Author: Ragamuffingospelfan

Simplify Christmas

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“Who can add to Christmas? The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son. The only requirement is to believe in Him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life” (Corrie ten Boom).

We make Christmas about so many things and put so much effort into making everything just right and every little decoration perfectly placed. That’s all well and good, but not when it leads to seasonal anxiety.

Christmas is God so loved the world. The only gift that has ever really mattered arrived in Bethlehem, was laid in the straw in a manger, and grew up to be the Savior of the world. All the other gifts ever given are well and good but also nothing if we forget the greatest gift ever given.

I think we need to slow down this Christmas season and savor the gift not under the tree but laying in a manger. We need to spend less times making and checking lists and make a point to bow in humble adoration before the infant King who is the entire point of Christmas.

The absolute greatest gift God has given us is eternal life through knowing that same Jesus, born in Bethlehem so long ago, as Savior and Lord. The absolute greatest gift we can ever give to anyone else is introducing them to this Jesus so that they too can know Him as Savior and Lord.

While I love all the trappings and glitter that come with Christmas, don’t let it be a beautiful bow on a perfectly-wrapped gift box with nothing inside of worth. Let’s make it about Jesus this time and be sure to come and adore Him on bended knee as Christ the Lord.

Overwhelmed with the Goodness of God

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Since my brain has left the building, I’m borrowing from one of my favorite writers, Ann Voskamp. May this bless you as it has blessed me:

“Hey Soul? so you know how there’s that weight that can hang on the edges of you, so you just keep holding your breath, so you just keep forgetting to breathe?

Feel the weight of all that melt like thinning snow in the heat of His words for you right now: “I will bless you.” (Genesis.12)

He will not burden you. He will not break you. He will *bless ­you* —­the God of invincible reliability, the God who has infinite resources, the God who is insistent love. You can always go ahead & ­breathe—­He will bless. You can always breathe when you know all is grace.

And that is exactly the order of grace. . . .

Notice how the personal blessings envelop you first —-

Then you will be a noticeable blessing sent out into the world.

That is the gentle soul-talk for today:

‘I will let myself not be overwhelmed with the season, but be overwhelmed with the goodness of God,

*so I can then overflow with the goodness of God to others.*

I will be experienced as a blessing *by others, to the extent I have slowed down — and counted blessings — and first *experience myself as blessed.*

The greatest gift God graces a soul with is His own presence.

~ excerpt from bit.ly/GreatestGiftforyou

www.TheGreatestChristmas.com“

A December Peanut Update

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In case you’re wondering where Peanut is, look for the lump in the middle of my bedspread. That lump was hibernating. That’s what Peanut does when it gets cold outside. Or hot outside. Or anywhere in between outside. Basically, she loves to be undercover.

I said this about my previous cat Lucy, but I really think that in a 24-hour day, Peanut gets about 23 hours and 45 minutes of good napping in, with margin in her schedule for a good snack or two and possibly a zoomie (if she feels like it).

Right now, she’s zonked out on the back of a chair and inspiring me to do the same very shortly. I don’t know where they came up with the term cat nap, but I think whoever decided that was a good term for a short rest never met an actual cat. Cats take whatever is the opposite of cat naps. They might have cat wakings, brief annoying moments of consciousness in between naps.

I suppose being 8 years old is tiring enough for any feline, but to be cute and cuddly on top of that is too much. It must be exhausting. Hence all the napping and hiding underneath covers. It’s a tough life, but somebody’s gotta do it, right?

The Lines of Your Likeness

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“Oh Lord Jesus, deepen in us our knowledge of you. You have made the first lines of your likeness upon our character; go on with this work of sacred art until we shall be like you in all respects. We wish that we had greater power in private prayer, that we were more often wrestling with the covenant angel. We long for the Word of God to be more sweet to us, more intensely precious—that we had a deeper hunger and thirst after it. Oh, that our knowledge of the truth was more clear and our grip of it more steadfast.

Teach us, oh Lord, to know the reason of the hope that is in us, and to be able to defend the faith against all objections. Plow deep in us, great Lord; and let the roots of your grace strike into the roots of our being, until it shall be no longer I who live, but ‘Christ who lives in me Amen’” (Charles Spurgeon).

I love that imagery. God is chiseling away at His child. With each hammer blow, a little bit of me falls away and more and more of His own likeness remains. What must seem like chaos to the created is simply creation to the One who made us.

The end result is “no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” That means less and less selfishness and petty anger and more and more love, joy, peace, patience, and all the other fruit of the Spirit. The less of me saying and doing what I don’t really want and not doing and saying what I truly desire, and the more I find the life of Christ within me taking root and taking over.

Lord, help Your children to endure patiently as You chisel away all that does not look like You or reflect Your glory. Remind us of the finished product that we are becoming that is worth whatever painful blows and patient waiting we endure. In the morning, You will see Your likeness in us and be satisfied. Amen.

A Good Advent Prayer

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“Dear God,
Speak gently in my silence.
When the loud outer noises of my surroundings
and the loud inner noises of my fears
keep pulling me away from you,
help me to trust that you are still there
even when I am unable to hear you.
Give me ears to listen to your small, soft voice saying:
“Come to me, you who are overburdened,
and I will give you rest…
for I am gentle and humble of heart.”
Let that loving voice be my guide.
Amen.” (Henri Nouwen)

Those loud outer noises really crank up around this time. Buy this, buy that. max out your credit card to show your family and friend how much you love them. The more you spend, the better the gift.

The loud inner noises have a way of showing up at this time as well. You’ve got to make this season perfect or you’re not really celebrating the season right. You’re probably already screwing it up and it’s not even Christmas yet.

But that still, soft voice still speaks. If you lean close to the manger, you can hear the voice that arrived in the form of an infant saying, “For you, I came. For those just like you, I gave up a throne for a manger, a crown for a cross, royalty for servanthood. I did it all for you.”

Jesus didn’t come to affirm those who are well. He came for the sick to make them well. He came to seek and to save the lost, leaving the 99 to find the one. That’s you. That’s me.

That’s the same voice that says, “Come to me, all who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest.”

That’s the voice that says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

That’s the voice of Him who will come again in triumph over all those loud voices that try to lead you astray. One day, those voices will all be silenced forever, but the still, small voice will be the voice that says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18, ESV).

Finding the Blessing

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Tonight as usual, I served at Room in the Inn at Brentwood Baptist Church. We hosted 24 homeless men, all of whom were thankful to be out of the cold and the rain on the first Monday night in December.

Later, as we were getting ready to start our Bible study, I overheard one of the men say that he had spent the better part of last week attempting to sleep in a port-a-potty. That broke my heart. It also made me realize how blessed I am to have a bed and a roof, two things that I have been known to take for granted.

The old adage goes that the man with worn out shoes might not feel blessed, but to the man with no shoes, he is. And the man with no shoes is blessed in comparison to the man with no feet.

Obviously, the point is not comparison. I’m no better than anyone else because I sleep in a bed. I suppose that the takeaway is that all of us are blessed. It’s only when we stop the competition and the entitlement mentality that we realize what we have that so many others don’t.

Above all, I recall how the King of heaven gave it all up to be born to two peasants in a backwater Bethlehem village. I remember how this Son of God lowered Himself to being a slave so that we who have been enslaved to sin might be set free. I see Him on the cross willingly giving up His own life that I might live and have that life abundant.

Then who am I to complain? Who am I to think that my life would only be better if I had more possessions or money or power or fame? Is not what I have enough? Didn’t God give to me and all believers eternal life and everything needed for godliness?

That man who slept in the port-a-potty could have been bitter. But he chose to see himself as blessed because of God’s love for him. I think we’d all do well to remember how blessed we are at every moment we draw in a breath because of God’s grace.

1st Sunday in Advent

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“Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”

I sometimes forget that Advent is not a season only for looking back to the incarnation but also looking forward to the second coming. The first time, Jesus came meek and lowly as an infant. The second time, He will come as a conquering King. No one will miss His arrival this time.

The older I get and the more I see of this crazy world, the more ready I am for Jesus to come back. Lord, we have lost our minds down here. It’s getting nuttier by the minute. I find myself uttering the phrase “make it make sense” so often these days.

But one day it will all make sense. One day it will all be made right. One day, I will finally be able to ask all the questions I’ve been saving up. Only they won’t matter anymore. All the questions I ever had will die on my lips when I see the King of glory coming with the clouds. I won’t need to ask any more questions because I will be looking at the Answer to all of them.

But in the meantime, we wait. We wait with expectant hope. Not a wishful thinking, pie in the sky kind of hope, but a confident, sure thing kind of hope. It’s so certain that we can speak of it as if it’s already happened. Like the Kingdom of God being now and not yet.

I’m thankful that while I didn’t grow up celebrating Advent, I’ve discovered it and grown to love it later in life. All the waiting and counting down makes Christmas so much more meaningful. Plus, I get those extra 12 days to make it last even longer (although technically, the 12 days aren’t really a part of Advent).

Lord, give us grace to wait well this Advent season, knowing that our waiting is never in vain and our hope in You is never wasted. Amen.

Re-Reading the Psalms

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“God remembered us when we were down,
His love never quits.
Rescued us from the trampling boot,
His love never quits.
Takes care of everyone in time of need.
His love never quits.
Thank God, who did it all!
His love never quits!” (Psalm 136:23-26).

I started a new thing recently. I’m reading through a little book called David’s Crown: Sounding the Psalms by Malcolm Guite, followed immediately by The Book of Psalms by Eugene Peterson. The first one is Malcom Guite, an Anglican priest, songwriter, and poet setting the Psalms into sonnet form. The second is pretty much what it sounds like — the Psalms rendered by Eugene Peterson as part of his The Message translation (or paraphrase if you’re picky).

Both are giving me a greater appreciation for those Psalms and a little different perspective on some familiar texts. I love in Guite’s book the last line in a psalm is always the first line in the next. Peterson’s translations are sometimes a bit loose with the renderings but when he gets it right, he really gets it right.

I think we forget that the Psalms were the original prayer book and hymnal of God’s people. As much as I firmly hold them up as inspired and inerrant, I also believe they record real emotions and real pleadings from a real person at real moments in time. That’s why they speak to so many even today. They’re sometimes raw, sometimes vulnerable, but always real and always Godward.

I imagine both are available from Amazon, but I’d recommend going through rabbitroom.com for the Malcolm Guite book. It’s one way of supporting a fantastic local non-profit organization that’s keeping artistry and integrity alive in the world of Christian music and media. But above all, pick a good translation and just read through the Psalms again.

Christmas Trees and Community

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Today, we put up the Family Christmas Tree. It’s an annual post-Thanksgiving tradition going back as far as I can remember. I have a feeling quite a few of those ornaments on the tree go back that far.

Some of those ornaments have seen better days. Some probably should have been retired a long time ago. Some are barely held together and look like they were assembled for a 4-year old’s craft project. Some probably were.

But when you put them all together on the tree with all the lights and tinsel, they look glorious.

That’s the same with God’s people. A lot of us look beat up and bedraggled. Some definitely have seen our better days. From a worldly perspective, many of us probably should have been retired or given up on a long time ago.

Yet something equally glorious happens when we gather together for one purpose as God’s people. Suddenly, we’re beautiful. For then we reflect the image and glory of our God and Lord and Head, Jesus Christ. In fact, we’re much stronger together than we ever could be separately. Truly, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts because the glue that holds us together is the Holy Spirit of God.

That’s how the Church of God is supposed to look. Everyone has a part. Everyone has a purpose. Everyone belongs. Everyone know that it’s not about them but about serving Jesus not just within the church walls but everywhere we go under the banner of the people and family of God.

I guess that’s why I like the old family Christmas tree so much. If all the broken and bedraggled ornaments can have a place, then so can I.

We Give Thanks

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“Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so
freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and
sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,
revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and
our friends,
We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering
and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and
promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the
Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen”

For family present and sitting around the table,
and for the food in front of us
We give thanks.

For those no longer present physically,
but who have preceded us to glory
and live on here in our hearts
We give thanks.

For the promise of eternal life now and yet to come
And Your presence here with us from now until then
We give thanks.

For every one of Your promises being YES and AMEN
and for You being more than enough for us
We give thanks and praise, now and evermore. Amen.