The first stanza of Carrie Underwood’s song Jesus Take the Wheel is a scenario that many Americans can relate to, consumed by a busy lifestyle. I’m not sure if Carrie is referring to herself or a friend, but she doesn’t pray to God until her life flashes before her eyes. Whether you’re driving on a highway about to crash or find yourself losing a battle with a crippling disease, it’s never to late to prayer to God for help, James 5:16-20.
But now since you have been set free from sin and have become the slaves of God, you have your present reward in holiness and its end is eternal life. 23 For the wages which sin pays is death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 6:22-23.
The apostle Paul compares eternal life to a free gift, offered to every human being. However, like faith, you can’t ride on your parents’ coattails forever. At some point in life, you have to take ownership of this free gift. From a spiritual perspective, when you ask Jesus to take the wheel of your life, you’re actually yielding control of every aspect. As you say goodbye to 2022 tonight and welcome in 2023, may you be inspired to make Jesus the Lord of your life, Romans 10:9-11.
The new year is as good as any time to develop a healthy appreciation and amazement of God. Unfortunately, it often takes some sort of accident that can scare the hell out of you. Something about surviving a near death experience causes your body to shake like the shepherd’s quake in the passage below. As you replay this event in your mind, goosebumps may appear all over your arms with your hair sticking straight up.
And in that vicinity there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in shifts] over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened, Luke 2:8-9.
This shepherd’s quake recorded by Luke appears to be more out of fear as encounters with angels in the Old Testament were a sign of your pending death. As this angel recognized their astonishment and shock, there was an immediate call to calm down and relax. Although Luke doesn’t mention facial expressions, upon hearing the great news of a Savior being born, this shepherd’s quake transitioned from fear to jubilee.
But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. 11 For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah) the Lord! – Luke 2:10-11
The author of one New Testament book uses fear on two occasions to invoke a sense of spiritual urgency in Hebrews 6:1-6 and Hebrews 10:26-27. Meanwhile, the apostle Paul call an entire congregation to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, Philippians 2:12. Just as God taught Moses about walking on holy ground in Exodus, modern day Christians need to enter God’s presence with reverence. While it will take time to break bad habits from your past, emulating the shepherd’s quake as your worship the Lord will help transform your mind about how to approach God in prayer to get His attention.
As someone who struggled to stay awake in church as a teenager, I probably missed several messages that God wanted me to hear. Then again, as Jesus often said to his followers, “let them who have ears hear,” Mark 4:9. It’s one thing to hear what a teacher says in class. Yet, to apply this advice by putting it into practice takes a combination of conviction, inspiration and motivation. This is the spiritual place that Clay Crosse reached when writing I Surrender All.
Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. 11 The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed, Romans 10:9-11.
My initial belief in God was based upon going to church and doing good deeds. This was reinforced within me during my confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church. Unfortunately, I wasn’t introduced to a personal relationship with God until high school through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. When I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Savior in December of 1984, I was still in control. I had to wait until a retreat in college where the Lordship of Christ was emphasized. Like today’s song, this is when l I was finally willing to surrender everything in my life to Jesus. A new year, 2023, provides an opportunity to do likewise.
One of the major choices you will have to make in life is if you want to go with the flow or become a trend setter? Jesus touches on this subject near the end of his Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:13-14. The analogy Jesus uses is based upon who you walk with in life. Are you following the masses on the highway to hell? Or as Robert Frost once penned are you taking, “the Road Less Traveled?” Jesus appears to be referring to Psalm 1:1-3 as who you surround yourself will dictate the choices you make in life.
When Enoch was 65 years old, Methuselah was born. 22 Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24 And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him], Genesis 5:21-24.
After the earth’s first family got off to a rough start with one scandal after another, the first trend setter came 7 generations after Adam. According to the passage above, Enoch wasn’t like most of the men on earth. While others were trying to please their peers, Enoch had his heart on habitually walking with God. Rather than a casual relationship, Enoch daily prayed and drew closer to the Lord. This example set by Enoch appears to have inspired Noah to become a positive trend setter in an evil society.
But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God, Genesis 6:8-9.
Apparently, everyone but Noah was heading down the highway toward hell. The life and example set by Enoch had been forgotten by followers of God. Rather than take the less traveled path, everyone but Noah went with the flow in a society becoming morally bankrupt with each passing day. Sound familiar? As bad as the media and news makes America and the world sound today, it only takes one trend setter in 2023 to alter the course of history. May the lives of Enoch and Noah inspire you to make a difference in 2023.
The meaning of Jehovah Jireh in Hebrew refers to “the existing one. The one true God, Jireh, also means “see, to inspect, the perceive, to provide, to consider.” The most famous passage where Jehovah Jireh is found comes from Abraham. While on his way to sacrifice his promised son Isaac, the Lord provided a ram in the thicket. At the sight of this good fortune, Abraham thanked God for providing a replacement sacrifice rather than offering up his son Isaac.
Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering and an ascending sacrifice instead of his son! 14 So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided, Genesis 22:13-14.
Since this day thousands of years ago, the Lord continues to provide today. Perhaps, this is the inspiration behind Elevation Worship and Maverick City’s song Jireh. Although not every prayer is answered, the persistent widow continued to wrestle with God until justice was received, Luke 18:1-8. As Jesus taught Christians while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, keep God’s will in mind as you pray to Jehovah Jireh, Matthew 26:41.
Beginning 500 years before Jesus’ birth, Judean priests took an active role in thefarming life of the countryside. Some priests also became shepherds by raising sheep without a blemish for future animal sacrifices. One thing that I did not know about the shepherds in the passage below is that they were priestly shepherds, working with the local temple. When this angel appeared to them, the news of a Savior meant their ancient tradition of animal sacrifice to forgive sins would no longer be necessary.
And in that vicinity there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in shifts] over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened, Luke 2:8-9.
Was the initial response by these shepherds fearful that they would be out of a job? Or was their main concern based upon Old Testament angelic encounters which often came as a precursor to their deaths? All of the years of hearing this passage read out loud in church, I never knew the context of who these chosen priestly shepherds were. Based upon their reactions to seeing the Christ child, it’s clear to me that these men were more excited about the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah 9:6.
But its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet and satisfying odor to the Lord. 10 And if the man’s offering is of the flock, from the sheep or the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish, Leviticus 1:9-10.
While this is merely speculation, the role of a Jewish temple priest was a messy job. The slaughtering of animal’s day after day likely left stains of blood as well as being squirted by blood in your face from time to time. This tedious practice detailed by Moses in the book of Leviticus was a temporary process until a second Adam arrived. When news of Jesus’ birth was brought forth by an angel, these priestly shepherds realized in their minds that the lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world is about to arrive, Colossians 2:13-15. This is another reason to celebrate Christmas.
There are hundreds of talented worship groups across the country and throughout the world. When I stumbled upon the Christ Fellowship Worship team, I enjoyed their montage of Christmas music. This is similar to spontaneous worship montages that I like to listen to before going to sleep, A Thousand Songs is like a series of condensed snippets of almost every Christmas song that I am familiar with to keep the theme of Christmas within your hearts and mind.
The Lord is my Strength and my [impenetrable] Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him, Psalm 28:7.
The passage above is a Psalm of David. As a skilled harpist, David had a special connection with music. Perhaps this is the inspiration behind David’s words about music. It’s unclear when David wrote this Psalm, but his close relationship with the Lord is unveiled. This commitment led the prophet Samuel to refer to David as a man after God’s own heart. May this Christmas season inspire you to sing songs in your heart to the Lord this holdiay season.
A surrogate is a substitute, especially a person deputizing for another in a specific role or office. The definition of a surrogate mother is a woman who bears a child on behalf of another person or a couple, typically via artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. Based upon the words of Luke, a first centurion doctor, Mary is compared to the surrogate of God. Who needs artificial insemination when you have the power of the Holy Spirit as Mary was a virgin teenage girl.
Now in the sixth month [after that], the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 To a girl never having been married and a [v]virgin engaged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, Hail, O favored one [[w]endued with grace]! The Lord is with you! [x]Blessed (favored of God) are you before all other women! – Luke 1:26-28
This isn’t something that you’ll find in a high school sex education class. While most first century children were uneducated, local synagogues taught young Jewish men and women about life through the Bar Mitzvah process for boys and Bat Mitzvah for girls. Similar to the Confirmation process which takes place in Christian churches, the Jews believed children become adults at age twelve. Jesus’ Bar Mitzvah is featured in Luke 2:41-52 where Jesus is allowed to teach in the temple for the first time.
But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled and disturbed and confused at what he said and kept revolving in her mind what such a greeting might mean. 30 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace ([y]free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving-kindness) with God. 31 And listen! You will become pregnant and will give birth to a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great (eminent) and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His forefather David, 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages; and of His reign there will be no end, Luke 1:29-33.
When an angel appeared to Joseph in Matthew 1:18-25, Joseph realized that his future wife would become the surrogate of God. To avoid any questions about this child’s father, Joseph decides to not have sex with his wife until after Jesus was born. Despite the rumors spreading about Mary’s illegitimate child throughout Joseph’s hometown, they each trusted God about the message conveyed to each of them by angels. These are the circumstances of Mary, the surrogate of God and mother of Jesus.
Sometimes when I read the Bible, certain verses jump off the page. When Mary let the testimonies of the shepherds sink in, pondering their eyewitness accounts with an angel in her heart, she didn’t overreact. When I was younger, I had a tendency to celebrate too soon. Yet, as I have grown older, I now try to respond like Mary, weighing everything before I come to a conclusion. As an adult, what Christmas means to me now is to be with and spend time with family.
And all who heard it were astounded and marveled at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary was keeping [h]within herself all these things ([i]sayings), weighing and pondering them in her heart, Luke 2:18-19.
Any teenage parent has a lot of their minds. Yet, before Mary could enjoy being a mother, God warns Joseph in a dream to flee. The first few years of Jesus’ birth Mary and Jospeh were on the run, trying to escape King Herod’s decree to kill all baby boys under the age of two. From age 2 to 12, the Bible doesn’t mention Jesus’ life. As Jesus grew up from a child into a young man, Mary likely realized that her son would one day save her soul, Luke 19:10.
Whenever the signs of End Times Theology begin to make their way into nightly news headlines, there are three common responses. My immediate response is to get my life right with God by confessing the errors of my sinful ways so if Jesus does return, I’ll be ready for His arrival. The next is to become a prepper, by making an intentional shift toward living a more traditional, self-sufficient, and responsible lifestyle. The third is to ignore these warnings and move on with your current life.
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart. 7 So the Lord said, I will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground—not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air—for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them, Genesis 6:5-7.
If I have learned anything from history over my years living on this planet, history moves cultures in a series of cycles from good to bad to worse. When sinful natures are allowed to break free from their human conscience without any limits or restrictions, the direction of the earth becomes unsettling. As bad, corrupt and wicked this current generation of leaders may be in your eyes, King Solomon declared thousands of years ago, there is nothing new under the sun, Ecclesiastes 1:9.
Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself]. 17 And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever, 1 John 2:15-17.
According to Moses, the inhabitants of the earth pre-flood were just as morally bankrupt as those during the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps, these two acts of God, in the form of natural disasters are meant to serve as a history lesson like 1 Corinthians 10:1-6. When the direction of the earth becomes unsettling to you doesn’t mean you should retreat and hide from society. Rather this is a golden opportunity to shine like stars by holding out the light of Christ, the Word of God, Philippians 2:13-16.
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