I once worked for a company where the owner changed the rules as often as the ocean tides. What was expected yesterday was often very different from what was required today. We needed a staff meeting every morning just to give that day’s marching orders. And as the manager charged with carrying out those marching orders I found that challenging, confusing, and exhausting. 

We all know people who have said they did this or that in their past only to find out that either they have clouded memories or they simply did not tell the truth. I have done a lot of hiring and what some people put on, or left off, their resumes bears witness to that sad reality. Right now in this country, we are facing a crisis in truth and facts, one that is creating deep mistrust in both people and institutions. Sadly, for many, the answer to “How do you know if he or she is lying?” is simply, “When their lips are moving.”           

Not only are people’s words often false, at times, their actions do not align with what they speak. While in ministry school, the director of the school pounded into us the need to avoid compromising situations, yet about a decade later, he was fired due to sexual impropriety. I had (have) a tremendous respect for this man. He was very instrumental in the early days of my journey into ministry. It stung to watch his fall from grace.

About six years ago, a well-known pastor of one of America’s largest and best-known megachurches got caught up in a scandal, forcing him to retire early. While he spoke publicly of integrity, what he walked out was full of inappropriate attitudes and behavior. This was someone I admired from afar, listening to many of his teachings as guidance for my own life.

Sadly, seemingly not a day goes by where we hear of someone who says one thing but does another. I think you will agree that these days it has become very difficult to find and know real truth. Our culture says that everything is relative and what is true for one might not be true for someone else. And what is truth anyway?

Because there is so much deception in the world, it gets harder and harder to trust anyone. We need to know where we can go to find truth. We need to have a place to go to make sense of the world around us. That place is God; His character is trustworthy. God does what He says He will do, every single time! David prays a prayer of thanksgiving in which he praises God for being faithful and trustworthy. In 2 Samuel 7:21 we read this, “Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.”    

In Psalm 119:160 we read this, “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.”

And God desires to lead us in truth as well. Psalm 25:4-5 tells us, “Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior.”

So, today, in a culture filled with lies and deception, and competing views of what is true, ask God to reveal His truth to you by becoming grounded in Scripture, and as Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

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Not too long ago, the people companies used to sell products and services in television commercials were often not easily recognizable faces. But today, and it is certainly true during the Christmas season, many advertisers use “celebrity endorsements” to sell their products and services. The focus seems to have shifted from quality and affordability to using something because of who else uses it (or at least endorses it), thus in some way making those buy those products or services part of the “in” crowd.

While our culture uses the “high” to sell a message, God often uses the “low” to promote and advance His message. Sure, all throughout the pages of scripture there are stories of God using kings, rulers, priests, and famous people to “advertise” His kingdom, but those same pages are also full of accounts of people who held little or no status in society – tax collectors, fishermen, prostitutes, servants, widows, and even shepherds – being used by God in big ways. And if you are a follower of Jesus, while you might have committed your life to Him through the efforts of a well-known person, it is more likely that it occurred when someone not well known by the world invested time and effort into you. That is certainly the case for me.

Today I want to quickly look at one such story of when God used the lowly to share the best news ever told. We will be looking in Luke 2; the story of shepherds being used announce the birth of Jesus. What do we know about shepherds? Shepherds generally came from the base elements of society. They were on the lowest rung of the economic scale and had little of not formal education. Shepherds had no power or influence, they simply tended sheep.  It is also entirely possible that these shepherds who heard the angels singing were illiterate. Shepherds were also totally committed to their flock and would do anything, including risking life and limb, to care for and protect their sheep.

The story line in Luke 2 is that Jesus has been born and about that time an angel appeared to shepherds who were living in the fields while keeping watch over the flocks, simply doing their job. The angel announced that the Messiah had been born. These shepherds were very unlikely candidates to “advertise” this good news. Wouldn’t priests have been more credible since they were the well-known and well-connected religious people of their day? But the story tells us that these shepherds said to each other, “When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us’” (Luke 2:15).

Presumably they each packed an overnight bag (this is not in the biblical account) and hurried off to find the Baby Jesus (this is in the biblical account). Here is what we read, “And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them” (vv.16-18).       

So, here we have lowly shepherds, the bottom feeders of society, being used by God as the first to tell the world of the Messiah’s birth. He spoke through angels to lowly shepherds on a remote hillside outside a tiny Judean village. It didn’t seem a likely way to win the world, but God uses people like you and like me, just average “Joes” and “Janes” to share His good news with the world.

God wants to use you and me to proclaim His kingdom and His message. We don’t need to be rich and famous, wise and well-educated, or even well-versed in all things religious. We just need to be willing and available! The gift of Christ is the best gift anyone will ever receive. Are you asking God to use you as He used those shepherds 2000 years ago?  

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For most of us, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are filled with nonstop activities. It is run run run. Rinse and repeat. In the busyness we often end up “turning away” all that makes this season so joyous and beautiful. We need to be very intentional about creating time and space to just sit and reflect on those things. Let me get straight to the focus of this writing – throughout your holiday busyness, are you making room for Jesus?

In Luke’s telling of the birth of Jesus he tells us that Joseph and Mary were turned away when they were looking for a place for Jesus to be born. In Luke 2:7 we read, “And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

Older translations use “inn” rather than “guest room.” The Greek word kataluma used for “inn/guest room” has several meanings: a guest room (as in a person’s home) or lodging place (as in a boarding house, hotel, or similar establishment). Have you ever wondered who it was that gave Joseph and Mary the “no vacancy” news? It could have been the proprietor of an ancient day bed-and-breakfast, or it could have been the owner of a personal residence. Let’s just call this person an “innkeeper.”

Look for a writing next Wednesday, asking the question, “Was Jesus really born in a barn?”

If you know this story, then you know that Joseph and Mary were returning to Bethlehem to register for a census. It is likely that Bethlehem was bustling with people, all returning to take part in the census, so rooms would likely have been in high demand. A “Sorry No Vacancy” sign probably hung in many lodging place windows. And when Joseph and Mary arrived looking for a place to give birth they were told by the “innkeeper” that there was just no room for them.

What caused this innkeeper to turn Joseph and Mary away? Maybe his “inn” was full, or maybe he was just preoccupied. He might have been busy with fixing meals, cleaning rooms, making beds, caring for animals, and providing for his family. All good and worthwhile activities. But he most likely saw that Mary was ready to give birth so couldn’t he have made some provision? There must have been some place he could have offered them. But the story tells us they were turned away and ended up in some lowly place that housed animals.  

What’s the point of all of this? We are like that at times, especially at Christmas. The rooms in our lives are filled, sometimes to overflow capacity. Our lives are consumed with activity – not necessarily sinful or bad activity, just things that keep us busy and often away from God. And when we are preoccupied, we miss the Christ of Christmas.

So, in the remaining twelve days before Christmas, my challenge is for each of us to make room for Jesus at our own inns. And in doing so, not being like the innkeeper in this story, saying “Sorry, no vacancy!” Don’t miss the Christ of Christmas!

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Falling in love is one thing. Staying in love is a completely different animal. I am in no way a relationship expert, but can we agree that falling in love is beginning to carve out space for someone in your life while staying in love is a choice to continually carve out more and more space for that person.

Think back to when you first fell in love. You felt an infatuation for that person. Maybe butterflies fluttered in your stomach. They did in mine, and as I constantly find new ways to fall more in love with my wife, those butterflies, they still flutter to this day. As you spent time with that person, that strong attraction of infatuation began to develop into a deeper experience of love. Falling in love is the easy part. Choosing to stay in love is the hard part. It requires work and commitment. Staying in love says – “I see you, all of you, the good, the bad, the ugly, I see all those things, and I still choose you.” Staying in love says – “I wholly love the imperfections and much as I love the good.”

My wife and I have what I think is a very good marriage. Is it perfect? Of course not. We are not perfect people. Can it improve? Sure it can. But over our five years of dating and now more than forty years of marriage, we have worked diligently to share life together, to carve out space for one another, even when the carving is hard. We are two flawed people, two vastly different people, committed to each other, continually in search of new ways to fall in love.

Think of your friendships. I am not talking about the five hundred friends you have on social media. I am talking about the friendships you have in which you really do life with one another. Those relationships do not happen by accident. They take commitment. They take spending time with each other, walking together over the splendor of the mountains and through darkness in the valleys. They require a choice to stay in love, a friendship kind of love.    

Staying in love with Jesus is no different. It is not happenstance. First and foremost, it requires giving Jesus complete rule and reign over your life. After that, it takes commitment to press in closer and closer, each and every day. And it also takes spending time with Jesus, meditating on scripture, praying, listening, pushing back against the ways of the world. The prophet Isaiah said this – “At night I long for you with my whole being; my spirit within me watches for you. When your judgments are at work in the earth, those living in the world learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9, CEB).

David, when he was in the wilderness in Judah fleeing from his son Absalom, wrote Psalm 63. This psalm reflects David’s never-ending longing for God, his desire to stay in love with God. It begins this way – “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands” (vv.1-4).

Staying in love with someone takes commitment, persistence, nurturing, compromise, conflict resolution, personal growth. But the rewards far outweigh the work required. What things might you need to change in order to experience genuine and lasting love? What investments are you making to fall in love, stay in love, and continually fall more in love, both with Jesus and those around you?

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This is the season when we make lists of gifts that we would like to receive. As a child, most of my wish list came from catalogs. I gave my parents an extensive Christmas wish list that included catalog page numbers, just so it was very clear exactly what I wanted. Yes, I vividly remember lying on the floor with my colorful marker and a stack of mail order catalogs. While my parents were generous in their gift giving, I never got everything on my list. These days, I find it easy to provide others with a link to the item on Amazon or some other website.

Did you know that in 1845, Tiffany’s was the first mail order catalog published in the United States? Other companies added catalog operations shortly thereafter and by the end of that century, both Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward also began issuing their own catalogs. This year my wife and I get catalog after catalog in our mailbox, both from companies we’ve ordered stuff from in the past and ones we have never even heard of.

Have you watched a kid sitting on Santa’s lap? When asked by Santa what they would like for Christmas, frequently their answers are very specific and rather lengthy. As adults we too make lists for those buying the gifts. Sometimes getting what we ask for while other times the gift-giver surprises us with something they picked out. Hopefully, either way, you are pleased with the gift.

Why is it that we are not shy about asking each other for specific things, but when it comes to asking God, we either don’t ask Him at all, or we are hesitant to ask for what we really want? We often lack boldness and expectancy when taking our petitions to God.

We read these words in 1 John 5:14-15, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And we know if he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” 

There is a lot packed into those two verses. Just as I did not get all the things on my childhood wish list, these two verses give a similar message; we do not get everything we ask God for, simply because we ask. It isn’t some golden ticket – ask Him for anything under the sun and shazam, we get it.

But what these verses do tell us is we can have confidence that God hears us. And “hearing” does not mean simply to be listened to, but to be heard favorably. This confidence of being heard is linked to the qualifying clause found right within the passage… “if we ask according to his will.” This lines up with how Jesus taught us to pray when He said, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be you name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10).

What does all this mean? It is not just any prayer that is answered, but rather it is the confident prayer of a person who is in fellowship with the Father (1 John 1:3) who asks in Jesus’ name (John 14:13; 15:16), who remains attached to Jesus (John 15:7), and who obeys His commands (1 John 3:22). These kinds of prayers are not just a time of “asking” but of yielding our lives to the will and work of God.

Psalm 37:4, same message, different words – “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

So, in these weeks leading up to Christmas, take delight in the Lord and allow His will to work in you and through you. He knows what you need, even when it is not on your wish list. 

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One day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his now famous “Day of Infamy” address to the joint session of Congress. The speech is known for the first words spoken by FDR: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” Roosevelt worded the speech to portray the United States as the innocent victim of an unprovoked attack.

Later that same day, Congress declared war on Japan. The resolution was almost unanimous – passing 82-0 in the Senate and 388-1 in the House. Jeannette Pickering Rankin, the first woman to hold federal office in the United States, was the sole member of Congress to vote against the resolution. Being a lifelong pacifist, she was also one of fifty House members who opposed declaring war on Germany in 1917. 

I am sure that you can think of a time when you were quietly tending to your business when suddenly, you found yourself under attack. If you cannot think of such a time, be prepared, attacks can come at any minute. And whether it is a surprise attack, or you see the bomber planes flying toward you in advance, when it happens, your well laid out plans change in an instant, your cherished comforts get tossed into the sea, smoke and fire clouds your vision, and your once-thought-to-be-unsinkable ship capsizes, taking on water. You walk around dazed and bloodied, confused about what to do next. Life might just never be the same.    

In those moments, do you wonder where God is? Do you have faith that God keeps His promises even when your current situation looks as if he is nowhere to be found, just as your ship is sinking?

In the Book of Acts, the apostle Paul and his mates where on a ship that they feared might sink, not from a surprise attack, but amid a violent storm. During the storm, an angel of the God told Paul not to be afraid of the pending danger. Here is what Paul said to the men when they feared the ship would sink with them on it – “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed” (Acts 27:22).

A few verses later we read more of Paul’s words – “So keep courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me” (v.25).

The storm was violent and the ship hit a sandbar, ran aground, and broke apart. Some soldiers wanted to kill Paul and his men to keep them from swimming ashore, but the story ends like this – “He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely” (vv.43b-44).

I encourage you to read this story in its entirety, found in Acts 27:13-44.

So, today, just as on that infamous day in 1941, you might be under attack, facing some dire situation. But, know that God, the very same God who promised Joshua that he would never be absent (Deuteronomy. 31:1-8; Joshua 1:1-9), is right with you in the midst of the mess, and He offers you safety, comfort, and protection, even as your ship sinks. 

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