I’m reading back through Exodus again and this passage caught my attention.  “See, I am sending an angelahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land (Ex. 23:20-30).

I think we can draw some significant lessons from this passage regarding our destiny in Christ.  Scripture is clear that “everyday ordained for us was written in God’s book before one of them came to pass (Ps. 139:16). In other words, God established a plan for our lives before we were ever born.  He has prepared things in advance that he invites us to be part of (Eph. 2:10). When we walk in our destiny we are fulfilled and fruitful.  Of course, we can say “no” to the things God has planned for us just like human children can reject good things their father has prepared or provided for them as their inheritance.

The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his descendants.  To possess the land was Israel’s destiny. In this passage, God revealed that he had provided an angel to go before them – to guide them and protect them as they stepped into their God-ordained promise.  However, possessing the land or the promise was not automatic.  God warned them there were things they wound encounter that could and would derail them if they were not careful and committed.  First, they had to pay attention to the leading of the Lord. We are directed to be Spirit led.  If we choose to go our own way and then expect God to bless what we have chosen, it will limit our participation in all the things he has prepared for us.  What we choose might be good.  Bur what God had for us would have been great.  It is not always easy to discern the will of the Lord. but God will honor the heart that seeks to know and pursue his will.  If we miss it, he will redirect us.  

Our first step in fulfilling our destiny, then, is to be willing to seek what he has planned for us above our own desires.  God warned the Israelites not to rebel against his instruction but to listen carefully to what he said.  The more responsive we are to the word of God and the more submitted we are to his will, the easier the journey will be.  God told Israel if they would be careful to follow his ways, he would go before them, he would put fear in the hearts of their enemies, and he would oppose those who opposed them.  As Paul said, “If God is for us, who cans stand against us. 

He then warned them of their greatest temptation and that would be the false gods of the people who inhabited Canaan.  As they moved into the land and faced opposition, the temptation would be to make peace with those tribes and to compromise in order to be accepted by them rather than being at war with them.  We have to acknowledge that the false gods of this world appeal to our flesh and our flesh will prompt us to want what others have.  We will be tempted to taste just a little and to participate just a bit, but when we do, the enemy will gain a foothold in our lives that may well become a stronghold.  God said to make no peace and no compromise, but to seek only him and his provision for fulfillment.

Whenever possible, God’s people were not just to isolate themselves and avoid the enemy, but to actively oppose false worship and the demonic spirits behind each idol and each sacred stone. As the saying goes, “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  So…God instructs his people to demolish the false religions and to break or pulverize their sacred stones. He goes on to say, if we worship the Lord and follow him only, we will find our destiny and experience his abundant blessings.  He says he will put his blessing on our food and water.  He will remove sickness from us and miscarriages and barrenness will be a thing of the past. He also promises a full life span.  In essence, he is promising the same abundant life that Jesus promises when we serve him with all our hearts. 

Interestingly, we also see that God is strategic in bringing us into our destiny and the promises he has for us.  To Israel, he promised that he would drive the enemy tribes out…but no all at once.  If they were driven out immediately, Israel would not be able to steward the land well.  Wild animals would take over and vineyards would be choked with weeds before Israel could care for what God had given them.  We often want our destiny now and our promises immediately. But God is wise and only gives us what we can manage well.  As we grow and mature, he will give us more.  Jesus said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Lk.16:10).  If you want more opportunity, more responsibility, more creativity more prophetic gifting…be very faithful with what you have now and God will give the increase…if you are seeking the destiny he has established for you.  

All of us are guilty of going after what we want and then asking God to bless it.  He may do so, because he is a gracious God.  But the greatest fulfillment and the greatest productivity that will have an has eternal impact is found on the road he destined for us before the world was created.  Let me encourage you to seek that road and let him lead you there.

[I apologize for the length of this blog, but, perhaps, it will make a good devotional read Christmas morning]

Christmas has arrived once again. As a pastor, I see many responses to the season. For some it raises treasured memories of traditional church plays filled with squirming children, bright trees surrounded by carefully selected presents, the warm aroma of favorite foods, and a familiar house filled with love. For others, it registers disappointment and memories of “not-so-good Christmases” stained by alcohol or emotionally toxic family members. For others, grief surfaces once again in a memory of making funeral plans for a loved one that pushed out the joy of Christmas that year and for several years to come. Others face sheer loneliness as they anticipate sitting in an empty house with no one present to share the day that should be about giving and receiving, loving and comforting, laughing and belonging.

As multilayered as Christmas can be, there is always the heart of the story that should encourage us and realign our perspectives, no matter what our situation might be.  Each year as I think about Christmas, the Lord simply reminds me of how costly the coming of Messiah was for him and those who were nearest to the incident. 

We tend to compartmentalize Christ’s sacrifice and suffering and attach it only to Easter – his arrest, his abuse, his crucifixion. We also tend to forget the pain of those who loved him most as they watched their son, their Rabbi, and their Messiah breathe what they thought was his last breath on a Roman cross. Passover and Easter certainly highlight the incredible cost of our salvation, but our salvation story not only ended that way, but actually began that way as well.

Christmas cards sanitize the story so that it might be almost unrecognizable to Mary and Joseph. Susan and I have already received a few with Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus serenely surrounded by peaceful, adoring animals in a pristine manger along with appropriately awed shepherds and joyous angels. Typically, the scene may also present three royally adorned visitors from the east bearing precious gifts (although they did not actually arrive until months later). 

There is some truth in that scene, but it misses a salient point. The Christmas story begins with Gabriel appearing to Mary, a very young engaged Jewish girl, in the backwater town of Nazareth. Luke tells us that at his appearance, Mary was greatly troubled. The original Greek would amplify this word to mean confused, disoriented, and deeply disturbed or distressed. The angel greeted her first, but then added quickly, “Do not be afraid.” You don’t need to say that unless someone is visibly shaken and beginning to move towards the door.

Gabriel then tells her the Holy Spirit is about to fall on her, impregnate her, and she will have a son whom she is to name Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High and he will reign on David’s throne forever. That’s a lot to take in for a 13-year-old Jewish girl brought up simply, humbly, and traditionally. 

The true implications of what the angel had just said were probably not comprehensible…except the part where she would be pregnant without her marriage being consummated with Joseph, her fiancé. Surely her first thoughts were about the impossibility of telling Joseph and her family and the almost certain unlikelihood that anyone would believe her. Years later, a rumor would still persist that she had been impregnated by a Roman soldier…willingly or unwillingly.

The liability of being seen as an adulteress must also have loomed somewhere in the back of her mind. Adultery, in those days was, taken very seriously and was still punishable by stoning. In Jewish culture, her engagement was considered marriage, although the sexual union could not occur until after the ceremony. To break the engagement required a divorce. Apparently, her worst fears were realized because, when Joseph discovered she was pregnant, he decided to divorce her quietly to minimize everyone’s shame and for her safety.

Undoubtedly his heart was shattered by her perceived unfaithfulness and he carried as much shame in the tiny village of Nazareth as she did. Her story was unbelievable even to him…until an angel confirmed what she had been telling everyone.  Still, he had to wrestle with the possibility that he dreamed what he wanted to be true rather than having a genuine experience with an angel. These were real people. Trust would be an issue for a while

The story does not describe the family’s reaction to Mary’s pregnancy and her unbelievable story, but Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem may give us some insight. According to Luke, Caesar issued a decree for taxation that required the head of each household to register in certain cities. Joseph was a descendent of David whose lineage came from Bethlehem, so off they went on a ninety-mile trek with Mary late in her pregnancy. She was not required to go to Bethlehem. Joseph could have gone alone, but she went along anyway on a trip that may have put her at risk as well as the child.

To me, the only explanation is that she did not feel welcome in Nazareth, even by her own family, and the birth of her son would not be the joyous occasion she had always envisioned. She had also lost her dreams for a wedding feast with her proud family and friends and a wedding night in which she and Joseph would consummate their holy union. Joseph had given up any dreams he had been harboring as well. So…this teenage mother went with her husband to a place in which they were apparently unknown, only to discover, on top of everything else, that no lodging was available. Undoubtedly, this occurred in April or May, not December because the only times shepherds would have been in the fields at night with their sheep was during lambing season – the spring. But nights would still drop into the forty degree range.

Only a small barn or cave was available where she would have to make do with some fresh hay while being surrounded by the smell of animal urine, feces, and barn rats. No family members travelled with them to help with the birth. Apparently, no midwife was available in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary must have felt somewhat abandoned by God and their families and must have felt very alone. They must have been wondering where the blessings were for their obedience because, day by day, things had not gotten better but worse.

Outside of Bethlehem, another disturbing scene was unfolding. In the middle of the night, shepherds, who were minding their own business, were suddenly confronted by extraterrestrial visitors…angels filling the sky. Luke simply says they were terrified. Of course, the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and eventually calmed their nerves with news that Messiah was being born to them and could be found in a stable in Bethlehem. Eventually that night, they found the stable and shared what they had seen and heard with Mary, who must have been exhausted.

Another hint about the atmosphere of shame, gossip, and suspicion back in Nazareth was that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did not return to Nazareth after the birth. As far as we know, two sets of Jewish grandparents had yet to see their grandson. Matthew tells us of the Magi, wise men or astrologers from the east, who had followed the Star of Bethlehem to find this newborn King of the Jews. This was apparently 18-24 months after the birth of Jesus and they were still in Bethlehem. It looks as though Mary and Joseph had simply settled in there. 

These unexpected visitors from the east showed up unannounced and brought gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense to Jesus. Mary and Joseph must have been relieved to receive such a nest egg for the family and began to believe that, perhaps, peace and blessings were finally coming their way. Maybe he could expand his business or they could build a little house. But they immediately discovered that these were to be traveling expenses.

Herod, hearing from the Magi that a king was being born just seven miles from Bethlehem, determined to eliminate any threat to his own throne. Joseph and Mary were warned in a dream to flee the region and so suddenly became political refugees trying to find safety in Egypt. Herod, in order to secure his throne, simply had every male child under two years old in the vicinity killed that night – a night that became known in Jewish history as the Slaughter of the Innocents. That’s not something we see on Christmas cards. So, the Christmas story is not just a story of angelic visitations and good news, but also a story of fear, shame, rejection, loneliness, lost dreams, and a poor refugee family fleeing their homeland for several years to live once again among strangers where Hebrews had once been slaves.

If you read Isaiah 6, you will also perceive another cost that was incurred, even before the birth of the child.  In that text, Isaiah sees the Lord, high and lifted up, surrounded by his glory and angels that declared his holiness day after day.  John tells us that Isaiah was actually given a vision of Jesus (Jn.12:41) in his glory before surrendering the privileges of deity. At some point he stepped down from his throne, shed his glory and power, and shrunk down to the size of an ovum, only to grow helplessly in the womb of an impoverished teenager.  From there he would be born into a scandal and later deemed illegitimate by many – part of the reason those in Nazareth could never accept him as Messiah.  What cost did Jesus pay even before the cross and what cost did those pay who were near him…even in the beginning of God’s odyssey on earth?  

The ultimate price for our salvation was, of course, the cross. But there were significant payments all along the way that we should not forget.  This thought should not produce guilt in us, but wonder and rejoicing at the value God has placed on each of us.  

Salvation is a gift because we are saved by grace and by no works of our own.  But there is also the gift of knowing how much we are loved, how much we are valued by the Creator of heaven and earth, and how much we can value ourselves as well as all the others Jesus died for.  Be blessed this Christmas knowing that your greatest gift cannot be placed under a tree and that you were purchased at such a price.  Merry Christmas.

Few of us are ever aware of the provision and power that God offers us when we face impossible circumstances in our lives.  I admit that I am one who often misses it as well.

I love the story of Elisha when he was surrounded by the army of Aram in the small town of Dothan.  The king of Aram was at war with Israel. Each time he set an ambush for Israeli troops, Elisha would receive a word of knowledge from the Lord, warn the leaders of Israel, and the King of Aram’s plans would collapse. His initial thought was that a spy was leaking his battle plans to Israel but one of his captains convinced him that the prophet Elisha was the one informing on the King.

The King ordered a nationwide manhunt for the prophet who was to be found and captured.  Word got back to the king that Elisha had been seen in Dothan in northern Samaria and so he commanded his army to surround the settlement.  We’re told in 2 Kings 6, “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots surrounded the city. ‘O my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked.  ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ’O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

Here is the lesson.  If God is for us, who can stand against us?  God is never taken by surprise.  When the King of Aram ordered the capture of Elisha, God had already made provision for Elisha’s victory. The servant was overcome by fear.  Given the chance he would have stolen away in the night and hidden in the hills. Elisha, having faith in both the power and the character of God, stood without fear and saw the provision of God that others could not see.

The Lord had already responded to the need of Elisha and his servant with the power of heaven poised to do battle on behalf of the man of God. The servant was terrified because he had no faith to believe that God would provide a way, even in the most impossible circumstances.  He could not see what God had already made available in this impossible moment.  Elisha, on the other hand, had faith that God would meet his greatest need and had simply been waiting t see how God would do that.  With that faith and anticipation, he could see the provision of God.  In this moment, it was the army of heaven poised to give Elisha victory.  

Apparently, God left the fate of those soldiers in the hands of his prophet who could have called on the angelic army to destroy his enemies.  Instead, he asked the Lord to strike the army blind for a season while he led them to Samaria where they were eventually released. After a demonstration of God’s power on behalf of his people, the text says, “So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory” (2 Kings 6:23).

We will all face our impossible moments when no strength or resource of our own will provide the victory we need. Failing marriages, children bent on self-destruction, financial crisis, advanced cancer, or the overwhelming loss of a loved one. We all come to moments when we feel as if we are surrounded by an overpowering force that we cannot stand against. In the moment, pray Elijah’s prayer for yourself, “O Lord, open my eyes that I might see!  Lord, show me by faith and by your Spirit, the power and provision that you have already made available to me for this impossible moment. For with you nothing is impossible.” In the kingdom of God, those who are with us are always more than those who are with them.