The Great Rescue…

As I have reflected on Christmas this season I have reflected from a bit of a different angle. The Christmas we celebrate is the beginning of the greatest operative in the history of mankind. As God looked upon His creation in bondage He knew there would have to be a great rescue mission. Humanity had been captured by sin and was living merely an existence in a concentration camp of false hopes and twisted desires. The taskmasters of darkness had deceived humanity into believing this is all there is to life. “Get while you can and don’t worry about others.” The lies abounded…and the remnant of those lies live on even today.

The birth of Jesus was the insertion of God, veiled in humanity, behind the enemy lines. His purpose was single fold, to seek and save that what was lost! To free those in bondage…the hostages to sin and darkness.

From the moment the rumors began to leak that an operative had been inserted, the enemy began an all out search and destroy mission. Many innocent children were killed in the wake of darkness trying to thwart God’s mission. In spite of all of the efforts of darkness, many lives were changed. Numbers were healed and some were even raised from the dead! As Jesus worked His mission all of history was changed. Those who were freed were given a new life…and a call to carry on the mission.

For those who accept this rescue…we have been given a new life of freedom! Freedom from the bondage of sin, freedom from the bondage of legalism, freedom from the Spirit of this Age, freedom from fear. Freedom to live life to the fullest.

John 10:10 says: A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

Romans 5:8 adds: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners (captives), Christ died for us.

This is the Great Rescue!

God of this City

The God of Hope is also the God of this City.

Enjoy this video from Chris Tomlin:

Expectations…the fruit

Just one more thing on expectations that I left out yesterday.

When trying to determine the root of the expectations…how do we determine what is at the core of our expectations? Are they righteous or unrighteous…are they good or bad…are they selfish or unselfish? A simple question, that a wise man shared with me a few months back, to help determine the motive: “what is the fruit of this?”. Simply stepping back and honestly asking, what is the fruit of this expectation, will help us clarify where this expectation is coming from…is it of God or of fallen man?

What is the natural fruit of my expectations?

What is the natural fruit of your expectations?

Expectations…

Okay, if we are honest, isn’t Christmas all about expectations?

The list of expectations is endless. We have expectations of ourselves as well as others. There are expectations of what the tree should look like, how tall it should be, what type of ornaments and lights should be on it…and what goes at the top. There are expectations of the music which should be played…and how often it should be played. There are expectations of family, loved ones and friends. We have expectations of our church, the church and those in the church. And of course we have expectations of God.

Is it wrong to have expectations? No, not necessarily. When we have expectations, we have hope and isn’t Christmas all about hope. The truth is our expectation…our hope, should be in Christ. When our expectations are in others, we will be let down. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow…but one day others will let us down. When our expectations are in ourselves and our own abilities…once again there will come a point when we will let ourselves down. We won’t meet up to our own standard. It’s these unmet expectations which are used to steal our joy and kill our spirit. We have a sin nature and we live in a fallen world…but the story doesn’t end here.

Christmas is all about God sending Jesus to set us free from unmet expectations. (I will share my thoughts about the Great Rescue later) I am not saying that God is going to meet all of our expectations any more that I am saying others are going to meet all of our expectations. At the core, many if not most of our expectations are selfish. God sent Jesus to exceed our expectations by giving us a new life, one that is abundant and free!

Accept that gift and expect a life that is abundant and free. Believe, receive and live free! Expect God to change your life…my life. Lay our expectations down before Him and be forever changed.

Merry Christmas!

Just Scripture Today…

Prayer to Be Reckoned With (MSG)

13-15Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

19-20My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

The Prayer of Faith (NIV)

13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Please pray for a miracle…

Meet Erick, a young boy in need of a miracle. Erick lives in Guatemala City and is part of the ministry of Hope for Guatemala.

Erick was born with a liver disease which has plagued him most of his life. The doctors have said that he should not have lived as long as he has…yet he is still alive today. Erick’s parents have been told by the doctors that he will not survive without a liver transplant, yet they have also been told that he is not eligible for one, due to his home conditions. Currently he needs a clean environment where the risk of infection is minimized and he can consistently receive the needed medications.  Erick’s home consists of 12 children in the home plus his parents.

Erick’s dream is to be healed and one day become a chef.

There are many hurdles to Erick getting the care he so desperately needs, but none are too big for God to overcome.