life

On the Second Day of Christmas

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For some of us, we’re already counting down the days until Christmas 2026. it’s 364 days, FYI.

But for a select few, we’re prepping for those two turtle doves because it’s the second day of Christmas, culminating on the epic finale on January 6, also known as Day of the Epiphany. Also, it’s socially acceptable these days to leave your Christmas decorations up through the month of January.

But for me, my plan is to continue to listen to Christmas records and watch Christmas movies for as long as the spirit allows. I will probably run out of records before the movie stash runs out, so then I may switch over to ye olden CD player for a bit.

I love the idea of stretching Christmas out over 12 days. Back then, people opened one present a day and made the feasting last for almost two weeks. I’m not sure my waistline could handle all that, but I’m willing to try if anyone else is.

Above all, celebrating the arrival of Emmanuel should be delegated to one 24-hour period. It should be a year round event (so I’m really not going to be upset if you leave your outside Christmas lights up all year). That one single event changed the course of human history forever.

Now we have a hope. Now we have a future. Now whoever believes in Jesus doesn’t have to be lost forever but can have everlasting eternal life. And it all began when God so loved the world that He gave.

One day, I’d love to have a house where I have a room dedicated solely to Christmas 24/7/365. I’d push the Christmas tree into my Christmas room with all the other decorations. Whenever I needed a little Christmas fix, I could just go into that room. Or I’d even be happy with a Christmas closet.

But in the meantime, I can rejoice and celebrate that because of Jesus, we can be forgiven and set free. We can know the One who made us and loves us and died for us. We can have the full and abundant life not just in the heavenly hereafter but here and now. Jesus is here.

If I Win the Lottery . . .

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If I win the lottery, I won’t go around posting it all over social media. But there would be signs. Just perhaps a modest little cabin in the woods, right?

Truthfully, I do fantasize about owning a home like this. Even though the chances of me living here are about the same as me winning the lottery (or me getting struck by lightning), it’s still fun to picture myself in my red plaid robe walking down those front steps (that are hopefully not iced over like in the picture).

But then I remember Jesus said that in His Father’s house are many rooms, although I prefer the old King Jimmy version that calls them mansions. Whatever I can conjure up in my mind as being over the top ornate and opulent, heaven will be better. It will be a thousand times more incredible than any episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with all its champagne wishes and caviar dreams.

But the best part of all won’t be the streets of gold or all the gates with precious stones. It will be seeing Jesus there. The joy of every longing heart will be made sight and the hope of the world will wipe away every tear from our eyes in a place where there is no more need for grieving.

That’s what I look forward to more than anything else. I long for no more bad news. I long for no more reports of murder and bloodshed and war and hatred and unrest. I long for when the lion can lie down with the lamb in peace and safety.

But if it’s God’s will for me to live in the cabin pictured above, I’d do my best to suffer through it for the Lord and put on my best face in the attempt. One can dream, can’t one?

Cheekwood 2025

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Apparently when I was little I had an obsession with lights. As in one of the first words I ever spoke was “light.” According to local sources, i.e. my mom, I used to go into peoples’ homes uninvited and turn on all their lights. I was a bit odd as a kid.

So you’d understand why I love my annual trek to Cheekwood Estate & Gardens earlier today. It had all the festive lights I could ever hope for. It was festive. You might even say that it was joyful AND triumphant.

I have a few Christmas traditions centered around lights. For some reason, I’m drawn to lights still. Maybe it’s because that the moment a light switches on, the darkness vanishes. Instantly. Darkness cannot abide where light is present.

Jesus called Himself the light of the world. That’s because with Jesus, suddenly you see where you’re going. You’re not wandering around in confusion and darkness anymore. He has come to be the beacon of hope and to show us the way home.

Christmas is all about how the light came into the world and the world didn’t understand or receive it. They rejected it because they preferred the dark because their deeds were evil. But to those who understood, who “got it,” He made them sons and daughters of the living God. No more hopelessly lost in the dark with no way out, we have a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.

I’m thankful every single day that Jesus helps me understand God, the world, others, and myself better. Every day, I’m growing and learning more about who God made me to be and how to fulfill His purposes for me. One day, I and all those who are sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ will be complete and mature.

In the meantime, we have that same light that first entered the world on Christmas morning. It’s our job to let that light shine through us so that others can find their way to God through the same Christ who is God made flesh.

Lord, help each and every one of Your children always be ready to give an answer for the hope and light that we have because of You. May we be disciples who make disciples, and may our legacy be those who will be in heaven because we shared the gift of Your light with others. Amen.

A Beautiful Prayer by Gregory of Nyssa

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“You have released us, O Lord, from the fear of death. You have made the end of life here on earth a beginning of true life for us. You let our bodies rest in sleep in due season and you awaken them again at the sound of the last trumpet. You entrust to the earth our bodies of earth which you fashioned with your own hands and you restore again what you have given, transforming with incorruptibility and grace what is mortal and deformed in us. You redeemed us from the curse and from sin, having become both on our behalf. You have crushed the heads of the serpent who had seized man in his jaws because of the abyss of our disobedience. You have opened up for us a path to the resurrection, having broken down the gates of hell and reduced to impotence the one who had power over deaths. You have given to those who fear you a visible token, the sign of the holy cross, for the destruction of the Adversary and for the protection of our life.

God eternal, Upon whom I have cast myself from my mother’s womb, Whom my soul has loved with all its strength, To whom I have consecrated flesh and soul from my infancy up to this moment, Put down beside me a shining angel to lead me by the hand to the place of refreshment where is the water of repose near the lap of the holy fathers. You who have cut through the flame of the fiery sword and brought to paradise the man who was crucified with you, who entreated your pity, remember me also in your kingdom, for I too have been crucified with you, for I have nailed my flesh out of reverence for you and have feared your judgements. Let not eh dreadful abyss separate me from your chosen ones. Let not the Slanderer stand against me on my journey. Let no my sin be discovered before your eyes if I have been overcome in any way because of our nature’s weakness and have sinned in word or deed or thought. You who have on earth the power to forgive sins, forgive me, so that I may draw breath again and may be found before you in the stripping off of my body without strain or blemish in the beauty of my soul, but may my soul be received blameless and immaculate into your hands as an incense offering before your face.”

Flat Tires and Small Graces

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I’ve had a bit of time to think this one over, and I really do believe it was an answer to prayer. It started off when I was pumping gas into my Jeep. I just happened to look over and notice one of my tires was extremely low. I managed to put some air in it and drive it to a nearby tire store to see if there was some kind of leak or nail in the tire.

They told me I needed new tires. I was able to talk them into installing my full-size spare. But the only problem with that is that the spare had a lock that required a key that I didn’t have.

So I drove over to the Jeep dealership in Franklin. Not only were they able to remove the lug-nut with the lock from my spare tire, but they were able to patch my tire instead of having to replace it.

I’d like to be able to say all this was in answer to a prayer of faith, but I honestly can’t remember if I prayed about it or not. I believe that God through the Holy Spirit can sometimes answer prayers that we haven’t figured out how to ask yet. He can interpret the sighs and groans of our hearts that are too deep for words.

I think He knew that I wasn’t in a position to be able to afford four new tires at that particular moment. I also know that it wasn’t a case of me being super spiritual or extra faithful. It was simply a case of God’s grace, period.

Maybe He did it to increase my faith. Maybe He did it to remind me that He hasn’t forgotten me. Either way, I’m thankful for the grace I’ve seen in my life every single day, whether I recognize or acknowledge it or not.

I suspect I will be getting new tired some time sooner rather than later, but I also know that God will provide for my need when that time comes as He has provided for me in every case up until now. God is faithful, God is good, I am blessed.

The Glorious Impossible

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“He by whom all time was made became Man in time; that He, in His eternity more ancient than the world, became inferior in age to many of His servants in the world; that He who made man became Man; that He was formed in the Mother whom He Himself formed, carried in the hands which He made, nourished at the breasts which He filled; that, in the manger in mute infancy, He the Word without whom all human eloquence is mute wailed?” (St Augustine of Hippo).

Somewhere out there on the interwebs is a much longer version of this homily. It goes into greater detail about how the creator of man became a man and He who formed life was born and died so that we could be made alive.

This begins to touch on what God did for us. He showed us through His incarnation that truly nothing is impossible to the one who believes. Christmas is proof that no darkness is too dark for light to overcome.

Philippians 2 says it best:

“In other words, adopt the mind-set of Jesus the Anointed. Live with His attitude in your hearts. Remember:

Though He was in the form of God,
    He chose not to cling to equality with God;
But He poured Himself out to fill a vessel brand new;
    a servant in form
    and a man indeed.
The very likeness of humanity,
He humbled Himself,
    obedient to death—
    a merciless death on the cross!
So God raised Him up to the highest place
    and gave Him the name above all.
So when His name is called,
    every knee will bow,
    in heaven, on earth, and below.
And every tongue will confess
    ‘Jesus, the Anointed One, is Lord,’
    to the glory of God our Father!” (Philippians 2:5-11, The Voice).

Never Too Late

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“It makes me smile to think there’s a grinning thief walking the golden streets of heaven who knows more about grace than a thousand theologians. No one else would have given the thief on the cross a prayer. But in the end, that is all he had. And in the end, that’s all it took” (Max Lucado).

We speak a lot about salvation by grace through faith alone, but then turn around and talk like it was something to be earned or deserved. Have you ever heard anyone say something along the lines of, “Well, if anyone deserves to be in heaven, it’s . . .” followed by someone who has recently passed away.

But that’s just it. No one deserves to be in heaven. That’s why it’s called grace. We didn’t get what we deserve. I will never side with karma, because I know if I got what I deserved, it wouldn’t be heaven or anything close to it.

I remember Alistair Begg’s illustration about the thief on the cross. He pictures the angels in heaven questioning the man who had been crucified next to Jesus immediately after he arrives in heaven. They ask him all kinds of questions like “Do you know what justification by faith means?” and “Do you understand the doctrine of Scripture?” to which the man gives a blank stare.

Finally, an angel asks him, “On what basis are you here?”

The man says, “Because the man on the middle cross said I could come.”

That never fails to move me. If anyone is a case study for salvation by grace through faith alone and not by works, it’s this guy. He was a sinner right up until moments before he died. He never had time to get down off the cross and attend a Bible study or get baptized or take communion or join a church. We only have his one request to Jesus: “Remember me when you come into Your kingdom.”

That’s it. In that very moment, Jesus told him that he would be in the same Paradise as Jesus. In the moment the man died, he was instantly in the presence of Jesus and forever and fully justified, sanctified, and glorified.

That means it’s never too late for anyone reading these words to turn to Jesus for salvation. It’s never too late to recognize that you are like the rest of us and have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It’s never too late to admit that you’re a sinner, repent of those sins, believe with your heart that Jesus died for those sins and rose again, and confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

If you believe that and want to pray these words, you can be saved. Not because of saying words or praying to God but by grace through faith. Here’s the prayer:

“Thank you, God, for loving me, and for sending your Son to die for my sins. I sincerely repent of my sins, and receive Christ as my personal savior. Now, as your child, I turn my entire life over to you. Amen” (from At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon).

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.