Will 2021 be a better year? That all depends. What do you think a “better year” means? Is that a year where things get back to “normal”? Where restaurants and movie theaters are fully opened for business and Sunday services remind you of a prior time? Does it mean a year of less stress and more comfortable circumstances?
Instead of directly answering the questions I just posed, I have three questions I’m asking myself that I’d like to share with you:
How has experiencing 2020 helped me to know and love God more deeply?
How has experiencing 2020 helped me to know the truth about myself more clearly?
How has experiencing 2020 made me a more compassionate and grace-filled person toward others?
What would it look like to focus our eyes and our hearts primarily upon Jesus and His priorities? How would we evaluate the year 2020, and what would we hope for in 2021?
Odds favor that on January 20, 2021, the United States of America will inaugurate Joe Biden as our 46th president. Presidential Election Day falls on the first Tuesday of November every four years and, approximately 10 weeks later, the first day of the presidential term begins. Our republic has an organized system of governance and election protocols. While I won’t dig deeply into detail, here are a few key dates to be aware of:
November 3: Election Day
December 14: Electoral college voting
January 6: Congressional counting of electoral college ballots
January 20: Presidential Inauguration Day
Currently, we have a contested election. This means for most of us in the general public, a period of waiting. Waiting for legal issues to be resolved, waiting for state ballot counts to be certified, waiting for the electoral college to meet, waiting for those ballots to be tabulated in Congress, waiting for Inauguration Day.
At Elim, we know waiting, and we know there can be some discomfort in the process. We await God’s revealing of a permanent lead pastor. In this time of not knowing, we do well to rest in the trust of God’s continuing provision and, therefore, His preparation of the man who will serve Jesus, in our midst, into the future.
In this world, there will be legal battles. There will be wars of words. There will be tumult and tempests. This is certainly true when it comes to our political environment. And to put it lightly, God has some knowledge and experience in this area.
Jesus, facing the greatest “political” battle of his life, stood before Pilate, Governor of Judaea. He spoke these words:
My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm. (John 18:36, my emphasis)
Did you catch that? Jesus’s fight is not a political one and neither is that of His followers. The kingdom of Jesus, of which every born-again Christian is a part, neither rises nor falls with the fortunes of any political party. Though there are significant differences between party platforms and candidates, the will of God is sovereign over all, and we can have peace in the midst of the storm because our King is the King of Peace.
We don’t fight like men fight, with destruction and division, but we are to wage war. We war in ways which sinful man cannot understand, nor can he comprehend. Our weapons are truth and faith and prayer and submission and trust—not to human outcomes, but to our God and Creator who rules over all, and that, forevermore. And the result? Peace. A peace that none can take away.
So I urge you to draw near, in this time of waiting, not to television sets or iPhones for the latest political update, but draw near to God, and love one another as He has loved you.
Never will I forsake you. Never will I leave you. Never.
That’s a long time. It’s longer than I can hold my breath, and it’s longer than I can stay awake. I can’t think of a calendar date, nor can I imagine any number of years, decades, or centuries that would nullify God’s promise. And no person, other than Jesus Christ, can make and fulfill this hope.
Friends and family make promises, often with good intention, but do not possess the ultimate power to ensure they are fulfilled. But Jesus lived a life overflowing with prayer-filled obedience to the Father, miracles, and teachings that astounded His hearers. He kept His Father’s word perfectly, even demonstrating power over life and death by raising Lazarus—and Himself—from the dead. There is no power, no authority, no circumstance, no tragedy, no plan that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
NEVER will I leave you.
Leave
Jesus left his perfect dwelling place in Heaven with the Father. He was in perfect union with Father. He gave up glory for mortality. He shed power for weakness.
Jesus set aside perfection. We cling to corruption. Jesus willingly and joyfully came down from Heaven and displayed His life for all to see, even unto death on the cross. We have trouble saying no to a video game, a cookie, or another diversion, and yes, when the Lord of Glory wants to spend time with us.
Jonah saw God’s lovingkindness and fled His presence. Paul saw God’s perfection and turned aside to find his own. But Jesus . . . He sees our brokenness and sin-soaked stature and, like the Prodigal Father, leaves all sense of decorum and dignity and RUNS to us!
As you go. As you do the gospel work of spreading the news of Jesus, introducing people to Jesus and training up disciples of Jesus. Where His work is being done, there we participate as friends and fellow workers with God.
I have family members in Heaven that I loved dearly while they were here on earth and miss greatly since they have departed. But it is Jesus that I want to see most. It is Jesus that I need. It is His presence alone that satisfies, that fulfills. Imagine a Heaven without Jesus. If you can, maybe it’s not heaven you’re imagining.
Jesus is my fulfillment, my hope, my joy. When you read those words, do they ring true? Did they at one time? Shout to the heavens, praise our God, mighty to save! Truly we don’t deserve this God of fierce power, undying love, and amazing grace—but surely, we have Him in Christ Jesus the Lord!
In the beginning, the Deceiver had a plan. His target was God, but his mark was man.
God created the world. God created Adam and Eve; in His own image He created them. Satan’s fall from heaven landed him upon the back of man. His hatred for God gave him fuel for the fire he unleashed upon mankind. His attack upon image-bearing humanity is ultimately an attack upon God himself. Adam and Eve were a means to an end.
The Accuser began by offering and fostering doubt. He sowed seeds of distrust of God in the hearts of Adam and Eve. He distracted them, exploiting their vulnerability and shifting their focus from God.
Doubt led to distraction, distraction led to division. Once fellowship with the Almighty was broken God’s beloved image-bearers followed not the lead of their faithful Creator and Father, but of the one who came to kill and destroy. The man blamed the woman (and by extension, God) and the woman blamed the serpent. Fingers were pointed and blame was placed. They chose division over unity. They chose accusation over responsibility.
Of course they did. They were deceived, they were distracted, and they lost focus. We are not so dissimilar from our original ancestors. We have a tendency to wander from our Creator, become distracted, and seek to place blame. The result of this will always be division.
Yet hope remains! The finished work of Jesus Christ has delivered us from bondage to doubt, distraction, and division.
If we experience doubt, distraction, or division, know that these are tactics of the evil one. And he has been defeated by the blood of the Lamb, our Savior, Jesus Christ! We need not give in to these difficulties but recognize them for what they are and work to preserve the unity of all believers by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” –Galatians 3:27-28
Unity comes by prayer, it comes by seeking the good of others, and it comes by grounding ourselves in the love of our Father, and dependence upon Him in all things and at all times. To do so is to live a life perpetually fixing our focus upon Jesus, our one true Hope!
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) The Christian stands as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Attitude, displayed in actions and words, tells others of the character of Jesus.
“Wow,”
you might say, “that sounds like a tall order.” Yes, indeed it is. Or, is it? I’ve
read this verse from a fleshly, or earthly, perspective and I find myself
moving down a path that leads to being overwhelmed: More work. More
responsibility. More to do. I feel the weight of another burden atop my
shoulders. Doing “good works” when I feel instead like saying, “Good grief!”
What it Means
Yet, a closer reading breathes life into my heart and
yields a sigh of relief. Look with me at the first word in that verse. “Let”.
Not “make.” “Let” can be defined as “giving opportunity to” or, “to free from—as if from confinement.”
This is not an arduous manufacturing of good works, but a releasing of what already exists that others may benefit, and God
may be glorified.
When Jesus told us that his yoke
is light, and not heavy, he was not deceiving us. But this command is hard
to fulfill, and it is easy to sin. So, how do we make sense of these things
that seem to conflict?
If my focus begins and ends with me, I’m sunk. But, if I
rightly understand, meditate upon, hold closely in my heart, and act upon the fact that as a believer
the Holy Spirit resides within me and is at work in me, I will find peace
growing inside me.
How I Know
Our attitude can be described as a basketful of emotions
we present to others. We have been given the wonderful gift of emotions by the
Lord. These emotions act as both temperature gauge and harbinger. As a
temperature gauge our feelings give us a status check, prompting a decision to
be made. This takes place when a “temperature” change has occurred. When anger
arises within us that temperature has clearly gone up, and it is not without
reason. When frustration grips us, likewise, there is a story behind it.
Emotions are a harbinger because, if they are not
respected and investigated, they act as a foreshadowing—signaling our future reactions. But, “time heals
all wounds” —right?
Nope. Time makes one grow older, but does not ensure maturity. Maturity
develops with proper use of the gift of emotions.
What To Do
Emotions we experience are an invitation. The Holy Spirit
has invited us into greater union. He is the one who knows us most. He is the
one who knows us best. From the number of hairs on our head, to our length of
days, to our innermost thoughts, He is our teacher
and transformer to be shaping us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. I
know of no other way to heed my emotional temperature, and make good use of it,
than to go to God and ask Him to explain it to me. I need time spent with God—time spent listening.
I was going to end right there, and it would be easy to
do so, but a quiet time spent with God is not the end, merely the beginning.
So, after God reveals to you why you
feel the way you do, ask this question of God: “What must I do with what I now know?”
Hazard! Warning! Attention! These words demand a
response. So, too, does the present moment demand a response. Some have begun
by giving in to fear—engaging in panic buying (or selling) and similar activity.
But this is not the way of Jesus.
This time is a gift. By way of governmental authority, we
have been given a “time-out.” However, many of our service workers, especially
health care professionals, are working overtime in an environment of exposure.
These are our “soldiers” in this fight on the front lines, risking themselves
to protect many. They and their families need our support, including prayer.
For the rest of us, we’ve been enlisted to participate by
not participating. We’ve been asked to stay home. Restaurants are closed for
dining, movie theaters and sports arenas are shuttered, and travel has been
inhibited. Some of us are more vulnerable and have isolated from nearly all physical
social contact to avoid infection. For most, this leads to more time at home.
What to do?
You may have read an article or watched a video
describing options to pass the time away. “Stay busy,” they say. Tackle your
to-do list, binge watch a whole season, try out a new recipe, give in to
anxiety. Okay, so I added last one. Instead, I’d like to offer you a couple of different
options:
Look out!
Do nothing.
Look out for the needs of others. Pray for our
nation and our leaders in each area and level of government. They need God’s
help. They need His salvation. Also, find others to connect with digitally or
virtually, by web or by phone. Use this time even as an excuse to call someone
that you haven’t before. Be proactive in asking what needs others have, and
seek to be generous. Look for opportunity outside our church body as well.
Share what you find with others and remember that your words and actions
contain power. Watch diligently for opportunity and share the good news of
Jesus Christ with others.
Do nothing. Snatch time from the thief that says, “Stay
busy.” Don’t give in to the temptation of passing your time away or filling it
with second-best things. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm
46:10). The translation I linked says, “cease striving.” Stop. Turn as an
individual, or as a family, to our Everlasting Father. Sit in silence, pray,
read Scripture, sing, walk, and talk. Ask Him what work He is doing within you
as you experience this situation. Cast all your fear upon Him, because He cares
for you (1
Peter 5:7). Shower Him with praise and adoration, as He rightly deserves. Laugh
with Him. Cry with Him. Talk with Him. Wonder with Him. Enjoy Him, right now
and forever!
Don’t miss this historic opportunity—this time when God
can be seen and experienced with greater clarity because many things such as money
and security and routine have been stripped away. A vacuum is created, and I
don’t wish for you to fill it just for it to be filled. Don’t long or settle for
“blessings” from the Master’s table and neglect the Master himself. This is a
time to enter into joy and thanksgiving because of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ! He is the same yesterday, and today, and forevermore. Hallelujah!