Isaiah 56:9-12

Isaiah 56:9-12
English Standard Version (ESV)

 Isaiah is writing to two types of people here in chapter 56.  The first, previously discussed, are the forlorn and hopeless, those who have been cast aside by society.  God is actively gathering them up and restoring their hope through his mercy, grace and power.  The second is mentioned here -- these are the leaders who see their position as an opportunity to enrich themselves, who put their hope in their own riches and power, who have no need for a Savior because they do not see their situation as one from which they need saving.
  It's a vital distinction in how we view ourselves.  Are we doing pretty good, but would appreciate God's help in a few manners?  Or do we recognize our true situation -- our sins have separated us from God, and without his intervention in the person of Jesus Christ, who atoned for his sins through his death on the cross, we are hopeless to approach the throne of grace.
  But, because we have received grace upon grace, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence -- our sins are gone, we are free, not by our own hand but through the love and wonder of Christ.
  If we rely upon ourselves, we will discover (hopefully not too late) that the situation is more grim than we had imagined.
  If we rely upon God, we will discover that our hope in him is more wondrous than we might have thought.

Isaiah 56:1-8

Isaiah 56:1-8
English Standard Version (ESV)

 If you have a child, you want them to succeed, partially for their own sake, and partially for the sake of bringing honor to your name.  You hope that when they interact with others, they will be polite and respectful and reflect well on their upbringing.  You hope that others will notice their good manners and think well of you.
  When you go out into the world, do you try and do everything in such a way that it will reflect well on God?  Here, the Lord is teaching us to live in such a way that communicates our faith.  Our daily choices shape our lives, and our lives can either honor God or not.  We can take a step closer to the Kingdom of God, or we can selfishly choose our own ways.  Every day, there are hundreds of small choices we make -- so often we make them mindlessly, getting absorbed in the task before us and forgetting our greater purpose.  God is reminding us here that we are to live with a mindfulness, to go out with mission and purpose and think about how we are going to build our lives towards the joyful noise we will make in the Kingdom of God.  Will you choose to honor God through your life, or will you lose yourself in something else, forgetting that today is an opportunity to point to God and his greater and eternal glory?

Isaiah 55:12-13

Isaiah 55:12-13
English Standard Version (ESV) 

 Imagine planting an apple tree, and instead a blueberry bush rises up in its place.  Let's say you sow a field of wheat, and instead corn grows up.  You'd be surprised and curious, but you'd at least still have productive crops.
  Here, Isaiah is telling us that where thorns and weeds have been planted, trees have arisen.  What once might have been plucked from the ground is replaced by trees that provide shade and beauty.  What might have not been valued is replaced with something of value.
  The reversals of God are even greater for us.  We have sown death through our sin, but instead of death growing and taking our lives, life has replaced it.  God has done the miraculous and given us life where there was once death.  God has granted joy and freedom where sorrow might have dominated the landscape.  We are blessed with a God of infinite freedom who takes what is often our worst and turns it into something useful, building his kingdom using our broken and redeemed lives!!!

Isaiah 55:5-11

Isaiah 55:5-11
English Standard Version (ESV)

 If someone wrongs me over and over again, eventually I'm going to grow tired of this and stop spending time around this person, stop trusting them, stop giving them second chances.  Eventually, I'll grow weary of their trespasses and cut them out of my life.
  God, however, has ways different than our own.  He is ready to abundantly pardon, and he is to allow our faithlessness to deny his purpose forever.  While our sin may separate us from God, God pursues us with such a love as to close the gap between us through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ.  His Word goes out into the world, and the Word returns, having accomplished his intent -- the gathering of his people back into his grace.  God has not grown weary of forgiving us -- but pours out forgiveness and grace, year after year, so that we might recognize that true refreshment, true satisfaction, comes from him alone.
  His thoughts are not our thoughts, his ways are not our ways - and we should rejoice for this, for we cannot grasp the depth of his riches of his love.  We have a wondrous Savior, come to us, Emmanuel.  May we worship and rejoice at the continual forgiveness that gushes forth from the throne of grace.

Isaiah 55:1-4

Isaiah 55:1-4
English Standard Version (ESV)

 This is the message of Christmas -- we who have not labored are given the greatest reward.  We work so hard to obtain riches, not realizing that they cannot buy the things our souls truly want -- instead we fill our appetites with that which does not satisfy, all the while God is inviting us to come and participate in his economy, one that does not cost us what we do not have -- we come and buy on his terms, where the richest foods and the best treasures are free.  This is what our souls are longing for.  This is what our appetites point us to, but we settle for less, because we convince ourselves that these are what will buy our peace, when true peace has been bought through the blood of the lamb.
  Our Father loves us, and he invites us to listen to a greater truth, one that says that you are infinitely loved and defined by the grace and peace of Jesus.  When this peace rules in our hearts, then (and only then) will we find the ultimate rest that exists in Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 54:9-17

Isaiah 54:9-17
English Standard Version (ESV) 

 Did you ever get so mad that you just didn't want to talk to someone for a while?  Maybe you couldn't even stand to see them -- you just needed to be far away from them.  So you left your distance, and after a while time healed those wounds, although you still needed some soothing before the relationship could be repaired.
  We've given God every reason to be mad at us, to flee from us and never come back... and yet God rushes back to us, time after time, to offer us healing and peace.  God's steadfast love is eternal, and we cannot flee from it -- when we reject it, it pursues us still, to the ends of the earth and beyond.
  So revel in the peace of God, but also ponder how you can reflect this in your life.  Do you love like this?  I tend to keep score, to store up the little hurts I get over the years.  God forgives, once and again and again.  I pray to be the kind of person with a gentle soul that is willing to extend grace in every circumstance.

Isaiah 54:4-8

Isaiah 54:4-8 
English Standard Version

  Sometimes, our kids can be less than angels.  They might hit each other, or just be selfish or stubborn or obstinate.  It's frustrating, and there are times when Rachel and I are probably less than patient and gracious parents.  However, though there are times when it is harder to love them than other times, we continue to love them through it, and there are more moments of love and delight than there are of discipline.
  God's love is amazing.  Our sin and selfishness certainly angers God -- it is our rejection of him in favor of another.  However, that sin is poured out upon Christ, and in return we receive eternal favor in God.  His anger has passed, and now his love and delight are born anew each morning.
  So live not in fear of your past, in worry of God's anger.  Live rather in the delight of your eternal Father whose anger has passed and whose love now runs over.

Isaiah 54:1-3

Isaiah 54:1-3
English Standard Version (ESV)

  This brings up one of the themes of the Bible -- receiving that for which we did not labor.  Here we have a barren one who will soon have their habitations spread out, whose offspring will populate desolate cities.  In theory, the barren one should not leave such a legacy, but God somehow brings life where there was once only death.
  It's the same theme we see in Christ's atoning death and resurrection.  Christ died to gain atonement for our sins, and through his perfect sacrifice, we were granted peace and forgiveness.  It's not what we did, but rather what Christ did.
  It's God's economy -- it's very different than the global marketplace, right?  We get that for which we did not labor.  We receive what we don't deserve.  God is at work, and we don't have to earn -- we just have to accept.  You come to the throne of grace not by your merit, but by grace.
  As we enter the week of Christmas, as Mary and Joseph wander toward Bethlehem, may we make our own pilgrimage of the heart, going to that place where we are blessed beyond measure by a generous God who loves without condition and delights in you because you are his child.  His love is wild and free, and it roams as the Spirit does, settling into the heart and transforming our lives.  May the star lead us forward.

Isaiah 53:7-12

Isaiah 53:7-12
English Standard Version (ESV)

    I have such a narrow view of things in the world.  When I read the news, I usually skim over the things that don't apply to me.  Whenever new information is presented, I'm trying to determine how it effects me, what change it will have on my life.  My mind is constantly racing to put me in the middle of everything.
  And so when I look at what Christ has done on the cross, there's a part of me that naturally makes it all about what Christ has done for me.  Sadly, I forget that it doesn't end there -- while Christ has done amazing things for me, he has also absorbed the sin of all of humanity as well, making it possible for us all to be redeemed, to live in peace with God.  It's not just my sins that found atonement on Calvary -- it's the sin of all of humanity, for all of time, that fell weighty upon his back, that pierced his hands and feet and side, that rolled the stone before the tomb and thought the story was over.
  And so it's about me, but it's not just about me.  It's our collective story, one narrative about a God who loves his people and is willing to give anything to save us from our own sin.  I am part of a much bigger whole.

Isaiah 53:1-6

Isaiah 53:1-6
English Standard Version (ESV)

  The man we dismissed as trash turned out to be the greatest treasure of all.  He didn't act like a Messiah, and he didn't look like a Messiah, so we heaped scorn upon him, unaware that it would all be redeemed through his sacrifice on the cross.
  Drawing near to Christmas, it's important to dwell on the reality of Immanuel, God with us.  God left Heaven to dwell among us, not to drive us to shame, but to welcome us to a place of grace.  God's great love meant he was willing to endure scorn and shame and hatred, because through the valley of the shadow of death there was light and life on the other side.
  God endured pain, pierced for our transgressions, and in return you have life, eternal and free.
  May we live by that truth.

2 John 1:4-13

2 John 4-13
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 What does love mean to you?  If I told you to love someone, what would you do?  If you wanted to fall in love with someone, how would you act?  It would change your behavior, right?
  You are infinitely loved, more than you can ask or imagine.  I think one day, when we fall before the face of God in worship, we will suddenly realize how vastly we underestimated the love of God while we were alive.  I don't think our minds can fathom it, and I don't think we invest heavily enough in trying to grasp and communicate how deep and how wide and how great God's love is.  The reality of his unconditional love should change us.  It should settle into our hearts and unsettle all the other loves that compete for our hearts.  We should be repulsed at the false gods that pull us from his love, and we should despise the lies that focus on on competing interests that downplay the centrality of Christ's love.
  There is always more to say about God's love -- we can never reach the end.  My prayer for you is that you know the reality of Christ's love and that it is constantly leading you into the deeper waters of discipleship, so that we might lead one another into more faithful discipleship.

2 John 1:1-3

2 John1:1-3 
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  I was listening to someone talk about the millennial culture once, and they described them as skeptical since the entire generation has been bombarded by advertising since the day they were born -- so they've grown a serious distrust for whatever is told them, because they assume they are just being sold something.  As a result, many start to distrust the larger narratives that hold our society together.  (It's not just true of millennials, I think, but that was the focus of the talk).  The salesmanship of the few leads to a mistrust of the many.
  This happens in the church, right?  People have experience with a Christian of less than ideal integrity or they hear of the latest church scandal or maybe they just feel like they're being sold something, and so they tune out, certain that the whole is like that portion of it.
  In light of that, I am grateful for the way 2 John starts.  He writes from love, and he writes because of love.  He has been loved by the Father, and now he loves others because of it, and everyone else who is with him loves them, too, because they have been loved by the Father.  There's no salesmanship -- just genuine love, born of a greater love than can be imagined.  God loves you, and so you love others.
  If we could all learn to love with such unconditional love, the world would be a better place.  You and I probably jump to all the reasons that it wouldn't happen, but wouldn't it be great if the church, if the members of the church, if you and could just love people selflessly for one day?  What if that was today?  What would that look like?

1 John 5:18-21

1 John 5:18-21
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 I can't help but be stopped sometimes and wonder how dramatically different my life is from the life of someone in Syria.  I'll be driving along or stretched out on the couch and it'll suddenly occur to me that someone three years ago had a life like mine, and now Aleppo is a bombed-out ghost town and so many people have fled with the clothes on their backs, if they are lucky.  And for what, I wonder?
  We don't have to look far to see the presence of evil in our lives.  The devil is at work, and he is ripping at our society, both in large & violent actions and in the every day neglect we often inflict upon one another.  He works in scandals large and in the shredding of every relationship that falls apart through bitter words and addictive behaviors.  The devil is at work.
  Peter tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from us.  Jesus shows us that love conquers the devil's power.  John's vision in Revelation reminds us of the fate of evil, but we still deal with it in the here and now.  We cannot escape it, we can only close our eyes, breathe deeply, and remember that NOTHING can separate you from the love of God, and that this world will one day be redeemed by the awesome power of God.

1 John 5:13-17

1 John 5:13-17
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 Prayer is kind of a wild thing -- we pray when we are hurting and in need, we pray when we are joyful and thankful, we pray when we recognize our sin and pray for God's healing in our lives.  We pour out our souls to God, and yet it often feels so one-way -- we wonder if anything happens when we pray.

  Scripture assures us that God hears our prayers, that God cares about our prayers, that our prayers have power.  Scripture assures us that prayer isn't simply shouting into the void, but it's one half of a conversation between our souls and the divine, and that prayer has the capacity to heal you in a way nothing else can.
  So let us take our prayers seriously, and may we listen as much as we talk, and may the grace of God wash you anew today.

1 John 5:6-12

1 John 5:6-12
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  At Christmas, we talk a lot about gifts.  We spend hours debating what to get people, and then even more hours in the store or online searching for that perfect gift.  If we really think about it (and I often don't), we're trying to come up with some way to communicate what someone means to us.  We want them to find delight in our gift, but we also want them to know how important the relationship is to us.  We want them to see that gift as a symbol, as a token of our love.  The more meaningful the gift, the more clear it is how much we value the person.  I'd imagine you spend more time debating what to give your best friend or loved ones than you do the mailman.
  And so look at the gift of Christ -- God's own Son, given to us, that we may receive eternal life.  This is all a gift -- both the sacrifice of Christ and the gift of eternal life.  Think how meaningful these are.  Now recognize how amazing the love of God must be, how much he must value you, to give you such gifts.  May we receive them with delight, and count ourselves as treasured by God.

1 John 5:1-5

1 John 5:1-5
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 I always thought it would be cool to have one of those no-limit credit cards, especially one where someone else was paying the bills.  Imagine feeling like you could buy anything -- want to buy everyone in the world an ice cream cone?  Done.  Want a yacht?  Put it on the card.  It'd be fun, right?  You'd have complete confidence that you could buy anything.
  Jesus is trying to teach us to have that kind of confidence in God.  If we truly believe that all things are possible through faith, we are joining our lives with God's eternal and overwhelming victory.  We are a part of the greatest conquering force in the world, one that does so through the power of selfless love, and we shall celebrate this victory forever.  All of this is made possible through faith in Christ.
  What kind of confidence do you have?  Do you believe you are part of defeating the world?  Our faith gives us victory!

1 John 4:13-21

1 John 4:13-21
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  Let's say you're walking down the street today and someone comes up to you and asks you to summarize the entire teachings of the Bible.  You'd be stuck trying to think of how best to sum it all up, right?  You'd want to try and capture all the important teachings, and you likely would be concerned about leaving something important out.  It's hard, especially considering how esoteric some of the things in the Bible are.  It's hard for adults who have lived with the Bible their entire lives to grasp some of the concepts.
  At the heart of the story, however, it can be so simple.  I think we tend to complicate it somewhat just because we have a hard time grasping that it really is so simple -- God has loved us eternally and unconditionally, and when we rejected God to his face, he loved us anyway.  He loved us when we didn't deserve it, and he promised that such love would always be with us, into the depths of eternity.  That's the Gospel story, and if we as the church could figure out how to live that out each and every day rather than arguing about some of the things we argue about, I bet a lot of people would be very interested in learning more about God and his undying love.
  So who and how will you love today?

1 John 4:7-12

1 John 4:7-12
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 God has loved you with an everlasting love.  Nothing will ever separate you from it, and God will love you eternally.  The love of God is fiercer than you can imagine, and it will shelter with you in the boldest storms of your life.  It celebrates with you on the mountaintops and mourns with you in the valleys.  God loves you, not because you are worthy, but because he is worthy and merciful and gracious and kind.
  So, therefore, how will you live?
  Will you hoard that love, keeping it to yourself?
  Or will you share it, inviting others to know, treasure and share that same love, to be transformed by unconditional love that heals old wounds and changes eternal destinies?  Will you be a conduit of God's love?

1 John 4:1-6

1 John 4:1-6
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 Know what's a great feeling when you're a kid?  If someone threatens you and another person sticks up for you, someone more powerful than you, you feel pretty good to have that person on your side.  Or maybe your boss at work stands up for you in a meeting -feels good, right?
  Well, in reality, whenever you go into the world, the Spirit of the living God, the same spirit that moved over the waters in the beginning of time and created the entire world, that Spirit goes with you whenever you act or speak.  That same Spirit is with you, and if you trust in the Spirit, it will lead you forward  So no matter what threatens you, you need not be afraid, because the Spirit of the Living God is with you always.  Listen to God -- don't let the other voices in the world lead you to a place of fear.  God is with you!!!