Psalm 33:1 NLT
"Let the godly sing for joy to the LORD ; it is fitting for the pure to praise him."
Before Thanksgiving dinner this year, those of my family gathered at the dinner table graciously exercised patience for a moment to give their dad and grandfather a moment to express a firmly held belief that he feels is sometimes a missing core element of some celebrations before the Lord. I'm speaking generally and not making any accusations, merely offering food for thought...
A very special friend and counsel to me a few years ago pointed out something to me that touched on what I've considered a very important point. It became something that expanded in my own mind and life as living truths have a tendency to do. He pointed out that anytime we approach the God of all creation, we should pause and consider who it is that we're about to address and enthrone Him in praise for all that He is and has done.
In daily life we may find ourselves busily absorbed in continual duties, business and casual conversations that may or may not have any powerful life altering consequences. We may have many relationships that are common and treated casually as well. We might say things to each other as a matter of routine without really thinking about them in those relationships. We're all human beings created equally and we have a tendency to treat and address each other as such.
But when we approach the throne of the Most High God in prayer, we're addressing someone who is not at all common or equal and our approach to Him should be in a posture as equally uncommon as He is to us. So as my friend pointed out, it's necessary for us to pause and to "enthrone Him" in our hearts and minds before we open a conversation with Him. What he was saying is that we need to stop and consider who God is - pausing to remember all that He is and all that He has done and enthrone Him in praise before we utter a word in prayer. This sets Him properly on the throne of our hearts and minds and helps to insure that our approach to Him is properly respectful and reverent given His rightful place over all that exists. My friends, I can attest to the fact that in my own life and relationship with Him, this has been awesomely powerful - because as we offer true, honest praise and worship, the focus and posture of our hearts gets corrected and the Spirit of the Most High God comes near.
So I made it a habit to employ this same approach and attitude toward anything and everything that relates to Him in my relationship with Him. Again, the results have been so filled with His spirit and awesomely powerful. In my conversation just prior to Thanksgiving dinner, it was my desire to call attention properly to what we have to be thankful to our God for. This was in the hope that our focus as a family would be true gratitude and thanks to the God who has been so generous and that His Spirit would be present in our celebration to receive our thanks. I know personally that it's always His presence that makes any moment one to cherish and full of life. As the true guest of honor in any moment or occasion, He has the power and presence to far exceed any expectation.
Now Christmas is before us and though the world will have its own reasons and values given for their participation or lack there of, as followers of Christ WE have now - this moment, the opportunity to begin to re-examine our own reasons for participation and to begin to enthrone Him. We have the choice to choose to invite the Spirit of the Lord to begin to inhabit a growing, honest celebration in our hearts ... a Spirit filled celebration beyond anything we could imagine without having our hearts focused on the true reasons to celebrate ... or we could choose to settle for celebrating as the world does.
Isaiah 11:1-6
1 "Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD . 3 He will delight in obeying the LORD . He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. 4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. 5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment. 6 In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all."
The world focuses on what it values when it chooses to "celebrate" Christmas or Xmas as it sometimes prefers. It most often sees Christmas as an opportunity to satisfy it's material lusts and the evidence of that is plastered in every newspaper, on almost every TV and radio station and on the internet. But however much money it chooses to spend, it's gifts are without eternal value and it's celebration devoid of the awesome joy of His presence. In the end, it's reward is primarily emptiness and all that goes with the crowded and often frustrating search for perishing material satisfaction and the gluttony of self indulgent pleasure. It misses the true joy and the awesome humbled spirit that's the core of our celebration when we're celebrating for the right reason in His presence.
In the spirit of our reason to celebrate Christmas as followers of Christ, I have a gift for any reader with a heart willing to accept it. Before I say anything else, understand that I'm not condemning Christmas trees or the giving and receiving of gifts or any of the other traditions that families typically participate in in their celebrations...
My challenge to you is to stop and consider this: Could your Christmas celebration be awesomely fulfilling and successful without any of those things? It's a challenge to consider what it is that we as followers of Christ are truly celebrating in Christmas and decide if that in itself is enough, without any of the other adornment and tradition to make the celebration in your heart joyous and fulfilling...
Luke 2:6-14 (NLT)
6 "And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 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. 8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."
God Most High, out of an unfathomable compassion and love for us, left His unfathomably grand place in Heaven and humbled Himself to enter the earth in the form of a man to save us - knowing full well what He would suffer at the hands of some of the very ones He came to save. And He offered Himself up to receive the ridicule, beatings and the horrific death that we deserved, in our place...
If the joy of His coming to deliver salvation - and all that it encompasses and means, is enough by itself ... then you may posses the true meaning and spirit of what followers of Christ truly celebrate in Christmas. I pray that His Spirit inhabits the praises that the true joy of Christmas evokes in you and that your celebration is attended by His presence throughout the season and beyond as you enthrone Him. My love to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ.
"Let the godly sing for joy to the LORD ; it is fitting for the pure to praise him."
Before Thanksgiving dinner this year, those of my family gathered at the dinner table graciously exercised patience for a moment to give their dad and grandfather a moment to express a firmly held belief that he feels is sometimes a missing core element of some celebrations before the Lord. I'm speaking generally and not making any accusations, merely offering food for thought...
A very special friend and counsel to me a few years ago pointed out something to me that touched on what I've considered a very important point. It became something that expanded in my own mind and life as living truths have a tendency to do. He pointed out that anytime we approach the God of all creation, we should pause and consider who it is that we're about to address and enthrone Him in praise for all that He is and has done.
In daily life we may find ourselves busily absorbed in continual duties, business and casual conversations that may or may not have any powerful life altering consequences. We may have many relationships that are common and treated casually as well. We might say things to each other as a matter of routine without really thinking about them in those relationships. We're all human beings created equally and we have a tendency to treat and address each other as such.
But when we approach the throne of the Most High God in prayer, we're addressing someone who is not at all common or equal and our approach to Him should be in a posture as equally uncommon as He is to us. So as my friend pointed out, it's necessary for us to pause and to "enthrone Him" in our hearts and minds before we open a conversation with Him. What he was saying is that we need to stop and consider who God is - pausing to remember all that He is and all that He has done and enthrone Him in praise before we utter a word in prayer. This sets Him properly on the throne of our hearts and minds and helps to insure that our approach to Him is properly respectful and reverent given His rightful place over all that exists. My friends, I can attest to the fact that in my own life and relationship with Him, this has been awesomely powerful - because as we offer true, honest praise and worship, the focus and posture of our hearts gets corrected and the Spirit of the Most High God comes near.
So I made it a habit to employ this same approach and attitude toward anything and everything that relates to Him in my relationship with Him. Again, the results have been so filled with His spirit and awesomely powerful. In my conversation just prior to Thanksgiving dinner, it was my desire to call attention properly to what we have to be thankful to our God for. This was in the hope that our focus as a family would be true gratitude and thanks to the God who has been so generous and that His Spirit would be present in our celebration to receive our thanks. I know personally that it's always His presence that makes any moment one to cherish and full of life. As the true guest of honor in any moment or occasion, He has the power and presence to far exceed any expectation.
Now Christmas is before us and though the world will have its own reasons and values given for their participation or lack there of, as followers of Christ WE have now - this moment, the opportunity to begin to re-examine our own reasons for participation and to begin to enthrone Him. We have the choice to choose to invite the Spirit of the Lord to begin to inhabit a growing, honest celebration in our hearts ... a Spirit filled celebration beyond anything we could imagine without having our hearts focused on the true reasons to celebrate ... or we could choose to settle for celebrating as the world does.
Isaiah 11:1-6
1 "Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD . 3 He will delight in obeying the LORD . He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. 4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. 5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment. 6 In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all."
The world focuses on what it values when it chooses to "celebrate" Christmas or Xmas as it sometimes prefers. It most often sees Christmas as an opportunity to satisfy it's material lusts and the evidence of that is plastered in every newspaper, on almost every TV and radio station and on the internet. But however much money it chooses to spend, it's gifts are without eternal value and it's celebration devoid of the awesome joy of His presence. In the end, it's reward is primarily emptiness and all that goes with the crowded and often frustrating search for perishing material satisfaction and the gluttony of self indulgent pleasure. It misses the true joy and the awesome humbled spirit that's the core of our celebration when we're celebrating for the right reason in His presence.
In the spirit of our reason to celebrate Christmas as followers of Christ, I have a gift for any reader with a heart willing to accept it. Before I say anything else, understand that I'm not condemning Christmas trees or the giving and receiving of gifts or any of the other traditions that families typically participate in in their celebrations...
My challenge to you is to stop and consider this: Could your Christmas celebration be awesomely fulfilling and successful without any of those things? It's a challenge to consider what it is that we as followers of Christ are truly celebrating in Christmas and decide if that in itself is enough, without any of the other adornment and tradition to make the celebration in your heart joyous and fulfilling...
Luke 2:6-14 (NLT)
6 "And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 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. 8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."
God Most High, out of an unfathomable compassion and love for us, left His unfathomably grand place in Heaven and humbled Himself to enter the earth in the form of a man to save us - knowing full well what He would suffer at the hands of some of the very ones He came to save. And He offered Himself up to receive the ridicule, beatings and the horrific death that we deserved, in our place...
If the joy of His coming to deliver salvation - and all that it encompasses and means, is enough by itself ... then you may posses the true meaning and spirit of what followers of Christ truly celebrate in Christmas. I pray that His Spirit inhabits the praises that the true joy of Christmas evokes in you and that your celebration is attended by His presence throughout the season and beyond as you enthrone Him. My love to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ.
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