My Christmas Present to Jesus

Are you frustrated (again) that you have spent your Christmas time busy, stressed, and somehow still missing the point!?! If so, look no further for a simple, personal, totally achievable way to redeem it all!

Here is my idea: give a Christmas present to Jesus. (I guess in this case it would also be a birthday present.) “How can I give him a present? What does he want?”

Well, if you dare, ask him. Don’t we ask others what they want for Christmas? Ask Jesus to make a wish list of gifts he would like to receive from you. Of course, his first answer is this: “Everything!” Our goal is to give all that we are to our Lord Jesus. “Love the Lord your God with ALL” (Mark 12:30).

But let’s be more specific. Is there any part of your life that you have not surrendered to Jesus? Is there a sin of which you are not free? Is there a character quality God wants to build into your life? I have a feeling these will be on his Christmas list.

“Whoa, this is too deep. I think I’ll return to the mind-numbing busyness and stress of Christmas.” Well, OK, but that is your loss . . . big time! He came to bring us “peace and joy.” Don’t settle for the temporary and empty offerings of this world when you can have deep, untouchable, everlasting peace and joy from God.

Set aside a few minutes this Christmas and ask Jesus what gift he would like to receive from you. While I don’t think many of us will have to wait long for an answer, be patient. Wait on him and listen. Don’t move on until you know what he wants. If you think you don’t have time during Christmas week, don’t worry about it. You’ll have time after, and I have a feeling Jesus will still be taking presents after the holidays are over.

The Lord might put on your heart a sin of which you are not free. Here is what to do: confess your sin to God and receive his forgiveness, repent of your sin and take action on ways to remove it from your life. Confess your sin to a trusted friend and submit to accountability. (These end up being great material for New Year’s resolutions and goals!)

I have a little New Year’s tradition of selecting one or two words that represent my focus for the year. This is one way of giving your gift to Jesus. Set your heart and mind on what God is trying to build into your life.

So, what are my gifts to Jesus this year? Here are my two words for 2015: Self-control and Evangelism. (By the way, my words for 2014 were Intimacy (with Christ) and Finish.) Will you consider giving Jesus a gift this year? What will you give to him?

[PS: Here is another idea: Share this with your family and establish a Christmas tradition of having each person share what he or she is going to give to Jesus.]

How to Be Productive and Reduce Stress (at the same time)

Have you ever been doing something and had the heavy, frustrating feeling that you should be doing something else? Have you ever been talking with someone and wished you were talking with someone else? Not only do I think we all have this experience, I tend to believe many of us spend much of our lives in this state!

Two very costly things happen when we find ourselves often in this situation:

1)         The first cost is STRESS. It is so stressful to feel trapped doing something, when you know or wish you were doing something else. Our minds and bodies put up with a constant tension of trying to be in two places at once. Our mind and hearts are not where we are!

2)        The second cost is UNPRODUCTIVITY. Here are two examples:

I recently heard this statement: “Love is attention.” When someone is talking with you, and his or her heart is not there in the conversation, you can tell! The relationship is not growing and the conversation is not effective. What a waste of time!

Another example is the daily experience we have of trying to accomplish a task that requires attention and thought, and we are continually interrupted. This is frustrating! We lose much time and energy when we have to refocus ourselves on the task. We have to figure out where we were so we can begin again. We lose momentum! What a waste of time.

Paul tells the Ephesians, “Make the best use of the time, for the days are evil” (Eph 5:16 ESV).

One of the major ways we make the best use of time is FOCUS! The reason this is important is that “the days are evil.” There is a spiritual battle taking place and there is much at stake. We cannot afford to waste time!

https://www.canva.com/design/DABAp_18MwE/CHWz-3iDMpx4P0RBrJGynA/view?utm_campaign=designshare&utm_content=DABAp_18MwE&utm_medium=link&utm_source=v1&cc_from_uid=UABAkYuYbPE

One of the keys to giving something your full attention is to be convinced you are doing the right thing. Here is the rest of the verse --->

So, here is what we should do:

1)         Carefully select what you are going to do, making sure it is the best and most important thing at the time to do. Be willing to say no to the many other things that you could do. When you find yourself doing something that is not the Lord’s will or best, STOP.

2)        Give yourself fully to what you are doing. This can be done because you have a conviction that it is the thing you should be doing. Give your whole mind and heart to it.

3)         Relentlessly resist distractions. Now there is the possibility, of course, that an interruption may trump the current activity in urgency and importance. A person who has clearly delineated his priorities and goals will quickly be able to assess whether an interruption should trump the current activity or not. MOST things can wait.

Ahhhhhhh! What peace to know I am doing what is best and give myself to it. And so much can be accomplished when I am focused! Have a peaceful and productive day.

Five Ingredients for a Dynamic Time with God

Bible study and prayer. Most every believer knows they should do it, but . . .

Why is it so hard to stick to it? Why does it seem so dry and unproductive? What am I missing?

I would like to suggest to you five important ingredients for a powerful, intimate, life changing time with God.

  1. Faith - Do you believe this simple promise: "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8a). Or how about this one: "When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you" (Jer 29:13-14). When you meet God, are expecting him to show up? Faith is what pleases God; He responds to faith (Heb 11:6).
     
  2. Heart - The purpose of Bible study and prayer is not to check off our religious boxes. That is why I call it "time with God." I am spending time with someone who loves me. God is not interested in people who "draw near with their mouth . . . while their hearts are far from me" (Isa 29:13-14; see also Psalm 51:16-17).
     
  3. Submission - Many attempt to be a "Christian" without surrendering their lives to Christ. Many try to relate to God on their own terms, with their own agenda. If you are trying to relate to God, but you are still holding on to sin and refusing to give him every part of your life, then you cannot come to him. ALL of you for ALL of him. Those are his terms (James 4:6-10).
     
  4. Choice - A bumper sticker says, "If it feels good, do it." A concise summary of our cultural thinking. We are chained to our feelings. When something is hard and we "don't feel like it," then we don't do it. If we don't "feel" God's presence or "feel" like we had a good prayer time, we get discouraged. Faith is not a feeling, it is a choice. Choose to believe God exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Heb 11:6). Act on that faith; don't worry about your feelings.
     
  5. Steadfastness - How easily we are derailed! How quickly we are discouraged and give up. How often we settle for mediocrity. If I fail a thousand times in my attempt to meet God faithfully, I will not give up. I will never give up! (Heb 12:1-2)

Here is a teaching on spending time with God that includes a discussion of these five points.

Awesome App for Prayer

I recently wrote a post on How to Create a Weekly Prayer List on Your iPhone. I know, I know, I should have known: there's an app for that.

I heard a story on The World and Everything In It news and commentary podcast (which I highly recommend) on the app called PrayerMate. I was skeptical at first. I just failed to see how it could really do more than I had already created. WOW, was I wrong! I have been using it for several weeks now, and I love it!

It has so many great features:

  • add any number of topics, subjects, and notes
  • connect people on your list with your contacts (photos are imported and you can contact them right from the app)
  • set any topic or list to appear as often as you like and PrayerMate puts together a prayer list as often as you want, according to your preferences
  • RSS feeds are available (for example, I subscribe to the Operation World prayer feed)
  • you can also create your own prayer feed others can subscribe to
  • intuitive and easy to use
  • it is FREE

A New Tool for Parents' MOST Important Job

What is THE most important thing you can do as a parent?

Teach your children to follow Jesus.

What is one of THE most important ways to do this? Read the Bible to your children and teach them from it.

There are many wonderful ways to do this. One of the ways we have done this is to gather the whole family into the living room in the evening before bedtime and read the Bible in Stories. The Bible in Stories is a unique, high quality, three-volume set of illustrated Bible stories.

For the first time EVER, the Bible in Stories is for sale online TODAY! They will be available for purchase Nov 6 through Nov 13th. That is only one week to check it out and buy!

If you are interested in learning more, here is how to do it: go to this link and sign up with your email address. You will have FREE immediate access to several valuable items:

  • a set of videos recorded by a good friend of mine who shares the history of Bible in Stories and other tips about keeping our priorities straight and time management.
  • a free download of the C.H. Spurgeon's daily devotional Morning & Evening.
  • a demo video and explanation of the Bible in Stories.

What God Wants from Us the Most

I explained to Dana early on in our friendship that I liked long distance relationships. Yes, I wanted to marry her, but I didn’t really want to live with her. I wanted to marry her, but I didn’t really want to have to talk with her all that much. I wasn’t interested in having to share my stuff or my space or my time.

I think you get my point. What is marriage without relationship? And this is where I want to go with this analogy:

What does it mean to be a Christian, or to be religious, or to believe in God without a RELATIONSHIP with him? It means nothing. Here is the basic principle I want to talk about.

God created us to have a loving relationship with him.

There are vast numbers of passages in Scripture that reveal this to us. The whole Bible, from beginning to end, speaks of relationship to God. From God’s relationship with the Patriarchs, to God’s covenant with Israel and hatred of idolatry, to the sending of his own Son take our punishment and provide forgiveness, to the personal, indwelling presence of God by his Spirit, to the fulfillment of all creation in the marriage supper of the Lamb, uniting Christ and his Bride, the Church.

For now, I will only mention a few specific passages. The most decisive is where Jesus answers this all-important question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Of all the things that God has said he wants us to do, which is the most important? Jesus answers by quoting the Shema (Deut 6:4-6), “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Love. Not mere obedience. Not religious activity. Love. Love is relationship.

Here is another decisive verse that answers the question: “What does God want from us?” Heb 11:6 say, “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Our basic belief in God is that he desires for us to draw close to him and seek to know him. This is relationship.

This is what makes knowing Christ much more than “religion,” if it can be called religion at all. Jesus made it clear that the religious people of his day had no hope without love for God (they even had the “right” religion). Knowing about Christ, believing in the fact of Christ or the gospel, and going to church OFFER NO HOPE FOR SALVATION! “Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19). Faith without works will not save you (James 2:14, 17), and the work of faith begins with drawing near and seeking God (Heb 11:6).

What we believe IS important. Salvation is only in the work of Christ when he satisfied God’s wrath for our sin on the cross. But be sure of this, a person’s faith in Christ’s saving work will result in LOVE.

So, this is the question I leave with you. How is your relationship with God?

Are you close to God? Are you drawing near to him? Are you seeking to know and love him? Have you settled for “religion?” Do you have false hope in your religious service or your mental acceptance of the facts of Christ?