GREAT JOY

Vol 2 No 51 THEO'S DEVOS

Luke 2:8-10 That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. ⁹Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, ¹⁰but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!

By now I suppose most of you have heard about controversy over the sign placed next to a Nativity scene in the Washington State House. It has created quite an uproar since it was placed there by a group of atheists and it proclaims a diatribe against people of faith in God. I won't repeat what it says here but it does lay out the atheist position that organized religion is a 'myth' that 'hardens hearts.' Now we know that 'religion' is not a great word. There has been serious damage done by 'religions' in the name of God. The word means 'to bind back' and all religions teach some form of trying to get back to God. That is why I have often said that Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with the God who did not wait for us to come to Him but reached out to us in the form of a child, Jesus, to save us from our sin.

Having said that, it is obvious that I am no fan of 'religions.' However, at least religious people are willing to admit that there is a God or god. They have reacted correctly to the creation around them. Even agnostics do not go so far as to deny God. But atheists do. Now my question for them is: as a result of becoming an atheist, what joy have you produced? What national holidays have you given us to celebrate a better future? The truth is quite the opposite. If they had their way our streets wouod be dark at Christmas time. There would be no Christmas. No parties. No manger scenes. No presents around the tree. I say this with no intended disrespect but atheists do live in a cold, barren world. They have no hope for the future and no real reason to celebrate life. For them, a death in the family is a great tragedy for which there is no reason to rejoice. I could go on with this but I think you catch my meaning.

However, our verse for today catches a glimpse of why we Christians celebrate the Christmas holiday. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be a shepherd out in that field when the angel appeared to them? At first they were frightened out of their minds and rightly so. But the Angel was quick to reassure them that they had no reason to fear. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!” they said. Great joy they said. That is the result of what God did when He sent Jesus to earth. He gave us reason to have great joy. Not the great sadness you can expect at an atheist funeral. Great joy.

Do you have great joy today? Have you trusted that Jesus Christ came, lived, and died on that cross to pay for your sins and mine? If you have then you know the meaning of great joy. You have no fear of death. You know that God loves you and can see His love in your life daily when you look for it. If you have not, then now would be a great time to trust in Him. Believe that Jesus died for you. Trust in the sacrifice that He made so you could have a relationship with God. It could make this Christmas different from all the others in the past. I trust that you are getting excited about the celebration of Jesus' birth. Oh, and don't worry about the signs that atheists put up. They are advertising for us without realizing it. No God, no hope. No God, no true joy. BUT “Hark the herald angels sing...” They sure do.

Here is a last minute addition sent to me by a good friend in Texas, Bob Holmes. If you haven't seen this about the 13 year old boy who called in to a Christian radio station you need to right now. Thanks Bob.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0r_FbARIn8&NR=1

Theo

Truth Unseen

Vol 2 No 50 THEO'S DEVOS

Psalm 73:17 Then one day I went into your sanctuary, O God,

and I thought about the destiny of the wicked.

We have noted, on several occasions, that there is a reality not visible to mortal sight. Within that reality there is a spiritual war and we are pawns in that war. You and I become collateral damage at times and, when we are, it can hurt – badly.

Quite a long time ago I found myself misunderstood and it felt like my world was spinning out of control. Now I am not given to depression. I am, seemingly by nature, a very positive person. So, at that time, as I experienced a touch of depression, I had no idea how to pull out of it. My brain told me that (and I would like to say God told me) that the answer to my dilemma was within the pages of scripture. So that is what I did. I opened God's Word and just started looking around for some word from God that would help me in this time of worry.

Another thought came to my mind that a good place to look would be in the book of Psalms. I remembered that David had wrestled with depression so it could be that he had some thoughts on the subject and I could not have been more right. In reading through this book I found a new appreciation for the truth that the Bible is a living book. It can reach inside your mind and heart and bring about change that no other book, or person, could hope to. With the exception, of course, of Jesus who is the Living Word.

To really appreciate our verse today it would be a great help if you went back and read the entire 73^rd chapter. David was being threatened and that threat came from evil men who appeared to be doing very well. While David suffered, those who caused his suffering fared just fine. So how did the knowledge of God help David at the time he needed it most? That is where our verse comes to play. He entered the sanctuary of God. He went into the presence of God. For David it meant entering the temple. For you it might mean going someplace quiet with your Bible and reading these verses over and over again.

My problem was that, until I turned to scripture, I was using my natural thought processes to deal with my problem. You see, our natural processes were never intended to help us deal with inner stress. We may be able to put a bandied on our problem but it will not deal with the essence of the problem,. In fact you begin to focus on the problem itself and that is not the heart of the matter. We are in a spiritual battle and most inner struggle is best faced with a spiritual mind. How do you appropriate this spiritual mindset? God's Word. It is the reason we were given this book. To help us see things from God's perspective and not our natural one.

When David entered the sanctuary he began to see his situation from God's point of view. He then saw that the end is not visible to him. He began to see that God was in control. It is so easy to be short sighted when faced with difficult problems that perplex us. Only God can bring you mind into clarity and you can understand the reality behind what seems so obvious to you.

One very important thing needs to be understood at this point. Where is the sanctuary you can go to like David? The church building? Well meaning people call the worship room in the church building the sanctuary don't they? Maybe that is where you should go. Sit in a pew and meditate on scripture. That is not a bad idea but it is not the sanctuary in the sense that David knew. The Bible tells us that our bodies are the sanctuaries of God. You can focus on scripture wherever you are and allow you mind, now the sanctuary of God, to think God's thoughts along with Him

The next time you are faced with a difficult problem, especially one involving someone else that seems to be causing you stress. Turn to Psalm 73 and begin reading it. Not just once or twice but several times. Watch how God uses the words to bring you comfort and transport your thinking into a spiritual realm that you could never have accessed with your own natural thinking. You will learn what many others have learned: God is still living in the words of the Bible. It is still a living document that can divide the indivisible and bring calmness even within great stress. You will know, beyond any reasonable doubt, that scripture has been given to us by God to enable us to understand the spiritual aspect of life.

May God bless you as you ponder His Word.

Theo

TRUE CHRITIANITY

Vol 2 No 49 THEO'S DEVOS

1 John 2:11 Anyone who hates a Christian brother or sister is living and walking in darkness. Such a person is lost, having been blinded by the darkness. NLT

Our verse today is, perhaps, one of the most difficult to appropriate given our fallen human natures that haunts us even as Chrisitians. It would be bad enough if the Bible said that anyone who hates his brother is doing a bad thing that needs to be confessed. but it is much worse than that. To hate your brother or sister is to walk in darkness. The implication here is that hating your brother or sister flies in the face of true faith. The ability to hate comes naturally to us and the ability to love in the worst of circumstances can only happen when something supernatural is alive within us. Only God can truly love like that and He is the only one that can enable us to.

One major impediment to not hating someone who we believe deserves it is wrapped up in our reluctance to forgive. Human beings can oftentimes find it almost impossible to forgive when we believe that the person in focus does not merit that forgiveness. This is to misunderstand the whole process of forgiveness. It is a failure to understand that forgiving someone fress the forgiver as much as the one being forgiven. Bearing hatred in our hearts is a blinding force. It tends to draw our focus on the one hated and can keep us from loving others in the manner that God would want us to. When we forgive someone, we free our minds to love others and can get our thoughts off of the paralyzing force that has captivated us.

Did you know that you can be surrounded by light and walk in dsrkness. It really isn't hard to do. Just close your eyes. Light does you no good if you are not watching where you are going. To be a Christian and to hate you brother is like walking through life with your eyes closed. You blind yourself and are, in effect, lost. Just as lost as if there were no light at all. But this isn't necessary. You can open your eyes and take advantage of the light. You can forgive that person who, you feel, doesn't desreve it so that you can focus on the direction that God would have you go. It is to open your spiritual eyes and allow God to guide you past whatever obstacles life has put in your way. Do not allow our adversary to blind you by throwing boulders in your path in the form of other people. Learn to love like God does. I know that this is easier said than done but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

“How can I forgive that person when I know that I will never forget what they did?” This is, perhaps, one of the most often stated lines where forviveness is required. And it is true that you may never forget. Forgiveness does not mean to forget. It simply means to 'act' as if you have forgotten. Now that you can do and that is what God is looking for. It is our actions that reveal what we are thinking and God can help you with them. Ask Him to do what you cannot. Ask Him to live His life in, and through, you. Watch what changes. Talk to Him every morning and renew your desire to follow His lead. If this is something that you know you should do, please do not wait. Every day that you hesitate will make it less likely that you will follow through.

Is there someone you should forgive? Is there someone that you harbor hatred toward? Please be careful. Allow God to do His work and help you do yours. You are not in this alone. There are many who pray that you will be able to learn a life of love and thereby do the work of God. May He bless you as you do.

Theo

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Vol 2 No 41 THEO'S DEVOS

PSALM 50:1 I don’t need the bulls you sacrifice;

I don’t need the blood of goats.

¹⁴ What I want instead is your true thanks to God;

I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High.

This week millions of people will gather together for Thanksgiving. They may not know it but, when they do, they will be observing an activity that warms the heart of God. We do a lot of things and often believe that God is happy when we do them. You know like attend church services, sing hymns, pray and other well intended activities. Now don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with doing these things. In fact God is moved when we do. But we must understand that you can do those things and not have a heart that is aligned with God.

Our verse implies that Thanksgiving is a sacrifice but not like the sacrifices we normally think of. A sacrifice is something that costs. It takes effort. God puts a lot of emphasis on thanksgiving throughout the Bible. Have you ever wondered why? The answer to that question is that in order to be thankful you have to have received something. Someone has given you something and you are thanful for it. The fact is that, every day, you receive something from God. The fact that you are breathing right now is because God gave you breath.

This does not mean that you should go through life being thankful simply because you are told to. Have you ever met people who have a simple smile on their face and act thankful when, in your heart, it seems so insincere? Some people are just good actors. They can't paint a smile on ther face and pretend really well. Not does God expect you to be thankful for bad things. He doesn't expect you to say “Oh I am so thankful that my car was totalled last week. And thank God my son ran away from home.” No, that is not the things that God wants us to be thankful for. It isn't those kinds of things that are reasons for thankfulness. However, those kinds of things can reveal a God who cares for us and can strengthen us on the inside in spite of what is going on around us and we can be thankful for that. In the middle of the worst catastrophe there will always be something for which we can be thankful to God..

When we look for reasons to be thanful, no matter what the circumstance, we “ fulfill your vows to the Most High.” You see a vow is something you make freely of your own volition and when you are thankful to God it fulfills a vow to Him. If you have trusted God as your savior, you know in your heart that you are endebted to Him. How do you pay that debt? You can't. The closest you will get to paying Him back is to look for Him in your life and thank Him when you see His fingerprints. Where are they? Open your eyes, look around. He has given you life, friends, family. He loves you more than you can imagine. Thank Him for that love. This Thanksgiving be sure to let someone else know that you are thankful to God for what you have and where you are headed. Someday you will be glad you did. Do you have email? Then send an email to someone special and give them something to be extremely thankful for.

May God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving. I trust it will be an excellent day for you.

Theo

LOOK AROUND

Vol 2 No 47 THEO'S DEVOS

John 1:3 He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.

Where are you right now? At home? Work? Take a moment and look around you. What do you see? Does it strike you as rather mundane? Just the stuff of life? Or do you see the touch of God? If not, maybe you are not looking close enough. What will you be doing later today? Climbing a mountain? Sitting on a surfboard? Filing reports? Maybe watching football like I will be. In the middle of all this normal life we can easily miss some very important things. You know the old saying that we need to slow down and smell the roses? Well, when you do that, remember who made them. The same one who made all that there is: Jesus.

Our verse for the day, taken in its context, tells us that it was, and is, Jesus who makes everything. You were made by Him and so was the paper clip you will use at some point in your life. Oh, you say that some man made the perperclip. Sorry but that guy simply assembled that paper clip out of the materials that God made. I am told that the scientists all got together one day and decided that, if there was a god, they no longer needed Him. So they assigned one of their own to go to g/God and tell Him that man no longer required Him. The scientist bowed down and said. “God we no longer need you.” Startled he heard a reply: “Fine, if you can make a person out of dirt, I will go away.” The scientist agreed and went outside. When he knelt down to scoop up some dirt he heard the words: “Oh no, get your own dirt.”

That apocryphal tale illuminates the reality that when you swim, you swim in God's water. When you eat, you eat God's food. Not Bhuda's food, the almighty God's food. Not Allah's food, but Jehovah God's food. When you fly, you fly in a plane assembled with material that Jesus provided us. Now look up and see the sky, the clouds. If it is at night the moon and the stars. Jesus made them as well. Get a microscope and delve into the innerwokings of a plant. There is Jesus' handiwork. From the subatomic particle to the universe, Jesus gets the credit for its existence.

So, when you think about it, thank God for the breath you take. He gave the air to you to breathe. It is His way of saying, among many others, “I love you.” Three of the most powerful words in the English language and words that appear in one of the most important verses in, not only the Bible, but in any book ever written. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Yes eternal life. It appears that Jesus is capable of more then mere life. He can give eternal life.

Have you believed in Him? Do you trust that Jesus died on that cross for your sins and mine? If not, why not trust Him right now. Tell Him that you no longer trust in yourself to get you to heaven but that you believe that His death on that cross saved you from your sin and that, when He rose from the grave that He proved His power over death. Believe in your risen Lord and it will change your life and fill you with His presence. May God bless you all.

Theo

THE KING'S HEART

Vol 2 No 46 THEO'S DEVOS

Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he turns it wherever he pleases.

Last week was certainly an historic one. This last presidential campaign was probably the most important one in the last several. The outcome has put Americans into two distinct groups that seem slightly different in makeup this time around.

 

On the one hand you have a large group of people who act as though the Messiah has arrived. Did you see the Obama supporter who said she was so happy because Barack was going to pay for her mortgage and car. Hollywood got what they thought they wanted and I saw a letter from Michael Moore stating that "...today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country's greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me."

 

On the other hand you have a group of people who believe that we are on the verge of socialism, if not Marxism. That Obama will surround himself with the most liberal of the Washington elite and take this country down the road to financial ruin. They see Russia putting missils in Eastern Europe as a test of the new presidency and fear that we will embolden our enemies because they see us as having gotten weaker militarily overnight.

 

So what are we to believe and what are we to do? Do you find yourself in one of these camps? If so what does that say about the placement of your faith? We know from the scriptures that when God wants to punish a country, He gives them bad leaders. Is that what just happened? Or has He given us a new perspective on govering and that what was termed 'redistibution of wealth' is really an opportunity for those who have to help those who do not. Are higher taxes patriotism and if you don't like higher taxes, is that selfishness?

 

I don't know the answer to those questions and that is one of the many reasons I have never thought to enter politics. There was enough of that in the churches that I served. I am happy to not be a part of the political scene. What I do know is stated in our verses for this week. We are not called to put our faith in guns and swords. We must never think that, as wonderful as this country is, it is the final solution to our problems. Do you know what the best form of government is? The Bible tells us that the best form of government is a dictatorship. That's right. Now don't start sending requests to unsubsbribe just yet. When God sets up the Milennial kingdom, assuming you belirve that He will, do you know what kind of government that will be? It will be a dictatorship with God as the benevolent dictator. Christianity is not a democracy. Democracies are crucial whenever you have humen beings in control Checks and balances are required to stop our depravity from becoming a terminal operating system.

 

Listen, no matter what you think of the election, God is still in control. Only time will tell whether Barack Hussein Obamam was a good choice or a bad one. God is blessing those who love Him in the worst places on earth and He will continue to bless and guide those who trust Him here. I hope and pray that Mr Obama turns out to be a great president. But, one way or another, I know that God will keep us in the center of His will. So don't put your faith in a government. Keep your faith in God and understand that there is no need to worry and no cause to gloat.

 

Our God reagns. He reigns in my heart and yours. May He bless you and keep you and may you follow Him no matter what the cost.

 

Theo

Honesty Before God

Vol 2 No 45 THEO'S DEVOS 110608

1 John 1:8-10 If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. ⁹But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. ¹⁰If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

Sin is a difficult concept is a few ways. Someone has said that sin is simply stupid. If we sin it is almost always to get what we want without God. To do that is to act in a way that is just plain stupid. God wants what is best for us and is in position to give it to us but we, like many characters in the Bible, try to take shortcuts to the goal and often end up short. We may then start to justify our actions by stating that what we did was really not a sin at all. It just didn't work and we have learned from it. However to try and dodge the obvious, John tells us, is to fool ourselves. Confessing our sin brings about cleansing and that heals a broken relationship with God. It frees Him to open blessings to us.

Note that verse nine says that He can cleanse us “from every wrong.” This cannot mean that we become sinless because right after saying those words he goes on to say that claiming to have not sinned calls God a liar. So what are we to do? It is clear that we are not supposed to sin. And yet it is apparent that we cannot avoid it. This is the great dilemma of human existence that can only be rectified by the entrance into heaven at the end of life. Until then we struggle with the sin problem and must be sure to heed the guidance of 1:9. We must be quick to confess our sin, or sins, to God so that he can cleanse us. The forgiveness has already occurred. “To forgive” is an aorist verb and indicates that upon confession of sin, they are forgiven; once for all. We do not confess to get forgiven over and over again. We confess because the words “to cleanse” is a present perfect and indicates that we must confess over and over in order to keep up to date and so the cleansing continues.

Note that, in these verses we are not told to confess to some person granted the power to forgive. We confess directly to God. None of the gifts of the spirit are given to grant forgiveness of sin. That lies in the hands of God. Asking forgiveness of a person when you have harmed them may be necessary and, in that case, it is in the hands of the person wronged to forgive but that is so human relationships can be healed. In those circumstances it is best if we offer forgiveness whether or not it is asked. To not forgive someone is to allow the lack of forgiveness to dwell in our hearts and minds like a social cancer, eating away at us and causing us to harbor sin in our hearts.

To try and justify what is sin is to call God a liar and that, my friend, is a dangerous thing to do. It certainly does not endear us to Him nor does it make the thing done anything less than sin. It falls into the 'lipstick and pigs' realm. Listen, God knows your actions and your thoughts. There is no advantage to pretend that something you have done was not a sin when you know that it was. Live your life open before your God. Talk to Him and confess those things that you know are sin. The fact is that you will do things that are sin and you may not even realize that you have done them. In those cases the Holy Spirit will talk to God on your behalf. Jesus will defend your case and you will stand 'in Christ.'

Sin is an important thing to avoid but since it cannot be totally avoided, be sure to keep in touch with God and confess those things that you know He wants you to. You may not be perfect but you can be heading in that direction. Please remember something we noted a while ago and will mention again. God loves you just the way you are but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. Confessing your sins to Him allows Him to help you progress along the path of Christian growth.

I am praying for you and asking God to fulfill your hopes and dreams. May you place a blessing in your life today.

Theo