Category: Devotional

Six Ways to Respond to God’s Steadfast Love

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike can be rough, especially when you’re tired. The hills and farms all look the same, and it’s easy to get lulled to sleep by the endless pattern of signs: speed limit, exit, service plaza; speed limit, exit, service plaza.

Many of us read Psalm 136 this way. Every verse contains the refrain “for his steadfast love endures forever.” Though you may exult in this truth in verse one, you weary of it by verse 13. Your eyes skip along to the “interesting parts,” neglecting the other half.

But there’s gold in the repetition.

Behold the Promise of God’s Love

This psalm is a masterpiece, painting God’s work through history with the brushstrokes of his love.

The psalmist begins by highlighting God’s goodness and his supreme position above other gods (Ps 136:1–3). The next six verses describe God’s work as creator; he made the heavens, spread out the earth, and created the sun, moon, and stars (Ps 136:4–9).

Beginning in verse 10, the psalmist writes of the pivotal deliverance from Egypt. The psalm slows down, crediting God with each step along the way—the Passover, the Red Sea, and the defeat of Pharaoh (Ps 136:10–16).

In their journey through the wilderness, God gave his people victory over nations who opposed them. In verses 17–22, the psalmist rehearses God’s military might and his provision of land. This stanza connects God’s promise-keeping love (see God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:7 and 17:8) to his commitment to fight for his people.

The psalm closes with a summary: God remembered, rescued, and provides for his people (Ps 136:23–25), so we should thank him.

Sing the Refrain of God’s Love

Through all 26 verses, the refrain is the same: “for his steadfast love endures forever.” Behind God’s creative work, his saving work, his fighting work, his providing work—through all the high drama, God’s love is the explanation.

And God’s love is not reserved for the mountain tops. His steadfast love is revealed in the valley of the wilderness years (Ps 136:16) and the mundanity of mealtimes (Ps 136:25).

God’s steadfast love is behind and underneath everything he does. None of his characteristics or actions can be separated from his love. We can easily affirm this integration when considering the exodus or promised land, but it applies equally to God’s justice and wrath (see Ps 136:15, 17–20). From top to bottom, God is love.

Grasp the Steadfastness of God’s Love

If the biblical authors highlight and underline their writing by repetition, we should pay careful attention to this refrain. It appears in each and every verse—26 times in all.

For his steadfast love endures forever.

Notice the whopping three references to time in this refrain. God’s love is steadfast. His love endures. His love endures forever.

It’s hard for finite humans to digest that word, forever. Everything we see, do, or know comes to an end. What is true for food and clothing we also witness in our emotions. We’d like to claim that our love (for a spouse, for a parent, for a child) is steadfast, but we know better. In anger or impatience, apathy or bitterness, we withhold our love from those most dear to us.

How different God’s love is from ours! His love is steadfast, never diminishing in volume, never weakening in strength, never retreating, never tainted. Though we may feel alone or unloved, reality is different—his love endures forever.

We struggle to digest this truth; we’re prone to dismiss or forget God’s love. In times of suffering, loss, or deep sadness, we often resist with our heart what we know with our mind. Like the psalmist, we need to repeat this truth as often as possible: God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Personalize the Beauty of God’s Love

Here are two ways to internalize God’s love.

Put the psalm on repeat. Read Psalm 136 every morning and evening for a month. (Read every word, careful not to skip the repeated line!) Listen to it on your phone or tablet. Like the woodpecker, a persistent tapping in the same spot sometimes yields a breakthrough.

Write your own version of this psalm. Take up a journal, recount God’s work in your life, and end each line or paragraph the same way: “For his steadfast love endures forever.”

Consider the Cost of God’s Steadfast Love

God’s love for his people reached a crescendo in the incarnation. He aimed to redeem his people, and he had to deal with their sin, once and for all. In his steadfast love, God sent his Son. For his love is a pursuing, costly love.

God demonstrated his abiding, enduring love in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. When Jesus was “made sin for us” on the cross, the Father withdrew his protective love for a time. The Father’s love for his people was manifest in wrath toward sin, and the Son was crushed for our iniquities. Jesus knew the Father’s full fury; he experienced the absence of God’s love so we would know it forever.

Give Thanks for God’s Steadfast Love

Why does the steadfast love of God matter? How does it change us?

One clear application comes out of this psalm: Give thanks. This is the only exhortation in the entire psalm, and it appears four times (Ps 136:1, 2, 3, 26). In fact, all of the descriptions of God, including the refrain about his love, are given as fuel for thanksgiving.

So give thanks to God for who he is. He is the Creator, Savior, Conqueror, and Provider that Israel needed then and that we need now. Thank God for all the ways his steadfast love has rung out in history and in your life. Don’t hesitate to include the routine aspects of your day; from the miraculous Red Sea crossing to God’s provision of food, everything flows from his love.

And as you give thanks to God, remind yourself and everyone around you about his love. It is steadfast, and it endures forever.

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Now, We Laugh

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The victory seemed sure. Against the odds death lashed this man to the wood, this wonder who spoke so much of life. Jesus had assaulted death’s kingdom at every turn, and now, with a final cry, he ran out of breath.

His body found a tomb, and fear stationed a rock and guards. These bouncers would let no one in.

They faced the wrong direction. They missed the show.

∞∞∞

Who knows what sounds or sights burst inside. Perhaps it was ear-splitting, a blinding flash. Maybe it was quiet and small, a hiccup of life stirring the body.

Jesus flung death aside and the boulder with it. The grave clothes lay discarded on the ground. The mighty guards passed out from fear, replaced by heavenly officers.

As he walked out of the tomb, Jesus laughed at death. The righteous Son of God had finished his work. Now he pulsed and thrummed with life.

∞∞∞

We follow our Savior between the times. We see the hatred and the grabbing of the old way, kicking and jerking toward and within us. We mourn and cry and resist.

But we are not all mourning. We know the new way. We laugh at the good news—not because it’s funny, but because it’s so good. We are amazed and overcome and grateful, and we laugh the laugh of those who are free.

We laugh that the good news would be spoken to us. We laugh that we would be loved and adopted. We laugh that we would be promised such a future.

∞∞∞

Death will make its final, futile attempts. It will throw us in the ground, a stone on top.

Who knows what sounds or sights will come. Jesus will fling death aside and the stone with it. The heavenly officers will take us further up and further in to the city coming down.

As we join the throng, we will laugh at death. Where is your sting? Where is your victory?

∞∞∞

Without the curse, without frustration and thorns, we will rejoice forever. In the presence of our Father, we will know as we have been fully known. In our joy, we will laugh.

That joy is not just for Then. It is not just for Easter morning. It is for now and now and now, because the bond Jesus secured cannot be broken. We are grabbed and held by everlasting, full-to-the-brim love.

We will laugh forever because we will be with God, safe. And we laugh now, because we need the practice.

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Does God Just Tolerate Me?

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

I have some close friends at church who are grandparents. For them, the cliché is true—they are over the moon about their grandchildren!

My friends would move mountains to spend time with their grandchildren. They soak up every moment of each visit and anticipate the next. They delight in their grandchildren.

Something that delights us does more than make us momentarily happy. It stirs our hearts, and the ripples wash lightness through our bodies. You might delight in a favorite place, a dear friend, or a treasured book or movie.

Have you ever pondered what delights God? The Bible provides a surprising answer.

The Anointed One

Our answer comes from the book of Isaiah. Aside from the Lord himself, the major characters in Isaiah are the Coming King, the Coming Servant, and the Coming Anointed One (the Messiah). We see pieces of Jesus’ mission in each of these prophetic figures.

At the end of Isaiah 61, the Anointed One rejoices in the task set before him (Is 61:10). He is dressed in “garments of salvation” in the same way that a couple prepares themselves for their wedding. These clothes mark the Messiah for his momentous work.

It’s no secret—the task of the Anointed One is salvation for God’s people (Is 61:1) and the glory of God’s name (Is 61:3). As surely as the earth brings forth plants, God guarantees that the Messiah’s mission will succeed (Is 61:11).

Despite God’s promise, the Anointed One is not passive. He is determined, zealous, and vocal that the righteousness and glory of God’s people be displayed before all nations and kings (Is 62:1–2).

God’s Delight

The results of the work of the Anointed One are astonishing and life-changing:

The nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isaiah 61:2–5)

God’s people will be a “crown of beauty” in his hand (Is 61:3). A king’s crown is the physical sign of his royal position and glory. Amazingly, God’s people are a sign of his kingship and evidence that he is glorious. It’s hard to believe when looking around (or in the mirror), but God says it will be so.

Perhaps even more dramatic is the renaming in verses 2 and 4. The people shall go from “Forsaken” to “My Delight Is in Her,” and the land will go from “Desolate” to “Married.” Why the change? Is it because of all the good the people have done, all the yield the land has produced? Not hardly.

God changes the people’s name for a simple, profound reason: love. “For the Lord delights in you” (Is 61:4). To highlight this in the brightest colors, Isaiah writes that God will rejoice over his people as a groom rejoices over his bride (Is 61:5).

What was predicted long ago is our reality now. What a reality!

I rarely imagine God rejoicing over me. I think he occasionally disapproves of me and that he mostly tolerates me. I can be persuaded that he loves me at times. But to delight in me? That seems too outlandish, too fantastic to believe. But it’s true!

For Isaiah, the good news has never been just for Israel. God is eager for others to join his family; Israel must “prepare the way” and “build up the highway” (Is 61:10). The references to “the people” and “the peoples” (Is 61:10) show how God welcomes both Israelites and Gentiles to his holy city. They will all be called “The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord” (Is 61:12).

At the end of this chapter, God wraps all his people together, giving them the same name. In a nod back to verse 4, they will be called “A City Not Forsaken” (Is 61:12). The Lord delights in his people, and their new name reflects his abiding, promise-backed love.

The Forsaken One

It’s hard to read this passage without wondering about this dramatic change. Why will the people no longer be forsaken?

Over many years and in many ways, Israel sinned against God. Though God turned away from them for a time, his covenant promise pulsed in the background of history. Through his Anointed One, God would fulfill this promise at the pinnacle of his justice and mercy.

God delighted in his Son, but in his hour of greatest need, the Father turned away. Jesus felt this abandonment like a hot knife tearing into his soul. On the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

We deserve to be forsaken. But our name is “Forsaken” no longer because Jesus was forsaken for us. God delights in us because his Son—the one in whom he delighted the most—became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The Loved Ones

What difference would it make if we absorbed these truths into our bones? How would our lives change if we were sure of God’s delight in us?

Two applications come to mind.

First, we’d be more willing to take gospel-driven risks. If the delight of our heavenly Father is secure, then the potential harm to our reputations or social networks won’t be scary. If God smiles, we can shrug off others’ frowns.

We would also be more likely to trust God in uncertain times. God is not only sovereign and wise, he is good and loving. Even if we cannot connect the dots between our circumstances and God’s intentions, we can be sure there is a straight line from his heart to his providence in our lives.

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What My Children Taught Me About Grace

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Daddy!

As I take my keys out of my pocket, the piano stops and the stampede begins. My children rush to the back door and fling it wide before I can unlock it. I am enveloped in hugs, and my day is made.

This is the scene at my house many times when I get home from work. It doesn’t always happen, and I don’t presume it will continue on indefinitely. (And it doesn’t happen only for me!) But, what a blessing it is! God has given my kids a love for me that I don’t deserve, and the occasional exuberance is wonderful.

This end-of-day greeting isn’t just a blessing of fatherhood. It’s a picture of God’s grace.

A Picture of Grace

I’m far from a perfect father. I’m frequently impatient, too quick to anger, and sometimes just mean or clumsy with my children’s feelings. In an honest accounting, I don’t deserve the extravagant love my children show me.

But my children give me what I don’t deserve. Instead of a cold shoulder, they embrace me. Instead of hesitating, they run. They let me know, unmistakably, that they are glad to see me.

I feel immediate acceptance when I peer through our back window and see those small, smiling faces. I don’t need to bring anything, say anything, or do anything. In that moment, their love does not depend on what I have done for them or what I might do for them. The greeting I receive has no relation to my recent behavior toward them at all—on most days I haven’t seen them for almost eight hours.

This sounds familiar, right? My children’s love is a small, imperfect pointer toward the grace of God. His constant, lavish, maximum love toward those who don’t deserve it—this is his grace and the heartbeat of the Christian life.

A Biblical Truth

Don’t just take my word for it. And don’t let a sentimental fact about my family convince you God is like this. This picture resonates with me because it is the description of divine love we see in the Bible.

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8–12, ESV)

And God’s grace is fully and finally realized in the giving of his son for sinners.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3–7, ESV)

Embracing Grace

Grace like this demands a response. Overflowing love, once offered, changes us in one way or another.

Do you know the grace of God? You have never been loved like this, so it might seem unreal. And yet, it is certain. Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can enter God’s house. We don’t need to sneak in a window, we don’t knock ashamed—God opens the door himself.

He is glad to see you. He invites you to sit down with him and rest. And the music starts to play once again.

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The Default Posture of Love

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

It was a delightfully ordinary morning. I was well-rested, blessed by the routines of both the previous evening and the present day. I was enjoying the silence and stillness. Then my children awoke.

Though this happens every day, something was different. I was immediately on edge, listening critically to their conversation and actions. I felt like a coiled spring, ready to bounce upstairs to correct, scold, or yell at the slightest provocation.

Default Positions

We all know a bit about defaults. A default is a position assumed automatically without active choice. We’ve all accidentally subscribed to an email newsletter (or fifty) because we didn’t uncheck the proper box.

On this particular morning, my default position toward my children was one of suspicion and anger. Before they said or did anything, I took on an adversarial stance; I assumed they would soon need correction or discipline. I’m convicted as I remember this attitude, because it’s simply not the way a Christian should think about his kids.

A False View of God

Christian fathers have a weighty task. Whenever they interact with their children, they speak about God’s fatherhood. Like it or not, kids will learn what God is like as a father (in part) by watching, playing with, and listening to their dad.

In my posture toward my children, I was promoting a false view of God.

The culture at large thinks of God as a scold, a grade-school nun eager to draw blood from knuckles with a ruler. The clear, Scriptural evidences of God’s holiness and judgment are used to paint God as perpetually angry, just waiting for us to sin so he can strike. He may be merciful, but only as a last-second shield from his wrath.

These conceptions of God do not square with the biblical picture, especially for Christians.

The True View of God

If you are a Christian, God loves you (1 John 4:10). Your faith is an evidence of his love. He cannot love you any more, and he cannot love you any less. Full stop.

There is not a drop of his wrath remaining toward you (Rom 8:1). Every last ounce was wrung out on Jesus in your place (Rom 5:6–11). Because he is just, God is not waiting for you to fall. (Though he will pick you up when you do.)

Of course, God disciplines us as a loving father (Heb 12:3–11). But God’s discipline comes as needed, in just the right measure and at just the right time. It is never extraneous or excessive; it is never vengeful or disproportionate. His discipline is perfect and perfectly loving.

In short, God’s posture toward us is one of love.

A Godly Vision of Fatherhood

Perhaps the application for parents is clear. Our default posture toward our children must be one of love and peace. We should rejoice at the God-given relationship we have. Friends come and go, but these will be our children forever. Instead of suspicion and anger, my resting state with my children must be warmth and joy, especially if I am to teach them about God.

This posture doesn’t excuse sin or disobedience. In fact, it provides the biblical context for addressing disobedience.

I can love because I am loved. I can help because I have been helped. I can forgive because I have been forgiven. I can correct, guide, and instruct because my Father does the same for me.

For yourself, and for your children, this makes all the difference in the world.

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God’s Promises Are So Much Better Than We Think

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

God has made promises to his people, and they are staggering. The fact that we don’t consider them staggering means either that we haven’t taken them seriously or that we haven’t meditated on the first chapter of 2 Peter in a while.

All Needful Things

Peter begins this letter telling his readers that in his power God “has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” All of these things come “through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Pet 1:3).

Think of it—there is nothing pertaining to life and godliness that our heavenly father has withheld. We lack no access, no privilege, no resources to live a life which glorifies God. The vehicle through which these resources come is the “knowledge of [Jesus],” which we should understand as the Scriptures and the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

What Promises!

Peter gets more specific after this, pointing his finger at one category of essential resources for godly living: God’s promises.

by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:4)

In context, this verse is full of great encouragement regarding the promises of God. Let’s take a look at five characteristics of these promises.

Precious Promises

God’s promises are precious. By this Peter means that they are of immense value to believers. They fill the bank account of our souls with great riches because they point to what is true and eternal.

When something is precious it is also treasured or cherished. God’s promises are words we should hold close and consider frequently. Rather than keep them in a museum-quality display case, they are meant to be picked up and examined with awe from every angle and in every light.

Very Great Promises

God’s promises are very great. These are no small assurances! God’s promises are vast and sweeping, like a roaring river kicking foam up onto its banks.

I love the emphasis Peter puts on this adjective—God’s promises are not just great, they are very great. They are far better than anything we’d wish for.

His Promises

Perhaps this is obvious, but sometimes what is obvious is useful to state: God’s promises are his. They come from God himself, guaranteed by his name and his word. His promises cannot fail because God cannot fail. God spoke all of these promises, and not a single one was an accident, an exaggeration, or a hastily-made effort to appease. God meant every last word of every promise he has made.

Partake of the Divine Nature

If you doubted that God’s promises were very great, hold onto your hat. Through God’s promises he intends for us to “become partakers of the divine nature.”

This may seem like an unattainable (or even an unintended) plane of existence. On its surface, this isn’t anything I’d long for or request.

But what Peter has in mind is likely echoed elsewhere in Scripture. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that God disciplines his children “that we may share his holiness” (Heb 12:10). John also tells us that “when he appears we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2).

God’s promises won’t make us divine, but they do provide strength and light along the path to growing in divine qualities, like holiness, goodness, and love.

Escape from Corruption

Partaking of the divine nature is not the first result of holding onto God’s promises. Rather, this happens as we escape “the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (The end of the verse lends weight to linking “partaking of the divine nature” to growing in holiness.)

In their best moments, what Christian doesn’t want to escape the corruption of the world and grow in holiness? If you desire these things, Peter is pointing you to God’s promises. Of all the things that pertain to life and godliness which God has provided, his promises are among the most powerful.

Life Through the Promises

God’s promises are far from the only important aspects of Scripture. But they are vital to our faith, and we ignore them at our own peril.

Because God’s promises are central to our faith and hope, we should take care to identify and cling to them. I plan to discuss both of these aspects of God’s promises in future articles.

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The Gospel Gives Us Courage

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The gospel of Jesus Christ brings to us an abundance of gifts. When we believe, we have new life; we have the forgiveness of our sins; we are new people, made part of the body of Christ, the church.

But the blessings of the gospel keep on coming, some of which we may not realize until months or years later.

In particular, the gospel gives us courage.

Courage to Approach God

Believing the gospel involves confessing our sin, and once we begin to glimpse our sin, we realize a portion of its horror. In the presence of our holy God, and without a mediator, this sin would electroshock our hearts, leaving us quivering on the ground. We would only fear God’s judgment, knowing we don’t belong anywhere near him.

But the gospel tells us that we now “have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). He is “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2), meaning that he absorbed God’s wrath that we deserved.

This changes everything!

We now have confidence to go to God. We can “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” for “help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). Paul tells us that in Christ “we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Eph 3:12) We have assurance that God hears us when we pray: “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14).

While we must not approach God with irreverence or presume upon him, we no longer come into his presence as one only flinching before a disciplinarian. We come to a holy God, but this holy God is our Father.

Courage to Admit Our Sin

If we understand that a fundamental part of us (our sin) is known fully by God, and if we grasp that he is devoted to us despite this knowledge, then our attitude toward our sin can change. We can stop trying to convince everyone we are perfect—or, in the church, we can stop trying to make others think we’re not too bad.

Such an acting job is exhausting. Keeping up appearances, admitting to respectable flaws but burying our less presentable wickedness, deflecting the questions of people who might actually want to be close friends—it’s enough to run us into the ground.

The good news is that it’s not necessary! We can admit our sin—to God, to ourselves, and to others. We can seek and expect help from the Holy Spirit to transform us, and in showing that we aren’t perfect we can invite others to live more honestly as well.

How does the gospel accomplish this? God’s love for us is secure, and we are reconciled to him through the work of Jesus. We no longer need to jealously guard our reputations or images. We don’t need to be obsessed with impressing others, because the most important One knows and loves us, and he won’t turn away.

Courage to Speak the Truth to Others

Good, harmonious relationships are rare and precious. Consequently, we often shy away from any conversation or topic that might endanger that harmony.

And yet, Christians are called to speak the truth in love. This might mean pointing a friend or acquaintance toward Jesus, inviting them to consider his claims. It could also mean offering correction to someone at church, calling them to repent of their sin.

How does the gospel give us courage to do these hard things?

In Christ, we are delivered from the rule of sin. We need not say only what others want to hear and ignore their offenses to God. In short, we need not live to please man any longer.

Most of us have an internal compass that directs us in conversation. We move toward or away from topics that make the other person uncomfortable or irritated. But as Christians grow, the Holy Spirit begins to override this compass, helping us to honor God instead of making relational peace our only aim.

The gospel had this transforming effect on the apostle Paul. He describes how God gave him “boldness” to declare “the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict” (1 Thess 2:2). Paul spoke the gospel “not to please man, but to please God, who tests our hearts” (1 Thess 2:3).

The confidence that we have “to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (Heb 10:19) should lead us to “stir up one another to love and good works” (Heb 10:24). Often this stirring up happens through encouragement, but sometimes it happens through confrontation.

Gospel Boldness

When a person comes to Christ, they may not develop radical boldness right away. But the trajectory of our lives should point more and more toward the sort of courage that the gospel inspires.

We who know Jesus have been given the “ministry of the Spirit,” which has far more glory than the “ministry of condemnation” (2 Cor 3:8-9). This “ministry of righteousness” is glorious, in part, because it is permanent (2 Cor 3:9, 11).

The more we believe this, the more we’ll be able to say, with Paul, “since we have such a hope, we are very bold” (2 Cor 3:12).

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The Lord’s Supper is Not a Pot Luck

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Churches in the United States may have a number of problems, but we often feed our people with generosity and abandon. Families that are experiencing sickness, grief, or other life-disrupting events are usually not lacking for casseroles or pasta.

U. S. churches also shine when it comes to gathering for meals. Though our offered dishes tend to lean in predictable directions—meat and cheese: yes, leafy greens: not so much—the Sunday pot luck is usually a hearty feast.

However, a pot luck meal is decidedly unlike another vital, Christian meal—the Lord’s supper—in at least two important ways. Seeing these differences will help us better appreciate both kinds of meals.

We Don’t Bring Food to the Lord’s Supper

Part of the beauty of a pot luck is that everyone who is able contributes. There’s no concern about matching serving plates or coordinated side dishes. We make food at home and take it to share.

But, not to put too fine a point on it, the Lord’s supper is the Lord’s supper. He instituted it (Matthew 26:26–29) and he provides the meal. Jesus sets the table and determines the guest list. He even gives those who are invited the inclination to attend.

We could never cook well enough to earn a seat at this table. We couldn’t do anything to deserve a reservation. This is the wonder of the Lord’s table—Jesus gathers his people around this sustaining meal by grace through faith.

We Know What’s on the Menu at the Lord’s Supper

At a true pot luck meal, the menu is a surprise. (The stuffiest among us might push for a phrase more like “pot providence,” but that introduces an entirely different set of questions these days.) We pick from among the dishes offered, but those dishes are made at the whim and inclination of someone else in the fellowship. Though it’s not likely, it’s possible such a gathering may produce 14 giant bowls of spaghetti and three trays of brownies.

At the Lord’s supper, we know exactly what’s available. We get Christ himself!

Read these words carefully.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23–26)

There are many different views on exactly what’s going on when we take the Lord’s supper. However, Paul indicated that the bread and cup were offered by Jesus to his apostles as his body and blood. We also are to “eat this bread and drink the cup.” We are to take in Christ and all of the nourishment he provides.

Jesus’s use of a meal here is illuminating. However much we depend on eating food and drinking water, we depend much, much more on Christ! Do we understand our need for Jesus to be this deep and desperate?

We know—at least intellectually—what happens to us if we do not eat for a time; we may have read about what happens to the human body when it goes too long without water. What would happen to you without Christ? How dramatically would your soul shrivel, spasm, or seize without the work and grace of Jesus? If we could not come and be nourished by the very Son of God, where would we be?

Come and Proclaim

What generosity our God shows by regularly feeding us and providing what we need! We are welcomed, loved, and nourished at his table.

So, come! Jesus is given for you. Join with your brothers and sisters to “proclaim the Lord’s death” until he comes!

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Immanuel: The Story of Christmas

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:22–23)

I have contended that we can summarize the entire story of the Bible with the name Immanuel. Thus, Immanuel is more than the story of Christmas, but it is certainly not less.

God with us

The inescapable, mind-bending miracle of Christmas is that God became man. The one who breathed humanity into existence took human breaths as a baby.

The reason is not particularly romantic. The Creator set the rules in the garden and we set them aflame. Divine action was the only path to reunion.

We did not need a superhero, a military general, or a crowd-rousing activist; we needed God himself to come. To breathe. To cough and walk and laugh and cry in our midst. We needed Jesus to do all that we could not and would not do.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

God with us

We once had easy access to and comfortable fellowship with God in the garden. Adam and Eve were with God before the curse was found anywhere.

God has come near at times after Eden. He visited patriarchs, delivered stone tablets, and filled temples. But even those who knew God intimately experienced profound, confusing distance from him.

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1)

On this side of eternity, we have a longing to be home, to once again walk with the God who made us. We want to be with God, without any of the danger and panic such an encounter arouses within sinners.

Even as the Son of God came, he was with us for a mere moment. Jesus died. God was with us temporarily so that God might be with us (by his Spirit) and so that his people might be with him permanently.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

God with us

Christmas brings about community almost by definition. Immanuel means God with us, not God with me.

We all relate to God individually, but we don’t relate to him alone. Those who are God’s are brought into a community and family.

We are no longer alone. God is with us, and by virtue of God being with us, others are with us too. This may not be a physical reality for some Christians now, but it is a mystical truth and a coming reality. Christmas means the dawning of the end of loneliness.

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14–16)

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How to Prevent a Spiritually Dry December

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be busy. Not only is the calendar full, but there’s a lot to do around the house. There are gifts to wrap, cards to send, and decorations to hang.

Busy days mean our schedules get squeezed. Work and school hours don’t change, so this means there’s a competition for our time at the margins. And, if you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you know that devotional time is often a casualty in this battle.

I can fool myself into thinking the Christmas season will be richer with more decorations, more social gatherings, and watching more beloved Christmas movies. That the key to Christmas joy is more memories and experiences.

While there’s nothing wrong with any of these seasonal extras, here’s the truth I tend to miss. My experience of Christmas will be far deeper and more joyful if I’m connecting my activities to the Biblical truths of Christmas.

The Point of Bible Study

With that said, there is still the stark reality of time. I just seem to have less of it in December. Should I feel guilty that I’m not spending as much time with God during that month?

To answer this question we need to remember why we read the Bible—or why we engage in any of the spiritual disciplines. We don’t read the Bible to impress God. We don’t pray to feel spiritually healthy. We don’t fast to check a box.

No. Our spiritual practices must be rooted in God’s love for us and aimed at growing in love for him. Even as new creatures with the indwelling Holy Spirit, the old man still fights among our members, tearing our attention and our affections away from God. Our Bible study and prayer and giving—all of it—is designed to remind us of the truth and to help us live in harmony with it.

So, with regard to a busy December, we shouldn’t ask, How often must I read my Bible? Instead, we should ask, How can I enflame my affections for God around the Incarnation?

Focus on Bible Intake

Since the normal rhythms of life can be disrupted during busy seasons, don’t hold yourself to an impossible standard. Some days may allow your usual devotional time with God; other days may not. Instead of having the same goals for each day, I’d encourage you to focus on consistent Bible intake.

Bible intake refers to all the different ways we come into contact with the Bible. We can read it, study it, listen to it, memorize it, meditate on it, hear it preached, or sing it.

Here are some suggestions on how to maintain consistent Bible intake during a busy December.

  • Start a plan for Bible study or Bible reading for Advent.
  • Memorize part of the Bible related to the Christmas story. Some suggestions: John 1:1–18, Luke 2:1–21, Matthew 1:18–25.
  • Find a good Advent Bible reading guide and work through it as a family every morning or evening.
  • Pick ten favorite Christmas hymns. Sing one each night as a family and read the Bible text most relevant to the words of the hymn.
  • Listen to the Bible as you exercise or on your commute. Focus on the parts of the Bible that discuss the Incarnation.

Joy to the World

December may be busy, but it doesn’t have to leave you ragged and dry. With some planning and some shifts in your own expectations, you can draw near to God for Christmas as you celebrate the way he drew near to you.

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