“Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle before my hands, come let me clutch thee!” Recognize that line? You should, that’s from one of the most famous soliloquies written by William Shakespeare. It’s from the well known tragedy “Macbeth”. I remember I had the good fortune of being cast as Macbeth in my collegiate acting career. It will always be my favorite role I’ve ever had the opportunity to perform. What made this role for me so rewarding was the amount of work and the challenges I had to endure to make this character a reality. I remember the first day of rehearsal sitting there listening to my director share his vision to myself and the rest of the cast. He talked about and showed us tiny models of how the set was going to look, the costume designer displayed his drawings of the costumes for each character, and they both stirred up within me and the rest of the cast an excitement for what to look forward to. However, after hearing all the promising things, we then got a dosage of some hard truth. The reality was this production was under a tight budget, all hands on deck, and everything had to be ready to go in three weeks. I remember sitting there and a thought seeped into my mind and said, “This is too much for you to handle. You can’t do this.”. Never in my life did I ever doubt myself when it came to my performances but this time I felt vulnerable. Did I really have what it took? After all, the play was entitled after my character. I had the majority of the lines. This show was going to be a success or a flop and everything was on my shoulders. Not only did I have to memorize thousands of lines but I had to translate what my character was saying too. But as quickly as the thought came, I quickly chose to remove those thoughts and replace them with positive ones. I began to visualize myself as this character and in faith I set a plan for myself. I recorded the lines on an audio cassette tape and listened to them endlessly. I ate Shakespeare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Nothing was going to phase me. I knew my goal and kept moving forward and in the next three weeks, I was off book and had become the character of Macbeth. The challenges didn’t stop there though. Once on the way to the theater before my performance, I was met by a stranger off the streets, who followed me alone into the building and then proceeded to attack me. I did what any thespian would do in that situation, I dropped my make up kit and ran for my life. Thankfully, I was okay and so was the makeup kit. And yes that’s the only time you would’ve ever caught me carrying a makeup kit. Anyway, everyone in the cast prayed for me that evening and even though I was greatly rattled, I didn’t let that stop the show from going on. Not only that but I also had to endure challenges within the show itself. Once, during a moment in the play, when my character was in a moment of rage, I hit the proscenium wall and down came the long metal shield which hung from the wall. The shield had to be removed from the stage but how to get rid of it? I did what I felt Macbeth would do. I picked up the shield and flung it into a row of empty seats. It was Shakespeare in 3D and if anyone was sleeping that night they weren’t anymore. One guy from the audience came up to me afterwards and said, “Wow it was like being at a rock concert! Shakespeare rocks!”. Eventually I was awarded best actor in a dramatic play by the school for that year and none of that would’ve been possible, if I had chosen to listen to the doubts in my head at the starting point of rehearsals. Instead I chose to believe in the vision that my director had set forth from day one. And this got me got me thinking about the passage in the Old Testament about the twelve spies. You remember that story? After the Israelites were rescued by God from Egypt, they followed Moses through the desert toward the land of milk and honey promised to them by God. On nearing the land, Moses sent out twelve spies to scope out the Promise Land and they all eventually came back with their reports. They all agreed the land was everything they could ever hope or imagine but the reality was the land was inhabited by giants. All ten believed it was not possible to take the land but only two Joshua and Caleb believed God could deliver the land to them. Do you see the two different starting points? One was a starting point of fear and doubt, the other a starting point of courage, hope and possibilities. I believe that in our lives God has a promised land for us. Whatever that may be will be different for each individual. But it’s up to us to either decide are we going to live in faith or fear? Are we going to change our mindsets from this is impossible to this is possible? Are we going to trust and move in faith or back down in fear? Are we going to listen to what “they” tell us can’t happen or why it’s not possible or are we going to listen to the promises of God? There is always a “they”, a statistics person who loves to tell you the reality of the situation but they end up planting seeds of negativity in your mind. It’s reality, “they” will tell you. Yes, so was the fact there were giants in the Promise Land but that didn’t stop Joshua and Caleb. And you know what, it was only those two who inherited the land promised . Everyone else chose to listen to to the ten and the result, they never made it into the land. They died in their desert. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to let the giants in my life, the naysayers, the challenges of life derail me from inheriting the Lord’s blessings for my life. I don’t need someone to tell me that it’s not possible to increase my readership for my blog, I can’t make a living as an author, my screenplay won’t sell, it’s not good enough. I’m not listening to the lies, and the negativity and my prayer for you is that you wont either. I pray that you will join me in trusting in our God that all things are possible through Him. No matter where you are in your journey, stay the course and never give up. For it may not happen overnight but your Promise Land is coming. Even Caleb and Joshua had to wait another forty years before they actually entered the land but eventually their faith and perseverance paid off. Shakespeare says, “ life is a stage”, so to you I say embrace your role, put away all doubt and fear, trust in our great Director’s vision, step out onto that dim lit stage and declare with boldness for all the world to hear, “Is this a challenge I see before me, the promise land before my hand? Come let me clutch thee!”.

Numbers 13:27-30

“This was their report to Moses: “We entered the land you sent us to explore, and it is indeed a bountiful country—a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is the kind of fruit it produces. 28 But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak! 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev, and the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea[a] and along the Jordan Valley.”
30 But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

Deuteronomy 31:7

And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

Joshua 14:11 (A quote from Caleb upon entering the land at 85 years old)

11 Here I am this day at eighty five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

Ever heard of the carrot stick principle? The carrot-and-stick principle is this: the stick is tied to the bridle of a mule or donkey, or held by the human rider or cart driver so that it extends above and in front of the animal’s head, and the carrot hangs on a string from the far end of the stick, just out of reach of the animal’s mouth. Attracted by the sight and smell, the donkey steps forward to bite at the carrot, but of course, as it is attached to the stick, the carrot also moves forward leaving the poor animal to never claim his reward but eventually collapse from exhaustion. Too bad the animal never learns. Sometimes we humans can be like an ass, we can be stupid as donkeys. We chase after the carrot of money, success, possessions, pleasure, sex, relationships and we all strive for that carrot dangling in front of us but we never truly grasp it and as a result, we end up exhausted and burned out, having wasted our lives. We think it’s real freedom because we are the ones leading our lives but we fool ourselves, we are just bridled to a cart leading the weight of the world around. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to lead my own life thinking I got this, almost there, only to find myself suffering the consequences later. And I got to thinking, what if all the striving after all these things is just an attempt by me to earn love? Think about it, even when we are born and we have our first cry, it’s not because we’re hungry. Yes, we may be wanting food but deep down inside, it’s because we are craving love. We want to know who loves us. We want to know who’s going to pick us up and hold us and soothe us, who’s going to let us know that we are the apple of someone’s eye. And so from the cradle to the grave we seek this. Look at me, acknowledge me, pick me up and love me. Some say we have a hole in our hearts and it’s so crazy deep, we fill it up with all the things we’ve done, we work so hard just to put money in our hand but all along, the love we really need,  is crazy cheap. The Bible says that what we desire is only found in what Christ can give. In John 10:10, Jesus says He has come to give us life abundantly. It also says He gives us everything we need for life and godliness, 2 Peter 1:3. Wow, and all this time I still chase after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. In Him, I’ve got it already. I don’t need to look for it anymore. I don’t need to seek approval anymore. I don’t need to check my Facebook to see who likes my blog or shared it. I don’t need to have a title before my name, just child of God. Jesus loves me and that’s enough. God never tells us to follow the carrot, He tells us to follow Him. The Bible promises us that when He leads us,  He will lead us to green pastures, Psalm23. He will satisfy our souls with good things, Psalms 105:3.
Nothing wrong with dreams or goals or making money but if we can get to the point where our hole is just filled with His love and nothing else, then anything else He chooses to give us or take away from us, will not matter so much. Tired of pursuing love in all the wrong places? Ditch the carrot , give over your life to Jesus, let Him lead you and He will unbridle you from the burden of pulling the weight of the world around in a cart that is going nowhere. Remember, when Jesus is our main love, everything else is just a cherry on top of an amazing sundae.

1 Timothy 6:6-12 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” – C.S. Lewis.

“Decisions sometimes prove to be the hardest to make, especially when it’s a choice between where you should be and where you really wanted to be.”

“Let God have your life; He can do more with it than you can.” Dwight L. Moody

“It hurts to let go, but sometimes it hurts more to hold on.”
“Let go of the past so that God can open the door to your future.”
“When you finally let go something better comes along.”
“To heal your wound you need to stop touching it.”

I work at the airport and believe me, I’ve seen it all. I once saw a passenger dressed like he was out of a John Travolta picture,  “Saturday Night Fever”.  He had the whole bell bottoms and all and I’m thinking to myself, why? It’s the twenty first century!  Anyway, I guess that’s just a comical illustration of how I view us when we refuse to let go of our hurtful past, whether it’s relationships, hurts, fears, mistakes, if we can’t let go and move forward in Christ, we’re going to look like a person that’s wearing bell bottoms in the twenty first century and instead of looking cool like “Saturday Night Fever”, we’ll be more like a joke from “Saturday Night Live”.  I mean who really discos anymore? Okay, you get my point.  Maybe it’s time to clean out the wardrobe, get rid of the parachute pants and the jean jacket, time for a new look. Remember, if we are not moving forward, we’re  not growing and if we’re not growing then we’re only dying.

Philippians 3:13-14

“Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”

Another year is over and now it’s time to get out the treadmill that’s been collecting dust in the garage, sign up for that gym membership, go to the library and begin that reading plan again. This is the time we set out to change our lives for the better, turn a new leaf, pursue a goal and go for it. However, most of us live our lives like sprinters in a marathon race and after we start out strong, we tumble over the first hurdle we see and give up, lose our breath, and never make it to the finish line. It’s then back to the same old same old and once again, the treadmill is in the garage as a museum artifact, we look at it from afar but don’t touch and the only time we see the gym is on our bank statements after they deduct another monthly payment. What happened? Our grandiose dreams and plans to start that business, just seem to fall apart and go nowhere. Instead of growing and moving forward, we’re like a truck stuck in reverse sputtering in the mud. Did you know that God’s purpose for us is not to be stagnant in life but to grow? But in order for us to grow we have to face the obstacles. In Luke 2:52, the scripture says, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”. The Greek word here for “grew” is “prokopto”. This word literally means to make one’s way forward by chopping down obstacles. Jesus knew the importance of moving forward and demonstrated that in His life. He didn’t let the obstacles of life hinder His growth. First of all, Jesus had a humbled spirit, and an attitude of learning. He knew who He was, that He was God. For even at twelve, He told his parents when they found Him in the temple with the teachers of the law, that He was in His Father’s house. But He didn’t let Himself get prideful of His position or title, instead He humbled Himself and was submissive to His parents and to authority. Remember, Jesus was found by His parents asking questions and listening to the rabbis as they taught Him in the temple. Think about that, Jesus, God in the flesh allowed Himself to be taught when He should’ve been the one teaching them. For us sometimes what impedes our growth is that we think we know it all, we don’t need someone telling us what to do, or how we need to change our lives. So we convince ourselves we are fine and we miss out on real growth because we fail to humble ourselves, seek help, ask questions and listen to good advice. We’re too busy giving advice rather than humbling ourselves and having a teachable spirit. The Great hall of fame baseball player Willie Mays even when he was in the highlight of his career and was already considered an all star, never stopped asking for advice from his coaches on how to improve his game. He didn’t let his fame get to his head, he remained teachable. Maybe for us we miss out on real growth because we let fear dominate our lives and instead of chopping down obstacles in our way, we turn back to avoid them and instead our growth gets chopped down in size. Jesus when He was in the boat with the disciples encountered a great big storm that rocked their boat, it looked hopeless. The disciples panicked but Jesus was sleeping. After the disciples woke Him, He then spoke to the wind and the waves and they stopped. Jesus’s goal was to get to the other side of the lake, He wasn’t going to be afraid of any obstacles in His way but had faith and eventually He made it to the other side with the waves and the wind subdued by Him. Sometimes like Jesus we need to speak words of affirmation against those things that come against us from achieving our goals. Declare with your mouth over your circumstances the promises of God and watch your faith grow. In time those obstacles like the waves will come to a peaceful calm and you will soon find yourself on shore having accomplished your goals. Another reason some of us fail to grow and see our dreams come to pass, is because we forget it’s a process. Nothing worth striving for happens overnight. Remember Jesus grew. He had to go through the maturation process first, from baby to man, before He could begin His ministry to save the world. Pace yourself and don’t forget sometimes there is a time to wait but in that waiting we learn, we allow God to work in us. Results will come just be patient. As the new year unfolds and we find ourselves plugging away towards our physical and spiritual goals, let’s not get discouraged in the process. Remember, challenges will come but don’t let them hinder you, let them motivate you to grow. The one who moved forward chopping down obstacles is living inside of you. Trust Him, let Him lead you and He will propel you forward to your God given destiny.

Matthew 1:1
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

Remember those magic eye pictures? You know back in the nineties when they were all a rage? If you don’t, remember they were pictures of a bunch of dots or squiggly lines but if you stopped and stared long enough, you’d spot a 3D image that would pop out at you. But of course if you just quickly glanced at it, you’d just see a bunch of dots and you’d miss the hidden image within. Yes, the things we humans used to do for fun before we had iPhones to stare at. But when looking at those pictures, it was so easy to dismiss them as just a bunch of dots. But if you actually took the time to pause and focus, you’d be pleasantly surprised at what you’d find. Sometimes, when reading the Bible, we tend to get like this. We skim through the mundane parts and just try and read the chapters to just get through it but if we actually take the time to pause and study carefully, we’ll find there’s so much more beyond the surface. I was looking for something to write about for the Christmas season and so I started in Matthew. Matthew gives an account of the Christmas story and so I started in chapter one. However, Matthew starts out not with the birth of Jesus like many of us would think, instead he starts the Christmas story with a genealogy. So, like usual I didn’t have the patience to read through it. I just skimmed it over. Okay, okay I thought to myself, just a bunch of names. This is as boring as reading a phone book. But something inside of me told me to go back and focus more on the details of this genealogy. As I studied it, I began to realize that I was wrong, there’s so much more to it than just a bunch of names. Just from the very first part, where Matthew mentions Jesus coming from the line of Abraham and David, we can discover great truth. Matthew’s purpose was to prove to the Jews that Jesus was the coming Messiah and King prophesied about in the Old Testament. By pointing out that Jesus came from the line of Abraham, the founder of the Jewish nation and from the royal line of David, shows us, that Jesus was indeed Jewish and was the fulfillment of the covenants God made with Abraham and David. This is relevant for us believers today because this shows us that God is faithful in keeping His promises to us. God made a promise to Abraham and David a long time ago that through their seed would come a holy nation and a royal king who would save His people. It took awhile for this to occur but it was fulfilled eventually through the birth of Jesus. Today, we too may have to wait awhile for His promises but we can count on God that He will fulfill His promises for us today. He is not a covenant breaker, we can trust Him for He is faithful to His promises found in the Bible today. Praise Him for this, He will never lie to us or betray us. He keeps His word. Another observation I noticed in studying this genealogy is that Matthew mentions the names of four women. Now first of all it was not common at all for genealogies back then to mention the names of women. So Matthew was trying to draw our attention to this. The names of the women are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Of the four, two of them Rahab and Ruth are foreigners and Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba are tainted with sin. I love how this exemplifies the grace of God and how He uses the foreign or the disreputable to carry out His divine plan and He delights in doing so. His mentioning of Bathsheba reminds us of the sin that stained King David’s kingdom. I find it interesting that although David had murdered a man and committed adultery with Bathsheba, out of the line of an adulterous relationship came God’s mercy and kindness through the birth of Jesus Christ. Wow, God is faithful even when we are faithless. He keeps His promises even though we break them, He is a gracious God and an inclusive God. The fact He mentions women in a male dominated society just speaks volumes how God views women. Women were so important to God. The fact two of them were foreigners shows us God doesn’t segregate by your race, God’s gift of salvation is for all. And to think all of that I would’ve missed, if I chose to skip through the boring list of names. Isn’t that funny how in life we tend to do this. We want to fast forward the trivial, the boring, the routine things in life but my friends it’s in the trivial, the mundane, the little things that God can be found. The wise men went looking for Jesus but they didn’t find Him in a palace like most royalty, no He was found in an ordinary house, no glamour, no glitz. Do you find yourself feeling tired of the daily routine of sweeping Cheerios off the floor, picking up the kids from soccer, doing homework with them, spending 40 hours a week in a cubicle working a job that’s mundane and dull? My friends pause and reflect, we all want to escape the dullness of our everyday lives and be adventurous but stop and focus. Don’t just skip through it. I guarantee you’ll start to see Jesus’s face
protrude from the endless amount of dots you find yourself surrounded in. Remember, God is in the little things, He was in the frame of a tiny baby, He’s in the mundane list of names in a genealogy, and His Spirit resides in you and me. Merry Christmas and don’t forget to pause this Christmas and focus on the dots.

I’ve lived in Central Florida for the longest now and what I’ve come to learn is that in Florida, we have two seasons, summer and hurricane. Yes, most Floridians will get their heavy coats out and wooly socks for the occasional cold fronts that come through but after a week of enduring the harsh conditions that sixty degree weather brings, it’s beach weather again and that means kicking back in our flip flops, and watching the sunset while we sip our sweet tea and sing Jimmy Buffett songs.  It’s rough I know but someone’s got to do it.  I don’t know what would happen to us if it actually snowed here.  The whole state would shut down.  News flash, this just in: “Snow is not made up of soap bubbles”.  Who knew? Wow! No, that can’t be true, must be fake news. But for the rest of us living outside of the land of citrus and Palm trees, each year consists of four seasons, with the winter season being the longest and the one most people dread. It can be hard to endure having to wake up to dark grey skies everyday, nature being pretty much buried in snow, nothing green or pretty to look at, ice and snow, trees all barren, did I mention snow? It’s pretty to look at but to shovel everyday, no thanks. If it wasn’t for money, I’m pretty sure most people would probably hibernate along with the bears and not leave their homes till spring. I’ve been thinking a lot about seasons, because God spoke to me last week about this. He reminded me that just like there are seasons that we go through in our weather patterns, we also go through seasons in our personal lives. I’m sure you’ve heard that before, and so have I. However, when you think about it, we can learn a lot about life through nature. Sometimes, God gives us a dream, a ministry, a calling in our lives and just like winter, instead of our plans blooming with promise, our dreams are like a barren tree, there’s no fruit, everything seems dead, no signs of life. Perhaps it’s a relationship that you are hoping for, a restoration in a marriage, a promise that God has given you that is showing no results and like a seed you feel stuck buried in the snow. I’ve got hope for us. Just like in nature, seasons do change. The summer sun will come out and melt the snow, the seeds do eventually grow and before you know it, there is life again. If that is what happens in nature why not with us? Remember, things take time. God could’ve made the world in one blink like a genie in a bottle but He didn’t. He took His time and created the world in six days. With Christmas around the corner, remember God could’ve saved the world in a second but instead He chose to send His child. Jesus had to grow up and be nurtured into a man so that He would eventually die on the cross, fulfilling Gods promise of salvation. But it took time, it didn’t happen overnight. Remember, God has His reasons for taking His time. When He does come through and our seasons change, it will have such an amazing impact on our lives and it will be for His glory. I think of the woman Anna from the Bible who was in her eighties. She used to visit the temple everyday and she did this for ten years straight praying earnestly for the coming Messiah, the one who would save her people from captivity. She did not waver in her season of barrenness and winter. She could’ve complained for she was alone and a widow but she didn’t, she waited on God for His promise and faithfully prayed believing God was going to answer her. Sure enough when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to dedicate Him at the temple, Anna got the chance to finally see her dream come true. She got the chance to literally hold in her hands God’s plan for salvation. She was so overjoyed, her faith in God renewed even more. Her waiting was well worth the wait. You and I may be going through a season of barrenness where our dreams and our hopes seem dead buried in the snow. But take heart, if we keep our purpose before us, stay faithful in prayer, our season will change as well. God’s promise for us is like a tree. We start as a seed but in time it will sprout and grow. Just don’t give up when it takes too long, let God do His work in the waiting, winter will pass and one day we will see our tree.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

Luke 2:36-38 

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[a] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

With Christmas around the corner, one can’t help but think about gifts. Giving and receiving gifts is fun but the one thing I can’t stand is wrapping gifts. I’m just so bad at it. If they offered a gift wrapping class for dummies, I’d fail miserably. I’m terrible with scissors, I can’t cut in a straight line, I always end up with either too much paper or I’ll come up too short, that I can’t even cover up the gift. Everything ends up so uneven and by the time an hour goes by and I’ve gone through the last roll of tape, I finally have another messily wrapped gift to give away. I’d rather just throw it in a bag and be done with it but since that’s not the Christmas spirit, I try my best anyway. Sometimes,  if I’m lucky, I’ll get my mom to do it. She’s like the Picasso of gift wrapping, all the corners are nicely tucked in and everything is precise and neatly presentable.  I envy people who can gift wrap. If that’s you, I applaud you. Anyway, as much as I hate gift wrapping, I will admit, when done right, it does look beautiful when all is wrapped up and placed around the Christmas tree. My favorite part about the whole gift thing though, is seeing the faces of my children light up when they see their presents. It’s so funny to observe kids opening up their gifts. Have you ever observed how a baby opens up a gift? I remember once when my son was around one or so, I gave Thomas a present and tried to help him open the wrapping paper. He proceeded to tear off a piece and then it was like the rest of the gift didn’t matter. He took that wrapping paper and started to play with it like that was the gift itself. He was so into the wrapping paper I had to yank it out of his hands before he could put it into his mouth. I had to actually finish unwrapping the rest of the gift myself, to finally get his attention onto the toy inside. I thought to myself, if wrapping paper is all he wanted, then I could’ve saved a bundle of money and just got him several roles of wrapping paper instead. It’s funny when you think about it, as Christians living in this temporary world, we kind of do the same thing. Sometimes, we tend to act like babies and get so caught up in the wrapping paper of this world, that we forget the important things in life are in the box. The wrapping paper is this world we live in, our jobs, money, our own physical bodies, even temporary relationships. Nothing wrong with any of that but when those things take all our focus and we’re neglecting what really matters, like the spiritual things in life, than that’s when it becomes a problem. I go to the gym at least three times a week and I love it, the way it makes you feel and how you look is rewarding. But I also know that I got to be careful, for it’s so easy to get caught up on how the outside of my body looks, that I neglect to work on my inner character. This outer shell of mine will eventually fade but the Spirit man inside of me needs exercise too and if I’m neglecting to spend time working out in God’s gym, than what a waste it’s going to be when my flesh fades and all I have is a scrawny spiritual body. I don’t know about you but I want to look like Thor when I get to heaven not Pewee Herman. Facial creams and anti aging lotions, cosmetic surgery, the world spends millions of dollars to dress up the wrapping paper. Look, there’s nothing wrong with a red bow or some ribbon on your wrapper and I’m not one of those Christians that says you can’t ever but just make sure we remember that real value is what’s on the inside of the package. How do we do this? First and foremost you got to have Jesus inside your package. Remember, not all gifts are worth the same. You can have two boxes all wrapped up the same but one has a laptop in it and the other a tuna fish scraper. Get what I mean? I have no idea what a tuna fish scraper is, I just made that up. So don’t go looking for one on Amazon. But seriously, only Jesus living inside of us gives us true worth and value and as we meditate on God’s Word day and night, spend time with Him in prayer and worship, then our inner character will grow as it was intended to. Been focusing on your gift wrap too much? God knows I’m guilty but thanks be to God there’s grace. Grace came to us two thousand years ago in a small little package in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger for you and me.  Jesus Christ, God wrapped in flesh.  So, as you go about your Christmas, this season, it’s okay to enjoy the gift wrap, for it does have a purpose. However, don’t play with it for too long, and whatever you do, don’t eat the gift wrap. Remember, the real gift is what’s inside.

Colossians 3:2
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 

Matthew 2:17-18

Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
 weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
 and refusing to be comforted,
 because they are no more.”

They say Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year!” Christmas, a time of celebration, a time of happiness and of good cheer. It’s a special time for most, and I know for me, I have been blessed with so many wonderful memories with family and friends. However, last year was difficult for me, it was my first Christmas being separated from my wife because of the death of our marriage. Yes, that’s me smiling in my holiday pictures but deep down inside I was a mess, my world was falling apart. Being separated from those you love is hard, whether it’s your spouse, your kids, your parents, or a good friend. Death and separation from our loved ones is inevitable. We have either gone through it, are going through it now or will be going through it someday.  For some people Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year but rather it’s the most painful time of the year. I was reading the Christmas account in the Bible where the Magi travel from the east to give their gifts to Jesus. A beautiful picture of mankind laying down their treasures and declaring Jesus king, a time of rejoicing and great joy. But the verses that follow it are hard to read. Matthew tells the account of King Herod slaughtering all the male babies in Bethlehem that were two and under while Rachel the symbol of Jewish motherhood, weeps for her children. Yes, not a pretty picture, in fact a very gloomy one but this is part of the Christmas story we tend to overlook. When we think of the Christmas story we have a warm and fuzzy view of the manger scene, with Cupid like angels on fluffy clouds, shepherds with their little lambs, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus all a glow, singing “Silent Night”. Yet the reality is, the Christmas narrative is one of great joy for some but also deep sorrow and pain for others. However, there is encouragement and great comfort for us and it’s found in this verse referencing Jeremiah.  Although at first glance this passage reads as discouraging, Matthew’s intent for mentioning this verse was to give his readers hope. Remember, Matthew’s narrative was for the Jewish people and Matthew was trying to persuade them, that Jesus really was the coming Messiah that was prophesied about long ago by the prophets. This particular passage is first found in Jeremiah 31:15 and so the readers would have been familiar with the literal context of this verse. Jeremiah chapter 31, refers to the Babylonian exile of the Israelite men. Here these young men are being taken captive and led off to Babylon as slaves to be separated from their families. As the young men pass by a town called Ramah, where Rachel, Jacob’s wife was buried, the Jewish mothers wail loudly for their sons whom they will never see again. Matthew compares the two events because of the similarities but also makes a bold statement here. He knows that his Jewish readers are familiar with the whole context of Jeremiah’s words. Jeremiah’s prophecy following this verse is that God was going to deliver them from captivity and return them to their land. This was a message of hope. What Matthew is saying here is that the promise of deliverance from captivity is now fulfilled in Christ. That although the mothers weep now, their weeping will end for Jesus has escaped Herod. Matthew is pointing out that the exile is over because Jesus is the fulfillment of the new covenant and heir to David’s throne. Today’s believers can rejoice in this too. Yes, there is pain and hardship in this life, there is oppression of the Enemy, there is death and separation caused by this sinful world we live in but there is hope for us too that our exile is over. You see Jesus escaped and because Jesus escaped we too can escape the spiritual bondage that has held us captive for so long. We may have been born sinners but Jesus was born King. We too can escape the oppression of this sinful world and we too can be rescued from our sins by faith in Jesus. We can now experience real joy, peace and everlasting hope that only comes from Him. Our situations may not change, for there was no bringing the slain babies back to life but there is a hope now that because Jesus escaped we too can now escape death once and for all. The Bible says that “He who the Son sets free is free indeed”. Praise Jesus for this everlasting hope that we have. Praise Jesus the captives are coming home. Where do you find yourself this Christmas? Are you discouraged, feeling in bondage and oppressed by your situation? Maybe it feels so overpowering and like King Herod’s army, you feel captive in your addictions with no way out. Maybe you’re overwhelmed with fear or great sadness, due to a separation in your marriage or a separation caused by death. Perhaps, you’ve lived your whole life apart from God and this separation is destroying your soul, and you wonder if there is any hope. The answer is a resounding yes! There’s always hope with Christ. You and I may be weeping over our situation and that’s okay but know this, we no longer have to remain in shackles. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are exiled no more. We can take off the chains, and rejoice, we are free! Jesus, The Great Escape Artist, who escaped sin and death has made a way for you and me to live in real freedom. Homesick? Not for long, put your faith in Him, follow Him and let Him lead you.  Leave the chains behind, it’s time to come home.

John 8:36
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

“Joy to the world my Amazon package has come, let VISA and MasterCard sing.” Not familiar with that Christmas song? You should, cause that’s exactly what most Americans sing about on Christmas. Joy, happiness, gladness, whatever you want to call it, it’s what everyone is searching for this Christmas. For most people, Christmas season officially kicks off the day after Thanksgiving. It has now become a sacred day in our nation, we know it as “Black Friday”. That’s the day when Americans begin their pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Walmart searching for this joy in the form of a plasma t.v. or the latest iPhone, or tablet. And it’s amazing how much sacrifice is involved in the process. I talked to a co-worker who drove two and a half hours for a gift just to buy her daughter. Nothing wrong with that but it’s just amazing how we will go through great lengths to find joy or to give joy to someone else through stuff. Stuff that is only temporary and will maybe make one happy for the moment but never really lasts. How about this song, “Joy to the world my mother in law didn’t come, let everyone else at my Christmas party sing!” Some people let their joy be impacted by others. Hollywood preaches to us that Christmas is about spending time with their families and loved ones. Again not necessarily a bad thing but if all our happiness is in other people than what happens when a family member fails to show up for the Christmas party and they let us down? What if a loved one suddenly dies or a marriage falls apart? Where’s the joy in that? I guarantee you it won’t be the “most wonderful time of year”. Yet we still keep searching down the aisles of this life, shopping for joy in all the wrong places and instead of singing “Joy to the World”, our hearts are singing “Joy from this World,” and as a result we are never satisfied and at real peace. Often times even as believers we forget that the word Christmas starts with Christ. Nothing wrong with buying gifts or being with family but everything must start with Christ. When we set our hearts on the goal to seek Christ more than anything else, we will find ourselves filled with an abundance of joy that only Christ can give. We see this in Matthew with the account of the Magi or the Wise Men who came from the East to worship Jesus. When Jesus was two years of age, these men who were probably astrologers, left their homelands from far off, probably Babylon and headed their way to Bethlehem of Judea. I love how devoted they were in seeking out Jesus. First of all they had faith in Jesus as their king. For when they came to Herod the Great for help they asked him, “where is he who is born the king of the Jews?”. Their question shows us how they viewed Christ as already born king of the Jews. To them He was their king and their intentions were to worship Jesus and show their respects. Their faith was further evidenced by their full out surrender and sacrifice just to seek Jesus. Notice they went to extremely great lengths. They left the comforts of their homes to travel a long distance through rough desert terrain, risking their lives and enduring the hot days and cold desert nights. When they found the boy Jesus, they gave up their finest of treasures and they bowed down and worshipped Him. The Bible says that when they found Jesus they were filled with “exceedingly great joy”! Their faith was rewarded. For us to experience this joy that comes from Christ alone, we must have the same faith as the Magi. A faith that puts Christ on the throne of our lives as Lord and king. Too many of us however live our lives where we are seated on the throne. Contrast the faith of the Magi to that of Herod the Great. You see Herod was all about Herod and his motives for seeking Jesus were self centered. He was afraid of losing his power and more concerned about his earthly kingdom and so Jesus was a threat to him. As a result instead of experiencing great joy, the Bible says he was “greatly troubled”. When we are the king of our lives and the center of our universe rather than Jesus, we will never be satisfied, or be at peace. Nothing wrong with being rich or having a position of power, for the Magi were rich and of high status too but they knew where to lay their treasures. Herod could never truly experience real joy because it was centered around a temporary kingdom instead of an everlasting one founded in Christ. Sometimes we may miss out on real joy because we don’t seek Jesus with all our hearts, we just seek Him occasionally, a curiosity more than anything. Herod asked his scribes and religious leaders to search out the scriptures and find the passage which describes the coming of the Messiah and where to find Him. They did just that but why didn’t they go with the Magi? Instead their seeking of Jesus stopped after reading about Him. It’s so sad that many people this Christmas may hear the Christmas story, sing some carols, maybe even attend a church service but still miss out on experiencing God’s best. Simply put it’s just head knowledge and religious duty nothing more. So, how about you? Do you find yourself like me sometimes going through another holiday season without real joy? I have to admit as a believer in Christ sometimes I wish I was more like the Magi but most of the time I find myself in the Herod the Great category. You know, where its all about me and my dreams and I’m seeking God only for Him to bless me for my selfish purposes. Sometimes sadly, I fall into the category of the religious leaders and scribes. Where seeking Jesus is just going through the motions, reading a chapter in the Bible, attending church, writing another cute blog which sounds so awesome and theological but that’s just it. It’s all up here in the head and not translated into a selfless love for Jesus and for others. But thanks be to God there’s grace. Jesus is the Messiah and because of His great love for us, He is patient, forgiving, and kind. He would never ask us to do anything that He hasn’t done already for us. He gave up His throne in heaven for a manger in a stable. He gave His life for you and me by dying on the cross. Why would we not want to give Him everything in return? God is so good. May we dwell on His love for us this Christmas. Dear Heavenly Father, may you give us the strength to trust you. May we seek You with all our hearts, may we surrender our earthly thrones to you, may we lay our treasures at your feet. Holy Spirit be our guiding star of Bethlehem and fill us with all joy, that we overflow into the next year and may our hearts sing loudly than ever before, “Joy to the world the Lord has come, let earth receive her king”! Amen.

Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 8:1-3

1When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

“I’m not in love with you anymore.”  Words no woman wants to hear coming from her husband but somewhere there’s a woman who is faced with this reality. Suddenly she finds herself alone, abandoned, and wondering what happened to her happily ever after. Somewhere, there’s a pastor of a church who has served his congregation faithfully. He falls into temptation and like David, commits adultery with his Bathsheba and just like that, everyone he cared about and ministered to for so many years has turned against him, his wife, his kids, his congregation, gone. With no one to turn to, feeling alone, and like an outcast, he believes that even God is not willing to restore him again. He takes matters in his own hands and puts a bullet to the brain. Abandonment , and rejection, no matter what the reasons, can lead one to severe depression, shame and guilt and if not treated, can kill a person, like a disease.  A disease like a leprosy, only instead of the flesh, this disease erodes the soul. Too many people find themselves with this leprosy of the soul and wonder is there any hope.  How about you? Have you ever experienced such emotional pain brought on by rejection because of how others mistreat you or judge you and do you doubt that God can ever restore you or your situation again? I got good news for you, our God is the God of the leper. Our God is the God of restoration. I love this passage in Matthew. Here we find Jesus is finished teaching on the mountain top. He descends the mountain with a huge crowd around Him and who does He perform His first miracle for? A man suffering with leprosy. Coincidence? No, there’s no coincidence with God. It’s amazing what Jesus did for this man. He didn’t just heal him from his leprosy, He gave him his life back. You see, this man was a leper and lepers were ostracized from society. Most lived outside of the town and were sequestered in caves living as social outcasts, never to be near others, always alone, abandoned. They were the social rejects because people back then associated this illness with sin and one who was a leper was considered unclean. So anyone coming in contact with them was not allowed to touch them for that would make them ceremonially unclean under the Jewish law. I can imagine the scene, Jesus comes down from the mountainside from giving one of His talks, and a huge crowd of people follow Jesus down. Here comes this leper and everyone who sees the man approaching clears out of the way, staying miles away of the sinner for fear of becoming unclean themselves. But Jesus doesn’t run from him. Jesus draws close to him. Jesus shows compassion. The crowds must have been in shock. Even the man who had faith in Jesus had some doubt for He asked if Jesus was willing. Even he wondered if Jesus would risk it all to be unclean himself by touching his diseased body. But that’s exactly what Jesus did. He reached his hand out in front of everyone there and touched the unclean person and made him well. Isn’t God good? This is so encouraging for me. You see, there have been times in my life where I have felt unworthy, abandoned, rejected, and there have been times I have felt extreme loneliness and despair as if all is hopeless. But Jesus descended from the mountain top of heaven and came down to me a sinner and He reached out His loving hand and expressed His love for me by becoming unclean for me. He took the risk and became sin for me and took my place on the cross. Through His touch I became whole again. Through His touch I became restored. And when others turned their backs on me, He continued to reach out His loving hand and restored me. Yes, me, a sinner who doesn’t deserve anything. There are things I have done that I am so ashamed of but Jesus still reaches out. He doesn’t see me as the world does or consider me differently but He restores my fallen condition and gives me a new body, a new heart, a new mind! He restores my broken relationships, He restores my confidence, He restores my name! He restores my faith in hope again! He takes what the world abandoned and left for dead and revives it once more. He the healer of this leper, praise Jesus! Thanks be to God! All because He died for me while I was still a sinner. That’s my God, and that same God is yours too. And everything He has done and did for me, He has done and will do for you too! Praise God, He is not a God who stays on the mountain top but comes down to meet us where we’re at. Praise God, He is in the business of restoration. What is it that needs restoring in your life? Like the leper, I encourage you to trust Him, bow the knee, and let Him touch you with His transforming power because He is so very willing. He loves you more than you’ll ever know. Feeling abandoned, alone, feeling unworthy? Look, to your Savior as He approaches, coming down from his mountaintop to meet with you. Praise Him! Your miracle is now, your restoration is here. No room for doubt, your Jesus, the God who touches lepers, is willing!