Be Like Andrew

Are you calloused? Do you have a sinical view of the world? Does anything surprise you? Does anything excite you? Is your excitement limited to momentary excitement, quickly dissipating once the event is over?

We all get excited for one reason or another. We are surprised by something unexpected happening. Yet, as we grow older, less and less surprises us and it becomes more difficult to get excited. We’ve simply seen too much.

Looking at today’s passage, we see Andrew get excited. As soon as he heard John speak about Jesus, he ran to tell his brother Peter. Notice it says he had to find him. It is not as if Peter was nearby. Andrew had to search for him. I can imagine Andrew hurriedly walking or perhaps running through the camps and groups of people along the Jordan. He might even have been calling Simon Peter’s name. Why? He had exciting news to pass along to him.

Are we equally excited about Jesus? Jesus should mean just as much to us as He meant to Andrew. He is the Messiah, Christ, Savior, Son of God. Telling others about Him, especially family members we love and care for, should be a top priority. However, from my own personal experience, I know it often is not. We assume we know what their reaction will be. We are afraid of being rejected by them. We are afraid of being made fun of.

Andrew was surprised to hear the Messiah had arrived and was energized to go tell his brother. His brother became one of the pillars of the early church and is still highly respected today. Who might we tell about Jesus who may become a pillar of the church and community?

I pray we all get excited about Jesus. I pray we decide to tell others about Him. I pray each one of us keep our excitement about Jesus and who He is for our entire lives. Be surprised. Be excited. Tell others about Jesus. Leave your fear behind. Be like Andrew.

John 1:40-41 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).

God’s Calling

Have you ever felt as though you were in the right place at the right time? Has someone ever mentioned an opportunity to you, and it felt as though it would be perfect for you? Have you felt God calling you to do something?

It is very likely each of us has felt as though we were at the right place at the right time at some point in our lives. If not, it will happen. It may be as simple as going to the store to pick up something you need, and there is only one of those items left.

Many of us have experienced having an opportunity presented to us and it just felt right. We hear it and think to ourselves that it is perfect. Perhaps it was an opportunity we were looking for and it came available. This may also qualify as being in the right place at the right time.

God calls us in many ways. He leads us down the path He wants us to go by using other people or circumstances. We still have the choice to take advantage of those opportunities. If we do, we reap the rewards of following God’s plan. If we don’t, God will approach us from a different angle. He won’t stop pursuing us. He won’t stop trying to get us to trust Him, follow Him, and follow His plan for our lives.

Jesus called a couple fishermen to follow Him. They weren’t well educated men. They were laborers who worked hard for a living. Yet Jesus knew their potential. He knew His plan for them. He knew who they would become if they simply chose to follow Him.

We see them choose to follow Him. In fact, they follow Him for three years of His ministry and see Him go to the cross. But their story doesn’t end there. They continue following Him afterward. They both went on to spread the gospel throughout many countries. They planted churches. They brought many people to Jesus, helping them to know their Savior.

I pray we all choose to follow the calling God has put on our heart. I pray we recognize the calling God has for us. I pray each one of us chooses to follow God’s plan for our lives. Open your eyes. Open your ears. See and hear God’s calling. Choose to follow Him. Choose to follow His plan for your life.

Mark 1:16-18 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

Tradition of Baptism

How do you view traditions? Are traditions a driving force behind your choice of church? Do you understand the reason for each tradition? Or are you someone who take or leave traditions?

We have traditions for all types of things. We have pregame traditions. We have traditions for our holidays. Some of us have vacation traditions. We might even have traditions for our family dinners or parties.

There are several traditions within many denominations. There is even a tradition to not have traditions! Some traditions have morphed over the years as they have been passed down. Minor alterations here or there and the tradition no longer looks like it did a few hundred years ago.

In today’s passage, we see a tradition that continues today. Yet, the tradition has been morphed to some degree or another by some. There are three different options for baptism. One is to drip or drizzle water over someone, and most often used for infant baptism, but can be used for adult baptisms as well.

A second is pouring, which some may not have heard about. However, there is extra-Biblical historical writings that record the Apostles using this method at times. Specifically, they most often used it for someone on their deathbed who wanted to be baptized.

The third option is full immersion. As many of us have seen or heard, John the Baptist fully dunked Jesus under the water in the river Jordan. This was the most common method used by the Jews and early Christians. In fact, the Greek word baptizo, translated to baptize, means to immerse.

Jesus followed the Jewish tradition in order to fulfill prophecy and to convince His followers He was a true Jew. He knew the reason behind the tradition. He was committed to the reason, not simply the act. May I suggest we investigate our traditions to understand why we have them.

I pray we all seek to understand our traditions. I pray we follow our traditions for the right reasons. I pray each one of us discern the difference between man-made and Bible driven traditions. Seek to understand. Know the background of your traditions. Follow Biblical traditions. Be wise and discerning about man-made traditions.

Mark 1:9-11 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Lowly Estate

What are your living expectations? Do you expect to be in a nice house that is solid, keeping the elements off you, keeping you warm in the winter, and cool in the summer? What if you did not have that?

It was not that long along people in our country did not have such luxuries. Less than two hundred years ago, people were riding wagons across unknown territory to discover the west. Even just one hundred years ago, the automobile was still in its infancy.

As we were sitting here on Christmas Eve telling stories, our children (who are grown and, in their twenties), could not believe some of the living conditions we dealt with when we were kids. Think about that for just a moment. Some of the memories are less than fifty years old. My how living conditions have changed and how expectations have changed so quickly.

Again, think back to the migration to the west. They would have thought nothing of the conditions of Jesus’ birth. They would have been just as comfortable sleeping on the hay as they would on a bed. Many of them slept on the ground, curled up in a blanket, laying around a campfire.

Mary and Joseph were not able to acquire a guest room anywhere. A host was gracious enough to allow them to sleep in their stable. Mary wrapped the newborn babe in some cloths and laid him in some hay. Not exactly the way for a king to come into the world.

I pray we all take stock of our blessings on this Christmas Day. I pray we remember how blessed we are. I pray each one of us remember our Savior’s birth and give thanks to God today. Be thankful. Remember your blessings. Remember Jesus’ birth. Remember He gave His life for you.

Luke 2:6-7 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 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.

God At Work

Have you ever wondered just how God is working in this world? Do you sometimes wonder if He is working at all? Does it appear as though everything is random and no plan at all is being executed?

The world can appear to be in utter chaos from our perspective. We see people running around here and there. Bosses seem to make snap decisions. Leaders appear to have no clue what is going on in the common person’s life. But we are not seeing the world from God’s perspective.

Let’s take a little closer look at what occurs shortly before Jesus’ birth. Caesar Augustus gives the order to conduct a census. He wanted the people counted so he could increase taxes. After all, it’s difficult to collect taxes from people you don’t know exist.

I can imagine Joseph and Mary thinking the order for a census could not have come at a worse time. Mary was approaching her due date to give birth and they had to travel some eighty miles to Bethlehem. Without the modern conveniences of automobile and air travel, it was a three- or four-days’ journey. Not an easy one to make on foot or riding a donkey when nearly nine months pregnant.

Hard to imagine God is working in the life of Caesar. Hard to believe there was a reason behind the decision to conduct the census, requiring Joseph and Mary to make that trip at a very inconvenient time. Yet, God was right in the middle of it.

God used Caesar Augustus to declare the census, so Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy He had given Micah (Micah 5:2), which had been given more than seven-hundred years earlier. We may not see how God is working, but we can trust that He is working, regardless of whether we understand how or not.

I pray we all trust God is working in this world. I pray we trust Him whether we understand or not. I pray each one of us will follow God’s plan for our lives, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense. Know that God is working. Know that He is executing His plan. Trust Him. Follow His plan for you.

Luke 2:1-3 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

Servant Mary

Have you thought what it might have been like to be in Mary’s shoes? Have you imagined what it would have been like to have an angel appear to give you a message from God? What would your reaction be?

Mary was a young, teenage girl. She was betrothed to Joseph. Though the marriage ceremony had not taken place, the betrothal ceremony had. Being betrothed meant more than a simple engagement as we view it today.

According to Jewish custom they were considered husband and wife, yet they were not living together yet. Once the betrothal ceremony took place, the husband would begin building a place for the couple to live. Often it was putting an addition onto the house of the husbands’ parents or building a small house on his parents’ property. Once their new dwelling was complete, the wedding ceremony would take place and they would begin living together.

It was during the period between betrothal and wedding that Gabriel visited Mary to give her the message of her impending pregnancy. Though we are not told exactly where Mary was when Gabriel appeared, it is likely she was at her parent’s house or somewhere nearby. She was alone. Can you imagine? It was not just any angel who came to her. It was Gabriel, an archangel who was a personal messenger from God. He had appeared to Daniel hundreds of years before.

Was Mary trembling in his presence? She was certainly a little baffled by his message and asked for an explanation. Yet in the end, she humbled herself to be God’s servant. Mary submitted herself to being an instrument of God’s plan.

I pray we all spend a little time pondering Mary’s story. I pray we see her as an example of being a servant. I pray each of us submit to God’s plan in the same way Mary did. Think about God’s Word. Learn from it. See examples of God’s servants. Be a servant of God’s.

Luke 1:30-32 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”

Justified in Christ

What is your view of being justified? Are you thinking of someone whose actions were justified? By what reason were they justified? Was it by human reasoning? Do you know what it means to be justified before God?

How many times have we heard that someone’s actions were justified? If you are a mother or father and someone hurts your child, you probably think your actions of revenge are justified. You may feel justified for defending a friend.

We all have our trigger points that will incite us to do things we would not normally do to obtain revenge or justice and we will believe we are justified. We have our human way of looking at justification. We may even feel we are justified to take a piece of property from a company who has fired us.

But when we come before a Holy God, the Creator of the entire universe, the One who is truly righteous, how are we justified? We are only justified in our faith in Jesus Christ. All our blustering, excuse making, or even logical arguments will do no good. It is our faith in Jesus that will justify us.

When Jesus went to the cross willingly as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, He set the stage for our justification. Our part is to put our faith in Him and His sacrifice. We trust that His sacrifice justifies us in the eyes of Almighty God. We no longer trust that our works nor the work of law justifies us.

I pray we all put our faith in Jesus. I pray we know we are justified before God by our faith. I pray each one of us gives up trying to earn our way into God’s favor and trust in Jesus. Give up human justification. Trust you are justified by faith. Put your faith in Jesus. Your justification comes through Jesus.

Galatians 2:15-16 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

Reconciliation Through Christ

At this time of year, we may be longing to reconcile ourselves to an estranged relative. It is a time for reconciliation for many. But how do you go about reconciliation? Are you reconciled with Almighty God, the God who created you?

Reconciliation is no easy feat for us when it comes to one person being reconciled to another. It requires both parties to be willing. One must be willing to ask for forgiveness. The other must be willing to forgive. Or both parties must be willing to compromise.

Reconciliation works the same way with God, with one distinct difference—God is willing to forgive. We do not need to convince God to forgive us. There is no need to lay your reasoning or excuses before God. He knows every reason and excuse for why we have sinned in the past—even if the past is just one moment ago.

Jesus came to provide the perfect pathway to reconciliation with God. His sacrifice set God’s forgiveness in motion for all. The requirement for one party to be willing to forgive has been completed. There merely remains a willingness for us to ask for forgiveness.

Asking for forgiveness may sound simple. Yet, it can be more difficult for some. Our pride gets in the way. We may not be educated well enough in God’s Word to recognize our sin. We must be willing to admit we have done wrong and must know God’s Word well enough to know we have done wrong. Quite honestly, it is a life-long pursuit. As we learn and grow in experience in this life, we see our sin in a more mature and deeper way. We see just how much we need to be reconciled to God and how lost we would be without Jesus Christ.

I pray we all long to be reconciled to God. I pray we know that God is willing to forgive us. I pray each one of us ask for forgiveness and grow in our knowledge of God’s Word. Seek reconciliation. Ask for forgiveness. Be willing to forgive. Know God’s Word. Admit when you are wrong. Be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Jesus, Our Intercessor

What does it mean to have an intercessor? Is an intercessor needed? What can you gain by having an intercessor? How do you go about acquiring an intercessor? Do you know you already have one?

An intercessor, in the simplest terms, is someone to intercedes on your behalf. In other words, they stand in the gap between you and someone else. They may pay the fine, negotiate the differences, or be a mediator during negotiations.

Jesus is our intercessor with God. He has paid the price for our sin. Because of His sacrifice, we may come before God without going through a human intercessor. We stand in the grace of God because of Jesus’ sacrifice. We have hope thanks to Him.

It is our faith in Jesus that gives us access to all God has to offer, and God has more to offer us than we can imagine. Our faith in Jesus grants us peace with God. Those without faith are without peace, and many are at war with God, even if they do not acknowledge it themselves. Having peace with God brings peace into our lives.

God also grants us His grace when we put our faith in Jesus. It is through His grace and mercy that we are forgiven for sinning against God. Being forgiven does not mean there are not consequences. It does mean we can be assured of forgiveness and our sins will not keep us from spending eternity with God.

Spending eternity with God is our hope and our hope is not a mere wish, but a guarantee made by God. We can be assured our hope will be fulfilled. Jesus, through His life, death, and resurrection, has secured and assured our hope.

I pray we all put our faith in Jesus Christ. I pray we accept Jesus as our intercessor. I pray each of us accept God’s peace, grace, mercy, and realize our hope through Jesus. Put your faith in Jesus. Accept God’s peace. Accept God’s grace. Know that your hope is secure. Know that Jesus has and does intercede for you.

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Choose Love

Do you love? I mean, really love? There are several groups and churches that practice various forms of Advent traditions. One of them is lighting 5 different candles to represent 5 different topics. Today we light the 4th candle, which represents love.

So many of us will say we love. We will say “I love you” to our loved ones. We will say “I love that” concerning a food or clothing item or vehicle or decoration or any number of things. But the question comes back to me, “do you really love?”

Love puts others needs and wants ahead of your own. Love forgives. Love is action, not just words. Having the love of God in you is a joy and is unconditional. You don’t have to earn it, but you do have to accept it. You must open your heart to it for it to have its full effect. You see, we have a choice. We can choose to accept God’s love and worship Him for that, receiving untold blessings. Or we can choose to chase after this world with a hardened heart, having no or very little joy, continuing to feel empty in a crowded world.

So, do you really love? Do you feel loved? If your answer is no or you are not sure or you only feel that way sometimes, you might consider committing more of your time to God. You may think you will miss out on what’s happening around you and you may be right. But you will gain so much more than the temporary gratification of knowing what’s happening in the latest TV show or who is dating who or what the latest sale is or when an actor is getting married or any number of other things that won’t matter a few days, weeks, or years down the road.

I pray each of us will commit more time to God during this season and each of us is filled with His love, then show it to everyone around us. God knows this world needs love. Do you? Will you be the one to show it?

John 15:9-17 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”