We know that prayer is essential in the Kingdom of God. John Wesley went as far as to say that God does nothing except in response to his people’s prayers. I won’t say that God does nothing without our prayers but I do agree that, perhaps, even the majority of things he wants to do will go undone if we do not ask.

Notice Paul’s emphasis on prayer in his letter to the Ephesian church. As he is closing out his section on the armor of God and spiritual warfare he writes, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Eph.6:18-20),

In just a few verses, Paul requests prayers four times. He instructs them to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers. He asks them to continually pray for the saints (other believers) and he asks them twice to pray for him that he might declare the gospel fearlessly. Paul must have prayed for “fearlessness” on a daily basis but he thought it necessary to add the prayers of the church to his own as if his own prayers were not enough. We could add dozens of other scriptures in the New Testament that implore us to pray without ceasing because, other than faith, it is the most essential thing we can do.

But I will also say, as essential as prayer is, there are still some mysteries associated with it. If God already knows our thoughts before we ask, then why do we need to ask? If we pray once about an issue with fervency, then why do we need to keep praying since we have already lifted that issue up to God and he knows our heart about it? Why are some prayers answered overnight while others take years?

I’m not certain but I do have some thoughts. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul spoke of strongholds of the enemy (2 Cor. 10:4). In Ephesians, Paul warns the church not to give the devil a foothold (Eph.4:27). In the book of Revelation, Jesus referred to Pergamum as a place where Satan had a throne (Rev. 2:13). In his letter to Ephesus, Paul declared that our battles are not “against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph.6:12). In the Book of Daniel, we are shown that powerful angels fight in the spiritual realm against powerful demons who oppose God’s will (see Daniel 10:12-13).

In these verses, it is apparent that there are footholds, strongholds, and varying levels of power and authority in the spiritual realm that push back against the will and purposes of God on earth. It is possible that the greater the power opposing God’s will, as expressed in our prayers, the more intense and prolonged our prayers will need to be to break through the opposition. There are some things that God will do for us, but most things he wants to do with us. He has given us authority as believers to defeat the enemy. Often, he waits on is to express the authority he has given us before he joins in the fight. Since our words carry authority and power is linked to authority, then each prayer may release power in the spiritual realm that assaults enemy strongholds. The greater the stronghold, the more intense and persistent prayer is required. I tend to think of enemy strongholds like ancient castle walls that we are assaulting. Prayers and commands are like catapulted stones that chip away at the walls until fractures appear, then cracks, and then, finally, the wall crumbles and falls and the enemy scatters.

When we minister deliverance to individuals, not every spirit comes out at the first command. Some have been there for decades or have been passed down through generations so that they are firmly entrenched and feel that the person belongs to them. Some spirits have a higher rank than others and some are just nastier than others – especially spirits of witchcraft. However, every time we command the spirit to leave or declare the word of God over the spirit, his position is weakened. Eventually, that spirit must come out but sometimes it may take several hours. We battle with commands issued in the name of Jesus and with the Word of God which is the sword of the Spirit. Since deliverance operates that way, it may be that prayer operates that way as well. Every prayer is not targeting a demonic stronghold, but when it is, more prayer will be needed until enough spiritual power has been injected into the situation that the enemy’s defenses crumble. When we pray for salvations, for nations, for struggling marriages, for financial provision, and even for healing, many times the enemy has established strongholds that must be deconstructed before we see breakthrough.

There is also another possibility to explain the need for prolonged prayer as well. Dutch Sheets in his book, Intercessory Prayer, suggests that prayers are cumulative in heaven and when the spiritual mass or number of our prayers are sufficient, then heaven responds. He says, “Scriptures indicate that our prayers accumulate. There are bowls in heaven in which our prayers are stored. Not one bowl for all of them but ‘bowls.’ We don’t know how many but I think it is very likely that each of us has his own bowl in heaven. I don’t know if it is literal or symbolic. It doesn’t matter. The principle is still the same. God has something in which he stores our prayers for use at the proper time:  And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (Rom.5:8).  Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake (Revelation 8:3-5). According to these verses, either when he knows it is the right time to do something or when enough prayer has accumulated to get the job done, He releases power. He takes the bowl and mixes it with fire from the altar” (Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer, Regal Books, p. 221-222).

Either way, God is often waiting on us to set things in motion with our prayers. He honors our authority as his sons and daughters and representatives on the earth by waiting for us to ask, declare, command, and pray before he acts.

There are many things going on the spiritual realm that we cannot see or discern. When we are praying according to God’s will, but are not seeing the answer manifest, the reason is not always apparent. Too often, however, I’m sure that we think God is saying “No” so we quit praying. But what if the answer is “yes” and the reason for the delay is that our prayers still need to release more power into the spiritual realm or they simply need to pass a tipping point in heaven so that the fire of God is poured out on the earth. Either way, we have been given a great responsibility for outcomes in the Kingdom that will be fulfilled in prayer as well as by our actions.

Prayer is essential. Persistent prayer is even more essential. In our instant society where we have lost the ability to stay focused for long periods, it is easy to pray a bit and then move on if we don’t quickly see the results. The biblical model is to pray with faith until we die, still expecting God to answer our prayers even though we have left the planet. We are to pray until we see the answer or until God releases us from the prayer. If we knew how essential our prayers are to the outcomes of the Kingdom, I believe we would be more diligent and persistent. One of the great lies of the enemy is that our prayers don’t matter and don’t make a difference. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you have become discouraged, keep praying. If you have laid down a prayer that you thought God had denied, pick it up again. Your prayers matter greatly.

How many of us in a moment of anger or frustration, speak hurtful words and then later brush them aside by declaring that we really didn’t mean what we said? There is something about the spiritual realm that holds us to the words we have spoken…even if we didn’t mean them. Genesis records a moment that illustrates this important principle.

As Isaac was aging and contemplating his own death, he felt it was time to speak “the blessing” over his older son Esau. The blessing was a huge part of the inheritance a father would grant his son. It closely resembled a prophetic word that the father would declare over the son and that God would honor. The things spoken by the father would surely come to pass in the ensuing years so it was counted as inheritance. The younger brother Jacob and the fraternal twin Esau had always competed. Esau was delivered first and was counted as the oldest. The eldest son on Jewish culture was always given a double portion of the inheritance with “the blessing” being part of that. Esau was Isaac’s favorite son because he was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. Jacob was the favorite of his mother Rebekah. When Rebekah overheard Isaac planning to speak “the blessing” over Esau after a meal of wild game, she conspired with Jacob to steal the blessing. While Esau was still in the field hunting, Jacob pretended to be his brother. Isaac was essentially blind in his old age and so the ruse succeeded.

Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.” Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!” When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?” Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?” (Gen. 27:27-37).

The critical point here is that once the words were spoken, something was set in motion that Isaac could not retrieve even though the blessing had been fraudulently obtained. He might have protested that he didn’t mean to speak those words over Jacob, but it didn’t matter. They were spoken with the authority of a father and the words would be fulfilled. In a sense, Isaac was careless with his words. If you read the story he sensed that something wasn’t quite right but declared the blessing anyway. We too are often careless with out words.

Our mistake is that we think the spiritual realm is like the natural realm where words mean little and where we are rarely held accountable for what we say. The spiritual realm, however, holds us accountable for word we speak. We often speak words over others that can constitute curses in the spiritual realm. We say things such as, “I wish you had never been born. You’ll never amount to anything. No one will ever want you. You’re such a loser.” We often speak the same kinds of things over ourselves and, if asked, would probably say we were just upset and didn’t mean those things.

However, our negative words that we spoke intentionally or unintentionally can constitute curses and give the enemy a legal right to enforce the things we have spoken. Our words may be enforced by demonic spirits who delight in afflicting and oppressing individuals, families, churches, or nations to whom they can gain legal access. Our carless words can give them that access. That is especially true if we have spiritual authority over those about whom we spoke the words. That is never more true than when parents speak over their children.

Scripture repeatedly warns us about our words. A quick read of Proverbs will confirm God’s concern about what we speak. As believers, our words have authority. That is why we are instructed to always bless and never to curse. Jesus instructs us to bless even our enemies. One reason is because we are promised that we will reap what we sow. If we sow curses, we too will eventually reap the negative outcomes we have spoken over others. However, if we make blessing the constant flavor of our speech, those blessings will also return to us. We need to be sure to speak them over ourselves as well as others. “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit “ (Prov. 18:21).

If careless words are an issue with you, ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of your speech. Ask those closest to you to also make you aware of your words. This is not a little thing in the Kingdom of Heaven. “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Mt. 12:36). Be blessed by speaking a blessing.

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Satan Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.  Joab replied, “May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?” …. The Lord said to Gad, David’s seer, “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’ ” So Gad went to David and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Take your choice: three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the Lord—days of plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me.” David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.” So the Lord sent a plague on Israel and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. 1 Chronicles 21:1-3, 8-14

This is a tremendously instructive account found in both in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21. We don’t know the specific context, but something made David vulnerable to the promptings of Satan to have a census taken of all the fighting men of Israel. It would seem prudent to know what your resources were for war but this census was apparently prompted out of pride and a sense that Israel’s safety was in the hands of the military rather than in the hands of God. Something about the heart behind the census was offensive to God and so when the David overruled Joab and the census was taken, the judgment of God was released against Israel. So what lessons can be drawn from the account?

First of all, David knew that it was the Lord who saves not personal or even national power and might. Even as a young man he was convinced that it would be God who would deliver Goliath into his hands not his own strength or prowess. He knew by experience that God could guide a single stone and bring down a giant or a nation. We are told in several places that David was a man after God’s own heart. But here is the lesson. We also know that David could operate out of his flesh at times and not out of God’s Spirit. Bathsheba comes to mind and now the census of fighting men. The truth is that the best of us can be overcome by a moment of stupidity and at times the consequences can be overwhelming – especially for leaders. Joab was not a particularly spiritual man but David’s order was even repulsive to him. God often puts people around us to warn us of bad decisions. Because we know that any of us can be vulnerable at times, we should listen to their objections. If we know we are moving ahead by faith and the direction of the Lord we can ignore the objections but we must check our hearts and our motives when those close to us raise concerns. We may be acting our of selfishness, pride or simply ignorance.

Secondly, Satan will attack people and nations through their leaders. Satan didn’t just hate David but the entire nation because God loved Israel. That is why we must pray for leaders on a national scale and a local scale. We must pray for church leaders, business leaders, and parents who are leading families. Decisions made by leaders can bless or even curse those they lead. Leaders often loose sight of the fact that their decisions will greatly impact not only themselves but those they lead and love. Satan has the ability to blind our judgment. People begin to think that what they choose will only touch them and everyone else will be fine. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people justify divorce and declare that their children will be fine and will understand why they are divorcing their spouse for someone who makes them happier. That rarely if ever happens. David listened to Satan’s promptings and seventy thousand men died leaving many more widows and fatherless children. Leaders must guard themselves and their judgment by having people around them who will tell them the truth.

Thirdly, David made a right choice after having made a wrong choice. He placed himself in the hands of God rather that than in the hands of men. If David had maintained that mindset before, he wouldn’t have felt the need to number the fighting men because when they went to war they would entrust themselves to God no matter what the numbers. When we trust men for outcomes more than God, we will also end up with less than we could have had. My wife and I went to an investment broker one time who assured us that we were giving way too much money to the church by tithing and that we needed to stop that if we were ever to reach our financial goals. If we had taken his advice I’m certain it would have cost us blessings from God that will come through our trusting him more with our finances than a investment counselor.

Toward the end of the story, David was allowed to see into the spiritual realm where he saw an angel with his sword drawn over Jerusalem directing the judgment of God. David cried out to God, “Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O Lord my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain upon your people” (1 Chr. 21:17).   The fact that David owned up to his sin, took personal responsibility for it, displayed godly sorrow, and showed more concern for the people than himself allowed God to extend mercy and withdraw his judgment. Those are the conditions for mercy in the Kingdom of Heaven. Too many leaders who have sinned never take responsibility for what they have done or find some way to justify or minimize what they have done to deflect their personal responsibility. In that case discipline continues while the penitent leader who is willing to be responsible finds mercy.

As the story continues, the angel of the Lord told the prophet Gad to tell David to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people. David found a man named Araunah who was threshing wheat and offered to buy the wood he was using for the threshing sled and for the oxen he was using to pull it. Araunah offered to give him whatever he needed for the sacrifice but David responded, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing” (1 Chr. 21:24). David paid the man, offered the sacrifice, and the plague ceased.

Although animal sacrifices are not part of the New Covenant, the concept of sacrifice continues. It is the act of freely giving what you find valuable unto the Lord. Paul tells us that we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices unto the Lord (Rom. 12:1). We are also instructed to offer up a sacrifice of praise continually and that doing good and sharing with others is considered a sacrifice by the Lord (Heb:13:15-16). David established the principle. Our sacrifices of time, service, and even finances are still to be costly. When we give to the Lord it must not come from the leftovers that we care little about or only when it is convenient for that costs us nothing. David was a man who made mistakes but who also got it right in so many ways.   The Father gave us his best so we must give him our best. That is an acceptable sacrifice. Too many of us serve God if we have time after we have done everything we want to do. We give financially as long as our projects are funded first. We do only the things for God that we enjoy and turn down the requests that we don’t find fun or personally fulfilling. In acceptable sacrifice there is always an element of cost and washing feet as Jesus washed the feet of the twelve.

David is a great example of how to live and, at times, how not to live. I’m grateful for the transparency of David and the scriptures. My greatest take away from David is always that men can make huge mistakes but then turn back to God with all their hearts and be counted by God in the end as great men of faith. So often the proof of a man or woman is not whether they avoid mistakes but how they respond after they have totally blown it. Great lessons for us.

I’m continuing to review some of the ideas that were presented at a recent conference I attended in Raleigh-Durham, N.C, on the subject of healing the human soul. Much of the conference related to the science behind the directives that God has given his people for thousands of years. One of the big ideas that is coming out of recent brain research is neuroplasticity. The research now suggests that our brain can grow and be reconfigured throughout life. Up until a few decades ago, the “science” was that our brains and, thus, we ourselves, were fairly fixed by the time we reached elementary school and that we would essentially be that person for the rest of our lives. That notion has now been discarded.

This is a reality that believers always have always known. Scripture has made the possibility of personal transformation a hallmark of our relationship with God. The New Testament tells us that anyone in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Paul calls on every believer to no longer conform to the patterns of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of his or her mind (Rom.12:2). Even the Old Testament records God’s declarations that he would replace our hardened hearts of stone and replace them with new hearts containing the capacity to grow toward God’s will. “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19).

The basis of all sin is a mind or heart that stands in opposition to the will of God and that has over time conformed to the thinking patterns and attitudes of the world. Let me quote Jim Laffoon on this issue. “The power of sin cannot be broken without the flow of God’s resurrection power and life. If we are to experience the change God desires for us in the face of such opposition we must activate both our conscience and the release of God’s power through our new nature. In Ephesians 4:17-19, Paul describes the internal darkness, ignorance, hardness, and lack of spiritual sensitivity that make the process of transformation so challenging. ‘So I tell you, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer lives as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding are separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over to sensuality….’

As I mentioned in my last blog, thoughts or experienced that are repeated begin to form neural pathways that become stronger and more resistant to change as they are repeated. We have a phrase that we repeat often in our Free Indeed ministry: Whatever we agree with, we empower. Whatever belief we repeat, act on, speak, imagine, etc. deepens the rut of these neural pathways. At some point, these pathways will be so strong that we will become inflexible in our beliefs and attitudes which scripture calls hardness of heart. These deeply embedded belief systems are called strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10 and they may be such a part of us that we cannot even entertain other perspectives or values. At that point we may cease to be truth seekers because we believe we already have all the truth. That can be true for the religious as well. Our best arguments will not sway that person. At that point, it will take a supernatural intervention by God to blast them out of their mindset. Saul of Tarsus had that kind of mindset as he arrested and organized the stoning of Christ- followers. It took a powerful encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus to generate some plasticity in his thinking that eventually generated a transformed mind and a new identity as the apostle Paul.

As we come to Christ, unless we have been raised and spiritually nurtured in the home of believers, we must weaken, prune, or erase our worldly ways of thinking and develop new neural pathways that will contain the truths of God and the perspectives, values, and even emotions of Christ. The Holy Spirit will empower what we do but will hold us responsible for doing the things through which his power can be applied to our minds as we work to bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ.

Here are some helpful principles.

1. In order for a neural pathway to be pruned or erased, it is not enough to simply stop doing, thinking, or speaking something. We must do and speak something else consistently that establishes a new pathway. The more we reinforce that pathway, the more it becomes our default setting for life. That is where repentance, confession, and becoming doers of the Word come in. We must begin to speak the word of God over our circumstances. Our confession of God’s truth on a regular basis begins to develop the new neural pathway and diminish the old ones.

Meditation, memorization, reading the Word, writing the Word, hearing the Word, and speaking            out loud all accelerate the process and strengthen our new ways of thinking. Unless we do the work of storing up God’s Word in our    hearts, the old pathways will retain their strength and will still be our default  settings under stress. God told Joshua, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do   everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Josh. 1:8).  To mediate means to chew on it, process it, discuss it, memorize it, etc. We must do the work to write God’s word on our hearts and to diminish the power of the old man or the old mind in our lives. Continuing to dabble in our old ways will  keep those worldly pathways alive and we will be live as double-minded  believers. Following Jesus has always been all or nothing.

2. We must monitor our environment to see what things in the environment reinforce our old pathways or reinforce our new neural pathways. One of the really interesting new concepts in brain research is the idea of epigenetics. This concept states that our environment affects our genetic makeup and switches on or switches off genetic predispositions that have come down to us through our family line. Again let me quote from the conference. “Through an understanding of epigenetics, we have discovered that the genetic template we inherit from our parents is radically affected in its expression by our life experiences.” That means that genetic predispositions toward addictions, homosexuality, obesity, etc. can be turned off by elements in our physical, social and spiritual environments including our internal environment where the Holy Spirit lives. Positive predispositions toward righteousness, spiritual gifts, mercy, compassion, music, etc. can also be turned on or suppressed by our environments. That is one reason that God warns us about the people we hang out with and where we hang out.Righteousness or unrighteousness can be genetically encoded and passed on to children which explains much about generational sin, curses, and even  generations of righteousness.

3. Another interesting confirmation that has arisen from new research is that our brain has more plasticity in the presence of God. Every act of worship activates the flow of the Spirit within us which apparently has an extraordinary effect on our physical minds. Practicing spiritual disciplines opens us up to the flow of God in our lives which powerfully facilitates even physical changes in our brains. Being in the presence of God also releases the neurochemicals that create a sense of peace, pleasure and well-being which serve to draw us back to God. Research confirms that even raising our hands above our heads (worship) releases these positive chemicals. I believe that speaking in tongues has the same positive effects.

In summary, the God who created us body, soul and spirit has accurately instructed us in the process of spiritual, emotional, and physical transformation by the power of his Spirit. Science is simply confirming the power that God has invested in our choices and in his Word and Spirit. We cannot take shortcuts. Consistent worship, mediation, confession, fasting, and the other spiritual disciplines over time are essential to our growth and change. We must also understand that once a week is not enough. God empowers the process but we must participate. Those who neglect these transformative disciplines will not experience all that God has for them.

Certainly there are moments when God changes us in a second – like the apostle Paul. I know people who have been sovereignly delivered by God from addictions and emotional brokenness but the continuing transformation of their souls and character has been a process. If we partner with God, he will change us even in the deepest recesses of our heart and mind. Science once again is finally catching up with the Bible.

Our spiritual life is governed by our view of God. It is important that we have an accurate view of his heart and his character. Isaiah is a fascinating book filled with prophetic declarations and insights into the heart of God. As you read through it you find a rhythm of withering judgments coming against wickedness alternating with prophecies full of hope and God’s kindness for the future.

In Isaiah 30, we find a prophetic warning issued to a rebellious Israel. You find phrases such as “’Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the Lord, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; … these are rebellious people, deceitful children,, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction’” (Isa.30:1, 9). Isaiah paints a picture of a nation that was redeemed by God, brought out of slavery into a rich land and into a singular covenant with the God of Creation. This nation that was loved and redeemed had totally broken faith with their God, had ignored his prophets, and had made alliances with nations that served demons. Severe judgments were in the pipeline and headed their way – judgments by sword, plague, and famine. Isaiah and other prophets had warned them and yet they were ignored. This had gone on for decades. The holy wrath of God had been aroused and the God of Israel had made his case as to why his wrath was not only just but necessary.

Yet, in the middle of all that, we find the heart of God. Isaiah says, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. (Isa. 30:18). The idea that God longs to be gracious, yearns to forgive, and deeply desires to restore his relationship with his people is the opposite view of God that many hold.

Even many believers see God as angry, vengeful and just waiting to pull the rug out from under them. They see him as the angry, abusive Father that is quick to hand out punishment and who must be begged in order to receive a blessing. When we hold that view of God, we cannot pray with faith that always anticipates good gifts. We cannot draw near because we believe that being near to God is an unsafe place. We cannot believe his promises because we think he will search to find something against us so that he can withhold his blessings.

Yet, that is not God’s heart even toward the wicked. ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel” (Jer.33:11)? Those verses and many more like them were written under the Old Covenant. How much more is this true under a covenant established by the blood of Christ?

This seems so simple but apparently it isn’t. I continue to see men and women who have been Christians for decades still doubt the love of God and the goodness of God for them. They still assign the most hurtful moments of their lives to some act that God perpetrated against them as if child abuse, rape, the death of an infant, or a car wreck that took five family members were all moments that God orchestrated without any thought to the devastation that loss or trauma would visit on them for a lifetime.   We often shroud such sentiments in the cover of mystery. We say that we will only understand why God did such a thing when we get to heaven.

Many of us still have an inaccurate understanding of the sovereignty of God. We believe that because he is sovereign everything that happens in this world was his will and was caused by him. It is clear from scripture, that in his sovereignty he determined to limit the control he would exercise over this planet. He gave us free will and in doing so he took his hands off the steering wheel and put us in the drivers seat. His desire is for us to stay on the road and to drive safely and sensibly. But we can choose to ignore his urgings and drive recklessly. We can, by our own choices, end up in the ditch or injure others by our reckless driving. We can all be guilty of driving under the influence of sin. Not only that but once God handed the planet over to Adam and Eve to rule, their sin and rebellion released a curse on the world they ruled. That curse introduced death, disease, birth defects, war, addictions, etc. that create the pain we so often must endure. God is there to walk us through the pain but to eliminate the pain is this world would require the removal of our free will.

One of Christ’s primary purposes for his visitation of planet earth was to show us an accurate picture of the Father. John recorded a conversation between Jesus and Philip who had just asked Jesus to give him and the other apostles a revelation of the Father. “Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me’” (Jn.14:9-11).

When we look at Jesus, the Good Shepherd, we cannot imagine him taking a child from a single mother by killing the child. What we do see is him giving a child back to a single mother by raising that child from the dead. We can’t imagine him laying hands on someone and imparting advanced leprosy to a mother or a father of three small children. What we do see is him healing lepers and giving them back to their families. We can’t imagine him calling down fire from heaven to obliterate a rebellious village. What we do see is Jesus rebuking James and John for volunteering to call down fire on a Samaritan village for their unbelief.

In essence, Jesus told Philip that whatever he had seen Jesus doing for poor, hurting, broken, rejected, and demon-possessed people was exactly what the Father himself willed to do for them. However Jesus responded to prostitutes, crooked tax collectors, grieving widows, or thieves was exactly how the Father responded to them as well. Jesus simply put flesh and blood on the desires of the Father. Many of us need to receive that revelation as well as Philip. When we see Jesus as being one way and the Father being another, we have a schizophrenic view of the Godhead that we are trying to serve. How confusing can that be?

As you read through the Old Testament and see the judgments of God being released, you need to remember that those judgments were never God’s first choice. His heart was always for men to repent and live. His heart always longed to be gracious even to those who had been walking in wickedness and rebellion. Now that the holy wrath of God has been satisfied by the cross, we can certainly rest assured that the Father’s heart for each of us is always to redeem, to forgive, to bless, and to be gracious….even if we have been on a prodigal’s journey.

When we pray we need to have our minds fixed on the goodness of God and his desire to bless his children. That accurate view of God gives us faith for the answers to our prayers. The Godhead is not debating over whether to love us or be angry with us but is in total agreement that we are loved and that blessing and eternal redemption is the motive behind every response to our prayers. I freely admit that there are mysteries as to why some of our prayers seem to go unanswered. But it helps me to live with the mystery if I know God’s heart for me is the heart of a loving father who always wants the best for his son or daughter. If you still see God as the angry Father keeping score and eager to punish your every mistake, live in Christ will have no joy and little faith. Reconsider God. Ask the Spirit to give you a full revelation of the Father knowing that you can see him perfectly in Jesus. It will make all the difference.

For the word of God is living and active. Hebrews 4:12

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. John 6:63

The two verses above speak of God’s word. The Hebrew passage describes it as living and active. The Greek word translated as “living” means that it contains its own vitality. It is as much alive as humans or animals or plants. The fact that it is living in the same way suggests that it grows and bears fruit. It reproduces. The parable of the soils that Jesus told likened the word of God to seed that would bear tremendous fruit if planted in the right soil.

The Greek word that is translated “active” means more than just moving around or animation. It is a word that means something surging with energy is at work and having effect. It indicates that something alive and powerful is accomplishing a divine purpose in the supernatural realm. This definition takes the word of God for beyond information to be digested or principles for living to be learned and incorporated as a philosophy of life. While we study the word, incorporate its principles, and quote scripture, we can be sure that something is at work in the unseen realm that is accomplishing something we may or may not even be aware of.

The second verse from above was spoken by Jesus and adds to our understanding. Jesus declared that his words were spirit and they were life. What does it mean that his words were spirit? I believe they were spirit in two senses. First of all, his words originated in the spiritual realm. While on earth, Jesus still operated as a citizen of heaven whose perspective was always anchored in the spiritual realm. In addition, he said that he spoke only what he heard his Father saying. To his disciples he said, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (Jhn.14:10). His words flowed from the spiritual realm to the natural realm, not the other way around.    That is why they possessed power. Secondly, they came to him from the Father via the Holy Spirit. Jesus had just declared that the Spirit gives life. As they came from the Father through the Spirit they were infused with the life-giving power of the Spirit so that when they went out they fulfilled their purpose.

That is how the word of God becomes living and active (Heb.4:12). As they are broadcast they are infused with spiritual power by the Spirit of God. As a result, the words of Jesus created life in various forms. For some it was spiritual life. Men were born again in response to the gospel. For others it was physical life. Thousands were healed and physically restored and many were literally raised from the dead. For others, emotional life was imparted to them as broken hearts were healed. And for even more, life was restored as men and women were set free from bondage to demons and addictions. His words imparted life because his words carried authority and were infused with power. The words that created the universe demonstrated that dynamic in the very beginning.

But what about today? How is the word activated? There is life in a seed – enough to grow a giant redwood – but that life is not manifested until it is planted and watered. The word of God rests on the pages of a Bible or in the heart of a believer. It may do a work in the believer but not in the world that surrounds the believer until it is activated. It is activated when it is spoken with faith. Throughout scripture, God deposited his word in the heart of his prophets and empowered those words when they were proclaimed. Moses declared each plague before Pharaoh and then God produced each one. He put his words in the mouth of Jeremiah and as Jeremiah declared that word over nations, those words came to pass. I have heard today’s prophets put it this way –   prophetic words don’t tell the future they create it.

God’s word is filled with power and purpose. When we pray it or declare it, those words go forth alive and energized by the Spirit to produce life. When we speak healing, hope, provision, or peace over a person, we should believe by faith that something is going to happen because the word has been activated and is filled with energy and purpose. The word is the sword of the Spirit and when we speak the word of God we are wielding that sword.

Read the word, hear the word, pray the word, and declare the word. When we partner with God, he will honor his word. What situation do you need to be declaring the word of God over right now? Find your scripture and activate it in your life or in the life of someone you know.

The elections are over but the fighting seems to have just begun. Whether you voted for Trump or not, he is now the president and our responsibility is now to pray for him. Millions of Christians prayed for God’s hand to be on this election, and now it is a matter of faith as to whether we believe God answered those prayers.

There are a number of “prophecies” floating around the internet that declare that God will use Trump for the benefit of God’s people as he used Cyrus, the King of Persia, in the days of Jewish exile. Some prophecies declare that Trump will be anointed by the Spirit of God and that he will enter the office whispering the name of Jesus but leave proclaiming it. All that remains to be seen.

Undoubtedly, the Never Trumpers will be cynical about these prophecies. Prophecies certainly need to be tested but Paul tells us not to despise prophecies (1 Thess. 5:20), so, perhaps, we should be hopeful. Certainly, God has historically acted in unlikely ways and worked through unlikely people. Having grown up in the sixties and seventies with the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, and Watergate I also tend to have a cynical streak that immerges from time to time along with a bent toward conspiracy theories.   However, I once received a prophetic word in which the Lord told me that I was a man of faith but my cynicism often worked against my faith. He encouraged me to jettison that mindset. It is a mindset that assumes the worst rather than the best and God is always about producing the best. Cynicism is the enemy of hope and God is all about hope.

So if we prayed sincerely for God to author the outcomes of this election, we should have hope that he will use Donald Trump to further the kingdom of God in America and the world. In that hope we should thank him for the outcomes and then begin to pray for his Spirit to move on this man and on his cabinet like never before.

The very fact that those who actively oppose Israel, promote abortion, and presume to redefine marriage and gender hate Trump with such venom may suggest that he is God’s man. Why else would the dark side of the spiritual realm be so filled with hatred for him? Regardless, our part should be to speak life and faith over this administration and to believe that God is up to something positive because he hears the prayers of his people. Our words have power. The tongue has the power of life or death. If we want America to prosper and be unified, we must speak blessings rather than curses over the nation and the new administration.

Throughout the history of Israel, most of her kings were evil and there seemed to be an irreversible decline in the culture. But every once in a while, God would raise up an unlikely man who turned things around…at least for a generation or two. True worship would be restored. Justice would be re-established. Integrity would be returned to government. Peace and prosperity would then mark a generation in Israel. We have four years to pray and believe God for good things in America before any progress we have made will be on the line again. We need to make the most of this window of opportunity that seems to be opening. President Trump is not the poster child for Christianity. He is not a spiritual leader. But he may well be the man God uses to reverse the decline of godly values in America by giving the church a voice again in American culture.

The truth is that for the tide to turn and continue to move in godly directions, these four years must be overwhelmingly positive in the outcomes for this nation. I hope we will each pray and speak into the success of this president for a great deal is at stake. As we begin to actively support Israel again, allow military chaplains to pray in the name of Jesus once more, and perhaps, return prayer to public schools, I expect blessings to come to America – a better economy, fewer natural disasters, the demise of political correctness, peace, and even racial reconciliation. I am hopeful, not because of Trump but because of a God who answers his people’s prayers.

But God works through his people and often waits for us to ask before he moves. The Holy Spirit puts things on our hearts that God wants to accomplish that even angels are unaware of. As we begin to pray and then to declare the word of God over situations, angels them receive their assignments and the spiritual realm begins to move. We cannot be cynical and silent or even content and silent for God will make of this presidency what we, as his representatives on earth, pray and declare over this nation. The world is an unstable place. Presidential bravado will not solve those problems but only the wisdom that comes from above along with the blessings and favor of God. I hope you will consistently pray for our leaders to receive both from the Father. Here’s hoping for a blessed four years and beyond.

There is a principle in spiritual warfare that we need to be reminded of from time to time. The principle states that whatever we come into agreement with, we empower. If we come into agreement with an idea, we empower it. For instance, suppose I wake up one morning with a few aching muscles, mention those aches to someone, and they say, “You must be coming down with the flu.” At that moment, I can think that aching muscles can come from many sources and the flu is highly unlikely or, at that moment, I can think that person could be right. After all, it is flu season. Some people at work have had the flu and now maybe I have it now. For the rest of the day, I will search my body for every symptom of the flu and obsess on every small indicator – imagined or real. I will feel fatigue just because I have been worrying all day and I will turn down offers to go out to eat with friends because I might be coming down with something. I have given the idea power over my life.

If I come into agreement with a spirit, I also give it authority in my life. Adam and Eve came into agreement with Satan and ended up forfeiting their rule over the earth. If a spirit comes along and whispers that my spouse is such a horrible person that I should get a divorce and go find someone who will give me the happiness I deserve, and I entertain that thought long enough, I will come into agreement with it. That will become my prevailing thought about my marriage. When that happens I give the enemy authority to establish a foothold in my life. The prophet Amos declared, “How can two walk together unless they are agreed?” The corollary is that when we agree, we walk together. We have formed some sort of alliance.

When our thinking and our words stand in opposition to the Word of the Lord, then what we are thinking or saying is a lie and that persistent lie invites the Father of Lies (Satan) into our life. Every demonic oppression begins in our flesh with our own choices about what to believe and speak when those things are opposed to God’s truth. If we persist, then we open up a door and the enemy can move in. Rotten thinking invites demons in the spiritual realm like rotten food invited flies. The enemy then amplifies the lie and distorts our perceptions so that those lies seem even more true.

Fairly often, we minister to people who have made a number of bad choices in their past. Maybe they were involved in drugs, stole things, had multiple sexual partners, were prostitutes, had abortions, and so forth. These men and women are often demonized and when we begin to minister deliverance we hit a roadblock. The roadblock is often their agreement with demons that they are beyond forgiveness. The inability to “forgive ourselves” is primarily unbelief in the encompassing grace of God. The unbelief empowers the enemy and gives a spirit the right to remain. When the spirit is not cast out, then the person is all the more convinced that he or she is beyond God’s love and forgiveness.

The most necessary conviction in spiritual warfare is that God’s word is true and every thing that disagrees with that word is a lie – regardless of how we feel. Lies are really the only weapon Satan has to use against us. It was true in the Garden. It is still true. When he whispers his lies, our first test should be the Word of God rather than whether or not that thought feels right. Any agreement with Satan constitutes unbelief at some level. That unbelief gets in the way of both deliverance and healing.

Too often, I find myself chasing spirits of rejection, condemnation, shame, self-loathing, etc. which all need to be expelled, but I sometimes forget to find out what the person truly believes about God’s love, grace, and forgiveness for him or her. If a spirit of unbelief or a lying spirit is operating, the person’s continued agreement with the enemy makes it very difficult to dislodge those spirits. Leading a person to repent of unbelief in the complete forgiveness they have in Christ and to renounce that unbelief is a simple thing but can be overlooked in ministering to people.

It might be worth asking some basic questions to begin, such as, “On a scale of 1-10, how much do you believe that every sin in your life is totally forgiven and forgotten?” “On a scale of 1-10, how much do you believe that God totally loves and accepts you?” “On a scale of one 1-10, how much do you truly believe that you are a beloved son or daughter of the King?”

Satan always wants to hide our identity from us and distort it so that we forget who we are in Christ. He wants us to believe that we are weak and sinful people despised by God rather than who we truly are in Christ. When we come into agreement with that distortion, we empower him and give him a place in our lives from which he can grow in influence. His power is taken away when we align ourselves with the Word of God because when we agree with God’s word, we empower it in our lives. Too many of us pay no attention to out thought life which is the in indicator of what we truly believe. We talk about what we think we should believe, while being ignorant of what we truly do believe. Since the Holy Spirit leads us into truth, a good exercise might be to ask Him to show us what we really believe about things so that we can maintain our alignment with the Father through frequent course corrections in our thought life. Whatever we agree with, we empower so lets be careful to agree with God.

I have had two conversations with dear friends in the past week who are struggling with the loss of loved ones.  The holidays magnify that loss. Both had prayed with faith for healing; both eventually lost a spouse to cancer. One loss is a few months old, the other lost his wife two years ago on Christmas Eve. Both had been married for decades.  Both had loving marriages. Now both are still grieving and can’t seem to get a vision for their lives beyond the loss. Both will have to walk out the process of grieving their loss and then moving on. That is not always easy. Those two conversations also reminded me of people I have known who had lost a spouse or a child years ago but who were still unable to get past that moment. For them it is as if life ended when their loved one died and will be on hold until they join that loved one in eternity. The loss of the life of the one still living doubles the tragedy of the one who died.

Loss is part of life.  Those who love us will lose us eventually unless Jesus returns in our lifetime. Some losses seem natural as when a 95 year old saint passes quietly in her sleep while others seem out of time and tragic.  When they do occur, we need direction from the Lord. I think an unexpected template for moving ahead after loss may be found in the Book of Joshua.

“After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordon River into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot as I promised Moses…be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them’” (Josh 1:1-3,6).

We need to try to grasp the impact of Moses’ death on the nation and on Joshua. Moses was the George Washington of Israel. He had confronted Pharaoh, led the people out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea. It was Moses who had gone up on Sinai in the face of darkness, rock-shattering thunder, and fire. It was Moses who had personally received the Law, directed the building of the tabernacle, and had stood between God and Israel on several occasions pleading their cause. It was Moses who stood face-to-face with God each day receiving directions for the people. And it was Moses who had led Israel to the banks of the Jordon River to take the land after forty years in the wilderness. Moses had truly been the Father of Israel, the mediator, the peacemaker, the prophet, and the one legitimate leader of this nation since its inception.

The loss of Moses must have been staggering. Who could have imagined entering the Promised Land without him? His entire life had been about leading God’s people into Canaan to take possession of the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants. But at the last minute, God had told him he could not enter the promise land and shortly after that he had died on top of Mount Nebo with no human companion present. The Bible says that God buried him but no one knew where his final resting place was. Israel mourned for thirty days.

Joshua had been his aide and I’m sure Moses had been more than a father to him. I sense that Joshua never anticipated entering Canaan without Moses. Scripture tells us that Moses was 120 years old but “his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone” (Dt.34:7). God simply told him to climb Mt. Nebo one day and he died in the presence of God. The suddenness of his unexpected death must have made the transition more difficult. Suddenly, the mantle of leadership that had been on Moses for 40 years was thrust onto Joshua.

Moses was prohibited from entering the promised land because he had “rebelled” against the Lord in the desert. God had directly commanded Moses to speak to a rock from which he would provide water for Israel, but Moses, in anger, struck the rock with his staff. Water came forth from the rock but not in the way God had directed. God responded, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them” (Num.20:12). As the time approached for Israel to possess Canaan, Moses was taken from them since he could not enter with them. I have to say that my first to response to the consequence of Moses striking the rock seems extremely harsh and even unfair. After the faithfulness that Moses had shown in the midst of an unbelieving Israel for 40 years, it seems that God should have forgiven the moment and allowed Moses to enter the land to which he had guided the Hebrews.

Sometimes we make the mistake of looking at consequences in the natural realm as if they reflect our standing with God in the spiritual realm. Jesus says that to whom much is given, much is required. Leadership is judged more strictly than those who follow because leaders set the tone for those they lead. The issue (sin) that Israel had demonstrated for 40 years was the issue of rebellion, going their own way, and disregarding the word of the Lord. Unfortunately, in a moment of anger, Moses had done the same.

If there had been no consequence for the leader of the nation, the rest of the Israelites would have felt free to disregard the word of the Lord as well when it suited them. I know that Moses was forgiven still held in high regard by the Lord, because on the Mt. of Transfiguration, it was Moses and Elijah who were chosen to meet with Jesus. Trust and obedience would be the key to Israel’s ability to possess the land God had given them and so the consequence of disobedience had to be demonstrated. And yet, I still wonder, how Joshua felt about that as he was dealing with the loss of Moses and the challenges that lay ahead of him. Did the loss of his spiritual father, mentor, and hero challenge his view of the goodness of God? I don’t now, but these men and women of scripture were flesh and blood just as we are, not superheroes. They struggled with the same doubts and fears that we experience in the face of loss and disappointment. They too had to find a way to move ahead.

God’s pronouncement that Moses was dead in the first chapter of Joshua was not news to Joshua. Essentially, God was making the point that for Israel and for Joshua, one chapter had ended, while another chapter was beginning. A man once said, “Life is lived in chapters, and it is a wise man who knows what page he is on.” Moses had fulfilled his destiny, now it was time for Joshua to fulfill his.

Very often, we tie our own lives and futures so closely to another person that if we lose him or her, we feel as if our life has ended as well. But for those who still live, there is always more. Being willing to step into the other things that God still has for you is an expression of faith. It is also the way out of grief and sorrow. Certainly, there is a needed time to mourn. It is longer for some than for others. Israel and Joshua mourned for 30 days, but then it was time to step into the next chapter of life. The same is true for us.

To do so does not mean that the person you have lost was not loved or should not be honored. Many people refuse to go on with their lives or to rejoice in God’s blessings because they feel that to do so would somehow diminishe their love and their loss. You will continue to love and honor that person as Moses has been loved and honored for millennia, but God has more. Life is a gift and a stewardship that is ours to unwrap and live. God told Joshua that it was time to move on because there was still an inheritance to be claimed. In fact, moving ahead and claiming the inheritance was the very legacy Moses had left. There was still a path laid out for Joshua and Israel to follow and everywhere they set their feet, God would give that portion of their inheritance to them. The corollary is important. Wherever they did not set their feet, they would not receive what had already been provided by the Lord.

Our inheritance in the Lord is like a field that he has cleared, tilled, planted, and watered. It has come to fullness and he has given us the harvest…but we must go into the field and pick or glean what is there. It is all ours, but we only enjoy and benefit from that part that we take hold of…the part where we set our feet. After a loss or disappointment, there is still an inheritance that he wants us to go after. There is a time to close the chapter we have been living and move on to the next. Paul put it this way. “Forgetting those things are behind, I press forward.” This is not to say that we forget the people we have loved but we recognize that there is still more of the field to be harvested and to do less dishonors God. Moving ahead into Canaan and taking the land without Moses, still honored his vision and so honored him.

There are times when we must simply make a decision that it is time to move on and steward the rest of out lives. It is time to see what is written in the next chapter. It is time to grab hold of the destiny God still has for us. The same is true after a failure. Failure can stop us in our tracks just like a loss and we can stay stuck in a place of feeling disqualified for years. That is from Satan. David experienced a huge moral failure in his life – adultery and murder – but in Psalm 51, David prayed to God, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation …then I will teach transgressors your way and sinners will turn back to you.” David realized that his shame, his feelings of disqualification, and his own sense of guilt was robbing God of his service. He had already confessed and was already forgiven, but stepping back into a role of spiritual and political leadership was daunting. Somehow it seemed better to pine away with self-condemnation than to attempt to move ahead and fulfill his destiny. Yet moving ahead was the will of God for him. To do less was to give the enemy a victory and to rob God of the fruit that David’s life could still produce.

We will all experience loss, failure and disappointment in life. It is the fabric of a fallen world. The holidays seem to magnify all those feelings because Christmas calls us to an ideal and we live in the real. But whether it is loss or failure that has taken all the momentum out of your life, remember that God still has more for you. Don’t put it off too long. Honor God and you honor those you have lost. Move ahead in obedience and you redeem the failures in your past. This Christmas may you look forward to the chapters that lie ahead while you reflect on the chapters you are closing.

The cost of our redemption was steep on the front in not just at the cross.  It was steep for the Son of God who once sat on a throne of glory in heaven. He shrunk himself down to the size of an ovum and was born in a stable instead of a palace. When Jesus told a would be disciple that the Son of Man had no place to lay his head, he was echoing the circumstances of his birth as well as his public ministry.  Jesus could have descended in glory and lightening when he first came into the world but chose to totally identify with us so he came as a baby,  In doing so, he made himself incredibly vulnerable to the weaknesses, brokenness,  and violence of men. After eventually returning to Nazareth, he grew up subject to rumors that he was an illegitimate child, perhaps, born to Mary and some Roman soldier.

There was also a steep cost for Mary and Joseph and their families back home – their own loss of dreams and reputation, living among strangers for several years, wondering if Herod had anyone tracking them down, and wondering what their beloved families were experiencing back in Galilee.  It would be several years before Jesus ever knew his grandparents and the cost of those in the region of Bethlehem who lost their own sons to Herod was unbearable.

All this is to say that there was an extreme cost on the front end of the arrival of Messiah and well as on the far end at Golgotha. All this is to say that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit thought you were worth the cost. They still do. The great gift of Christmas is your restored relationship with your Father in heaven. Many of us, especially at Christmas time, live with the sorrow that our lives have not played out as we had hoped. We may feel let down, disappointed, or even abandoned by God. But God would not abandon what has cost him so much. He would not leave someone on the side of the road for whom heaven and earth suffered so greatly. You are not forgotten and you have not been devalued. The holidays often put our sense of loss or disappointment under a magnifying glass so that it seems much larger than at other times of the year.

As humans we have a propensity to focus on one thing that we believe would make us happy and then to make that the measure of God’s love for us. Maybe that one thing would be a relationship, a  breakthrough in your career,  a dream home or a “the perfect job.”  Maybe it was the healing of a loved one or the birth of a healthy child. That “one thing” can easily become an idol and an obsession if we are not careful which, in itself, keeps God from answering those prayers. The ultimate prize is always God and his love for us.When  we question that love we need to remember that God’s love for us was settled at the cross.

The key to happiness is not to focus on the one thing that God has not done for you so far or did not do five years ago,  but to focus on everything he has done for you and to give thanks for those things large and small. In every life and circumstance there are blessings both large and small. Each is evidence of God’s love and grace in your life. The apostle Paul declared, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation^” (Phil.4:11-12).

I believe the secret of contentment is first to have faith that God is good. Since “good” is who he is, he can be no other way toward you. He is very aware of what you are going through and is either using your struggle to perfect you for what lies ahead or is in the process of delivering you from that situation. Either way, there is reason to rejoice. To believe that God’s love rules out all hardship, loss, or battle in this life is to deny every story of faithful men and women in scripture who clearly had God’s stamp of approval on them but who also faced life in a fallen world inhabited by the enemy. God’s love does not create the absence of struggle but sees us through the struggle if our faith endures. Thanksgiving for every touch of God and for everything he has done helps to maintain the perspective that is needed in the dark places  of life.

This Christmas, whether you are on top of the mountain or in a valley, remember that you do matter in heaven. You were redeemed at great cost and are highly valued by your Father in Heaven. The Father has left many gifts for you “under the tree” and each has been carefully chosen. Rejoice in the ones he has already placed there as well as the ones he is carefully choosing for your future. Rejoice in his goodness and remember – peace on earth, good will toward men…and you.