New Year

At the start of each new year, I like to set aside some uninterrupted time to seek the Lord…remembering what He has done in the year that has just passed and looking forward to the next.  I can easily forget things over the course of a year, so I find this exercise very useful to remind myself of the faithfulness of the Lord in my life.

 

To start, I look back at things I wrote in my journal; and since I am not very consistent at journaling, I find that using a ‘real’ calendar is very helpful in remembering events of the year…one with spaces big enough to write in :-).  If I don’t have time to write things in my journal, I jot a note on my calendar.  Then, usually early in January of the new year, I try to find time to look back at my calendar and my journal and remind myself of what the Lord has done. 

I started doing this several years ago and still find it helpful.  It’s sort of like taking an inventory of my life….seeing where I was and looking forward to where I hope to be this next year.  So, I have posted it here to anyone who would like to use it for themselves.  I pray it will bring encouragement and a renewed commitment to your walk. 

 

 NEW YEAR ASSESSMENT

1.  After spending time in prayer and asking the Lord to speak to you, think back over the past year and reflect on where you were spiritually then.  What were you going through?  How was your relationship with God?  What were you feeling about God and spiritual things? What did you want to see God do in your life? 

 

 

2.  Look through any study notes or things you have written down during the year and review things that God was showing you.  What things did He encourage you in?  What things did He admonish you in?  What things did He specifically show you to do?  Have you been faithful to remember those things and apply them to your life?  If yes, how have you applied them?  If not, make a commitment to do so and write a note to yourself that will  help you remember. 

 

 

3.   As you look back on the year behind you , can you see how the Lord has been faithful to you in many ways?  Can you see areas of spiritual growth that you didn’t even realize were there? Take time to thank the Lord for all He has done in you this past year.

 

 

4.  Write out any verses that were especially meaningful to you.  Have you committed them to memory?  Do you know where to find them in the Bible to share them with someone else? 

 

5.  Now look forward to the coming year.  What things do you want to see God do in your life this next year?  Spend time listening to Him and see if He gives you a direction for the year ahead.  It could be a verse that you feel He is impressing on you for the year, or something you feel He is wanting to do in you or a commitment He wants from you. 

 

 

6.  Spend some time committing the  year to Him and thanking Him for all He is going to do.  Only He knows what this year will bring, but He has promised to be faithful and bring us through all He sets before us.  Never forget that He is your loving Father and desires only good for you. 

 

7.  Choose a verse for the year that you will memorize and hang on to during this year.

 

 

May God richly bless you this year as you seek to respond to Him with your whole heart and whole life.

 

 

 

Why did the angels sing?

Luke 2:7-13  She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified,  but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

  "Glory to God in highest heaven!  Peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased!"

While I was thinking on this scene, I wondered, “What was it like for the angels?  What was their perspective on all this?”  We have heard many Christmas messages focusing on the different people involved in this story…Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men, etc.  But I can’t recall hearing one that was focused on the angels. As I thought more about it, I became more intrigued… So…...Why did the angels sing?   ( I know it says that the angels  were ‘saying’.. but I think if a huge multitude of angels were rejoicing...it would sound like singing!)

To really understand, I had to go back and look at this story from the beginning…the real beginning...the beginning of time…the beginning of man.    I want you to picture with me in your mind the progression of man’s story and remember that the angels were watching as it all unfolded....

1.  God’s plan

It starts back in Genesis….God had a plan…and it was good.

Genesis 1:1  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Genesis 1:27  “God created man in His own image…male and female”

God said that it was good.

Genesis 2:15  “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.  The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

Genesis 3:6-8  “… the woman… took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.  They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God.”

A.  God had created the earth and formed mankind to have a relationship with him in response to His love….He gave man a free will, because apart from a free choice, there can be no true response to love.

B.  But they chose to disobey God.    As a result of their disobedience, they became self-conscious…they knew guilt and they hid from God...they tried to cover their sin.

C.   God could not allow rebellion to go unpunished.   He is holy and just and also love,  but to be true to Himself, He can’t exercise love and ignore justice.  If He did, the universe would become an uncontrolled, chaotic mess.

D.  The only penalty there could be for rebellion to a holy, righteous God had to be separation…death is separation….physical and also spiritual.   So they were separated from experiencing God’s presence in the close intimate way they had known before they had sinned. 

E.  But in His love, God still had a plan.  He promised one would come to pay the penalty for man so man could be reconciled back to Him.  This would satisfy His justice and His love.   Until that time came, He accepted the lifeblood of an innocent animal as a substitute to cover over their sin…but it was only temporary.  The life of an animal could not satisfy the payment required for man’s sin.  That required the life of a man…an innocent man who did not have to pay for his own sin.

2.  Looking for the Promised One

A.  So from Genesis, in the beginning, all through the Old Testament, they were looking for the Promised One, the Redeemer, the Messiah, the Savior...the One who would come to reconcile them back to God...to set them free from the penalty of their sin. 

Try to picture it here with me...what is was like for them....

B.  Year after year, they were continually reminded of their sin and their inability to come before a holy God on their own merit.  They had to keep offering up the sacrifices, over and over and over…always looking forward to the time God had promised to send one to make it right…to satisfy His justice and holiness… to take away the penalty for their sin….One who would redeem them back to God…

C.  All through the years of the patriarchs...Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…the angels watched.... 

      ~ through  400 years of slavery in Egypt…
      ~ 40 years of wandering in the wilderness…
      ~finally coming into the promised land…
      ~ through the period of the judges…
      ~ then the years of being ruled by kings…Saul, David, Solomon...and many after them...some good and some bad…
      ~God gave prophets to communicate with the people….but they didn’t listen…they went their own way. 
      ~through the 70 years of captivity in Babylon…
      ~ then coming back into the land…
      ~rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple…
      ~then 400 years of silence…400 years with no communication from the Lord to encourage them that He had not forgotten them and His promise!

 After all the years of waiting, many had lost all hope of the Messiah coming to redeem them back to God.  But some still held on. Some of the people trudged on watching and hoping….continually offering sacrifices to cover their sins, over and over again.  Every year going up to Jerusalem to off their sacrifice to cover their sins for another year.

Hebrews 11:13   tells us, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance.”

3.  SO…..WHAT ABOUT THE ANGELS? What does all this have to do with them?

Think about it with me:

~~The angels had watched as God created the earth… then as He made Adam and Eve and placed them in the garden.  They watched in wonder at what God was doing with these beings created as an extension of His love, created in His image and given self determination over their own lives…

~~They must have marveled that man chose to obey Satan instead of their creator and then watched  them stumble along generation after generation in an endless cycle of rebellion, chastisement, repentance, then rebellion again….

 ~~Did the angels wonder at God’s plan? 

~~Did God clue them in to what He was going to do?  We know that they interacted with men on earth at certain times.  Scripture records those times for us.

 ~~Did they grieve over the state of man as they watched them stumbling along over the centuries- losing the hope that God would really ever redeem them? 

 4.  The right time

Now we come up to that wonderful night….. The time had finally come for God to redeem lost mankind back to Himself.  As the apostle Paul said in his letter to the Galations –

Gal 4:4  “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son..”

God Himself…the Creator of the universe…

~~~stepped out of eternity and into time...out of heaven and into earth…out of immortality and into mortality…limiting Himself to the confines of a human infant, totally dependant on others for His welfare.

The apostle Paul describes it so wonderfully:

Philippians 2:6 (Amplified version).. “Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.”

Colosians 2:9  “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.”

 5.  The Redeemer has come!

This was His plan!….This was how God was going to redeem mankind back to Himself!

 AS The angels WATCHED THEY would not have been able to contain their joy!!  
Indeed the whole realm of heaven could not help but burst forth in glorious praise and rejoicing!  It would have been like when your team is behind and then suddenly they make a great play and score a touchdown. The whole crowd erupts with rejoicing and cheering.  This is what it was like for the angels!  The savior had come!  Mankind would be redeemed now! All of heaven was rejoicing!!  Yes!!! Hallelujah!!

The angel gave the announcement to the shepherds :

Luke 2:11   “The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”

Then…. he pulled back the curtain a little bit to allow the shepherds to see what was taking place in heaven.

Luke 2:13   “ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!"

I don’t think that the angels just suddenly appeared and then started to sing…I think that they were already rejoicing!  In fact I think they were probably dancing as well!  And as the veil between heaven and earth was briefly lifted-- the shepherds had the special privilege of seeing the rejoicing that was taking place there.

6.  Not the end of the story

But the story doesn’t end with a baby in a manger…so many times we end the story at His birth and don’t follow it on to the reason He came.   The reason the angels were rejoicing was because this was how God was going to redeem the world…the baby was the Lamb of God.

 John 1:29   “When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him he said, "Look!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

This is why He came….to be the perfect sacrifice….the perfect Lamb of God…God’s own sacrifice…offered on our behalf…to redeem mankind back to Himself. 

All the animal sacrifices of all the ages had been only temporary….they were just standing in for the perfect sacrifice that would be made….once and for all.

 He came not just to be born…but to die…in our place….for our sin.

2 Corinthians 5:19   “For God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself…no longer counting people's sins against them.  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

7.  God’s gift

Jesus is God’s gift to us.

John 3:16  "Because God loved the world so much, He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him, puts their trust in Him,  will not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:15   “For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other Man, Jesus Christ.” 

 THIS is why the angels rejoiced!….not just that a baby was born into the world…but that through this baby, God was going to reconcile the world back to Himself….He was going to redeem mankind so we could dwell in His presence for all eternity!

~~So this year, let’s try to bring the focus back to God’s gift of redemption…and not leave Him as a baby in a manger scene.  Let’s not let all the trappings of the season become distractions away from the real reason He came...to redeem us back to God.

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You know, a gift is only good if you accept it.   If someone gives you a gift, you cannot experience it and it doesn’t do you any good unless you accept it from them and make it your own. 

God has given us the greatest gift ever….the gift of His Son as the sacrifice for our sin…Our sins have been bought and paid for by His blood.  But if we don’t accept it…make it our own…we are still left in our sins…still under the penalty of death…still separated from God.

If you have never come to the place in your life where you have acknowledged your sin to God and your need for His forgiveness, why not make this Christmas the best one yet…accept His gift of redemption in Christ…make it your own….be reconciled back to God.

Jesus said,  "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

So this year....why not give them another good reason to sing? 

               HAVE A VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!

A Fruitful Harvest: He produces

This series on fruitfulness has been such a joy to do.  If you haven't read the series from the beginning, I encourage you to do so.  I have loved doing it. It seems so appropriate that we come to the end of this at this time of year....harvest time!

Finally , we come to what the gardener has been planning for and working for:
 

9.  He produces
 

 

This is what it is all about.  This is what all the planning, preparing, planting, providing,

protecting, propping and pruning has been for...that the plants will bear fruit.

 

 

 

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And God, the Master Gardener, has planned, prepared, planted, provided, protected, propped and pruned so that we also might bear fruit.

John 15:8  "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."

John 15:16  "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear  fruit, and that your fruit would remain."

Romans 7:4  "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ,  so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."

Col 1:9  "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,  so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God"

So we see that it is God’s desire for us to bear fruit.

If God desires for us to bear fruit, then what does that fruit look like?

Webster says that fruit is the produce or effect of something. 

A tree or plant will produce  ( or reproduce) themselves…a product that represents the parent…an apple tree will not bring forth carrots…it will produce apples..

The fruit will have the characteristics of the parent plant.

When we are talking about spiritual fruit, we are talking about the fruit that will have the characteristics of the spirit…spiritual fruit will bear the character of God, our Father.

          Galations 5:22  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

These are all attributes of God…things that represent His nature.  As His children, we should be bearing fruit in our lives that represent His nature.

What do we need to do to have this spiritual fruit?

Look back at John 15.  Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches.  A branch cannot produce fruit by itself…it can’t make fruit just by trying really hard.  It has no power within itself to do anything….it has to be connected to the vine…the source of its life.

We need to have the life of Jesus within us to produce the fruit of his spirit.

The Word tells us that we are dead in our sins…we have no spiritual life within us.  We are not born with it.  We must be born spiritually…born by the spirit…we must have the life of the Holy Spirit within us.

In John chapter 3, Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, a Jewish ruler, and He said to him…..

 "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." "What do You mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'

           Romans 8:10  "And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of
                                           sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 
                                          The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just
                                          as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal
                                          bodies by this same Spirit living within you."

          John 14:17  "...the Spirit of truth………. He dwells with you and will be in you."

What can keep us from bearing fruit?

When we have been born again of the spirit and there is no spiritual fruit in our lives, there is a reason.  It could be sin, discouragement, laziness, busyness, or we have been neglecting our relationship with the Lord.  

          John 15:4-5  "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it
                                      abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you
                                      are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for
                                      apart from Me you can do nothing."

In the dictionary 'abide' means to:  remain, stay, dwell, continue, live

          1John 3:24  "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We
                                know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."

 

          John 15:10  "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My
                                Father's commandments and abide in His love."

***Abiding is directly related to  obedience.  When we are in disobedience to the Holy Spirit, we cut ourselves off from communion with Him..we cut off the flow of His work in us.  He is our life source.

 

Bearing fruit is natural for a healthy branch.  it doesn’t work or strain to produce fruit.

If the branch is vitally connected to the vine and drawing its life source from the vine, it will automatically produce fruit.... The life of the vine flows into the branch and produces the fruit. 

 So there is nothing WE can do to produce fruit in our lives...

God does the work in us and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit...we only abide...

We obey and stay connected to Him.

If we don’t stay connected....if we choose to not walk in obedience...the flow from the vine to the branch can be quenched.  (pinched off)

          1Thess. 5:19  "Do not quench the Spirit"    Don't pinch off the life flow.
 

You see, the fruit the Holy spirit produces in our lives is not to be kept or hoarded for ourselves.  If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit within us.....If we are filled with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility, self control....then those things will flow through us and affect the way we relate to others around us.

If we have ‘inward’ fruit, we will have ‘outward’ fruit.

             John 7:38…Jesus said  "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his
                                      innermost being will flow rivers of living water. … this He spoke of the Spirit,
                                      whom those who believed in Him were to receive."

If we allow Him, the Spirit will overflow in our lives to others around us.  Eph. 5:18- tells us to be filled with the spirit---and it means continually being filled to overflowing.

 

 This is His desire and purpose for us....to be producing fruit that reflects His nature.

Surrender and obedience are directly related to abiding.  And to obey, we need to know what He requires of us….in His Word…to stay connected.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

~So, think about where you are right now.

~Are you a  branch that is connected to the vine, drawing your life from Him?

~Have you been born anew by the Spirit and have His Spirit living in you?

~Is your life producing fruit that represents His nature?  Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness (humility), self control?

Are you quenching the flow of the Holy Spirit..pinching off the flow of life by sin, disobedience, neglect, laziness, ignorance, not being continually washed clean by the Word?

During this time of Harvest, let's all take some time to look at our lives and allow the Lord to show us if we are truly producing the fruit He desires for us. 
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I pray that this series on A Fruitful Harvest has ministered to you as much as it has to me and that you continue to abide in Him and allow His Spirit to flow through you to produce much fruit for His glory.

                          Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!


                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

A Fruitful Harvest: He prunes

It’s been some time  since my last post….summer has been busy!  So I want to review quickly the things I have talked about in this series before we go on.

The series is called “A Fruitful Harvest” and focuses on how God is the Master Gardener and how He works in us to bring about a ‘fruitful harvest’ in our lives.

 

So far, we have looked at how:

1. He plans

2. He prepares

3. He plants

4. He provides

5. He protects

6. He props

All of these are very positive and loving.  But next the gardener will do something that will seem cruel, harsh and painful.  He pulls out the knife  and starts cutting away parts of the plant.

7.  He prunes

The dictionary gives the meaning of ‘pruning’ as:

“…a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant. Reasons to prune plants include: 

~deadwood removal,

~shaping (by controlling or directing growth)

~improving or maintaining health

~increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.

The practice entails targeted removal of diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted tissue from plants.”

 

In pruning, you remove parts of the plant that are sapping strength or energy unnecessarily.  This will enable the plant to develop more and stronger stems… which will produce more abundant fruit.  A grape vine will naturally put its energy into producing abundant, beautiful foliage.  Little energy is left for making many grapes. 

 

 

 So the vineyard owner will prune away a lot of unnecessary growth to force the energy into a few branches that will produce a more abundant crop.

 

 

 Plants want to go their own way and the gardener has to  prune them to lovingly train them to go his way.

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Remember the first thing the gardener does?  He plans.

      Jer 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

 

God, the Master Gardener, has plans for us.  And part of that plan is that we would bear fruit.

In John chapter 15, Jesus said,

 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.....every branch in Me that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” 

Actually, a better translation of the word ‘prune’ in this verse is ‘cleanse’. The Greek word used here is kathairō, which means to cleanse.  In most cases in the New Testament,  kathairo  is translated as cleanse.

Mat. 10:8  "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse (kathairo) the lepers…”

Mark 7:4 “… they do not eat unless they cleanse (kathairo) themselves”

Pruning then is the way the Lord cleanses us from things in our lives that are dragging us down and keeping us from all the best He has in mind for us.

 

If we are thinking of ourselves as plants in God’s garden, then how does God prune us and why?  Let’s look back at the definition we have of pruning:

~deadwood removal,
~shaping (by controlling or directing growth,

~improving or maintaining health,

~increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.

 

What things in your life are like ‘deadwood’? 

What things are quenching or pinching off the life of the Holy Spirit resulting in little fruit? 

 

It might be sin, harmful activities, good activities, disobedience, busyness, laziness, relationships.

Some things in your life might be 'good' things, but they are keeping you from being more spiritually productive or from going in the direction He wants.  Anything that is sapping your energy, time and productivity away from what He knows is best for you has to go.  Anything that is keeping you from bearing the fruit He desires for you is “diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted tissue.”

It might actually look very alive and flourishing and be a good thing in itself…..but it is keeping you from putting the focus on what is most important.  It will not bear the fruit He has planned for you.  We all tend to believe that ‘more’ is better.  So we fill our lives up with all kinds of things that seem very spiritual and very productive for the Lord.  Yet in all the busyness, our fruit production actually suffers.

We have to be willing to let go of the ‘good’ before He can give us the ‘best’.

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You may be going through a season in your life where you are feeling the Gardener’s knife at work on you and it is painful.  But remember….. that is the time when He is the closest to you.  His eye is on you, His hand is on you… to lovingly cut away all that is not part of His best for you and cleaning you up. 

 

It is God’s desire that we bear fruit in our lives.  But He is the one who does all the work!  We just have to submit to His loving care so we can be healthy and grow into what He desires for us to become.

 

            Heb 12:1  “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,

            let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us”

            Heb 9:14  “the blood of Christ..will cleanse your conscience from dead works to

            serve the living God.”

            1John1:9 “ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins

           and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

        “God tends the gardens of our lives, tenderly trimming the

    broken places and then bringing showers of grace and blessing.”