.  When we actually ‘know’ our God, we will not even ask why, or ask about dark days, or ask for petty material things.  We will just know God will bring all out according to His will.  In John 14:1 Jesus says “Do not let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated).  You believe and adhere to and trust in and rely on God;”

My Prayer:  O Lord, I know of no greater pleasure than to be called Your friend, and to know that I have the Spirit within me to make known to me the things of the Father.  May I be open to the Spirit, eager to learn, ready to receive all there is for me.  With Paul, “I bow my knees”; yea, I even fall on my face before the Father, asking for an anointing of knowledge from the Spirit, and to know the love of Christ as a fire in my soul.  Amen

    “The Christian life is knowing God in a personal love-relationship”

 

Abba! Father!

"...but you have received a 'spirit of adoption' as sons by which we cry out "Abba! Father!"
Romans 8:15b

The Hebrew word of 'Ab', or Aramaic 'Abba' means 'daddy' or 'papa'.  This eventually came to mean 'dear father'.  Three places in the New Testament, God the Father is referred to as 'Abba'.  In Mark 14:36, when Jesus was pouring out His heart to the Father, sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, His cry was to "Abba, Father", or "Father, my Father".  To put it even plainer as to the Hebrew and Aramaic interpretation, He was saying "Daddy, my very own Daddy".

In Romans 8:14, 15 it is telling us that the believer is a 'son' (or daughter) of God, and we can cry "Abba, Father".  Then in Galatians 4:6 it says we have the Spirit of Jesus to confirm that we are sons and daughters, by crying out for us "Abba, Father".

How can we as mere mortals, have such a close association with God that we can call Him Father, or Daddy?  We become God's children by placing our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord.  God receives us into His family and our sins are forgiven.  When our 'Daddy' looks at us, He sees us as a pure and forgiven child because of what Jesus did on Calvary.

Prayer:  Father, my Father!  I thank You for the gift of becoming Your child.  I thank You for being my Father and providing all my needs.  May I always glorify You and may others see me as Your child.  I want to be a reflection of Your love and image, so that I can hear others say "she has her Father's eyes."  I thank You in the precious name of Jesus.  Amen